George Savile (1633 – 1695)
English statesman, writer, and politician.
MANY Men swallow the being cheated, but no Man could ever endure to chew it.
A man that should call every thing by its right Name, would hardly pass the Streets without being knock'd down as a common Enemy.
Men take more pains to hide than to mend themselves.
If Men considered how many Things there are that Riches cannot buy, they would not be so fond of them.
Popularity is a Crime from the Moment it is sought ; it is only a Virtue where Men have it whether they will or no.
In this Age, when it is said of a Man, He knows how to live , it may be imply’d he is not very honest.
It is not a reproach but a compliment to learning, to say, that great scholars are less fit for business; since the truth is, business is so much a lower thing than learning, that a man used to the last cannot easily bring his stomach down to the first.
The first mistake belonging to business is the going into it.
Suspicion seldom wanteth Food to keep it up in Health and Vigour. It feedeth upon every thing it seeth, and is not curious in its Diet.
Hope is generally a wrong Guide, though it is very good Company by the way. It brusheth through Hedge and Ditch till it cometh to a great Leap, and there it is apt to fall and break its Bones.
If Men would think how often their own Words are thrown at their Heads, they would less often let them go out of their Mouths.
Love is a Passion that hath Friends in the Garrison.
A Man who is Master of Patience, is Master of everything else.
Malice is of a low Stature, but it hath very long Arms. It often reacheth into the next World, Death itself is not a Bar to it.
MISPENDING a Man's time is a kind of self-homicide, it is making Life to be of no use.
The vanity of teaching often tempteth a Man to forget he is a Blockhead.
A Princely Mind will undo a private Family.
They who are of opinion that Money will do every thing, may very well be suspected to do every thing for Money.
When by habit a man cometh to have a bargaining soul, its wings are cut, so that it can never soar. It bindeth reason an apprentice to gain, and instead of a director, maketh it a drudge.
The best Party is but a kind of Conspiracy against the rest of the Nation. They put every body else out of their Protection. Like the Jews to the Gentiles, all others are the Offscowrings of the World.