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Momenta desultoria (1655)

Momenta desultoria

(1655)–Constantijn Huygens–rechtenstatus Auteursrechtvrij

Vorige Volgende

Centur. II.

I.

A Promise is a childe of the Vnderstanding and the Will: the Vnderstanding begets it, the Will brings it forth: He that performes it, delives the Mother. He that breaketh it, murthers the Childe. If it be gotten in absence of the Vnderstanding, it is a Bastard, but the child must be kept. If thou mistrust the Vnderstanding, promise not; If thou hast promised, breake it not. It is better to maintaine a Bastard, then to murther a childe.

VI.

 
PLacere si vis omnibus, vanae spei es:
 
Si displicere ulli times ,vani metus:
 
Si vis tibi placere, fac placeas bonis:
 
Si displicere vis bonis, vulgo place:
 
Placere si potes omnibus, sequitur Deo
 
Te non placere, qui omnia est in omnibus.

VI.

IF thou hope to please all, thy hopes are vaine, if thou feare to displease some, thy fears are idle. The way to please thy selfe, is not to displease the best; and the way to displease the best, is to please the most: if thou canst fashion thy selfe to please all, thou shalt displease him that is All in All.

VII.

 
SI negligas amar e proximum, Deum
 
Amare frustra jactitas. Amor Dei
 
Producit illum, & hôc fovetur invicem.

VII.

IF thou neglectest thy love to thy neighbour, in vaine thou professest thy love to God: for by thy love to God, the love to thy neighbour is begotten; and by the love to thy neighbour, thy love to God is nourisht.

IIX.

 
MYsteriorum inscitia ipsa mater est
 
Fidei beantis: veritatis cognitae
 
Notitae sacrae mater est scientiae.
 
Ne intellige ut firmes fidem; crede, ut magis
 
Intelligas. Stipendium intellectus est
 
Fidei, haec modestae praemium ignorantiae.

IIX.

THy ignorance in unrevealed Mysteries is the Mother of a saving faith; and thy understanding in revealed Truths; is the Mother of a sacred knowledge: understand not therefore that thou mayst beleeve, but beleeve that thou mayst understand; Vnderstanding is the wages of a lively faith, and faith is the reward of a humble ignorance.

X.

 
AMisisse doles nummos? amisit eosdem
 
Ille prior, post quem nempe fuere tui.
 
Desine torqueri: tanti sit, perdere posse,
 
Quae poterant Dominum perdere, divitias.
 
Ista quidem tanto minor est jactura periclo:
 
Haec tua, at his poteras tu minus esse tuus.

X.

HAst thou lost hy money, and dost thou mourne? Another lost it before thou hadst it; Be not troubled: Perchance if thou hadst not lost it now, it had lost thee for ever: Think therefore what thou rather hast escaped then lost: perhaps thou hadst not been so much thy owne, had not thy money been so little thine.

XI.

 
NOli placere de fide tibi tua,
 
Si charitatem proximi neglexeris.
 
Nec charitatem attende, si careas fide:
 
Cares utrâque, utramque ni conjunxeris;
 
Si dividantur, utramque mortuam puta.

XI.

FLatter not thy selfe in thy faith to God, if thou wanteset Charity for thy neighbour; and think not thou hast charity for thy neighbour, if thou wantest faith to God; Where they are not both together, they are both wanting; They are both dead, if once divided.

XVII.

 
SI pauper esse non velis, parum cupe.
 
Non dives set qui possidet quàm plurima;
 
Sed plura qui no nexpetit quàm possidet;
 
Et pauper est, non ille qui quamplurima
 
Non possidet, sed ille plurimorum egens nimis.
 
Αὐτείρκης animus non eget quibus caret,
 
Avara mens, non haec modò quibus caret,
 
Sed haec item quae possidet, non possidet.

XVII.

IF thou desire not to be too poore, desire not to be too rich: He is rich, not that possesses much, but he that covets no more: and he is poore, not that enjoyes little, but he that wants too much: The contended mind, wants nothing which it hath: the uncovetous mind wants not onely what it hath not: but likewise what it hath.

XIX.

 
VT tute rebus, imperet Ratio tibi:
 
Ubi Ratio tibi, tu imperabis pluribus:
 
Ut Microcosmi sis Monarcha, tibi impera.

XIX.

THe way to subject all things so thy selfe, is to subject thy selfe to reason: thou shalt governe many, if Reason governe thee: Wouldest thou be crowned the Monarch of a little world? command thy selfe.

