180
When thou utterest not a word thou hast laid thy hand upon it; when thou hast uttered it, it hath laid its hand on thee.
Sa’dī.
181
To the tongue which bringeth thee words without reason, the answer that best beseemeth thee is—silence.
Nizāmī.
182
The man who talketh much and never acteth will not be held in reputation by anyone.
Firdausī.
183
Two sources of success are known: wisdom and effort; make them both thine own, if thou wouldst haply rise.
Māgha.
184
The worse the ill that fate on noble souls
Inflicts, the more their firmness; and they arm
Their spirits with adamant to meet the blow.
Hindu Drama.
185
Opportunities lose not, for all delay is madness;
’Mid bitter sorrow patience show, for ’tis the key of gladness.
Turkish.
186
Man is the only animal with the powers of laughter, a privilege which was not bestowed on him for nothing. Let us then laugh while we may, no matter how broad the laugh may be, and despite of what the poet says about “the loud laugh that speaks the vacant mind.” The mind should occasionally be vacant, as the land should sometimes lie fallow, and for precisely the same reason.
Egerton Smith.