It seems wisest to assume the worst from the beginning...and let anything better come as a surprise.

A scholar has to know a little of everything.

Better to put things at the worst at first and reserve the best for a surprise.

There is no more sagacious animal than the Icelandic horse. He is stopped by neither snow, nor storm, nor impassable roads, nor rocks, glaciers, or anything. He is courageous, sober, and surefooted. He never makes a false step, never shies. If there is a river or fjord to cross (and we shall meet with many) you will see him plunge in at once, just as if he were amphibious, and gain the opposite bank.

It may be taken for granted that, rash as the Americans are, when they are prudent there is good reason for it.

It seems wisest to assume the worst from the beginning...and let anything better come as a surprise.

Yes, I could see these enormous elephants, whose trunks were tearing down large boughs, and working in and out the trees like a legion of serpents. I could hear the sounds of the mighty tusks uprooting huge trees!