As for the other qualities of these quotations, they will be found to be in general brief in expression and pointed in application, and not a few of them winged as well as barbed. A great many are pregnant in meaning; suggest more than they express; and are the coinage of minds of no ordinary penetration and grasp of thought. While some of them are so simple that a child might understand them, there are others that border on regions in which the clearest-headed and surest-footed might stumble and come to grief.

The collection might have been larger; the quarry of the literature of the present century alone might have supplied materials for as big a book. But the Editor's task was to produce a work that should embrace gleanings from different fields of literature, and he could only introduce from that of the present day as much as his limits allowed. Yet, though the quantity given is no index of the quantity available, the Editor hopes the reader will allow that his selection has not been made in the dark, and that what he has given is of the true quality, as well as enough in quantity for most readers to digest. If the quality be good, the quantity is of little account, for what has been said of Reason may be said of Wisdom which is its highest expression: "Whoso hath any, hath access to the whole."

A word of explanation in regard to the Arrangement and the appended Index:—

The Arrangement adopted may not at once commend itself, but it was found to be the best; a topical one would have been too cumbersome, as, in that case, it would have been frequently necessary to introduce the same quotation under several different heads. The arrangement, it will be seen, is alphabetical, and follows the order of the initial letters of the initial word or words.

The Index, which is topical, was rendered necessary in consequence of the arrangement followed, and, though a copious one, it only refers to subjects of which there is anything of significance said. It does not include mottoes, and rarely proverbs; for, apart from the difficulty of indexing the latter, the attempt would almost have doubled the size of the book, and rendered it altogether unwieldy. The Index, too, is limited to subjects that are not in the alphabetical order in the body of the book. Thus there was no need to index what is said on "Art," on p. 18, on "Beauty," on p. 26, or on "Christianity," on pp. 42, 43, as the reader will expect to find something concerning them where they occur in the order adopted.

With these preliminary explanations the Editor leaves his book—the pleasant labour of more than three years—in the hands of the public, assured that they will judge of it by its own merits, and that they will be generous enough to acquit him of having compiled either a superfluous or an unserviceable work.

London, 1893.

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
USED IN THIS DICTIONARY.

Amer.American. Luc.Lucan.
Apul.Apuleius. Lucr., Lucret.Lucretius.
Arist.Aristotle. M.Motto.
Aul. Cell.Aulus Gellius. Macrob.Macrobius.
Bret.Breton. Mart.Martial.
Cæs.Cæsar. Mol.Molière.
Catull.Catullus. Per.Persius.
Cic.Cicero. Petron.Petronius.
Claud.Claudius, Claudian. Phæd., Phædr.Phædrus.
Corn.Corneille. Plaut.Plautus.
Curt.Curtius. Port.Portuguese.
Dan.Danish. Pr.Proverb.
Dut.Dutch. Pub. Syr.Publius Syrus.
Ecclus.Ecclesiasticus. Quinct.Quinclilian.
Eurip.Euripides. Russ.Russian.
Fr.French. Sall.Sallust.
Fris.Frisian. Sc.Scotch.
Gael.Gaelic. Schill.Schiller.
Ger.German. Sen.Seneca.
Gr.Greek. Sh.Shakespeare.
Heb.Hebrew. Soph.Sophocles.
Hom.Homer. Sp.Spanish.
Hor.Horace. Stat.Statius.
It.Italian. St. Aug.St. Augustine.
Jul.Julius. Sueton.Suetonius.
Just.Justinian. Swed.Swedish.
Juv.Juvenal. Tac.Tacitus.
L.Law. Ter.Terence.
Laber.Labertius. Tert.Tertullian.
La Font.La Fontaine. Tibull.Tibullus.
La Roche.La Rochefoucauld. Turk.Turkish.
Lat.Latin. Virg.Virgil.
Liv.Livy.