Moral Thoughts,
AND
REFLECTIONS.
Of the World.
It is from the Shortness of Thought, that Men imagine there is any great Variety in the World.
Time hath thrown a Vail upon the Faults of former Ages, or else we should see the same Deformities we condemn in the present Times.
When a Man looketh upon the Rules that are made, he will think there can be no Faults in the World; and when he looketh upon the Faults, there are so many he will be tempted to think there are no Rules.
They are not to be reconciled, otherwise than by concluding that which is called Frailty is the incurable Nature of Mankind.
A Man that understandeth the World must be weary of it; and a Man who doth not, for that Reason ought not to be pleased with it.
The Uncertainty of what is to come, is suck a dark Cloud, that neither Reason nor Religion can quite break through it; and the Condition of Mankind is to be weary of what we do know, and afraid of what we do not.
The World is beholden to generous Mistakes for the greatest Part of the Good that is done in it.