Faience

“ And here, you may take this passing remark—How much more odious people are who have radical faults, than those who commit, I do not say positive crimes, but occasional weaknesses. Even a noble nature may fall into a great error; but what is that to the ever-enduring pride, envy, malice, and conceit of a little mind? Yes, I would at any time rather be the fallen than the one, so exult over the fall of another. ”

“ Perhaps it is the very lack of moral severity, of any high and heroic ingredient in the character of the Faun, that makes it so delightful an object to the human eye and to the frailty of the human heart. ”

“ At This rate do we Palliate our Own Weaknesses and Corruptions, and at the same Rate do We likewise Assume to our selves Other Peoples Merits. The Thing to be done, in fine, is to Correct the Arrogance of Claiming to our selves the Good that does not belong to us on the One Hand, and of Imputing to our Neighbors the Ill that they are not Guilty of, on the Other. This is the Sum of the Doctrine that's Pointed at in the Case and Custom of Dividing our Miscarriages betwixt Fortune and the Devil. ”

“ Two other shreds of paper, supposed to stand for boots, distinguish the effigy of a man from the effigy of a woman. Armed with one of these “substitutes for a person,” as they are called, you may set fortune at defiance. If a member of your family, for example, is ailing, or has suffered any evil whatever, or even is merely threatened by misfortune, all that you have to do is to send for one of these puppets, pass it all over his body while you recite an appropriate spell, and then burn the puppet. ”

“ If these questionings come from us with greater persistence, with a more imperious authority, if they divert us from the quest of lucre, life’s only object in the eyes of most men, does it behove us to complain? ”

“ Tell your child friends that faeries do nothing without having some good end in view, and if they want to please us, they must try and be noble and good, for there is nothing so hateful in the world as wickedness. And now, mortal, I will permit you to see a faery dance, and then you must leave us for ever. ”

“ I reply, that much of that which is called prudence in men, is fallacy, duplicity and treachery, which are much worse qualities. Even that very indiscreet frankness, with which they sometimes incautiously unbosom themselves, is a good token, considered as a symptom. No person is ignorant of his own vices ”

“ This is the intelligence I bring you, sir, pursued she, which if you receive not with the extremest pleasure, you are not only ungrateful, but also perverse; blind to your own interest, and deserving of the misfortunes you have already fallen under, and those which may ensue from slighted love, and tenderness abused. ”

“ But the Divine Wisdom that brings the Greatest Ends to pass by the most Despicable Means, Orders the Reward of Virtue, and the punishment of Vice, by Ways only known to it self, in token of an Approbation of the One, and a Dislike of the Other. ”

“ Whether voluntary victims of our curiosity, which, while affording no other satisfaction than that of knowledge, exposes us to an intolerable itch, or sufferers through an accident, what can we do to give a little relief to the irritation caused by the Processionary? It is good to know the origin of the evil, but it would be better to apply a remedy. ”

“ All harshness and severity of judgment, all angry looks, resentful feelings, and evil speaking, all impatience, discontent, discord and moroseness, should be banished thence as so many malignant fiends. ”

“ That which is One Body's Meat, is Another Body's Poyson; as the Trussing up of Thieves is the Security of Honest Men. One Foolish Word is Enough to Spoil a Good Cause, and 'tis many a Man’s Fortune to Cut his Own Throat with his Own Argument. ”

“ Injustice sets up the Rigorous Letter of the Law to Weigh against the Improbity of the Witness: The Pawn-Broker pretends Charity, and the Oppressor Flays the Widow and the Orphan: And at the same Time, Preaches Mercy and Compassion, with the very same Breath. ”

“ Ay, ay, 't is the night o' the fairies—when spirits pervade the air. Then will I tell you other truths; but now—They call me. She is fair, and passing fair, and by her beauty, suffering shall come upon thee; but 'tis by suffering that men are made, and because of pride, shame shall come on her ”

“ Those People, in fine, that are Destin'd to Drudgery may well Change thar Masters; but never their Condition. He that finds himself in any Distress either of Carcass or of Fortune, should do well to Deliberate upon the Matter, before he Prays for, or Resolves upon a Change. ”

