Excerpt from The Dignity of Human Nature, or a Brief Account of the Certain and Established Means for Attaining the True End of Our Existence, Vol. 1: In Four Books

That a genius inferior only to a Shakspear or a Milton, should not be able to keep a coat to his back, to save him self from starving amidst his poetic fire, at the same time that an honest citizen whose utmost reach of thought only enables him to fix a reasonable profit upon a piece of linen or silk, according to its first cost and charges, should, from nothing, raise himself to a coach and six: to account for what in theory seems so strano'e, it is to be considered, of what consequence it is towards a pro er behaviour, that a person apply a due attention to all t e minute circum stances, and seemingly inconsiderable particulars, ln the conduct of life. Let a man have what sublime abilities he will, if he is above applying his understanding to find out, and his attention to pursue any scheme of life, it is as little to be expected that he should acquire the fortune of the thriving citizen, as that the plain shopkeeper, who never applied his mind to learning, should equal him in science.

About the Publisher

Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com

This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully, any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.