2. Though bright, it dazzleth not; though obscure, it displeaseth not; though sweet, it cloyeth not; though corrupt, it forbiddeth not, yet who is he that knoweth its true value?
3. Learn to esteem as thou ought; then art thou near the pinnacle of wisdom.
4. Think not, with the fool, that nothing is more valuable; nor believe, with the pretended wise, that thou oughtest to condemn it. Love it not thyself, but for the good it may be of to others.
5. Gold cannot buy it for thee neither mines of diamonds purchase back the moment thou hast now lost it. Employ the succeeding ones in virtue.
6. Say not that it were best not to have been born: or, if born that it has been best to die early; neither dare thou to ask of thy Creator, "Where has been the evil, had I not existed?" Good is thy power, the want of good is evil; and if thy question be just, lo, it condemneth thee.
7. Would the fish swallow the bait if he knew the hook were hidden therein? Would the lion enter the toils if he saw they were prepared for him? So neither, were the soul to perish with this clay, neither would a merciful Father have created him; know hence thou shalt live afterwards.
8. As the bird, enclosed in the cage before he seeth it, yet teareth not his flesh against its sides; so neither labor thou vainly to run the state thou art in, but know it is alloted thee, and be content with it.
9. Though its ways are uneven, yet they are not all painful. Accommodate thyself to all; and where there is the least appearance of evil, suspect the greatest danger.
10. When thy bed is straw, thou sleepest in security; but when thou stretcheth thyself on roses beware of the thorns.
11. A good death is better than an evil life; strive therefore, to live as long as thou oughtest, not as long as thou canst. While thy life is to others worth more than thy death, it is thy duty to preserve it.
12. Complain not, with the fool, of the shortness of thy time: remember, with thy days thy cares are shortened.
13. Take from the period of thy life the useless part of it, and what remaineth?
14. Take off the time of thine infancy, thy second infancy of age, thy sleep, thy thoughtless hours, thy days of sickness; and, even at thy fulness of years, how few seasons hast truly numbered!
15. He who gave thee life as a blessing, shortened it to make it even more so.
16. To what end would longer life have served thee? Wishest thou to have had an opportunity of more vices? As to the good, will not He who limited thy span, be satisfied with the fruits of it?
17. To what end, O child of sorrow, wouldst thou live longer. To breathe, to eat, to see the world? All this thou hast done often already. Too frequent repetition, is it not tiresome? Or is it not superfluous?
18. Wouldst thou improve thy wisom and thy virtue? Alas! What art thou to know? Or who is it that shall teach thee? Badly thou employest the little thou hast; dare not, therfore, to complain that the more is not given thee.
19. Repine not at thy want of knowledge; it must perish within the grave. Be honest here, thou shalt be wise hereafter.
20. Say not unto the crow, "Why numberest thou seven times thy Lord?" or to the fawn, "Why art thine eyes to see my offspring an hundred generations?" Are these to be compared with thee in the abuse of life?
21. Are they riotous? Are they cruel? Are they ungrateful? Learn from them, rather, that innocence of manners are the paths of good old age.
22. Knowest thou to employ life better than these? Then less of it may suffice thee.
23. Man, who dares enslave the world, when he knows he can enjoy his tyranny but for a moment, what would he not aim at, if he were immortal.
24. Enough hath thou of life, but thou regardest it not; thou are not in want of it, O man, but thou art prodigal; thou threwest it lightly away, as if thou hadst more than enough; and yet thou repinest that it is not gathered again unto thee. Know, that it is not abundance which maketh rich, but Economy.
25. The wise continueth to live from his first period; the fool is always beginning.
26. Labor not after riches first, and think thou wilt afterwards enjoy them. He who neglecteth the present moment, throweth away all that he hath. As the arrow passeth through the heart while the warrior knew not that it was coming; so shall his life be taken away, before he knoweth that he hath it.
27. What then is life, that man should desire it? What, breathing that he should covet it?
28. Is it not a scene of delusion, a series of misadventures, a pursuit of evils linked on all sides together? In the beginning, it is ignorance, pain is in its middle; and its end is sorrow.
29. As one wave pusheth on another, till both are involved in that behind them; even so succeedeth evil to evil, in the life of man; the greatest and the present swallow up the lesser and the past. Our terrors are real evils; our expectations look forward into impossibilities.
30. Fools, to dread as mortals, and to desire as if immortal!
31. What part of life is it that we should wish to remain with us? Is it youth? Can we be in love with outrage, licentiousness, and temerity? Is it age? Then we are fond of infirmities.
32. It is said, grey hairs are revered, and length of days an honor. Virtue can add reverence to the bloom of youth; and without it, age plants more wrinkles in the soul than on the forehead.
33. Is age respected because it hateth riot? What justice is in this when it is not age that despiseth pleasure, but pleasure that despiseth age.
34. Be virtuous while thou are young, so shall thine age be honored.