Selected quad for the lemma: love_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
love_n	death_n	life_n	live_v	9,237	5	5.6948	4	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A20983	Emblema animæ or Morrall discourses reflecting upon humanitie. Written by John du Plessis now Cardinall of Richleu. Translated by I.M. Also varietie of obseruations delightfull to the minde; Emblema animae. English	Richelieu, Armand Jean de Plessis, duc de, 1585-1642.; Maxwell, James, b. 1581.; Marshall, William, fl. 1617-1650, engraver.	1635 (1635)	STC 7359; ESTC S111092	68,276	289

being thereunto called and busying and bestirring themselves about that which no wise concerneth them These men when they goe out of doores if yee but aske them whither they goe they will answere you thus I know not I goe to doe as the rest doe They runne along the streets they haunt the publicke places and then they returne home full of vexation and wearinesse without any designe for there is nothing that doth so much irke and weary mens mindes as to labour in vaine They are like unto little Ants which doe climbe upwards upon trees and after they have mounted to the toppe are forced to creepe downe againe the same way they went up without bringing downe with them any good at all Many doe live in this manner whose life is nothing else but a busied leasure full of tumults and toyles yee shall see them posting on with such vehemency and speede as if they would carry away with them all that they finde before them in their way The Streets the Churches and Markets are ordinarily ful of them These bee they which forge and frame newes they will bee the weighers of mens worthes and the givers of garlands They will talke lavishly of other mens lives and discourse of other mens offices keeping a babling coyle It is a principall point of Wisedome truly to know how to esteem of life he that esteemeth and loveth his life for the love of it selfe hee lives not but to live But a wise man lives no longer then that his life may be worth more then his death a great part of life is lost to those that doe ill a greater to those that doe nothing and all to those that doe that they should not doe some beginne to live when they should dye some ended before they beginne and amongst other evills Folly hath this that it alwaies beginnes to live But the actions of a well aduised man tend alwaies to ●●me certaine end neither doth ●e burthen himselfe with more ●usinesses then he can conveni●ntly the man that undertaketh ●●uch must needs in my minde ●ive Fortune much power over ●im DISC. 6. Of the diversity of Actions EVery one in my Opinion ought to take paines in ina●ling himselfe to comport with the time and matters according as they accidentally happen and not to tye themselves so much to one manner of living but that in case of necessity they may forsake it For if we consider man according to the life wee shall finde him full of vanity weaknesse inconstancy misery and presumption a fruitefull argument to divert him from singularity For even a● a man that is whole and sound should not subject himselfe to the keeping o● one certaine rule in his dyet bu● ought rather to accustome himselfe to eate sometimes more sometimes lesse at one time of one meat and at another time of another meate to drinke now of wine and then of water to abide sometimes in the sunne somtimes in the shade sometimes to labour and sometimes to rest● so must hee frame and fashion himselfe to all manner of accidents for in so doing any new chance whatsoever that can befall for there are infinite in the course of our life shall neither trouble him nor disquiet him yee though hee be driven to betake himselfe to some other manner of living yet shall hee doe it without much trouble provide alwaies that temerity and rashnesse be away by reason that hee shall bee so well inured thereunto before hand that it will bee easie for him to give place unto the time that offereth it selfe And truely the impotency and weaknesse is all one not to be able to change in time of need and not to be able to continue constant in a good course for he that loveth riches shall not bee satisfied with it and hee that cannot comport with necessity has not the valour of a Christian Moreover wee must mingle and temper our matters in such sort that they may be fitted proportionably one to another As for example At one time to be solitary at another time to be in company the one for our friends sake the other for our selves for we must not alwaies remaine in our grave moode for that will make us abhorrec● neither must wee shew our selves continually jocund and glad for that will render us despised But wee must carry our selves discreetly observing comelinesse conveniercy of time and place as the life of man doth require For it is a needfull thing for a man at one time or other to recreate himselfe by giving intermission to his more serious affaires Labour in some is a weaknes of the Spirits in others a waste in some it makes the heade dizzy in others the backe and ●ll suffer though not a like Recrea●ion is the