XX.

 
SI charitate largus esse cogeris,
 
Tacitèque velles quae dedisti non data,
 
Non munus hoc donare, sed relinquere est.
 
Nisi te exuis, cuncta exue, exuis nihil.
 
Qui non amat quae possidet, benè omnia
 
Reliquit, & quae possidet non possidet.

XX.

THough thou givest all thou hast for charity sake, and yet retainest a secret desire of keeping it for thy owne sake, thou rather leavest it then forsakest it: He that hath relinquisht all things, and not himselfe, hath forsaken nothing; Hee that sets not his heart on what he possesses, forsaketh all things, though he keepe his possessions.

XXII.

 
QUicumque Rex regni est sui; si affectus est
 
Obtemperans, Ratio regens, regnum bonum est.
 
Si regnat ille, rebellis est; quem ni necas,
 
Tete exuet regno tuo. Nil inter est
 
Necem rebellis atque vitam Principis.

XXII.

EVery man is a King in his owne Kingdome. If Reason command and passion obey, his Goverment speakes a good King: If thine inordinate affection rules, it shews a proud Rebell; which, if thou destroy not, will depose thee: There is no meane betweens the death of a Rebell, and the life of a Prince.

XXIV.

 
SI magna tractas, impera curis modum
 
Horasque modicas: tensa chorda perpetim
 
Enervat arcum; adductio velocior
 
Disrumpit arcum. Solve curas cum toga;
 
Quies labori robur addet imporobo,
 
Labor quietis reddet acceptas vices.

XXIV.

 
IF thou hast any businesse of consequence in agitation, let thy care be reasonable, and seasonable: continuall standing bent weakens the bow: Too hasty drawing breaks it. Put off thy cares with thy cloathes: So shall thy rest strengthen thy labour; and so shall thy labour sweeten thy rest.

XLVII.

 
SI dignitatem consequi nummis paras,
 
Perpende nummos quo modo congesseris.
 
Labore si acquisiveris, sapientiâ
 
Servato; sin vi; redde paenitentiâ.
 
Si res relicta est, digna sit virtus tua
 
Cui sit relicta; ita dignitatem tutiùs
 
Meliùsque habebis, & minore impendio.

XLVII.

IF thou desire to purchase Honor with thy wealth; consider first how that wealth became thine: If thy labour got it, let thy Wisedome keepe it: If oppression found it, let Repentance restore it: If thy Parents left it, let thy vertues deserve it: So shall thy Honor be safer, better, and cheaper.

LV.

 
SI dives es, fac imperes pecuniae,
 
Ut illa ne imperet tibi: pecuniâ
 
Si nôris uti, ancillam habes peccuniam;
 
Si nescias, pecuniae tu servus es.

LV.

IF thou art rich, strive to commande thy money, lest she command thee: If thou know how to use her, she is thy Servant: If not, thou art her Slave.

LIX.

 
SI seriò vis fortis esse, injuriam
 
Cave cuiquam feceris: timet malum,
 
Qui facere no ntimet malum. Nunquam timens
 
Temerarius dici meret: semper timens,
 
Effoeminatus. Ille verè fortis est,
 
Qui nil patrare quàm quod aequum est audeat,
 
Nec quid timet, nisi quod timere debeat.

LIX.

IF thou desire to be ruely valiant, feare to doe any Iniury: Hee that feares not to doe evill, is alwayes afraid to suffer evill: Hee that neve feares, is desperate: And he that feares alwayes, is a coward: He is the true valiant man, that dares nothing but what he may, and feares nothing but what hee ought.

LXIII.

 
QUi cuncta dat, quamvis parum, dat plurimum,
 
Quia cuncta dat. Nec dona respicit Deus,
 
Sed dona dantem: plura qui velit dare
 
Quàm sit facultas, par sibi donum dedit,
 
Et sic dedisse plus potest quam possidet.

LXIII.

HE that gives all, though but little, gives much; because God lookes not to the quantity of the gift, but to the quality of the givers: He that desires to give more then hee can, hath equall'd his Gift to his desire, and hath given more then he hath.

LXX.

 
Non dare pauperibus, rapere est: nisi pascis egenum,
 
Occidis quantùm potis est; homicida vocari
 
Sacrilegusque fugis? miseris succurre libenter.

LXX.

NOt to give to the poore, is to take from him: Not to feede the hungry, if thou hast it, is the utmost of thy power to kill him: That therefore thou mayst avoyde both Sacriledge and Murther, be Charitable.

