CHARACTER. Chinese. Character. CCCCXXXIV. The first requisite in the pursuit of virtue is, that The She-King the learner think of his own improvement, and do not act from a regard to (the admiration of) others. Confucius. "The Mean.' What heaven has conferred is the Nature; an accordance with this nature is the Path. This path may not be left for an instant. On this account the superior man does not wait till he sees things, to be cautious, nor till he hears things, to be apprehensive. There is nothing more visible than what is secret, and nothing more manifest than what is minute. Therefore, the superior man will watch over himself when he is alone. He examines his heart that there may be nothing wrong there, and that he may have no cause for dissatisfaction with himself. That wherein he excels is simply his work which other men cannot see. Are you free from shame in your apartment, when you are exposed only to the light of heaven? How abundantly do spiritual beings display their powers! We look for them, but do not see them; we listen, but hear them not yet they enter into all things, and there is nothing without them. Such is the manifestness of what is hidden! Such is the impossibility of repressing the outgoings of sincerity! Poets. CCCCXXXV. Persian. Poets strike out a road to the inaccessible realm of thought, and divine grace beams forth in their genius. Abul Fazl. He who unites word to word gives away a drop from the blood of his heart. I do not mean a mere external union. Truth and falsehood, wisdom and foolishness, pearls and common shells, though far distant from each other, have a superficial similarity. CCCCXXXVI. Essential Worth. Though a gem be worn on the feet and glass on the head, yet glass is glass and a gem a gem. Hindu. CCCCXXXVII. Firmness. Hindu. A firm-hearted man, improperly repulsed, is not abased though the fire fall down the flame will not Hitopadesa. descend. Least and Greatest. CCCCXXXVIII. Even though a speech be a thousand senseless Pali. words, one word of sense is better, which, if a man Buddha. hear, he becomes quiet. If one man conquer in battle a thousand times thousand men, and if another conquer himself, he is the greatest of conquerors. One's own self conquered is better than all other people; not even a god, a Gandharva, not Mâra with Dhammapala comp. (Müller.) Brahmân could change into defeat the victory of a man who has vanquished himself, and lives under restraint. If a man for a hundred years sacrifice month after month with a thousand, and if he but for one moment pay homage to a man whose soul is grounded (in true knowledge), better is that homage than a sacrifice for a hundred years. If he has lived a hundred years vicious and unrestrained, a life of one day is better if a man is virtuous and reflecting. Arabic. (Madden.) Hindu. Counsels. CCCCXXXIX. True art lies in the abandonment of artifice. Of an empire large as Cæsar's, how small a portion suffices for my wants! and though I have an ocean to quench my thirst, how small a draught allays it! For thy part, never presume to say, 'My origin is such-my property is such; the basis of a man is on his knowledge. Avoid the things which concern thee not: none can prosper without doing so. Excellence receives no hurt from the slight of the world, as the sun is unimpaired by the darkness of the evening. 'Curtail thy hopes, that thou mayest prove happy, for the retrenchment of hope is the health of intellect. Self-discipline. CCCCXL. It is easy for all men to display learning in inHitopadesa structing others; but it is the part of one endued with a great mind to form himself by the rules of justice. Patience. CCCCXLI. To bear with those who revile us, even as the earth bears with those who dig it, is the first of virtues. Bear, even when you can retaliate; to forget is still better. To neglect hospitality is poverty of poverty. To bear with the ignorant is might of might. If you desire that greatness should never leave you, preserve patience. The wise will not at all esteem the resentful. They will treasure the patient as fine gold. The pleasure of the resentful is for a day; the praise of the patient lasts while the world lasts. If others wrong you, compassion for their affliction should keep you from harming them. No pious abstinence equals the abstinence of those who overcome injury by patience. Hindu. CCCCXLII. The Just Man. O Lord who shall abide in thy tabernacle? He who walketh in integrity, and doeth righteous ness, And speaketh the truth from his heart; Who slandereth not with his tongue, Who injureth not his friend, And who bringeth not a reproach against his And he taketh not a bribe against the innocent. He that doeth these things shall never be removed. T Heb. Pa Persian. Sádi. Freedom. CCCCXLIII. They asked a wise man why, out of many trees which the Almighty hath created, lofty and fruit-bearing, the cypress alone is called azad or free, although it beareth not fruit? He replied,' Every tree hath its appointed fruit and season, with which it is at one time flourishing, and at another time destitute and withering; to neither of which states is the cypress exposed, being always flourishing, as is the state of those who are free.' Place not your heart on that which is transitory; for the river Tigris will continue to flow through Bagdad after the Califs shall have ceased to reign. If you are able, imitate the date-tree in liberality; but if you have not the means of munificence, be an azad or free, like the cypress. CCCCXLIV. Hindu. Vemana. Hindu. Rank. Which is the chief caste among all the sects? He who has understanding is of the noblest tribe. Consider not him a pariah who is so by birth: he who breaks his word is far viler. He who reproaches the pariah is baser than he. Of what caste is He who speaks in the pariah? Rare Qualities. CCCCXLV. Liberality attended with mild language; divine Hitopadesa. learning without pride; valour united with mercy; wealth accompanied with generosity: these four quali ties are with difficulty acquired. |