V. Periander, prince and philosopher too, would say, that pleasures are mortal, but virtues immortal.[11] "In success be moderate, in disappointments, patient and prudent. Be alike to thy friends, in prosperity, and in adversity. Peace is good; rashness dangerous; gain sordid. Betray not secrets: punish the guilty: restrain men from sin. They that would rule safely, must be guarded by love, not arms. To conclude," saith he, "live worthy of praise, so wilt thou die blessed." [11] Baart. Suid. Protag. Stob. xxviii. VI. Bias, one of the seven wise men, being in a storm with wicked men, who cried mightily to God; "Hold your tongues,"[12] saith he, "it were better He knew not you were here:" a saying that hath great doctrine in it; the devotion of the wicked doth them no good: it answers to that passage in Scripture, "The prayers of the wicked are an abomination to the Lord." (Prov. xv. 8.) An ungodly man asking him what godliness was, he was silent: but the other murmuring, saith he, "What is that to thee, that is not thy concern?" He was so tender in his nature, that he seldom judged a criminal to death, but he wept; adding, "One part goeth to God, and the other part I must give the law." "That man is unhappy," saith he, "that cannot bear affliction. It is a disease of the mind, to desire that which cannot, or is not fit to be had. It is an ill thing, not to be mindful of other men's miseries." To one that asked what is hard, he answered, "To bear cheerfully a change for the worse." "Those," says he, "who busy themselves in vain knowledge, resemble owls that see by night, and are blind by day; for they are sharp-sighted in vanity, but dark at the approach of true light and knowledge." He adds, "Undertake deliberately; but then go through. Speak not hastily, lest thou sin. Be neither silly nor subtle. Hear much; speak little and seasonably. Make profession of God everywhere; and impute the good thou dost, not to thyself, but to the power of God." His country being invaded, and the people flying with the best of their goods, asked, why he carried none of his; "I," saith he, "carry my goods within me."--Valerius Maximus adds, "in his breast;" not to be seen by the eye, but to be prized by the soul; not to be demolished by mortal hands; present with them that stay, and not forsaking those that fly. [12] Laert. Stob.