544
Eschew that friend, if thou art wise, who consorts with thy enemies.
Sa’dī.
545
Who can tell
Men’s hearts? The purest comprehend
Such contradictions, and can blend
The force to bear, the power to feel,
The tender bud, the tempered steel.
Hindu Drama.
546
Whosoever hath not knowledge, and benevolence, and piety knoweth nothing of reality, and dwelleth only in semblance.
Sa’dī.
547
If thou shouldst find thy friend in the wrong reprove him secretly, but in the presence of company praise him.
Arabic.
548
Modesty is attended with profit, arrogance brings on destruction.
Chinese.
549
The greatest hatred, like the greatest virtue and the worst dogs, is quiet.
Richter.
550
Is a preface exquisitely written? No literary morsel is more delicious. Is the author inveterately dull? It is a kind of preparatory information, which may be very useful. It argues a deficiency of taste to turn over an elaborate preface unread: for it is the attar of the author’s roses, every drop distilled at an immense cost. It is the reason of the reasoning, and the folly of the foolish.
Isaac D’Israeli.