1355
RESIGNATION.
Entire and perfect happiness is never
Vouchsafed to man; but nobler minds endeavor
To keep their inward sorrows unrevealed.
With meaner spirits nothing is concealed.
Weak, and unable to conform to fortune,
With rude rejoicing or complaint importune,
They vent their exultation or distress.
Whate'er betides us—grief or happiness—
The brave and wise will bear with steady mind,
The allotment, unforeseen and undefined,
Of good or evil, which the Gods bestow,
Promiscuously dealt to man below.
—Theognis, Greek.
Translated by Frere.
1356
Life will always be, to a large extent, what we ourselves make it. Each mind makes its own little world. The cheerful mind makes it pleasant, and the discontented mind makes it miserable. "My mind to me a kingdom is" applies alike to the peasant as to the monarch.
1357
The face is the index of the mind.
—Crabbe.