Who’d change her booby for another?

  There are no fools so troublesome as those that have

  wit.

  What you would seem to be, be really.

  Hear Reason, or she’ll make you feel her.

  Make haste slowly.

  What’s proper is becoming: See the Blacksmith with

  his white Silk Apron!

  The Morning Daylight appears plainer when you put

  out your Candle.

  The Muses love the Morning.

  Thirst after desert—not reward.

  What is a Butterfly?—at best he’s but a caterpillar

  drest.—The gaudy Fop’s his picture just.

  Tricks and treachery are the practice of fools that

  have not wit enough to be honest.

  Who says Jack is not generous?—he is always fond

  of giving, and cares not for receiving,—what?—why,

  advice.

  When you speak to a man, look on his eyes; when he

  speaks to thee, look on his mouth.

  Observe all men; thyself most.

  If any man flatters me, I’ll flatter him again, though

  he were my best friend.

  If you have time, don’t wait for time.

  There’s none deceived but he that trusts.

  None but the well-bred man knows how to confess a

  fault, or acknowledge himself in an error.

  There is much difference between imitating a good

  man, and counterfeiting him.

  Wink at small faults—remember thou hast great ones.

  To all apparent beauties blind, each blemish strikes an

  envious mind.

  A man of knowledge like a rich soil, feeds

  If not a world of corn, a world of weeds.

  Thou hadst better eat salt with the philosophers of

  Greece, than sugar with the courtiers of Italy.

  None are deceived, but they that confide.

  No wonder Tom grows fat: th’unwieldly sinner

  Makes his whole life but one continual dinner.

  Enjoy the present hour, be mindful of the past;

  And neither fear nor wish the approaches of the

  last.

  Many Foxes grow grey, but few grow good.

  If your head is wax, don’t walk in the Sun.

  Petty & Witty will wound if they hit ye.

  You may be too cunning for One, but not for All.

  Many would live by their Wits, but break for want

  of stock.

  Hide not your Talents, they for Use were made:

  What’s a Sun-Dial in the Shade?

  What signifies knowing the Names, if you know not

  the Natures of Things?

  Death takes no bribes.

  Anger and folly walk cheek by jole; repentance treads

  on both their heels.

  There are three Things extreamly hard: Steel, a

  Diamond and to know oneself.

  Pride is as loud a Beggar as Want, and a great deal

  more saucy.

  If evils come not, then our fears are vain;

  And if they do, fear but augments the pain.

  Be not niggardly of what costs thee nothing, as courtesy,

  counsel, and countenance.

  Man’s tongue is soft, and bone doth lack;

  Yet a stroke therewith may break a man’s back.

  To bear other people’s afflictions, every one has courage

  and enough to spare.

  All blood is alike ancient.

  Those who are fear’d, are hated.

  Let thy discontents be thy secrets;—if the world

  knows them ’twill despise thee and increase them.

  Nick’s passions grow fat and hearty: his understanding

  looks consumptive!

  A lie stands on one leg, truth on two.

  Great wits jump, says the poet, and hit his head

  against the post.

  Ceremony is not Civility; nor Civility Ceremony.

  Graft good fruit all, or graft not at all.

  Many complain of their Memory, few of their Judgment.

  A soft Tongue may strike hard.

  You may talk too much on the best of subjects.

  Don’t overload gratitude; if you do, she’ll kick.

  At 20 years old, the will reigns; at 30 the wit; at 40 the

  judgment.

  What’s given shines, what’s receiv’d is rusty.

  Mankind are very odd Creatures: One Half censure

  what they practice, the other half practice what they

  censure; the rest always say and do as they ought.

  Great Merit is coy, as well as great Pride.

  Hold your Council before Dinner; the full Belly hates

  thinking as well as Acting.

  Praise to the undeserving, is severe Satyr.

  He is not well bred, that cannot bear Ill-Breeding in

  others.

  Kings and bears often worry their keepers.

  Great talkers, little doers.

  After feasts made, the maker scratches his head.

  Doors and walls are fools’ paper.

  He has lost his boots, but sav’d his spurs.

  Men and melons are hard to know.

  Craft must be at charge for clothes, but Truth can go

  naked.

  Write Injuries in Dust, Benefits in Marble.

  A Slip of the Foot you may soon recover, but a slip of

  the Tongue you may never get over.

  Cut the Wings of your Hens and Hopes, lest they

  lead you a weary Dance after them.

  The Horse thinks one thing, and he that saddles him

  another.

  Love your Neighbour; yet don’t pull down your

  Hedge.

  Tongue double, brings Trouble.

  Would you live with ease, do what you ought, and

  not what you please.

  People who are wrapped up in themselves make small

  packages.

  If you ride a horse, sit close and tight,

  If you ride a man, sit easy and light.

  A pair of good Ears will drink dry an hundred

  Tongues.

  Bite a man, and test his metal.

  Full of courtesie, full of craft.

  Approve not of him who commends all you say.

  The discontented Man finds no easy Chair.

  Take heed of the Vinegar of sweet Wine, and the Anger

  of Good-nature.

  You may delay, but Time will not.

  Despair ruins some, Presumption many.

  Presumption first blinds a Man, then sets him a

  running.

  Blame-all and Praise-all are two blockheads.

  What one relishes, nourishes.

  Never spare the parson’s wine, nor the baker’s pudding.

  A great Talker may be no Fool, but he is one that

  relies on him.