“ We would not hesitate to say, that in no other book of fiction, where the lives of such characters are described, is guilt and delinquency made less seductive, or the suffering made more closely to follow the commission, or the penitence more earnest or more bleeding, or the intervening flashes of religious visitation, upon the rude and uninstructed soul, more meltingly and fearfully painted. ”

“ He who makes presents to a lady, or a minister of justice, attempts their corruption by the act, and in his imagination supposes he has effected it. You ought, therefore, [Pg 9] my Son, to consider every one who attempts to gain your favour by such means, as an enemy to your conscience, and as a person dangerous to, and one who would injure your honour; and you should look upon him as a man, more deserving of your contempt and indignation, than your courtesy. ”

“ Was her Trial in the House of Lords, amid the gibes and jests, and scoffs and sneers, and the taunt of Ferocity—was this the act of "faction?" Was the spiritual and temporal refusal to place her name in the Liturgy the act of this "faction?" Was the refusal to crown her, or to assign her a place in the ceremonial of her husband's Coronation, or to permit her presence to witness it, or her expulsion from the doors, or the rancorous insults she sustained that day, were these from the "faction?" NO! ”

“ For if One Man's Faults could Discharge Another Man of his Duty,there would be no longer any Place left for the Common Offices of Society. To Conclude, We have our Failings, Every Mothers Child of us, and the Improvidence of my Neighbour must not make Me Inhumane. ”

“ To the first part as touching such discord as is reported, and also the misdemeanour which is imputed to us and our doings, we trust we have sufficiently answered the same, humbly beseeching your Grace so to esteem and weigh such answer with their supplication as shall be thought good and expedient by your high wisdom. ”

“ Instead of the congratulations I expected from a father and a husband, and those obliging tendernesses for which women chearfully go through that dreadful moment, mine regarded me but with frowns, and sullen discontent, civil to me but when other company was present. It is certain, that whatever people may pretend, grief, without the assistance of some other disease, will never kill ”

“ I was stung by a look, I was slain by a tear, by a
⁠tempest of sighs.
⁠And I whispered "I guess
⁠The sweet secret thou keepest,
⁠And the dainty distress
⁠That thou wistfully weepest;
And the question is 'License or banns?' though
⁠undoubtedly banns are the cheapest." ”

“ To a greater or less extent all these schemes to rescue man from the unquenchable fire and the gnawings of the undying worm, or to justify their infliction, are evoked by shame or horror at the extreme severity of the penalty, and express the modifications which human wisdom and tenderness would interpose or substitute. ”

“ A confession may be the result of fear, or duress, or expediency, or mother-love, or chivalry, or what the psycho-analysts call the inferiority complex, or delusions, or a mistaken sense of duty, or a perverted egotism, or sheer vanity, or any other of a hundred causes. ”

“ This may serve to Reprove Those Liberties in Conversation that pass the Bounds of Good Nature, Honour, Honesty, and Respect. When they Exceed These Limits, they Degenerate into Scurrility, Scandal, and Reproach: for in All Cases, an Eye must be had to the Due Circumstances of Measure, Time, Place, Occasion, and Person. ”

“ I only want to explain it, and get your advice, and any little assistance you can give me; and surely that is not unreasonable?'
'I have learned one secret, and am exposed to one danger. I have taken—to save you—it may be only a respite—one step, the remembrance of which is insupportable. But I was passive. ”

“ The philosopher Favorinus too, somewhat loosening and inclining the delicate balance of justice to suit the occasion, thus defined such an indulgence in favour: “That which among men is called favour is the relaxing of strictness in time of need.” ”

“ Now, every fault of disposition and temper, though it may have begun in error of the spirit in ourselves or in some ancestor, by the time it becomes a fault of character is a failing of the flesh, and is to be dealt with as such—that is, by appropriate treatment. ”

