Labour bestowed on nothing is fruitless. [ Hitopadesa ]
Thou chiefest good,
Bestowed by heaven, but seldom understood. [ Lucan ]
Existence may be borne, and the deep root
Of life and sufferance make its firm abode
In bare and desolate bosoms: mute
The camel labors with the heaviest load.
And the wolf dies in silence: Not bestowed
In vain should such examples be; if they.
Things of ignoble or of savage mood,
Endure and shrink not, we of nobler clay
May temper it to bear - it is but for a day. [ Byron ]
The labour is foolish that is bestowed on trifles. [ Mart ]
Praise undeservedly bestowed wounds an honest heart. [ Boileau ]
Bounty always receives part of its value from the manner it is bestowed. [ Dr. Johnson ]
A wife is a gift bestowed upon a man to reconcile him to the loss of paradise. [ Goethe ]
Nature was here so lavish of her store, That she bestowed until she had no more. [ Brown ]
Wealth is the smallest thing on earth, the least gift that God has bestowed on mankind. [ Martin Luther ]
Amid the most mercenary ages it is but a secondary sort of admiration that is bestowed upon magnificence. [ Shenstone ]
It seems that nature, which has so wisely disposed our bodily organs with a view to our happiness, has also bestowed on us pride, to spare us the pain of being aware of our imperfections. [ Rochefoucauld ]
He said - and his observation was just - that a man on whom heaven hath bestowed a beautiful wife should be as cautious of the men he brings home to his house as careful of observing the female friends with whom his spouse converses abroad. [ Cervantes ]
Liberty is one of the choicest gifts that heaven hath bestowed upon man, and exceeds in value all the treasures which the earth contains within its bosom, or the sea covers. Liberty, as well as honor, man ought to preserve at the hazard of his life, for without it life is insupportable. [ Cervantes ]
Liberty is one of the most precious gifts which heaven has bestowed upon man; with it we cannot compare the treasures which the earth contains or the sea conceals; for liberty, as for honor, we can and ought to risk our lives; and on the other hand, captivity is the greatest evil that can befall man. [ Cervantes ]
We acquire the love of people who, being in our proximity, are presumed to know us; and we receive reputation or celebrity, from such as are not personally acquainted with us. Merit secures to us the regard of our honest neighbors, and good fortune that of the public. Esteem is the harvest of a whole life spent in usefulness; but reputation is often bestowed upon a chance action, and depends most on success. [ G. A. Sala ]
Socrates called beauty a short-lived tyranny; Plato, a privilege of nature; Theophrastus, a silent cheat; Theocritus, a delightful prejudice; Carneades, a solitary kingdom; Domitian said, that nothing was more grateful; Aristotle afirmed that beauty was better than all the letters of recommendation in the world; Homer, that it was a glorious gift of nature, and Ovid, alluding to him, calls it a favor bestowed by the gods. [ From the Italian ]