Ridicule often cuts the knot, where severity fails.

Ridicule often cuts the knot, where severity fails.

I see the better course and approve of it; I follow, alas! the
worse!

I see the better course and approve of it; I follow, alas! the
worse!

'Tis best to pause, and think, ere you rush on.

'Tis best to pause, and think, ere you rush on.

Even speed, when we are anxious, seems like delay.

Even speed, when we are anxious, seems like delay.

He who speaks ill of an absent friend, or fails to take his part
if attacked by another, that read more

He who speaks ill of an absent friend, or fails to take his part
if attacked by another, that man is a scoundrel.

Old age creeps on us ere we think it nigh.

Old age creeps on us ere we think it nigh.

He who has once made himself notorious as utterly unprincipled,
is not credited even when he speaks the truth.

He who has once made himself notorious as utterly unprincipled,
is not credited even when he speaks the truth.

There is never a lawsuit but a woman is at the bottom of it.

There is never a lawsuit but a woman is at the bottom of it.

'Tis pleasant, sure, to see one's name in print;
A book's a book, although there's nothing in 't.

'Tis pleasant, sure, to see one's name in print;
A book's a book, although there's nothing in 't.