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Precious Words to Awaken the Age.
MAY,
burdens upon others and light ones on yourself, they will not permit you to share with them in their counsels, nor cooperate with them in their affairs. If you ascribe merits to others and impute faults to yourself, then you will be fully competent to protect from calamity and to support under misfortunes. If you mildly take the reproaches of men, your children will suddenly come to great honor. If you will constantly bear it in mind to concede some little portion of your rights, you will have quiet and leisure as long as you live.
How is it that people feed upon swords, and drink daggers? The superior man by his overbearing self-will and assumption, and the man of low degree by venturing on hazardous actions, and exposing him- self to chance. How do people throw themselves into the water, or strangle themselves? It is by the young man of ordinary parts ventur- ing in slippery places, and the young woman of a high spirit being crossed in her wishes. How is it that people are prematurely cut off, and their prospects suddenly blasted? By speaking vain words, by per- forming vain actions, by cherishing a vain mind—in short, by all sorts of vain behavior. How do people come to meet with severe judg- ments and untimely deaths? By numerous acts of secret malice, by much secret selfishness, and by performing secret actions-in short, by all sorts of secret management. By what means do men bring upon themselves severe sickness terminating in death? By sensual indulgence, lewdness, and dissipation. How do men come to be afflict- ed with grievous ulcers, which finally bring them to the grave? By stuffing themselves with fat and sweetments.
How is it that people become old, and are left without heirs? By being of a morose and so- litary disposition. How is it that people of full age are bereft of their children? By cherishing a treacherous and deceitful mind. How do men come to be afflicted with many grievous calamities? By unjustly oppressing and depriving people of their property. How is it that men unawares break the laws? By not attending to their own business.
If you speak of the character of a wife, you would say first of all that she should know how to be quiet and observe silence. In the next place you would require that she should be a woman of an ex- cellent disposition, and you would not think so much of great talent and power.
If she be stern and authoritative, she will be worthy of being appointed to the first rank. For her to set a light value upon ornaments, would be fully equivalent to a thousand pieces of gold. In the abundant command of words, she must delight to excel. If she have children, she must sacrifice her own comfort. If she practice
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