“ And, indeed, if modesty, and decency, and chastity, and, in one word, temperance, is only upheld by the fear of punishment or infamy, and not out of regard to their own sanctity, then what lengths will adultery and debauchery and lust shrink from proceeding to, if there is a hope either of escaping detection, or of obtaining impunity or licence? ”

“ If all, says each of these to himself, or nearly all the men in the town, are guilty of this vice, my share of disgrace by falling into it will be but small, as I shall only bear my proportion as one among so large a number; and if all, or nearly all the women, are disposed to be lewd and wanton, it will rarely happen that I shall meet with one that will not yield to my solicitations. ”

“ As for the fiacre-men,—how like fiasco, fiacre looks written!—they drive as if their souls' salvation depended on just grazing the wheel of every vehicle they pass. When two of them yell out at once, as they go by each other, it is enough to deafen one. ”

“ Especially when that Opprestion is Aggravated with a Wanton Cruelty, and with Blood and Rapine, for the very love of Wickedness. It is a kind of Arrogance, in such a case, to be Honest, where 'tis both a Fashion, and a Credit to be Other. ”

“ The Linking of a Man of Brains and Honesty into a Lewd Insipid Conversation, is Effectually but the Moral of That Tyrant, that Bound the Living, and the Dead together, and yet This is it which the Impertiaent takes for the Relief of Solitude, and the Blessing of That which he calls Company. ”

“ Love betrayed, trust violated, aspiration misinterpreted, were the spiritual aspects; a divided household, entangling obligations, a probability of serious loss, were the material evils which accompanied them. ”

“ You'll say that rule is absurd, inasmuch as it is not observed in human life: that I allow, but we know the inflictions of Providence are for wise purposes, therefore our reason willingly submits to them. ”

“ I shall in all probability write you again before I set out, but any communication you have to make to me here ought to by someone at farthest in two or three days after the court. on the subject of the business at the Ferry I want you to be as watchfull [sic] as a Hawk but as Inocent [sic] as a dove say nor do anything to the Injury of any but mark what passes. I have sinned too often to desire the punishment of others. ”

“ I have known a casual word spoken by a vicious servant, plant the seeds of vice in a young and previously-innocent mind, which have afterwards produced a harvest of misery, desolation, and remorse, in the bosom of a happy and virtuous family. ”

“ These two experiences prove how unwise it would be to form one’s estimate of all, in any circumstances, by the freaks and folly of a few. How easy to excuse much heedlessness and frivolity, hoping for better things with coming years, if out from among many youthful follies such good traits are made apparent! ”

“ Do as I do--take 'em easy.' 'But how,' I said once to him, 'if I've got a different temper from yours, and worry myself to death about trifles?' 'Then you are much to be pitied,' said he, 'and I shall not trouble myself about you.' I pressed, him, though, a little. 'If a man is good?' I asked. ”

“ They stalk about in our midst as living reproaches, as warnings to us—as though health, fitness, strength, pride, the sensation of power, were really vicious things in themselves, for which one would have some day to do penance, bitter penance. ”

“ Exceeding welcome her wrath, and her anger pleasant,—and sweet her bitterness, sweetening bitter things—that they may be made pleasant.
9. A cause of negligence is Thy indulgence to the careless;—a cause of profit, is Thy rod among the slothful—so that they become as traffickers. ”

“ Then I see that it's not my fault, but the rogues', and it strikes me that I have heard that they often play that trick on Court tradesmen who don't tip them, and let them wander about till they sweat. And my fury makes me blind and stupid, and I get to places where there's not a living soul, and don't know where I am and get properly put about. ”

“ The Book of Job gives the emphatic denial to the claim that specific human misery and suffering are the sure signs of the retribution for specific guilt or sin. The Great Teacher and Divine Savior of men reaffirmed the truth of the teachings of that ancient poem by asserting that the man born blind was not thus grievously afflicted because he himself or his parents had been guilty of some peculiar iniquity. ”

“ The fury which appeared on that occasion, was so general and so contagious, that not only priests and court sycophants, but men of virtuous minds and generous tempers, were transported, as it were, out of their proper nature, and seemed to divest themselves of the common notices and principles of humanity. ”