Physitian that ●ures all those and makes them ●gree in a sweet harmony and ●herefore he that will not mixe ●hese two together is guilty of his owne distemper and ●n enemy to the Law of reason We read of Socrates a most grave Ph●osopher that hee made no scruple to play and refresh himselfe with litle boies of Cato a very austere man that sometimes hee did feast his friends thereby to refresh himselfe with the pleasure of their company and to recreate his minde wearied with the weighty affaires of the Common-wealth Also of Scipio Africanus that he would delight himselfe with dancing And this we have said to shew that the minde of man requireth some release Neither hath he his due liberty who hath not the meanes sometimes to beatleasure The fruitefullest grounds if they are not laid to waste become barren in a short time Continuall labour maketh the minde of man to become slacke and weake even as lasinesse and and luxury doth make it heavy feeble and faint Our recreation ought to be as our sleepe which restoreth our strength and giveth us breath to returne more gayly and joyfully to our worke For if we should sleepe continually it would bee a death and not a sleepe The law of reason establishes a conveniency in the ordering of all things and knits it selfe to Nature which ordaines foure seasons wherein trees ap●eare Leaves budde beare fruite and ripen and after retire their ●ap into the body of the earth to teach even men that rest is altogether as necessary as Labour and those which of old did establish lawes have ordained there should bee also certaine feastival dayes in the yeare to the end men might in a manner bee constrained to surcease from the emploiments of their ordinary callings and take some pastime after their toyle and of old we finde that many excellent men were wont to allot some parcell of time to their recreation Asinius Pollio a great Orator was never so much busied in affaires but hee reserved for his pleasure and pastime the two last houres of the day during the which space hee would not so much as read the Letters which hee received from his friends fearing lest they should

else whatsoever Thinke not that riches howsoever aboundant they be can afford so great contentment to the owner thereof as vertue doth unto the vertuous man which is sufficient to make him content For vertue in whomsoever it be is alwaies the reward and recompence of her selfe Wee read how that Aglaus a poore shepherd in Arcadia was by the Oracle of Apollo preferred for his contentation before King Craesus of Lydia who esteemed himselfe the happiest man in the World for his riches and even as the most precious plants sweet-smelling trees though they be cut in pieces and dryed keepe alwaies their sweet and pleasant sent when as the unsavoury and barren doe not please the sence even then when they are whole and full of blossomes and flowers even so the vertuous man in the very midst of his adversity reapeth more pleasure and contentment of his vertue and honesty then the vitious can doe of his wealth and superfluity being beaten and scourged with a cursed conscience In one word in what time place or condition soever yee finde the vertuous man yee shall finde him alwaies content O what a blessednesse then if considered aright is Adversity which though common to all yet worketh divers effects according to the Subject whereupon it lighteth To fooles and reprobate persons if serves to drive into despaire afflict and enrage them to sinners and offenders crosses are so many lively instructions and compulsions to put them in minde of their duty and to bring them to the Knowledge of God To vertuous people they are the lists wherein to exercise their Vertue and to winne to them●elves greater commendations ●nd a nea●er alliance with God ●nd to all a guide that leadeth ●ut of this life into a better It is reported that Diogenes ●he Philosopher seeing on a ●ime a certaine man dressing and ●ecking himselfe for a Festivall ●ay sayd unto him thus Why ●oest then take such paines to ●rimme thy selfe to day conside●ing that every day is a festivall ●ay to the vertuous man And ●uely every day of the life of ●he vertuous man is a Solemne ●ay and fit for a moderate re●oycing and mirth For if wee ●ooke well unto the matter the world is no other thing else but 〈◊〉 faire and holy Temple into which a man is brought so soone ●s he is borne and within this Temple there is to be seene two bright Lampes or Torches set up the Sun and the Moone with many other Starry lights There may we see and behold divers kinds of Creatures by meanes whereof Man attaineth to the Knowledge of other Essences that cannot be seene What a sweet sight is it to see so many faire floods and cleare running Rivers which send out alwaies fresh Water to behold so many fruitfull and flourishing Trees Plants Herbes and Roots the beautifull variety of Beasts and of stones together with graffie hils and high Mountains on the one hand and low Valleyes and pleasant playnes on the other if man were so wise as hee should be this same sight shew might serve him for a passe-time