"Proverbs of Hell" (1793)
In seed time learn, in harvest teach,
in winter enjoy.
Drive your cart and your plow over the
bones of the dead.
The road of excess leads to the palace
of wisdom.
Prudence is a rich ugly old maid
courted by Incapacity.
He who desires but acts not, breeds
pestilence.
The cut worm forgives the plow.
Dip him in the river who loves water.
A fool sees not the same tree that a
wise man sees.
He whose face gives no light, shall
never become a star.
Eternity is in love with the
productions of time.
The busy bee has no time for sorrow.
The hours of folly are measur'd by the
clock, but of wisdom: no clock can measure.
All wholsom food is caught without a
net or a trap.
Bring out number weight & measure
in a year of dearth.
No bird soars too high, if he soars
with his own wings.
A dead body, revenges not injuries.
The most sublime act is to set another
before you.
If the fool would persist in his folly
he would become wise.
Folly is the cloke of knavery.
Shame is Prides cloke.
Prisons are built with stones of Law,
Brothels with bricks of Religion.
The pride of the peacock is the glory
of God.
The lust of the goat is the bounty of
God.
The wrath of the lion is the wisdom of
God.
The nakedness of woman is the work of
God.
Excess of sorrow laughs. Excess of joy
weeps.
The roaring of lions, the howling of
wolves, the raging of the stormy sea, and
the destructive sword are portions of eternity too great for the eye of man.
the destructive sword are portions of eternity too great for the eye of man.
The fox condemns the trap, not himself.
Joys impregnate. Sorrows bring forth.
Let man wear the fell of the lion,
woman the fleece of the sheep.
The bird a nest, the spider a web, man
friendship.
The selfish smiling fool, & the
sullen frowning fool, shall be both thought wise,
that they may be a rod.
that they may be a rod.
What is now proved was once, only
imagin'd.
The rat, the mouse, the fox, the
rabbit: watch the roots; the lion, the tyger,
the horse, the elephant, watch the fruits.
the horse, the elephant, watch the fruits.
The cistern contains; the fountain
overflows.
One thought, fills immensity.
Always be ready to speak your mind, and
a base man will avoid you.
Every thing possible to be believ'd is
an image of truth.
The eagle never lost so much time, as
when he submitted to learn of the crow.
The fox provides for himself, but God
provides for the lion.
Think in the morning. Act in the noon.
Eat in the evening. Sleep in the night.
He who has suffer'd you to impose on
him knows you.
As the plow follows words, so God
rewards prayers.
The tygers of wrath are wiser than the
horses of instruction.
Expect poison from the standing water.
You never know what is enough unless
you know what is more than enough.
Listen to the fools reproach! it is a
kingly title!
The eyes of fire, the nostrils of air,
the mouth of water, the beard of earth.
The weak in courage is strong in
cunning.
The apple tree never asks the beech how
he shall grow, nor the lion, the horse,
how he shall take his prey.
how he shall take his prey.
The thankful receiver bears a plentiful
harvest.
If others had not been foolish, we
should be so.
The soul of sweet delight, can never be
defil'd.
When thou seest an Eagle, thou seest a
portion of Genius, lift up thy head!
As the catterpiller chooses the fairest
leaves to lay her eggs on, so the priest lays
his curse on the fairest joys.
his curse on the fairest joys.
To create a little flower is the labour
of ages.
Damn, braces: Bless relaxes.
The best wine is the oldest, the best
water the newest.
Prayers plow not! Praises reap not!
Joys laugh not! Sorrows weep not!
The head Sublime, the heart Pathos, the
genitals Beauty, the hands & feet
Proportion.
Proportion.
As the air to a bird of the sea to a
fish, so is contempt to the contemptible.
The crow wish'd every thing was black,
the owl, that every thing was white.
Exuberance is Beauty. If the lion was
advised by the fox, he would be cunning.
Improvement makes strait roads, but the
crooked roads without Improvement, are
roads of Genius.
roads of Genius.
Sooner murder an infant in its cradle
than nurse unacted desires.
Where man is not nature is barren.
Truth can never be told so as to be
understood, and not be believ'd.
Enough! or Too much!
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