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And what hath mass, or matter, by itself

Lies, rich in virtue, and unmingled.

TROILUS AND CRESSIDA. Act 1. Scene 3.

IV.

THE FALL OF AMBITION.

The loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low.1-Is. ii. 17.

Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.-PROV. xvi. 18.

2

The king spake and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty. While the word was in the king's mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken, the kingdom is departed from thee, and they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. DAN. iv. 30-32.

A man's pride shall bring him low.—PROV. xxix, 23.

Whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased.

MATT. xxiii. 12.

1 Prov. viii. 13; vi, 16, 17. 2 1 Cor. i. 31. Jer, ix. 24.

Vaulting ambition, which o'er-leaps itself,

And falls on the other side.-MACBETH. Act 1. Scene 7.

Fling away ambition,

By that sin angels fell; how can man then,
The image of his Maker, hope to win by't.
KING HENRY VIII. Act III. Scene 2.

Glory is like a circle in the water,
Which never ceases to enlarge itself,
Till by broad spreading it disperse to nought.
KING HENRY VI. (1st part). Act 1. Scene 2.

This is the state of man; To-day he puts forth
The tender leaves of hope, to-morrow blossoms,
And bears his blushing honours thick upon him:
The third day comes a frost, a killing frost ;
And,-when he thinks, good easy man, full surely
His greatness is a ripening,-nips his root,
And then he falls.

KING HENRY VIII. Act III. Scene 2.

Ill-weaved ambition, how much art thou shrunk;
When that this body did contain a spirit,
A kingdom for it was too small a bound;
But now, two paces of the vilest earth
Is room enough.1

KING HENRY IV. (1st part). Act v. Scene 4.

1 The very substance of the ambitious is merely the shadow of a dream.-HAMLET. Act II. Scene 2.

V.

THE INFLUENCE OF ASSOCIATES.

He that walketh with wise men shall be wise1; but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.-PROV. xiii. 20.

Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men.2-PROV. iv. 14.

Let thy talk be with the wise,3 and let just men eat and drink with thee.-ECCLUS. ix. 15, 16.

He that toucheth pitch shall be defiled therewith; and he that hath fellowship with a proud man shall be like unto him.-ECCLUS. xiii. 1.

It is certain that either wise bearing or ignorant carriage, is caught as men take diseases one of another; therefore let men take heed of their company.

KING HENRY IV. (2d part). Act v. Scene 1.

Thou art noble; yet, I see,

Thy honourable metal may be wrought
From that it is disposed; therefore 't is meet
That noble minds keep ever with their likes;
For who so firm that cannot be seduced?

JULIUS CESAR. Act I. Scene 2.

1 1 Kings x. 8.

2 Eph. v. 11. Ps. i. 1.

3 Col. ii. 8.

Keep where there is wit stirring, and leave the faction of fools.-TROILUS AND CRESSIDA. Act II. Scene 1.

Converse with him that is wise.

KING LEAR. Act 1. Scene 4.

There is a thing, Harry, which thou hast often heard of, and is known to many in our land by the name of pitch; this pitch, as ancient writers do report, doth defile! so doth the company thou keepest.

KING HENRY IV. (1st part). Act II. Scene 4.

My nature is subdued

To what it works in, like the dyer's hand.-POEMS.

VI.

OVER CAREFULNESS OF THE BODY

CENSURED.

Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.2-MATT. VI. 31, 33.

Poor Soul, the centre of my sinful earth.
Fool'd by those rebel powers that thee array,
2 Rom. xiv. 17.

1 Ps. xxxiv. 9, 10; xxxvii. 25.

Why dost thou pine within and suffer dearth,
Painting thy outward walls so costly gay?
Why so large cost, having so short a lease,
Dost thou upon thy fading mansion spend;
Shall worms, inheritors of this excess,

Eat up thy charge? Is this thy body's end?
Then, soul, live thou upon thy servant's loss,
And let that pine to aggravate thy store;
Buy terms divine in selling hours of dross,
Within be fed, without be rich no more.-POEMS.

I will begin

The fashion, less without, and more within.

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RASH JUDGING REPROVED.

Judge not, that ye be not judged. Why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.1

MATT. vii. 1, 3, 5.

Who art thou that judgest another man's servant ?

1 Rom. ii. 1. 1 Cor. iv. 3, 5. Jas. ii. 13; iv. 11, 12.

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