Letters on the Improvement of the Mind: Addressed to a Lady |
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Page 16
... duties of life , in this manner , you will listen eagerly to the voice of instruction and admonition , and seize every opportuni- ty of improvement ; every useful hint will be laid up in your ... duty to imitate 16 ON THE FIRST PRINCIPLES.
... duties of life , in this manner , you will listen eagerly to the voice of instruction and admonition , and seize every opportuni- ty of improvement ; every useful hint will be laid up in your ... duty to imitate 16 ON THE FIRST PRINCIPLES.
Page 17
... duty to imitate those qualities of the Divinity , which are imitable by us , so it is neces- sary we should know what they are , and fatal to mis- take them . Can those who think of God with servile dread and terror , as of a gloomy ...
... duty to imitate those qualities of the Divinity , which are imitable by us , so it is neces- sary we should know what they are , and fatal to mis- take them . Can those who think of God with servile dread and terror , as of a gloomy ...
Page 19
... duty to an earthly one requires ? —If you were to ask permission of your father to do , or to have any thing you desire , and he should refuse it to you , would you obstinately persist in setting your heart upon it , notwithstanding his ...
... duty to an earthly one requires ? —If you were to ask permission of your father to do , or to have any thing you desire , and he should refuse it to you , would you obstinately persist in setting your heart upon it , notwithstanding his ...
Page 20
... duty , how will it support and animate you , to refer yourself to your Almighty Father ! -to be assured that he knows your state and your in- tentions ; that no effort of virtue is lost in his sight , nor the least of your actions or ...
... duty , how will it support and animate you , to refer yourself to your Almighty Father ! -to be assured that he knows your state and your in- tentions ; that no effort of virtue is lost in his sight , nor the least of your actions or ...
Page 22
... duty . Your Bible , then , must be your chief study and delight : but , as it contains many various kinds of writing , some parts obscure and difficult of interpretation , others plain and intelligible to the meanest capacity , I would ...
... duty . Your Bible , then , must be your chief study and delight : but , as it contains many various kinds of writing , some parts obscure and difficult of interpretation , others plain and intelligible to the meanest capacity , I would ...
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acquainted admiration advantage affection agreeable ancient Apocrypha appear Assyrian empire attention behavior believe blessed book of CHRONICLES book of Kings character Charlemagne Christ Christian Chronology companions connex connexion contempt conversation cultivate dearest Niece degree delight desire duty empire endeavor entertaining epocha esteem evil excellent faults feel fellow creatures friendship Gauls give Grecian happiness heart Histories of Greece hope human important improvement indulged infirmities innocent Israelites Jews Julius Cæsar kind knowledge learned least lence MACCABEES mankind manner marriage means ment mind moral Mosaic law nations nature necessary never object observation ourselves parents particular passion perfection perhaps person pleasure poetry portunities precepts proper pursuit reason recommend regard religion resentment Roman rule sacking of Rome Saracen seldom servants sincere Sirach spirit suppose temper tenderness thing tion true truth understanding vanity virtue whilst wish woman young
Popular passages
Page 51 - If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain.
Page 79 - Some friend is a companion at the table, and will not continue in the day of thy affliction : but in thy prosperity he will be as thyself, and will be bold over thy servants. If thou be brought low, he will be against thee, and hide himself from thy face. What can be more strong and pointed than the following verse ? ' Separate thyself from thine enemies, and take heed of thy friends.
Page 82 - Whoso discovereth secrets, loseth his credit, and shall never find a friend to his mind. Love thy friend, and be faithful unto him; but if thou betrayest his secrets, follow no more after him: for as a man hath destroyed his enemy, so hast thou lost the love of thy friend; as one that letteth a bird go out of his hand, so hast thou let thy friend go...
Page 106 - which has the promise of this life as well as of that which is to come.
Page 119 - How oft, and of how many shall he be laughed to scorn ! for he knoweth not aright what it is to have; and it is all one unto him as if he had it not.
Page 79 - If thou wouldst get a friend prove him first, and be not hasty to credit him; for some man is a friend for his own occasion, and will not abide in the day of thy trouble. And there is a friend, who being turned to enmity and strife will discover thy reproach.
Page 114 - ... may tempt you to lay aside for a time, and which a thousand unforeseen" accidents will afterwards render it more and more difficult to execute. No one can say what important consequences may follow a trivial neglect of this kind. For example, I have known one of these procrastinators disoblige and gradually lose very valuable friends, by delaying to write to them so long, that, having no good excuse to offer, she could not get courage enough to write at all, and dropped their correspondence entirely.
Page 22 - Our Saviour's precepts were spoken to the common people amongst the Jews, and were therefore given in a manner easy to be understood, and equally striking and instructive to the learned and unlearned; for the most ignorant may comprehend them, whilst the wisest must be charmed and awed by the beautiful and majestic simplicity with which they are expressed. Of the same kind are the Ten Commandments, delivered by God...
Page 64 - J have seen tho sufferer himself become the object of envy and ill-will, as goon as bia fortitude and greatness of mind had begun to attract admiration, and to make the envious person feel the superiority of virtue above good fortune. , To take sincere pleasure in the blessings and excellences of others, is a much surer mark of benevolence, than to pity their calamities: and you must always acknowledge yourself ungenerous and selfish, whenever you are less ready to "rejoice with them that do rejoice,"...
Page 52 - John is written in a highly figurative style, which makes it in some parts hard to be understood : but the spirit of divine . love, which it so fervently expresses, renders it highly edifying and delightful. — That love of God and of man, which this beloved apostle so pathetically recommends, is in truth the essence of religion, as our Saviour himself informs us.