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Transcriber's Notes: Words surrounded by _underscores_ are in italics in
the original.

Variations in spelling and hyphenation have been left as in the
original. Some typographical and punctuation errors have been corrected.
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break. All other asterisks indicate ellipses. Ellipses match the
original.

Table of Contents was added by the Transcriber.





                           LIFE

                           AND

                        LITERATURE


                      [Illustration]


                OVER TWO THOUSAND EXTRACTS
             FROM ANCIENT AND MODERN WRITERS,
                      AND CLASSIFIED
                  IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER


                            BY

                  J. PURVER RICHARDSON.


                      COPYRIGHT 1910
                 BY J. PURVER RICHARDSON


                         PRESS OF
                    BROWN-MORRISON CO.
                      LYNCHBURG, VA.




PREFACE


Good sir, or madam, whosoever thou mayest be, to whom this volume shall
come, cast it not aside, but read it. Its quaint, curious, and helpful
selections have been gathered through many years of careful research on
both sides of the Atlantic. They will make thee wiser and better, and
will conduce to the growth of thy mind, and the health of thy body. Let
this book be to thee a magazine of literary food, of which thou shalt
partake, and which thou shalt assimilate and digest to the constant
increase of thy well being.

The gathering of this bouquet of literary gems has been a work of
pleasure, but the compiler shall say nothing of himself for, "the least
that one can say of himself is still too much."




                        DEDICATED

                      AFFECTIONATELY

                            TO

                       MY CHILDREN

                JOHN PURVER AND ANNIE SUE,

                           AND

     "_To mine own People: meaning those within
      The magic ring of home--my kith and kin;_

      _And those with whom my soul delights to dwell--
      Who walk with me as friends, and wish me well;_

      _And lastly, those--a large unnumbered band,
      Unknown to me--who read and understand._"




CONTENTS


                                              PAGE
     PREFACE                                     3
     Letter A                                    7
     Letter B                                   27
     Letter C                                   46
     Letter D                                   99
     Letter E                                  112
     Letter F                                  119
     Letter G                                  148
     Letter H                                  168
     Letter I                                  199
     Letter J                                  210
     Letter K                                  213
     Letter L                                  220
     Letter M                                  248
     Letter N                                  295
     Letter O                                  300
     Letter P                                  306
     Letter Q                                  332
     Letter R                                  333
     Letter S                                  344
     Letter T                                  379
     Letter U                                  399
     Letter V                                  400
     Letter W                                  402
     Letter Y                                  433
     Letter Z                                  435
     INDEX                                     437




LIFE AND LITERATURE




A


1

_Abilities_--No man's abilities are so remarkably shining, as not to
stand in need of a proper opportunity, a patron, and even the praises of
a friend, to recommend them to the notice of the world.

                                                  --_Pliny._


2

     Absence, with all its pains,
     Is by this charming moment wip'd away.


3

Abuse is the weapon of the vulgar.

                                               --_Goodrich._


4

It is told of Admiral Collingwood that on his travels he carried a bag
of acorns, and dropped one wherever there seemed a likely spot for an
oak to grow, that England might never lack ships.

                                      --_English Newspaper._


5

_Acquaintances_--It is easy to make acquaintances, but sometimes
difficult to shake them off, however irksome and unprofitable they are
found, after we have once committed ourselves to them.


6

Acquaintance softens prejudices.


7

Many persons I once thought great, dwindle into very small dimensions,
on a short acquaintance.

                                                  --_Bacon._


8

     Speak out in acts, the time for words
     Has passed, and deeds alone suffice.

                                            --_Shakespeare._


9

All may do what has by Man been done.

                                                  --_Young._


10

An act, by which we make one friend, and one enemy, is a losing game;
because revenge is a much stronger principle than gratitude.


11

All the world practices the art of acting.

                                      --_Petronius Arbiter._


12

Do what you can, when you cannot do what you would.


13

A good action performed in this world receives its recompense in the
other, just as water poured at the root of a tree appears again above in
fruit and flower.


14

If the world were to see our real motives, we should be ashamed of some
of our best actions.


15

Our actions are our own; their consequences belong to Heaven.

                                                --_Francis._


16

What thou intendest to do, speak not of, before thou doest it.


17

There is as much eloquence in the tone of voice, in the eyes, and in the
air of a speaker, as in his choice of words.

