‘He who soweth hatred soweth regret.’
‘Man’s friend is his reason, and ignorance is his enemy.’
‘Who is wise? He who seeketh wisdom.’
‘A body without wisdom is like a house without foundation.’
‘Kings rule the land, wisdom rules kings.’
‘Forbearance is the best counsellor, courtesy the best companion.’
‘What is a test of good manners? Being able to bear patiently with bad ones.’
The string on which these pearls, and such asthese, were strung, was a neat system of headings, such as ‘Friendship,’ ‘Patience,’ ‘Wisdom,’ and so on, under each of which headings the maxims were arranged. Gabirol did not live to be an old man; he died at Valencia before he was quite fifty years old, but, as Ben Jonson says,—
‘It is not growing like a tree
In bulk, doth make man better be,