Proverbs of Hell Plates 7-10

(PLATES 7-10) In seed time learn, in harvest teach, in winter enjoy, drive
your cart and your plow over the bones of the dead, the road of excess leads
to the palace of wisdom. Prudence is a rich ugly old maid courted by
incapacity. He who desires but acts not, breeds pestilence. The cut worm
forgives the plow. Dip him in the river who loves water. A fool sees not the
same tree that a wise man sees. He whose face gives no light, shall never
become a star. Eternity is in love with the productions of time. The busy bee
has no time for sorrow. The hours of folly are measur'd by the clock; but of
wisdom, no clock can measure. All wholsom food is caught without a net or a
trap. Bring out number, weight & measure in a year of dearth. No bird soars
too high, if he soars with his own wings. A dead body revenges not injuries.
The most sublime act is to set another before you. If the fool would persist
in his folly, he would become wise. Folly is the cloke of knavery. Shame is
pride's cloke. Prisons are built with stones of law, brothers with bricks of
religion. The pride of the peacock is the glory of God. The lust of the goat
is the bounty of God. The wrath of the lion is the wisdom of God. The
nakedness of woman is the work of God. Excess of sorrow laughs. Excess of joy
weeps. The roaring of lions, the howling of wolves, the raging of the stormy
sea, and the destructive sword, are portions of eternity too great for the
eye of man. The fox condemns the trap, not himself. Joys impregnate. Sorrows
bring forth. Let man wear the feel of the lion, woman the fleece of the
sheep. The bird a nest, the spider a web, man friendship. The selfish smiling
fool, & the sullen, frowning fool shall be thought wise, that they may be a
rod. What is now proved was only once imagin'd. The rat, the mouse, the fox,
the rabbet watch the roots; the lion the tyger, the horse, the elephant,
watch the fruits. The cistern contains: the fountain overflows. One thought
fills immensity, always be ready to speak your mind, and a base man will avoid
you. Every thing possible to be beliv'd is an image of truth. The eagle never
lost so much time, as when he submitted to learn of the crow. The fox provides
for himself, but God provides for the lion. Think in the morning. Act in the
noon. Eat in the evening. Sleep in the night. He who has suffer'd you to
impose on him knows you. As the plow follows words, so God rewards prayers.
The tygers of wrath are the wiser than the horses of instruction. Expect
poison from the standing water. You never know what is enough unless you know
what is more than enough. Listen to the fool's reproach! It is a kingly title!
The eyes of fire, the nostrils of air, the mouth of water, the beard of earth.
The weak in courage is strong in cunning. The apple tree never asks the beech
how he shall grow; nor the lion, the horse, how he shall take his pray. The
thankful receiver bears a plentiful harvest. If others had not been foolish,
we should be so. The soul of sweet delight can never be defil'd. When thou
seest an eagle, thou seest a portion of genius; lift up thy head! As the
caterpiller chooses the fairest leaves to lay her eggs on. So the priest lays
his curse on the fairest joys. To create a little flower is the labour of
ages. Damn braces: bless relaxes. The best wine is the oldest, the best water
the newest. Prayers plow not! Joys laugh not! Sorrows weep not! The head
sublime, the heart pathos, the genitals beauty, the hands & feet proportion.
As the air to bird or the sea to fish, so is contempt to the contemptible.
The crow wish'd every thing was black, the owl that every thing was white.
Exuberance is beauty. If the lion was advised by the fox, he would be cunning.
Improve(me)nt makes strait road; but the crooked roads without improvement are
roads of genius. Sooner murder an infant in its cradle than nurse unacted
desires. Where man is not, nature is barren. Truth can never be told so as to
be understood, and not be beliv'd. Enough! Or too much. (PLATE 11) The ancient
poets animated all sensible objects with Gods or geniuses. Calling them by
names and adoring them with the properties of woods, rivers, mountains, lakes,
cities, nations, and whatever their enlarged and numerous senses could
perceive. And particulary they studied the genius of each city & country,
placing it under its mental deity; till a system was formed, which some took
advantage of, & enslav'd the vulgar by attempting to realize or abstract the
mental deities from their objects: thus began priesthood; choosing forms of
worship from poetic tales. And it length they pronounc'd that the gods had
order'd such things. Thus men forgot that all deities reside in the human
breast.