Examples teach more than precepts. [ Proverb ]

Whatever precepts you give, be short. [ Horace ]

Here shall the Press the People's right maintain,
Unawed by influence and unbribed by gain;
Here Patriot Truth her glorious precepts draw,
Pledged to Religion, Liberty, and Law. [ Joseph Story ]

There is no affectation in passion, for that putteth a man out of his precepts. [ Bacon ]

The precepts of philosophy effect not the least benefit to one confirmed in fear. [ Hitopadesa ]

One day spent well, and agreeably to your precepts, is preferable to an eternity of error. [ Yonge ]

Some old men like to give good precepts to console themselves for their inability no longer to give bad examples. [ A. Dupuy ]

I maintain, against the enemies of the stage, that patterns of piety, decently represented, may second the precepts. [ Dryden ]

Short, isolated sentences were the mode in which ancient wisdom delighted to convey its precepts for the regulation of human conduct. [ Bishop Warburton ]

He that lays down precepts for the governing of our lives, and moderating our passions, obliges humanity not only in the present, but in all future generations. [ Seneca ]

Genius is supposed to be a power of producing excellences which are out of the reach of the rules of art: a power which no precepts can teach, and which no industry can acquire. [ Sir J. Reynolds ]

Thinkers who trace systems of philosophy are merely impelled by an innate instinct; they know that their precepts, however excellent, are not suitable to the majority: the wisdom may be admired by many, but few will follow the principles. [ De Finod ]

It may be too much to expect that nations should be governed in their relations towards each other by the precepts of Christian morality, but surely it is not too much to ask that they should conform to the code of courtesy and good breeding recognized among gentlemen in the intercourse of social life. [ Geo. S. Hillard ]