and a delight For what thing is there in this Life more worthy to be seene then the passe-times and pleasures which God doth afford and offer us in his Creatures if wee could use the same as wee ought Why do we take greater delight in any artificiall sport of Beasts then we do to behold them acting their severall parts of Natures play each kinde of them their owne part upon this faire wide stage of the world Or is there any Musicke sweeter then the chirping and singing of Birds In briefe it is a great delectation to see and observe the diversity of creatures which God hath framed and formed each one to his kind we consume and spend away our life about so many purposes and practises so many toiles broyles that hardly wee doe enjoy any part thereof and yet for all that wee leave not to enjoy the other good creatures of God If a man could once attair to this point of perfection as to ●id his mind ou● of these manifold entanglements and to give it some space and place to entertaine cherish and nourish it selfe with the knowledge of the creatures and of the Almighty Creator nothing should or could cast it into any excessive sorrow except it were sinne for the Soule being once unite I with him that made it by contemplation and meditation by knowledge and love it would gather it selfe together calmely and quietly and man lead and live continually a gladsome life considering that at one time or other some evill hath befaln him yet oftner hath he tasted of good So that requiting as it were the one with the other hee may well say that hee hath greater occasion to rejoyce of his good successe then to complaine of the evill adventure of another time as wee are accustomed to turne our eyes away from such things as offend us and to cast them upon greene and gay colours that please us so should wee divert the eyes of our understanding together with our thoughts from sad and sorrowfull objects and apply them to such as are more pleasing and agreeable thereunto neither must wee bee like unto the malitious man who beholdeth another mans faults with the eyes of an Eagle but his owne with the eyes of an Owle But our perversnes is such that very often we do resemble the boxin-glasses which draw and drinke up the corrupt blood and leave the pure and cleane blood behind There was in former times a certaine rich wretch who had in his house great store of wine but yet was so nigardish and neere that hee sold the best and kept the worst for his owne use a certaine servant of his observing this pinching and preposterous nigardlines of his Master fled away from him and being asked afterwards why he left his Lord answered thus Because I could not endure to stay with a man who having that which was good made choise of that which was evill The Philosopher Aristippus made yet a farre better reply who having lost on of his three Farmes said thus unto his friends That it was babishnes to bee sorry for one Farme lost and not to be merry for the other two that did rest in his hands seeing that all of them had laine open to the same adventure Wee are like unto little Children from whom if yee pull but one of their Rattles or Knackes they will presently without more adoe fling away all the rest in despite For if of many good things that we enjoy it chance that one of them eyther be taken from us or that it be lost by and by we beginne to bewayle it forgetting all that resteth behind in our hands But some man bewailingly will aske me saying alas what haue we To whom askingly I would answere But what rather haue we not One hath great reputation and credit another hath Wealth and another health one hath a Wife according to his wish

our affections and dresse our selves in such sort that fortune may finde the lesse advantage to offend us for a smal body that can cover and gather it selfe together under a buckler marcheth on towards the enemy with more surely then a bigger body doth that lyeth at large open unto blowes If it were not mine intention to husband the time and to spare paper I could enlarge my discourse by reciting of almost ●nnumerable examples as well of Heathens as of Christians which have placed a great part of their perfection in poverty But ye ought to consider one thing for all that Iesus Christ was poore who was Lord of the whole world his Disciples were poore which did possesse all things and the Saints were poore which might have beene rich If yee should never dye I would advise you to set your affection upon riches but I see to that those to whom they most befall doe finde sooner the end of their living then of their longing Why then should a man torment himselfe for a thing that he must necessarily leave and why is he not rather content quietly with that which is needfull chiefly considering that the fairest kind of wealth is for a man to be neither too poore nor yet too far off from poverty DISC. 18. Of Death CAesar sayd well that the best death was that which was least premeditated and to say truth the preparatiō before death hath bin to many a greater torment then the execution it selfe The Mexicans salute