_Dhammapada._ 448. Commit a sin twice, and it will not seem to thee a sin. _Talmud._ 449. Liberality attended with mild language; learning without pride; valour united with mercy; wealth accompanied with a generous contempt of it—these four qualities are with difficulty acquired. _Hitopadesa._ 450. Inquire about your neighbour before you build, and about your companions before you travel. _Arabic._ 451. Though you may yourself abound in treasure, teach your son some handicraft; for a heavy purse of gold and silver may run to waste, but the purse of the artisan’s industry can never get empty. _Sa’dī._ 452. It is an observation no less just than common that there is no stronger test of a man’s real character than power and authority, exciting, as they do, every passion, and discovering every latent vice. _Plutarch._ 453. Rather skin a carcass for pay in the public streets than be idly dependent on charity. _Talmud._ 454. Knowledge produces mildness of speech; mildness of speech, a good character; a good character, wealth; wealth, if virtuous actions attend it, happiness. _Hitopadesa._ 455. O how wonderful is the human voice! It is indeed the organ of the soul. The intellect of man sits enshrined visibly upon his forehead and in his eye; and the heart of man is written upon his countenance. But the soul reveals itself in the voice only, as God revealed himself to the prophet in the still small voice, and in a voice from the Burning Bush. The soul of man is audible, not visible. A sound alone betrays the flowing of the eternal fountain invisible to man. _Longfellow._ 456. Every gift, though small, is in reality great, if it be given with affection.[25] _Philemon._ [25] See also 80. 457. Good words, good deeds, and beautiful expressions A wise man ever culls from every quarter, E’en as a gleaner gathers ears of corn. _Mahābhārata._ 458. In poverty and other misfortunes of life men think friends to be their only refuge. The young they keep out of mischief, to the old they are a comfort and aid in their weakness, and those in the prime of life they incite to noble deeds. _Aristotle._ 459. Heed not the flatterer’s fulsome talk, He from thee hopes some trifle to obtain; Thou wilt, shouldst thou his wishes baulk, Ten hundred times as much of censure gain.