LXXVII.

 
THesaurus, Aurum, est caesaris, Dei est homo:
 
Imaginem Aurum Caesaris fert, tu Dei.
 
Da Caesari quod Caesari dari decet,
 
Et quae Deo dari decet, Deo dato.

LXXVII.

GOld is Caesars Treasure; Man is Gods: Thy Gold hath Caesars Image; and thou hast Gods; Give therefore those things vnto Caesar which are Caesars; And those things vnto God, which are Gods.

LXXIIX.

 
SI peccas, plus te metuas quàm terreat alter.
 
Unicus est contra te testis quilibet: ipse
 
Tu testes tibi mille vales. Licet effugis illum,
 
Te non effugies: mala sunt sibi poena suique.

LXXIIX.

IN the commission of evill, feare no man so much as thy owne self: Another is but one witnesse against thee: Thou art a thousand: Another thou maist avoyd, but thy self thou canst not: Wickednesse is its owne punishement.

LXXX.

 
MAscula sit, tempestiva & moderata volputas:
 
SI contemplator, corpus quae recreet; aut, si
 
Non contemplator, mentem; firmare laborem
 
Quae valeat fessi, vel quae lenire quietem.

LXXX.

LEt thy Recreation be manly, moderate, seasonable, lawfull; If thy life be sedentary, more tending to the exercise of thy Body; If active, more to the refreshing of thy minde. The use of Recreation is to strengthen thy labour, and sweeten thy rest.

LXXXI.

 
COrrector esse ne velis; nescis enim
 
Quem judices. Magis ille dexter error est,
 
Bene de malo, quàm de bono loqui malè.
 
Amore peccans tutior quàm quaelibet
 
A non amore prodiens sententia est.
 
Culpare solus, qui vacat culpâ, potest.

LXXXI.

BE not censorious, for thou know'st not whom thou Iudgest; It is a more dextrous error to speake well of an evill man, then ill of a good man; And safer for thy judgment to be misled by simple Charity, then uncharitable Wisedom: He may taxe others with a priviledge, thath hath not in himselfe, what others may taxe.

LXXXII.

 
CAve dignitatem cujus autor nummus set;
 
Nec enim perennis illa, nec plenè tua est.
 
Quodcumque opes periere, dignitas perit;
 
Et illa semper lubbrica est felicitas
 
Quam laeta sors dat, dura, cum volet, rapit,
 
Nec possideri digna quam nox unica
 
Abolere flammis possit, aut undis mare.

LXXXII.

TAke heede of that Honor which wealth hath purchased thee, for it is neither lasting, nor thine owne: What money creates, money preserves: If the wealth decayes, the Honor dyes; It is but a slippery happinesse which sortunes can give ,and frowns can take; and not worth the owning which a nights fier can melt, or a rough Sea can drouwne.

LXXXIV.

 
TOto beatus saeculo adde & alterum,
 
Et his beatus adde mille saecula,
 
Millena decies porrò: de tot millibus
 
Iam finietur ultimum cum caeteris,
 
Et cuncta devorabit una aeternitas.+
 
Qui natus hoc ipso die est, unum diem
 
Victurus an sit certus esse non potest.
 
Senex & infans sunt pares: felicitas
 
Senis est fuisse; infantis est felicitas
 
Quod esse possit: uterque certus est mori.
 
Non est beatus ille qui vixit diù,
 
Nec non beatus ille qui vixit parum;
 
Beatus est vitâ bonâ functus bene.

LXXXIV.

SPend a hundred years in Earths best pleasures; and after that a hundred more; to which being spent, add a thousand; and to that ten thousand more, the last shall as surely end, as the first are ended, and all shall be swallowed with Eternity: He that is born to day, is not sure to live a day; He that hath lived the longest, is but as he that was born yesterday: the Happines of the one is, that he hath lived; the happinesse of the other is, that hey may live; and the lot of both is that they must dye: It is no Happines to live long, nor unhappinesse to dye soon: Happy is he that hath liv'd long enough, to dye well.

LXXXVI.

 
INjuriâ si affectus es, fac vindices;
 
Sed fortiter: contemne; & est affectum opus:
 
Condona; & est effectum opus. Sub se jacet,
 
Quicumque non quamcumque supra injuriam est.

LXXXVI.

HAth any wronged thee? Be bravely reveng'd: Sleight it, and the work's begun; forgive it; and 't is finisht: he is below himselfe that is not above an Injury.


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