work_id,theme,provenance,created_at,text,reviewed_on,id,comments,metaphor,dictionary,updated_at,context
7409,"",Reading,2013-06-11 21:53:44 UTC,"Self-knowledge is that acquaintance with ourselves which shows us what we are, and do, and ought to be, in order to our living comfortably and usefully here, and happily hereafter. The means of it is self-examination; the end of it is self-government and self-fruition.--It principally consists in the knowledge of our souls; which is attained by a particular attention to their various powers, capacities, passions, inclinations, operations, state, happiness, and temper. For a man's soul is properly himself, Matt. xvi. 26. compared with Luke ix. 25. The body is but the house; the soul is the tenant that inhabits it; the body is the instrument; the soul the artist that directs it.
(I.i, pp. 10-1)",,20530,"","""The body is but the house; the soul is the tenant that inhabits it; the body is the instrument; the soul the artist that directs it.""",Inhabitants and Rooms,2013-06-11 21:53:44 UTC,"Part I, Chapter I"
7409,"",Reading,2013-06-11 21:57:54 UTC,"--Let us then hereupon seriously recollect ourselves in the following soliloquy:
'O my soul, look back but a few years, and thou wast nothing!---And how didst thou spring out of that nothing?--Thou couldst not make thyself. That is quite impossible—-Most certain it is that that almighty, self-existent, and eternal Power, which made the world, made thee also out of nothing; called thee into being when thou wast not; gave thee these reasoning and reflecting faculties, which thou art now employing in searching out the end and happiness of thy nature.—-It was He, O my soul, that made thee intelligent and immortal. It was He that placed thee in this body, as in a prison: where thy capacities are cramped, thy desires debased, and thy liberty lost. It was He that sent thee into this world, which by all circumstances appears to be a state of short discipline and trial. And wherefore did He place thee here, when he might have made thee a more free, unconfined, and happy spirit? But check that thought; it looks like a too presumptuous curiosity. A more needful and important inquiry is, What did He place thee here for? And what doth He expect from thee whilst thou art here? What part hath he allotted me to act on the stage of human life; where He, angels, and men are spectators of my behaviour? The part He hath given me to act here is, doubtless, a very important one; because it is for eternity. And what is it, but to live up to the dignity of my rational and intellectual nature; and as becomes a creature born for immortality.
(I.ii, pp. 17-19)",,20531,"","""It was He that placed thee in this body, as in a prison: where thy capacities are cramped, thy desires debased, and thy liberty lost.""",Rooms,2013-06-11 21:57:54 UTC,"Part I, Chapter II"
7409,"",Reading,2013-06-11 22:00:41 UTC,"Major sum et ad majora natus, quam quod sim corporis mancipium. Quod equidem non aliter aspicio quam vinculum libertati meae circumdatum. Sen. Ep. lxvi.
""I am too noble, and of too high a birth,"" saith that excellent moralist, ""to be a slave to my body; which I look upon only as a chain thrown upon the liberty of my soul.
(I.ii, Note 4, p. 20)",,20532,"","""'I am too noble, and of too high a birth,' saith that excellent moralist, 'to be a slave to my body; which I look upon only as a chain thrown upon the liberty of my soul.'""",Fetters,2013-06-11 22:00:41 UTC,"Part I, Chapter II"
7409,Mind's Eye,Reading,2013-06-11 22:03:02 UTC,"And O! what different creatures shall we soon be, from what we now are! Let us look forwards then, and frequently glance our thoughts towards death, though they cannot penetrate the darkness of that passage, or reach the state behind it. That lies veiled from the eyes of our mind; and the great God hath not thought fit to throw so much light upon it, as to satisfy the anxious and inquisitive desires the soul hath to know it.-—However, let us make the best use we can of that little light which Scripture and reason have let in upon this dark and important subject.
(I.ii, p. 21)",,20533,"","""That lies veiled from the eyes of our mind; and the great God hath not thought fit to throw so much light upon it, as to satisfy the anxious and inquisitive desires the soul hath to know it.""",Eye,2013-06-11 22:03:02 UTC,"Part I, Chapter II"
7409,"",Reading,2013-06-11 22:04:16 UTC,"And O! what different creatures shall we soon be, from what we now are! Let us look forwards then, and frequently glance our thoughts towards death, though they cannot penetrate the darkness of that passage, or reach the state behind it. That lies veiled from the eyes of our mind; and the great God hath not thought fit to throw so much light upon it, as to satisfy the anxious and inquisitive desires the soul hath to know it.-—However, let us make the best use we can of that little light which Scripture and reason have let in upon this dark and important subject.