                                          --_Rochefoucauld._


18

_Actions_--What I must do, is all that concerns me, and not what people
think.

                                                --_Emerson._


19

An actor, when asked by the Archbishop of Canterbury why actors were
more successful in impressing their auditors than preachers, replied,
"Actors speak of things imaginary as if they were real, while you
preachers too often speak of things real as if they were imaginary."


20

ON LEAVING, AFTER A SHORT VISIT.

     She gazed as I slowly withdrew;
         My path I could hardly discern;
     So sweetly she bade me "adieu,"
         I thought that she bade me return.

                                           --_W. Shenstone._


21

Adversity is sometimes hard upon a man; but for one man who can stand
prosperity, there are a hundred that will stand adversity.

                                                --_Carlyle._


22

Adversity does not take from us our true friends; it only disperses
those who pretended to be so.


23

Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents, which, in prosperous
circumstances, would have lain dormant.

                                                 --_Horace._


24

He who never was acquainted with adversity, has seen the world but on
one side, and is ignorant of half the scenes of nature.


25

In prosperity the proud man knows nobody; in adversity nobody knows him.

                                 --_From Scottish-American._


26

The finest friendships have been formed in mutual adversity.

                                                  --_Latin._


27

It is a disingenuous thing to ask for _advice_, when you mean
_assistance_; and it will be a just punishment if you get that which you
pretended to want.

                                           --_Sir A. Helps._


28

Before giving advice we must have secured its acceptance, or rather,
have made it desired.

                                                  --_Amiel._


29

There is nothing more difficult than the art of making advice agreeable.


30

Every man, however wise, sometimes requires the advice of a friend in
the affairs of life.

                                                --_Plautus._


31

He who gives advice to a self-conceited man, stands himself in need of
counsel.


32

Pouring water on a duck's back. (Fruitless counsel or advice).

                                                --_Chinese._


33

Most people, when they come to you for advice, come to have their own
opinions strengthened, not corrected.


34

CLERICAL AFFECTATION.

     In man or woman, but far most in man,
     And most of all in man that ministers
     And serves the altar, in my soul I loathe
     All affectation. 'Tis my perfect scorn;
     Object of my implacable disgust.
     What! Will a man play tricks, will he indulge
     A silly fond conceit of his fair form
     And just proportion, fashionable mien,
     And pretty face, in presence of his God?
     Or will he seek to dazzle me with tropes,
     As with the diamond on his lily hand,
     And play his brilliant parts before my eyes
     When I am hungry for the bread of life?
     He mocks his Maker, prostitutes and shames
     His noble office, and, instead of truth,
     Displaying his own beauty, starves his flock.

                                                 --_Cowper._


35

_The Cure of Affectation_--Is to follow nature. If every one would do
this, affectation would be almost unknown.

                                            --_J. Beaumont._


36

Affectation of any kind, is lighting up a candle to our defects.

                                                  --_Locke._


37

Affectation is the vain and ridiculous attempt of poverty to appear
rich.

                                                --_Lavater._


38

     How sad to notice in one--changed affections,
     A cold averted eye.

                                               --_Observer._


39

AFFLICTION.

     Be still, sad heart, and cease repining,
     Behind the clouds the sun is shining;
     Thy fate is the common fate of all;
     Into each life some rain must fall--,
         Some days must be dark and dreary.

                                             --_Longfellow._


40

_Affliction_--For every sort of suffering there is sleep provided by a
gracious Providence, save that of sin.

                                              --_J. Wilson._


41

     Affliction's sons are brothers in distress;
     A brother to relieve, how exquisite the bliss!

                                                  --_Burns._


42

_Affronts_--Young men soon give, and soon forget affronts; old age is
slow in both.

                                                --_Addison._


43

Old age is a joy, when youth has been well spent.


44

THE APPROACH OF AGE.

     Six years had passed, and forty ere the six,
     When time began to play his usual tricks;
     The locks once comely in a virgin's sight,
     Locks of pure brown, displayed the encroaching white;
     The blood, once fervid, now to cool began,
     And Time's strong pressure to subdue the man.
     I rode or walked as I was wont before,
     But now the bounding spirit was no more;
     A moderate pace would now my body heat,
     A walk of moderate length distress my feet.
     I showed my stranger guest those hills sublime,
     But said, "The view is poor, we need not climb."
     At a friend's mansion I began to dread
     The cold neat parlor and