Themes

"Bonum est fugienda adspicere in alieno malo."

"From good to bad, and from bad to worse, From worse unto that is worst of all, And then return to his former fall."

"Quemcumque miserum videris, hominem scias."

"Nil est nec miserius nec stultius quam prætimere. Quæ ista dementia est, malum suum antecedere!"

"Calamitas virtutis occasio est."

"Nihil infelicius eo, cui nihil unquam evenit adversi, non licuit enim illi se experiri."

"As if Misfortune made the Throne her Seat, And none could be unhappy but the Great."

"I never knew any man in my life, who could not bear another's misfortunes perfectly like a Christian."

"Paucis temeritas est bono, multis malo."

"Quicumque amisit dignitatem pristinam Ignavis etiam jocus est in casu gravi."

"Rocks whereon greatest men have oftest wreck'd."

"Suave mari magno, turbantibus æquora ventis E terra magnum alterius spectare laborum."

"Let us be of good cheer, however, remembering that the misfortunes hardest to bear are those which never come."

"One more unfortunate Weary of breath, Rashly importunate, Gone to her death."

"Take her up tenderly, Lift her with care; Fashioned so slenderly, Young and so fair!"

"But strong of limb And swift of foot misfortune is, and, far Outstripping all, comes first to every land, And there wreaks evil on mankind, which prayers Do afterwards redress."

"Quando la mala ventura se duerme, nadie la despierte."

"A raconter ses maux souvent on les soulage."

"Most of our misfortunes are more supportable than the comments of our friends upon them."

"Conscientia rectæ voluntatis maxima consolatio est rerum incommodarum."

"It is the nature of mortals to kick a fallen man."

"None think the great unhappy, but the great."

"Misfortune had conquered her, how true it is, that sooner or later the most rebellious must bow beneath the same yoke."

"We have seen better days."

"Such a house broke! So noble a master fallen! All gone! and not One friend to take his fortune by the arm, And go along with him."

"O, give me thy hand, One writ with me in sour misfortune's book."

"And worse I may be yet: the worst is not So long as we can say "This is the worst.""

"Misfortunes cannot suffice to make a fool into an intelligent man."

"When bad fortune occurs, the unresourceful, unimaginative man looks about him to attach the blame to someone else; the resolute accepts misfortune and endeavors to survive, mature, and improve because of it."

"There is something very amusing in the misfortunes of others."

"He who travels the hazardous road of misfortune courageously, leaves it strewn with sweet flowers of consolation for others."

"A man may be reputed an able man this year, and yet be a beggar the next; it is a misfortune that happens to many men, and his former reputation will signify nothing."

"Fallen, fallen, fallen, fallen, Fallen from his high estate, And welt'ring in his blood; Deserted at his utmost need, By those his former bounty fed; On the bare earth expos'd he lies, With not a friend to close his eyes."

"I was a stricken deer that left the herd Long since."

"He went like one that hath been stunn'd, And is of sense forlorn: A sadder and a wiser man, He rose the morrow morn."

"MISFORTUNE, n. The kind of fortune that never misses."

"Calamity is man's true touch-stone."

"Misers are evil people, they turn away and disregard others."

"Tam deest avaro quod habet, quam quod non habet."

"Abiturus illuc priores abierunt, Quid mente cæca torques spiritum? Tibi dico, avare."

"If I knew a miser, who gave up every kind of comfortable living, all the pleasure of doing good to others, all the esteem of his fellow-citizens, and the joys of benevolent friendship, for the sake of accumulating wealth, Poor man, said I, you pay too much for your whistle."

"Decrepit miser; base, ignoble wretch; I am descended of a gentler blood."

"'Tis strange the miser should his cares employ To gain those riches he can ne'er enjoy; Is it less strange the prodigal should waste His wealth to purchase what he ne'er can taste?"

"He sat among his bags, and, with a look Which hell might be ashamed of, drove the poor Away unalmsed; and midst abundance died— Sorest of evils!—died of utter want."

"The unsunn'd heaps Of miser's treasures."

"His heart is like a maggot-eaten nut: There's nothing in it ; but 'tis closely shut."

"Quærit, et inventis miser abstinet, ac timet uti."

"Hoards after hoards his rising raptures fill; Yet still he sighs, for hoards are wanting still."

"Truly, misers fare not to heavenly realms; nor, indeed, do fools praise generosity. But the wise man rejoices in giving, and by that alone does he become happy hereafter."

"A mere madness, to live like a wretch, and die rich."