No man of high and generous spirit is ever willing to indulge in flattery; the good may feel affection for others, but will not flatter them. _Aristotle._ 251. An ass will with his long ears fray The flies that tickle him away; But man delights to have his ears Blown maggots in by flatterers. _Butler._ 252. Books are pleasant, but if by being over-studious we impair our health and spoil our good humour, two of the best things we have, let us give it over. I, for my part, am one of those who think no fruit derived from them can recompense so great a loss. _Montaigne._ 253. He is happiest, be he king or peasant, who finds peace in his home. _Goethe._ 254. If with a stranger thou discourse, first learn, By strictest observation, to discern If he be wiser than thyself, if so, Be dumb, and rather choose by him to know; But if thyself perchance the wiser be, Then do thou speak, that he may learn by thee. _Randolph._ 255. Being continually in people’s sight, by the satiety which it creates, diminishes the reverence felt for great characters. _Livy._ 256. There is a great difference between one who can feel ashamed before his own soul and one who is only ashamed before his fellow men. _Talmud._ 257. By rousing himself, by earnestness, by restraint and control the wise man may make for himself an island which no flood can overwhelm. _Dhammapada._ 258. The best way to make ourselves agreeable to others is by seeming to think them so. If we appear fully sensible of their good qualities they will not complain of the want of them in us. _Hazlitt._ 259. To form a judgment intuitively is the privilege of few; authority and example lead the rest of the world. They see with the eyes of others, they hear with the ears of others. Therefore it is very easy to think as all the world now think; but to think as all the world will think thirty years hence is not in the power of every one. _Schopenhauer._ 260. Poesy is a beauteous damsel, chaste, honourable, discreet, witty, retired, and who keeps herself within the limits of propriety. She is a friend of solitude; fountains entertain her, meadows console her, woods free her from ennui, flowers delight her; in short, she gives pleasure and instruction to all with whom she communicates. _Cervantes._ 261.