Reflection is a flower of the mind, giving out wholesome fragrance, But reverie is the same flower, when rank and running to seed. Better to read little with thought, than much with levity and quickness; For mind is not as merchandize, which decreaseth in the using, But liker to the passions of man, which rejoice and expand in exertion: Yet live not wholly on thine own ideas, lest they lead thee astray; For in spirit, as in substance, thou art a social creature; And if thou leanest on thyself, thou rejectest the guidance of thy betters, Yea, thou contemnest all men,--Am I not wiser than they?-- Foolish vanity hath blinded thee, and warped thy weak judgment: For, though new ideas flow from new springs, and enrich the treasury of knowledge, Yet listen often, ere thou think much; and look around thee ere thou judgest. Memory, the daughter of Attention, is the teeming mother of Wisdom, And safer is he that storeth knowledge, than he that would make it for himself. Imagination is not thought, neither is fancy reflection: Thought paceth like a hoary sage, but imagination hath wings as an eagle: Reflection sternly considereth, nor is sparing to condemn evil, But fancy lightly laugheth, in the sun-clad gardens of amusement. For the shy game of the fowler the quickest shot is the surest; But with slow care and measured aim the gunner pointeth his cannon: So for all less occasions, the surface-thought is best, But to be master of the great take thou heavier metal. It is a good thing, and a wholesome, to search out bosom sins, But to be the hero of selfish imaginings, is the subtle poison of pride: At night, in the stillness of thy chamber, guard and curb thy thoughts, And in recounting the doings of the day, beware that thou do it with prayer, Or thinking will be an idle pleasure, and retrospect yield no fruit. Steer the bark of thy mind from the syren isle of reverie, And let a watchful spirit mingle with the glance of recollection: Also, in examining thine heart, in sounding the fountain of thine actions, Be more careful of the evil than of the good; and humble thyself in thy sin.