(I.ii, p. 21)",,20534,"","""However, let us make the best use we can of that little light which Scripture and reason have let in upon this dark and important subject.""","",2013-06-11 22:04:16 UTC,"Part I, Chapter II"
7409,"",Reading,2013-06-11 22:07:28 UTC,"(1.) To yield a faithful obedience to the laws of his kingdom. And the advantages, by which these come recommended to us above all human laws, are many-—they are calculated for the private interest of every one, as well as that of the public; and are designed to promote our present, as well as our future happiness--They are plainly and explicitly published; easily understood; and in fair and legible characters writ in every man's heart; and the wisdom, reason, and necessity of them are readily discerned-—they are urged with the most mighty motives that can possibly affect the human heart: and if any of them are difficult, the most effectual grace is freely offered, to encourage and assist our obedience: advantages which no human laws have to enforce the observance of them.--(2.) As his subjects, we must readily pay him the homage due to his sovereignty. And this is no less than the homage of the heart; humbly acknowledging that we hold every thing of him, and have every thing from him. Earthly princes are forced to be content with verbal acknowledgments, or mere formal homage; for they can command nothing but what is external: but God, who knows and looks at the hearts of all his creatures, will accept of nothing but what comes from thence. He demands the adoration of our whole souls, which is most justly due to him who formed them, and gave them the very capacities to know and adore him.----
(I.iii, pp. 25-6)",,20535,"","""They are plainly and explicitly published; easily understood; and in fair and legible characters writ in every man's heart; and the wisdom, reason, and necessity of them are readily discerned.""",Writing,2013-06-11 22:07:28 UTC,"Part I, Chapter III"
7409,"",Reading,2013-06-11 22:10:33 UTC,"It is ill judged (though very common) to be less ashamed of a want of temper than understanding. For it is no real dishonour or fault in a man to have but a small ability of mind, provided be hath not the vanity to set up for a genius (which would be as ridiculous, as for a man of small strength and stature of body to set up for a champion), because this is what he cannot help. But a man may in a good measure correct the fault of his natural temper, if he be well acquainted with it, and duly watchful over it.-— And therefore to betray a prevailing weakness of temper, or an ungoverned passion, diminishes a man's reputation much more than to discover a weakness of judgment or understanding.-—But what is most dishonourable of all is, for a man at once to discover a great genius and an ungoverned mind. Because that strength of reason and understanding he is master of gives him a great advantage for the government of his passions. And therefore his suffering himself notwithstanding to be governed by them, shows that he hath too much neglected or misapplied his natural talent, and willingly submitted to the tyranny of those lusts and passions, over which nature had furnished him with abilities to have secured an easy conquest.
(I.vi, pp. 52-3)
",,20536,"","""For it is no real dishonour or fault in a man to have but a small ability of mind, provided be hath not the vanity to set up for a genius (which would be as ridiculous, as for a man of small strength and stature of body to set up for a champion), because this is what he cannot help.""","",2013-06-11 22:10:33 UTC,"Part I, Chapter VI"
7409,"",Reading,2013-06-11 22:11:33 UTC,"It is ill judged (though very common) to be less ashamed of a want of temper than understanding. For it is no real dishonour or fault in a man to have but a small ability of mind, provided be hath not the vanity to set up for a genius (which would be as ridiculous, as for a man of small strength and stature of body to set up for a champion), because this is what he cannot help. But a man may in a good measure correct the fault of his natural temper, if he be well acquainted with it, and duly watchful over it.-— And therefore to betray a prevailing weakness of temper, or an ungoverned passion, diminishes a man's reputation much more than to discover a weakness of judgment or understanding.-—But what is most dishonourable of all is, for a man at once to discover a great genius and an ungoverned mind. Because that strength of reason and understanding he is master of gives him a great advantage for the government of his passions. And therefore his suffering himself notwithstanding to be governed by them, shows that he hath too much neglected or misapplied his natural talent, and willingly submitted to the tyranny of those lusts and passions, over which nature had furnished him with abilities to have secured an easy conquest.
(I.vi, pp. 52-3)",,20537,"","""But what is most dishonourable of all is, for a man at once to discover a great genius and an ungoverned mind. Because that strength of reason and understanding he is master of gives him a great advantage for the government of his passions.""","",2013-06-11 22:11:33 UTC,"Part I, Chapter VI"
7409,"",Reading,2013-06-11 22:12:40 UTC,"It is ill judged (though very common) to be less ashamed of a want of temper than understanding. For it is no real dishonour or fault in a man to have but a small ability of mind, provided be hath not the vanity to set up for a genius (which would be as ridiculous, as for a man of small strength and stature of body to set up for a champion), because this is what he cannot help. But a man may in a good measure correct the fault of his natural temper, if he be well acquainted with it, and duly watchful over it.-— And therefore to betray a prevailing weakness of temper, or an ungoverned passion, diminishes a man's reputation much more than to discover a weakness of judgment or understanding.-—But what is most dishonourable of all is, for a man at once to discover a great genius and an ungoverned mind. Because that strength of reason and understanding he is master of gives him a great advantage for the government of his passions. And therefore his suffering himself notwithstanding to be governed by them, shows that he hath too much neglected or misapplied his natural talent, and willingly submitted to the tyranny of those lusts and passions, over which nature had furnished him with abilities to have secured an easy conquest.
(I.vi, pp. 52-3)",,20538,"","""And therefore his suffering himself notwithstanding to be governed by them, shows that he hath too much neglected or misapplied his natural talent, and willingly submitted to the tyranny of those lusts and passions, over which nature had furnished him with abilities to have secured an easy conquest.""",Empire,2013-06-11 22:12:51 UTC,"Part I, Chapter VI"
7409,"","Reading; Mason cites Dr. Lucas's Sermons, vol. i, p. 151.",2013-06-11 22:15:02 UTC,"'As in the humours of the body, so in the vices of the mind, there is one predominant which has an ascendant over us, and leads and governs us. It is in the body of sin, what the heart is in the body of our nature; it begins to live first and dies last: and whilst it lives, it communicates life and spirit to the whole body of sin; and when it dies, the body of sin expires with it. It is the sin to which our constitution leads, our circumstances betray, and custom enslaves us; the sin to which not our virtues only, but vices too, lower their topsails and submit; the sin which, when we would impose upon God and our consciences, we excuse and disguise with all imaginable artifice and sophistry; but, when we are sincere with both, we oppose first and conquer last. It is, in a word, the sin which reigns and rules in the unregenerate, and too often alarms and disturbs (ah! that I could say no more) the regenerate.'
(Part I, Chapter VII)",,20539,"","""As in the humours of the body, so in the vices of the mind, there is one predominant which has an ascendant over us, and leads and governs us.""","",2013-06-11 22:15:02 UTC,""