THRIFT. 66 Cut your coat according to your cloth. Let your expenditure be proportioned to your means. Let every one stretch his leg according to his coverlet" (Spanish). "According to the arm be the blood letting" (French).2 "Meditating upon general improvement, I often think a great deal about the climate in these parts of the world; and I see that, without much husbandry of our means and resources, it is difficult for us to be anything but low barbarians. The difficulty of living at all in a cold, damp, destructive climate is great. Socrates went about with very scanty clothing, and men praise his wisdom in caring so little for the goods of this life. He ate sparingly, and of mean food. That is not the way, I suspect, that we can make a philosopher here. There are people who would deride me for saying this, and would contend that it gives too much weight to worldly things. But I suspect they are misled by notions borrowed from eastern climates. Here we must make prudence one of the substantial virtues."-(Companions of my Solitude.) 1 Cada uno estiende la pierna como tiene la cubierta. 2 Selon le bras la saignée. A good bargain is a pickpurse. 2 Buy what you have no need of, and ere long you will sell your necessaries. "At a good bargain bethink you" (Italian).1 "What is not needed is dear at a farthing" (Latin). This very sensible proverb was bequeathed to us by the elder Cato; and a wiser man than Cato-Sydney Smith-has said, "If you want to make much of a small income, always ask yourself these two questions: first, do I really want it? secondly, can I do without it? These two questions, answered honestly, will double your fortune." Silks and satins, scarlet and velvets, put out the kitchen fire. One of the neatest repartees ever made was that which Shaftesbury administered at the feast at which he entertained the Duke of York (James II.). He overheard Lauderdale whispering the duke, "Fools make feasts, and wise men eat them." Ere the sound of the last word had died away, Shaftesbury, responding both to the words and the sense, said, Witty men make jests, and fools repeat them." “A fat kitchen has poverty for a neighbour" (Italian).3 "A fat kitchen, a lean will" (German).* 66 1 A buona derrata pensavi su. Quod non opus est, asse carum est. Waste not, want not. Wilful waste makes woeful want. A small leak will sink a great ship. Take care of the pence, and the pounds will take care of themselves. A fool and his money are soon parted. He that gets his gear before his wit will be short while master of it. -Scotch. Gear is easier gained than guided. A fool may make money, but it needs a wise man to spend it. 66 Men," says Fielding (and he was an example of the truth he asserted), " do not become rich by what they get, but by what they keep." "Saving is the first gain" (Italian).1 "Better is rule than rent" (French).2 A penny saved is a penny got. The best is cheapest. "One cannot have a good pennyworth of bad ware (French). "Much worth never cost little " (Spanish).* 66 8 Cheap bargains are dear" (Spanish)." 66 Misers' money goes twice to market. Keep a thing seven years and you'll find a use for it. Store is no sore.6 He that buys by the pennyworth keeps his own 1 Lo sparagno è lo primo guadagno. 2 Mieux vaut règle que rente. 3 On n'a jamais bon marché de mauvaise marchandise. • Nunca mucho costó poco. Lo barato es caro. • Abondance de bien ne nuit pas. PROVERBS OF ALL NATIONS. house and another man's " (Italian). Partly for this reason it is that A poor man's shilling is but a penny. A toom [empty] pantry makes a thriftless gudewife.-Scotch. Bare walls make giddy housewives.2 All is not gain that is put into the purse. What the goodwife spares the cat eats. There was a wife that kept her supper for her breakfast, an' sne was dead or day.-Scotch. 1 Chi vive a minuto fa le spese a' suci e agli altri. "Vuides chambres font folles dames. MODERATION. EXCESS. Enough is enough of bread and cheese. Enough is as good as a feast. A bird can roost but on one branch; a mouse can drink no more than its fill from a river" (Chinese). "He is rich enough who does not want" (Italian).1 But the difficulty is to determine to a nicety the point at which there is neither want nor surplus. Practically there is no such point, however it may exist in theory; for There's never enough where nought is left. Where all is eaten up it is pretty certain that the commons were but short. "There is not enough if there is not too much" (French). Beaumarchais makes Figaro, in speaking of love, to utter the charming hyperbole which has passed into a proverb, "Too much is not enough." Even without being in love; everybody must agree with Voltaire in considering "Le superflu, chose très nécessaire." 1 Assai è rico a chi non manca. 2 Assez n'y a, si trop n'y a. 5 Trop n'est pas assez. |