their Infants comming forth of their Mothers wombe thus Infant thou art come into the world to suffer endure suffer and hold thy peace Why then should a man bee sorry to dye when nothing but life is miserable And it seemeth that all incommodities and misfortunes may bee borne with either by the meanes of a long custome or by the helpe of a strong discourse onely Death and the apprehension thereof is the thing that putteth us in greatest feare Now the onely remedy and true easing of this evill is that yee make this reckoning of the world and all that is therein that yee have nothing which is your owne neither life nor living no not so much as your owne selfe but that yee live alwayes borrowing and holding your very life not in property but on condition to restore it unto him againe who hath lent it you whensoever he shall require it at your hands yet for all this yee must not neglect it as a thing not yours but must keepe it faithfully and carefully in regard that God hath trusted you with the custody thereof and when it is time to render it to him that gave it not grudgingly but gladly and with a cheerefull countenance in the meane time thanking GOD the giver of all good things for the time yee have had the use and aide thereof and saying unto him in this or the like manner Lord I render unto thee againe this Soule and Life with as good an heart as it pleased thee to give mee the same yea even with a better and readier will then I did receive it for when thou gavest it me thou gavest it to a little weake Creature which knew not the good thou then didst bestow but now thou dost receive it againe at the hands of a Creature more accomplished who knoweth what it is he commendeth into thine hands and therfore rendereth it unto thee withall franknesse and readinesse of will and truely we may easily imagine that it is not a hard thing for a substance to returne to the place whence it first came the body returning to the earth and the soule if it goe the right way must goe to him that gave it To bee short that man doubtlesse never learned well to live who knoweth not how to die wee must therefore in this case bee so affected towards our selves as wee are wont to be in the behalfe of fencers which must fight in a barred field for wee commonly hate him that beareth himselfe faint-heartedly and favour the other who out of a brave courage had rather chose to dye then to bee overcome Besides the feare of death is sometimes the cause or occasion of it to him that flyeth fastest from it And seeing yee know well that life was given you upon condition to render it againe ●e ought not to be so unjust as ●o desire to enjoy that thing for ever which was given unto you for a day by making your selfe Lord and owner of the thing whereof yee are onely a depositary or keeper Moreover men wil say that it is a matter of great import to wit the feare and apprehension of death and that it is the extreame of all terrible things But ye ought to understand that Death is not to bee found fault with for this seeing that it proceedeth not from the nature of Death but from our owne imbecillity who are commonly overtaken and intangled with delights with a desire of this transitory life and with an immoderate love of this miserable flesh And if yee take good heed it is not so much Death i● selfe that is dreadfull as the opinion which wee hold concerning the same For every man feareth it according to his judgment apprehension and conscience And if it bee so that yee have no feare thereof but onely for this occasion then lay the blame upon your selfe and no● upon it For it fareth with men of an evill conscience when they must dye as it doth with riotous spend-thrifts when they must pay their debts They will not come to an account for the distrust which they have of their ability to satisfie for what they have done And to say that ye feare death ●y reason that it is the last point ●●d period of man hath but lit●●e reason in it For the Soule 〈◊〉 alwaies it liveth ever and ●●nnot dye The Greekes call mans decease ●●e end giving us thereby to ●nderstand that it is the period ●nd end of wearisome life O●●ers a death of which there ●re foure kinds the first is the ●aturall death or separation be●weene the Body and the Soule ●he second is a spirituall death ●r a separation betweene the grace of God and us the third ●s a ghostly death or a separation betweene our sinnes and us and the fourth is an everlasting death or a separation betweene Heaven and us for ever But the Holy Scripture calleth death a sleepe to assure us of an assured Resurrection and to the end wee weepe not as Infidels doe which are withou● hope Let us consider with ou● selves how many holy men and women have prized it and desired it as the onely easemen● of all their anguish The writings of Solomon Iob and the histories of Gods Saints are full of the praises of this Christian desire of death What a vanity is it to love so much this miserable life this Jaile this prison this vale of ●eares seeing that the longer we live the longer we live in sinne the more daies wee spend