  When Reason preaches, if you don’t hear her she’ll

  box your Ears.

  Fools multiply folly.

  Paintings and Fightings are best seen at a distance.

  If you would reap Praise you must sow the Seeds,

  gentle Words and useful Deeds.

  Sudden Pow’r is apt to be insolent, Sudden Liberty

  saucy; that behaves best which has grown gradually.

  If man could have Half his Wishes, he would double

  his Troubles.

  Philosophy as well as Foppery often changes

  Fashion.

  Ever since follies have pleased, fools have been able

  to divert.

  Here comes the orator, with his flood of words, and

  his drop of reason.

  Sally laughs at everything you say. Why? Because she

  has fine teeth.

  Do not do that which you would not have known.

  When death puts out our flame, the snuff will tell, if

  we are wax, or tallow, by the smell.

  Ignorance leads Men into a party, and Shame keeps

  them from getting out again.

  Trust thyself, and another shall not betray thee.

  Anger is never without a Reason, but seldom with a

  good One.

  He that falls in love with himself, will have no rivals.

  Grace thou thy house, and let not that grace thee.

  He that best understands the World, least likes it.

  One Man may be more cunning than another, but not

  more cunning than every body else.

  The Sting of a Reproach is the Truth of it.

  An Ounce of wit that is bought,

  Is worth a Pound that is taught.

  He that resolves to mend hereafter, resolves not to

  mend now.

  An ill Wound, but not an ill Name, may be healed.

  He that Whines for Glass without G, take away L and

  that’s he.

  A quarrelsome Man has no good Neighbours.

  Nothing brings more pain than too much pleasure;

  nothing brings more bondages than too much liberty,

  (or libertinism).

  Read much, but not too many books.

  You may be more happy than princes, if you will be

  more virtuous.

  If you would not be forgotten, as soon as you are

  dead and rotten, either write things worth reading, or

  do things worth the writing.

  Mary’s mouth costs her nothing, for she never opens

  it but at others’ expence.

  Don’t throw Stones at your Neighbours’, if your own

  Windows are Glass.

  Many a Man thinks he is buying Pleasure, when he is

  really selling himself a Slave to it.

  Honest Tom! You may trust him with a house full of

  untold Millstones.

  There is no Man so bad but he secretly respects the

  Good.

  Glass, China, and Reputation, are easily crack’d, and

  never well mended.

  Pray don’t burn my House to roast your Eggs.

  We must give Advice, but we cannot give Conduct.

  Fly pleasures, and they’ll follow you.

  Since thou are not sure of a Minute, throw not away

  an Hour.

  Since I cannot govern my own Tongue tho’ within

  my own teeth, how can I hope to govern the Tongues

  of others?

  As we must account for every idle Word, so we must

  for every idle Silence.

  If you do what you should not, you must hear what

  you would not.

  Never praise your cider or your horse.

  Reading makes a full man, Meditation a profound

  man, Discourse a clear man.

  The Golden Age never was the present Age.

  Nice Eaters seldom meet with a good Dinner.

  Youth is pert and positive, Age modest and doubting:

  So Ears of Corn when young and light, stand bold

  upright, but hang their Heads when weighty, fully,

  and ripe.

  ’Tis easier to suppress the first Desire, than to satisfy

  all that follow it.

  Drunkenness, that worst of Evils, makes some men

  Fools, some Beasts, some Devils.

  Three good meals a day is bad living.

  Is there anything men take more pains about than to

  make themselves unhappy?

  Cunning proceeds from Want of Capacity.

  Let thy Discontents be Secrets.

  ’Tis easier to prevent bad habits than to break them.

  Blessed is he that expects nothing, for he shall never

  be disappointed.

  When you taste Honey, remember Gall.

  Neglect mending a small Fault, and ’twill soon be a

  great One.

  Beware of him that is slow to anger: He is angry for

  something, and will not be pleased for nothing.

  Many a meal is lost for want of meat.

  Love your Enemies, for they tell you your Faults.

  Dost thou love Life? Then do not squander Time; for

  that’s the Stuff Life is made of.

  ’Tis a strange Forest that has no rotten Wood in’t

  And a strange Kindred that all are good in’t.

  Mad Kings and mad Bulls are not to be held by treaties

  and packthread.

  When there’s more Malice shown than Matter:

  On the Writer falls the Satyr.

  When you’re an Anvil, hold you still;

  When you’re a Hammer, strike your fill.

  Mine is better than Ours.

  He that hath no Ill-Fortune will be troubled with

  Good.

  When the Wine enters, out goes the Truth.

  Little Rogues easily become great Ones.

  You may sometimes be much in the wrong, in owning

  your being in the right.

  Good-Will, like the Wind, bloweth where it listeth.

  The Honestly is sweet, but the Bee has a Sting.

  Half Hospitality opens his Door and shuts up his

  Countenance.

  A flatterer never seems absurd:

  The flatter’d always takes his word.

  Willows are weak, but they bind the Faggot.

  He makes a Foe, who makes a Jest.

  Suspicion may be no fault, but showing it may be a

  great one.

  Words may shew a man’s Wit, but Actions his

  Meaning.

  Vain-glory flowereth, but beareth no Fruit.

  Be civil to all; sociable to many; familiar with few;

  Friend to one; Enemy to none.

  To-morrow every Fault is to be amended; but that

  To-morrow never comes.