Does the sparrow know how the stork feels?
Lamps make oil-spots, and candles want snuffing; it is only the light of heaven that shines pure and leaves no stain.
If you miss the first button-hole, you will not succeed in buttoning up your coat.
A burnt child dreads the fire; an old man who has often been singed is afraid of warming himself.
It is not worth while to do anything for the world that we have with us, as the existing order may in a moment pass away. It is for the past and the future that we must work: for the past, to acknowledge its merits; for the future, to try to increase its value.