There is nothing which has yet been contrived by man, by which so much happiness is produced as by a good tavern. The blaze of reputation cannot be blown out, but it often dies in the socket; a very few names may be considered as perpetual lamps that shine unconsumed. Those that have loved longest love best. The basis of all excellence is truth: he that professes love ought to feel its power. To be happy at home is the ultimate result of all ambition. To cultivate kindness is a valuable part of the business of life. To improve the golden moment of opportunity, and catch the good that is within our reach, is the great art of life. To preserve health is a moral and religious duty, for health is the basis of all social virtues. We can no longer be useful when we are not well. To those who have lived long together, everything heard and everything seen recalls some pleasure communicated, some benefit conferred, some petty quarrel or some slight endearment. Esteem of great powers, or amiable qualities newly discovered may embroider a day or a week, but a friendship of twenty years is interwoven with the texture of life. We are long before we are convinced that happiness is never to be found, and each believes it possessed by others, to keep alive the hope of obtaining it for himself. |