-
Articles/Ads
Article DETACHED THOUGHTS, ← Page 2 of 2 Article ON DESPAIR. Page 1 of 2 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Detached Thoughts,
grief at not being able to render a just account of it . —Pliny , the author of the Natural Plistory , was suffocated by the flames and vapours of Mount Gibel , in Sicily , in endeavouring to search into the cause from whence proceeded that vast fire which destroyed all the neighbouring country , in the reign of the Emperor Titus , in such a man- ' ner that seven or eight towns were burnt ; and many persons at sea and on land suffocated bits ashescarried in clouds by the wind .
y , —Demarate having been often questioned by an importunate fellow , who was the man the most estimable at Sparta ? That one , replied he , who resembles you the least . —The Consul Fabutus , at the age of se-\ ' -enty , had so little curiosity in his nature , that he had never quitted his town of Rhcgio to go to Messnna , though it was but two leagues by water : somebody asking him the reason ; the boat , saj's he , is a
foolish thing , for it is ever in motion ; the mariner is a fool , for he never remains in one opinion ; the water partakes of the same folly , for there is no stopping its motion ; and , lastly , the wind is also mad , for it blows continually : when we meet a madman in our walks , do we not siiun him ; why then should I venture my life at sea to the disposal of so much foil } ' ?—Our curiosity should never lead us to discover
things beyond our power;—why endeavour to know the nature of fire , capable to destroy us ?—> why take a pleasure in forging darts , to turn against ourselves ?—Since the sun dazzles , and that we cannot look at him without weeping for our temerity , we ought to turn away our eyes from his burning rays . —The philosopher Tales , in contemplating the starsfell into a muddy ditch—a woman helping him out
, said , "T am much surprized that you should be desirous of knowing " what is so far removed from 3 ou , and yet so ignorant of what is at " ¦ your feet . "—An antient philosopher said , that men had a great curiosity to know how the world was made , but little or no desire to know how they themselves were made .
On Despair.
ON DESPAIR .
' The crime pf despair is the greatest of all , for the man who suffers himself to be carried away by it , denies the existence and the goodness of God , and blasphemes against his mercy , as thinking him incapable to pardon his offences ; and which certainly are thoughts the most criminal ancl unnatural that can possibly be imagined . —Zoma , that great philosopher , after having many years taught his scholars the
knowledge of sound reason , at last lost his reason , and by laying violent hands on himself contradicted what he had so long been teaching , —for which reason the Ly dians took away his statue from the Temple of Memory , that the man mig ht be soon forgot together with his crime . —Despair ( said a certain author ) in war is the most powerful and invincible effort : for which reason the antient Roman chiefs we-re careful to instil into the minds of their soldiers the necessity of vanquishing , and depriving the enemy as much as lay iu their power of any such hopes , very frequently opening a passage to facilitate
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Detached Thoughts,
grief at not being able to render a just account of it . —Pliny , the author of the Natural Plistory , was suffocated by the flames and vapours of Mount Gibel , in Sicily , in endeavouring to search into the cause from whence proceeded that vast fire which destroyed all the neighbouring country , in the reign of the Emperor Titus , in such a man- ' ner that seven or eight towns were burnt ; and many persons at sea and on land suffocated bits ashescarried in clouds by the wind .
y , —Demarate having been often questioned by an importunate fellow , who was the man the most estimable at Sparta ? That one , replied he , who resembles you the least . —The Consul Fabutus , at the age of se-\ ' -enty , had so little curiosity in his nature , that he had never quitted his town of Rhcgio to go to Messnna , though it was but two leagues by water : somebody asking him the reason ; the boat , saj's he , is a
foolish thing , for it is ever in motion ; the mariner is a fool , for he never remains in one opinion ; the water partakes of the same folly , for there is no stopping its motion ; and , lastly , the wind is also mad , for it blows continually : when we meet a madman in our walks , do we not siiun him ; why then should I venture my life at sea to the disposal of so much foil } ' ?—Our curiosity should never lead us to discover
things beyond our power;—why endeavour to know the nature of fire , capable to destroy us ?—> why take a pleasure in forging darts , to turn against ourselves ?—Since the sun dazzles , and that we cannot look at him without weeping for our temerity , we ought to turn away our eyes from his burning rays . —The philosopher Tales , in contemplating the starsfell into a muddy ditch—a woman helping him out
, said , "T am much surprized that you should be desirous of knowing " what is so far removed from 3 ou , and yet so ignorant of what is at " ¦ your feet . "—An antient philosopher said , that men had a great curiosity to know how the world was made , but little or no desire to know how they themselves were made .
On Despair.
ON DESPAIR .
' The crime pf despair is the greatest of all , for the man who suffers himself to be carried away by it , denies the existence and the goodness of God , and blasphemes against his mercy , as thinking him incapable to pardon his offences ; and which certainly are thoughts the most criminal ancl unnatural that can possibly be imagined . —Zoma , that great philosopher , after having many years taught his scholars the
knowledge of sound reason , at last lost his reason , and by laying violent hands on himself contradicted what he had so long been teaching , —for which reason the Ly dians took away his statue from the Temple of Memory , that the man mig ht be soon forgot together with his crime . —Despair ( said a certain author ) in war is the most powerful and invincible effort : for which reason the antient Roman chiefs we-re careful to instil into the minds of their soldiers the necessity of vanquishing , and depriving the enemy as much as lay iu their power of any such hopes , very frequently opening a passage to facilitate