Book of Wise Sayings

by William Alexander Clouston

Cynics may ask, how many have profited by the innumerable proverbs
and maxims of prudence which have been current in the world time out
of mind? They will say that their only use is to repeat them after
some unhappy wight has “gone wrong.” When, for instance, a man has
played “ducks and drakes” with his money, the fact at once calls up
the proverb which declares that “wilful waste leads to woful want”;
but did not the “waster” know this well-worn saying from his early
years _downwards_? What good, then, did it do him? Again, how many
have been benefited by the saying of the ancient Greek poet, that
“evil communications corrupt good manners”?—albeit they had it
frequently before them in their school “copy-books.” Are the maxims
of morality useless, then, because they are so much disregarded?

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction

148 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1893

About the author

1843–1896

Reviews

[peyMAN · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is very well organized, readable book. It contains very deep and philosophical saying from old Persia that was fascinating for me.

[Joyceline MK · Rating 3 out of 5]

“A man who has learnt little grows old like an ox: his flesh grows, but his knowledge does not grow”

Dhammapada.

“Choose knowledge, if thou desirest a blessing from the Universal Provider; for the ignorant man cannot raise himself above the earth, and it is by knowledge that thou must render thy soul praiseworthy.”

Firdausī

[Julius Palmero · Rating 2 out of 5]

Book of not so wise sayings

[Ralph Wechuli · Rating 4 out of 5]

My fav:
"a fool thrashing a philosopher should be of no wonder, for a bare stone can ordinarily break a jewel."
Hitopadesa.

[Marta · Rating 3 out of 5]

Neat little arrangement of wise sayings, you get what you pay for pretty much

[rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book.

[Thulsy · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's basically a book filled with quotes after quotes. If you really want to appreciate the book, you will have to do the pondering.

[Preston Lee · Rating 1 out of 5]

As of this writing, the Kindle version is filled with triple question mark character sequences ("???") that occur so frequently as to make the book annoyingly unreadable. This is not a issue with the content per se, but until someone does a serious edit to address these quality issues, the book should be taken out of the catalog. I rarely, RARELY have to put a book down once I've started it, but couldn't even get through the 5th page of this edition due to this recurring defect.

[Bri · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is useful only as a study in the values of the Victorian Era. Originally published in 1893, there are lots of gems about how a woman's value is in being a beautiful and dutiful wife. (Like, "A man cannot possess anything that is better than a good wife, or anything that is worse than a bad one.") Also, all kinds of comments on modesty and how poverty is a fault of character. Ah, those good ol' Victorians.

[Kimberly Ehmann-nelson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot of the sayings go way way back....(around the time of Plato)... Some where interesting, others not so much...but there were those that made you think.