Alas! It is well written, The road to eminence lies through the cheap and exceedingly uninviting eating-houses.

One cannot live for ever by ignoring the price of coffins.

How is it possible to suspend topaz in one cup of the balance and weigh it against amethyst in the other; or who in a single language can compare the tranquillizing grace of a maiden with the invigorating pleasure of witnessing a well-contested rat-fight?

When struck by a thunderbolt it is unnecessary to consult the Book of Dates as to the precise meaning of the omen.

The wise duck keeps his mouth shut when he smells frogs.

The province of philosophy is not so much to prevent calamities befalling as to demonstrate that they are blessings when they have taken place.

There are those who collect the refuse of the public streets, but in order to be received into the band it is necessary to have been born one of the Hereditary Confederacy of Superfluity Removers and Abandoned Oddment Gatherers.