Emblem 70

French. The frog sings about the plain, and yet it has neither hair nor wool.

Dutch. A cheerful mind and a moderate estate are wonderfully sweet.

Latin. He who gets on well with poverty is rich.

French. The contented poor man is not poor. The discontented rich man is not rich.

Little and peace is much.

For want of a capon, bread and onion.

Little property, little care. French.

No richer man in all the towns than he who lives content with his own. Dutch.

Nearest to the gods is he who needs fewest things. Latin.

One lives better on little.

For he is not poor who has the use of things sufficient for him.

He is rich enough for whom what he has is enough.

French. He who is content is rich.

The way to grow rich quickly is to be content with what one has.

He cannot lack much who is resolved to content himself with little. French.

The virtuous man, with bread and water, can rival the happiness of the richest.

Seneca. We shall be rich with more security if we have learned how little a burden it is to be poor.

Juvenal. The empty-handed traveller will sing in the robber's presence.

Seneca. What nature desires is easily got, and what suffices is close at hand.

Cicero. We call him rich whose possessions are such that he is easily content to live liberally; who seeks nothing, craves nothing, wishes for nothing more.

Quintilian. It is riches enough to wish for nothing more.

Greek. Serve the occasion, and do not blow against the winds.

Latin. Yield to the occasion, and do not blow against the winds.

Not against the stream's current; do not make water facing the sun.

French. Learn the high and the low dance, and whatever the time plays, dance it.

You will say or do nothing against Minerva's will (i.e. contrary to your natural gift). Latin.

No fly ever sits on a boiling pot. Dutch.

No cat nibbles at hot pottage.

A fly does not attack a pot that is boiling. French.

Do not set yourself against an angry man, nor against a king, nor against an overflowing river. Ben Sira.

Let the reader picture to himself a man who, wishing to fill a bottle with a narrow neck, spills nearly all the water on the ground, because he pours too much at once.

French. He who pours water into a jar all at once spills more than goes in.

If anyone wishes rightly to understand the difference between a great and a small estate, let him imagine that he sees before him a swan, an ostrich, or some other large bird, quite bare and without feathers; and on the other side a sparrow, a finch, or some other little bird, likewise entirely naked and unplumed; and let him then further suppose that both of them are wholly busy, each to cover its bare body. Doing so, he will at once perceive that in such a case a finch or a sparrow is far better off than a swan or an ostrich, since so small a creature as a sparrow or a finch can easily cover its little limbs with the least feather or other stuff it meets with and picks up here or there; but a swan — where shall she get such a quantity of plumes to clothe that great body and that long outstretched neck? Apply this comparison, Reader, on the one side to a Prince, or anyone else who is great in the world, and on the other side to an ordinary citizen, both fallen from their condition by some misfortune and reduced to smallness or poverty; and you will indeed, as if with your hands, grasp what we have here set forth in words.

Latin. The tower whose head is thrust into the very clouds is beaten by the rainy south wind.

Great lords, great clothes. Great is the court, much must go out of it. Dutch.

French. There is no great climb without a great valley.

Big backsides, big breeches; big heads, big kerchiefs.

Seneca. Those who spread great sails must needs have many storms rush upon them.

Let the reader picture a man who, in a great court or prince's palace, stands and observes the whole bustle of the household.

French. Horses, dogs, birds and servants both eat up and ruin their lords.

Italian. A big ship needs deep water. A big ship, a big worry.

Dutch. Great house, great cross. Great is the court, much must go out of it.

French. To a big kitchen, poverty is a neighbour.

Small ship, small sail. Small house, small care. Many cows, many troubles. Big household, big management. The more fish, the muddier the water. Dutch.

A little pot is soon hot. English.

For a small oven, little wood suffices. Italian.

A small hearth, even if it is cold, needs only a little wood. Dutch.

The crowd is the courter and companion of estates that are perishing. Seneca.

The household demands clothing and food; so many bellies of most greedy creatures must be maintained. The same author.

Those who spread great sails must needs have many storms rush upon them. Seneca.

Dutch. So won, so spent. As it came, so it went.

French. Where the lamb came from, there the skin has gone back.

What is earned by the tabor goes away by the flute. French.

What 'heap, heap' gathers, 'pull, pull' scatters.