Diotimos Reading Desk

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← ExitThe Anatomy of Melancholy

Reading language

Member 7 Against Rejection, Abuse, Injuries, Contempt, Disgrace, Insults…

“Be at peace with everyone, at war with vice. Do not be idle. Look before you leap. Beware of having to say, ‘If only I had known.’”

“Honour your parents; speak well of your friends. Be moderate in four things: your tongue, your purse, your eyes and your cups. Watch your eye. Keep your spending moderate. Listen much; speak little. Endure and abstain. If you see something wrong in someone else, correct it in yourself. Keep your own counsel; do not reveal your secrets; keep your intentions to yourself.”

“Do not listen to tale-bearers or babblers; do not be coarse or abusive in conversation. Make jokes without bitterness; give nobody cause for offence; put your house in order. Beware of standing surety. Trust, yet be wary: like a fox on the ice, take care whom you trust.”

“Do not live beyond your means. Give cheerfully. Pay what you owe willingly. Do not be a slave to your money. Do not miss the occasion: seize the opportunity and waste no time. Be humble towards your superiors, respectful towards your equals, and courteous to everyone, but not overfamiliar. Flatter nobody.”

“Do not lie or dissemble. Keep your word and your promise; remain firm in a good resolution. Speak the truth. Do not be opinionated or support factions. Lay no wagers; make no comparisons. Do not find fault or meddle in other people’s affairs. Do not admire yourself. Be neither proud nor eager for popular favour. Do not exult over others. Treat Fortune with respect.”

“Do not fear what cannot be avoided. Do not grieve for what cannot be recalled. Do not undervalue yourself. Do not rashly accuse or praise anyone. Do not go to law without serious cause. Do not contend with a more powerful man. Do not cast off an old friend; beware of an enemy who has been reconciled.”

“If you come as a guest, do not stay too long. Do not be ungrateful. Be gentle, merciful and patient. Do good to everyone. Do not be taken in by fine words. Do not remain neutral in a factional conflict; moderate your passions. Think of no place as being without a witness.”

“Admonish your friend in private; praise him in public. Keep good company. Love others so that you yourself may be loved. Love as though you might one day hate. Be slow to become a friend. Prepare for a storm. Do not stir up hornets.”

“Do not sell your soul for profit. Do not make a fool of yourself to amuse others. Do not marry an old crone or a fool for money. Do not be excessively anxious or inquisitive. Seek what can be found. Do not seem greater than you are. Take your pleasure in moderation. Do not crush the basil.”

“Live as cheerfully as you can. Take warning from other people’s examples. Go about as you would wish to be encountered; sit as you would wish to be found. Yield to the times; follow the current. Would you live free of fears and cares? Live innocently and keep yourself upright: you need no other guardian.” Look for more in Isocrates, Seneca, Plutarch, Epictetus and the rest; and if these fail you, consult cheese-plates and painted cloth hangings.

7358.“Had I wist” means “Had I known”: the regret that follows failure to think ahead. Jerome, Letter 125.11, recommends work so that the devil will find one occupied. The motto’s attribution to Otto II remains unverified.

7362.The list plays on the rhyming loculis, oculis and poculis: purse, eyes and cups. With lingua, the tongue, these concern speech, spending, looking or desire, and drinking. Sustine et abstine is the Stoic rule of endurance and restraint. The adjoining Epictetus margin contains two further counsels, both translated in its note.

7367.Suretyship means becoming responsible for another person’s debt or obligation. Fide et diffide combines trust with caution. The fox-on-ice emblem and its Camerarius number remain for direct collation.

7372.“Respective” means respectful. Tecum habita, literally “dwell with yourself,” occurs at Persius 4.52 as an injunction to self-examination; Burton attaches it to living within one’s means. Bald-backed Opportunity can be grasped as she approaches but not after she has passed.

7376.“Popular” here is taken as courting popular favour; “insult” as exulting over others. The Horace marginal quotations correspond to Epistles 1.18.37–39, despite the printed references to 1.19 and “book 18.” The unusual inscrutaberis is retained. Burton’s version generalizes Horace’s advice about a powerful friend.

7383.Gellius, Attic Nights 2.12, records through Aristotle a law attributed to Solon penalizing neutrality during armed civil division. Gellius explains it as a means of ending strife through the intervention of responsible citizens. Burton’s abbreviated counsel sits in tension with “maintain no factions” earlier in this catalogue.

7386.Ama tanquam osurus counsels guarding against the possibility that affection may turn into enmity. Amicus tardo fias is printed with tardo; its intended sense is “be slow to become a friend.” The Eros/Anteros margin associates love with reciprocal love; its precise Plato reference remains unresolved.

7387.“Old Crony” is rendered as an old crone in this mercenary-marriage context. Ocymum ne terito literally says “Do not crush the basil”; the proverb’s intended application and precise source remain unresolved, so no speculative meaning is substituted in the modern text.

7392.Cheese-trenchers are plates or flat boards for serving cheese. Such objects and painted cloth hangings could carry moral sayings; Burton closes his learned list by pointing to these everyday sources of wisdom. Several anonymous or abbreviated maxim attributions remain for full collation.