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  a catastrophic minimum.

  But nonetheless the final sum

  is Nature’s well-known middlemum.

  GOOD ADVICE

  Shun advice

  at any price—

  that’s what I call

  good advice.

  THE ME ABOVE THE ME

  Giving in is no defeat.

  Passing on is no retreat.

  Selves are made to rise above.

  You shall live in what you love.

  SUB SPECIE—

  Sub specie

  aeternitatis

  even the dearest bought

  is gratis.

  WHO AM I?

  Who am I

  to deny

  that maybe

  God is me?

  THE ULTIMATE WISDOM

  Philosophers

  must ultimately find

  their true perfection

  in knowing all

  the follies of mankind

  —by introspection.

  FORM AND MATERIAL

  A grook about the impermanence of language

  I see myself and what I write enclosed in

  an hour-glass’s uppermost retort.

  The very stuff my patterns are composed in

  must fall away, and crumble down to naught.

  Yet stubbornly, and in despite of reason,

  I still believe that what is fashioned there

  will, when the sands run out in destined season,

  remain unchanged, suspended in the air.

  A TIP

  to members of the literary profession

  Those

  who can write

  have a

  lot to

  learn from those

  bright

  enough

  not to.

  ADVICE AT NIGHTFALL

  Smile

  a while

  ere day

  is done

  and all

  your gall

  will soon

  be gone.

  Index of Titles

  A Reproof

  A Tip

  A Word of Encouragement

  Abreast

  Advice at Nightfall

  Allotment

  An Echo From the Past

  An Old Saw Reset

  Brave

  Constitutional Point

  Dead Reasonable

  Enough

  Form and Material

  Freedom

  Good Advice

  Investment Policy

  It Isn’t Enough

  Largesse

  Like a Tall, Solid Beech Tree

  Making an Effort

  Mean Value

  Memento Vivere

  Nothing Is Indispensable

  Pow!

  Presence of Mind

  Reflection on Size

  Rhyme and Reason

  Small Things and Great

  Stone in Shoe

  Sub Specie—

  That’s Why

  The Arithmetic of Co-Operation

  The Final Step

  The Final Touch

  The Gioconda Simile

  The Grasshopper’s Grief

  The Me Above the Me

  The Only Solution

  The Overdoers

  The Slot Machine

  The State

  The Ultimate Wisdom

  The Unattainable Ideal

  The Untenable Argument

  The Wisdom of the Spheres

  Thoughts on a Station Platform

  Time and Eternity

  Timing Toast

  What Love Is Like

  What People May Think

  When Ignorants—

  Who Am I?

  Wide Road

  Index of First Lines

  A grasshopper sat on a flagstone and wept

  Anxieties yield

  Certainly Leonardo’s

  Freedom means

  Giving in is no defeat

  He that lets

  He who aims

  How instructive

  I see myself and what I write enclosed in

  Idiots are really

  If a nasty jagged stone

  If they made diving boards

  If you’re wooing the present

  I’m sitting with my back against

  In view of your manner

  It ought to be plain

  It’s pleasant to give

  Love is like

  Love while you’ve got

  My adversary’s argument

  Nature, our father and mother

  Of drink and victuals

  One paramount truth

  Our so-called limitations, I believe

  Philosophers

  Power corrupts

  Prehistoric monsters straying

  Shun advice

  Small people often overrate

  Smile a while

  Some people cower

  Somebody said

  Stomach-ache can be a curse

  Sub specie

  That baddies are baddies

  The universe may

  There was an old woman

  Those who can write

  Timing toast is simpler than

  To be brave is to behave

  To keep an ever-open door

  To make a name for learning

  Truth shall emerge from the interplay

  We hope our share of luck will come

  We ought to live

  We shall have to evolve

  We’re leaving wisdom

  When you’re adding up committees

  Where the woods and ploughlands

  Who am I

  Why do bad writers

  Yes, life is a gamble

  Your days on earth