1 1.] ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING. 



aiitcm ejus modes et vins ignorare : non cnim clc virtutc tantum, qua 

 specie sit, quit-rendum cst, scd ct quomodo sui copiain facial ; utrum- 

 quc cnim volumus, et rcm ipsam nosse et cjus compotes fieri ; hoc 

 autem ex voto non succcdct, nisi sciamus ct ex quilms ct quomodo. 

 In such full words and with such iteration doth he inculcate this part : 

 so saith Cicero in great commendation of Cato the second, that he 

 had applied himself to philosophy, &quot; non ita disputandi causa, sed ita 

 vivendi.&quot; And although the neglect of our times, wherein few men 

 do hold any consultations touching the reformation of their life, as 

 Seneca excellently saith, &quot; DC partibus vitai quisque delil oral, dc 

 summa nemo,&quot; may make this part seem superfluous ; yet I must con 

 clude with that aphorism of Hippocrates, &quot; Qui gravi morbo corrcpti 

 dolorcs non scntiunt, iis mcns aegrotat ;&quot; they need medicine not only 

 to assuage the disease, but to awake the sense. And if it be said, tli.tt 

 the cure of men s minds bclongeth to sacred divinity, it is most true: 

 but yet moral philosophy may be preferred unto her as a wise servant 

 and humble handmaid. For as the Psalm saith, that &quot; the eyes of the 

 handmaid look perpetually towards the mistress,&quot; and yet no doubt 

 many things arc left to the discretion of the handmaid, to discern of 

 the mistress s will ; so ought moral philosophy to give a constant 

 attention to the doctrines of divinity, and yet so as it may yield of 

 herself, within due limits, many sound and profitable directions. 



This part therefore, because of the excellency thereof, I cannot but 

 find exceeding strange that it is not reduced to written inquiry, the 

 rather because it consisteth of much matter, wherein both spjcch arc! 

 action is often conversant, and such wherein the common talk of men, 

 which is rare, but yet cometh sometimes to pass, is wiser than their 

 books. It is reasonable therefore that we propound it in the more 

 particularity, both for the worthiness, and because we may acquit our 

 selves for reporting it deficient, which sccmeth almost incredible, and 

 is otherwise conceived and presupposed by those themselves that have 

 written. We will therefore enumerate some heads or points thereof, 

 that it may appear the better what it is, and whether it be extant. 



First, therefore, in this, as in all things which are practical, we 

 ought to cast up our account, what is in our power, and what not ; for 

 the one maybe dealt with by way of alteration, but the other by way of 

 application only. The husbandman cannot command, neither the 

 nature of the earth, nor the seasons of the weather, no more can the 

 physician the constitution of the patient, nor the variety of accidents. 

 So in the culture and cure of the mind of man, two things arc without 

 our command ; points of nature, and points of fortune ; for to the 

 basis of the one, and the conditions of the other, our work is limited 

 and tied. In these things therefore, it is left unto us to proceed by 

 application ; 



Vinccnda cst omnis fortuna fcrendo : 

 and so likewise, 



Vinccnda est omuis n itur.i fcrcndo. 



But when that we speak of suffering, we do not speak of a dull and 



