No Man Hates Him At Whom He

Frequent Discontent Must Proceed From Frequent Hardships.

Surely Nothing Is More Reproachful To A Being Endowed With Reason, Than To Resign Its Powers To The Influence Of The Air, And Live In Dependence On The Weather And The Wind, For The Only Blessings Which Nature Has Put Into Our Power, Tranquillity And Benevolence. To Look Up To The Sky For The Nutriment Of Our Bodies, Is The Condition Of Nature; To Call Upon The Sun For Peace And Gaiety, Or Deprecate The Clouds Lest Sorrow Should Overwhelm Us, Is The Cowardice Of Idleness, And The Idolatry Of Folly.

There Are Goods So Opposed That We Cannot Seize Both, But, By Too Much Prudence, May Pass Between Them At Too Great A Distance To Reach Either.

[the Poet] Must Write As The Interpreter Of Nature And The Legislator Of Mankind, And Consider Himself As Presiding Over The Thoughts And Manners Of Future Generations, As A Being Superior To Time And Place.

Those Who Attain Any Excellence, Commonly Spend Life In One Pursuit; For Excellence Is Not Often Gained Upon Easier Terms.