ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING 



297 



For 



SUSPICION 



Distrust is the sinew of prudence, 

 and suspicion a strengthener of the 

 understanding. 



That sincerity is justly suspected 

 which suspicion weakens. 



Suspicion breaks a frail integrity, 

 but confirms a strong one. 



For 



Suspicion breaks the bonds of trust. 

 To be overrun with suspicion is a 

 kind of political madness. 



TACITURNITY 



Against 



Nothing is concealed from a silent From a silent man all things are 



man, for all is safely deposited with 

 him. 



He who easily talks what he knows, 

 will also talk what he knows not. 



Mysteries are due to secrets. 



concealed, because he returns noth 

 ing but silence. 



Change of customs keeps men secret. 



Secrecy is the virtue of a confessor. 



A close man is like a man unknown. 



For 



TEMPERANCE 



Against 



To abstain and sustain are nearly 

 the same virtue. 



Uniformity, concords, and the meas 

 ure of motions, are things celestial and 

 the characters of eternity. 



Temperance, like wholesome cold, 

 collects and strengthens the force of 

 the mind. 



When the senses are too exquisite 

 and wandering, they want narcotics, 

 so likewise do wandering affections. 



I like not bare negative virtues; 

 they argue innocence, not merit. 



The mind languishes that is not 

 sometimes spirited up by excess. 



I like the virtues which produce the 

 vivacity of action, not the dulness of 

 passion. 



The sayings, &quot;Not to use, that you 

 may not desire&quot; ; &quot;Not to desire, that 

 you may not fear,&quot; etc., proceed from 

 pusillanimous and distrustful natures. 



For 



VAINGLORY 



Against 



He who seeks his own praise at the 

 same time seeks the advantage of 

 others. 



He who is so strait-laced as to 

 regard nothing that belongs to others, 

 will perhaps account public affairs im 

 pertinent. 



Such dispositions as have a mixture 

 of levity, more easily undertake a pub 

 lic charge. 



The vainglorious are always fa 

 cetious, false, fickle, and upon the 

 extreme. 



Thraso is Gnatho s prey. 



It is shameful in a lover to court 

 the maid instead of the mistress, but 

 praise is only virtue s handmaid. 



For 



UNOHASTITY 



Against 



It is jealousy that makes chastity 

 a virtue. 



Incontinence is one of Circe s worst 

 transformations. 



