The Greek philosopher, Aristippus, was once asked by a friend what sort of a woman he ought to choose for a wife.
His answer was, "I cannot recommend any sort, for if she is fair she will deceive you; if plain, you will dislike her. If she is poor she will ruin you; if rich, you will be her slave. If she is clever, she will despise you; if ignorant, she will bore you; and if she is spiteful, she will torment you."
Perhaps this opinion of the Greek sage should be taken with a grain of salt, as the great thinkers of Greece entertained such perverse notions of woman's character that the question was actually raised among them whether women had souls!
Tall Men.
"Exceedingly tall men have ever very empty heads," writes Lord Bacon.
Thomas Fuller writes more warily. "Often the cockloft is empty in those whom Nature hath built many storeys high," a metaphor seemingly borrowed from Bacon's "Nature did never put her precious jewels into a garret four storeys high."
Compare Fuller's moderate "often" with Bacon's sweeping "ever" and "never" which surely smack of some personal ill-will. Can it be that the "wisest, brightest, meanest of mankind" was dealing a side-thrust at Elizabeth's tall favourite, my Lord of Leicester?
The Best Sauce
A prince, overtaken in his walk by a shower, sought refuge in a wayside cottage. The children happened to be sitting at table with a great dish full of oatmeal-porridge placed before them. They were all eating with a right good appetite, and looked, moreover, as fresh and ruddy as roses.
"How is it possible," asked the prince of the mother, "that they can eat such coarse food with such evident pleasure, and look so healthy and blooming withal?"