434
Noble birth is an accident of fortune, noble actions characterise the great.
Goldoni.
435
Simplicity of character is the natural result of profound thought.
Hazlitt.
436
When anyone is modest, not after praise, but after censure, then he is really so.
Richter.
437
Experience has always shown, and reason shows, that affairs which depend on many seldom succeed.
Guicciardini.
438
Give not thy tongue too great a liberty, lest it take thee prisoner. A word unspoken is like thy sword in thy scabbard; if vented, the sword is in another’s hand.* If thou desire to be held wise, be so wise as to hold thy tongue.
Quarles.
[The word that once escapes the tongue cannot be recalled; the arrow cannot be detained which has once sped from the bow.]
Notes
* Cf. 221; also Metastasio:
Voce dal fuggita
Poi richiamar non vale;
Non si trattien lo strale
Quando dall’ arco uscì.