On the conversation with ourselves. (A.F. Knigge, 1805)

(by Adolph Freiherr von Knigge "Practical philosophy of social life or, The art of conversing with men" (1805, translated from German); http://books.google.de/books?id=PtQGAAAAcAAJ&hl=ja&source=gbs_navlinks_s ; p. 46ff.)

SECTION II.
On the conversation with ourselves.

1 Take care of the health of your mind as well as that of
your body ; but spoil neither the one nor the other by too
much tenderness. The man that endangers his constitution
by too much labor or excess, squanders away a treasure which
frequently is alone sufficient to raise him above men and fate,
and for the loss of which the wealth of all the world cannot
compensate.

2 But he that dreads every breeze of air, and is fearful to
exert and exercise his limbs, lives a nerveless life of constant
anxiety, and attempts in vain to put the rusty springs in
motion when he has occasion to exert his natural powers.

3 A man that constantly exposes his mind to the tempests
of passion, or incessantly crowds the sails of his spirit, either
runs aground or must return with his leaky vessel into port,
when the best season for making new discoveries sets in.
But he that suffers the faculties of his understanding and
memory constantly to sleep, or shudders at every little strug-
gle or at any sort of painful exertion, enjoys not only very
little of the sweets of life, but is also totally lost as soon as
energy, courage and resolution are required.

4 Take care, therefore, not to torment yourself by imagi-
nary sufferings of the body or the mind ; do not give way to
every adverse incident or corporeal affliction! Take courage
and be resolute ! All the storms of adversity are transient;
all difficulties can be overcome by firmness of mind; and the
remembrance of every loss can be exploded from the memory,
if we bend our attention upon some other object.

5 Have a proper regard for yourself, if you wish to be
esteemed by others. Act well and properly, rather to pre-
serve your regard for yourself than to please others. Pre-
serve a proper sense of your internal dignity. Never lose
your reliance upon yourself, and upon the consciousness of
your value in the eyes of your Creator; and although you
are sensible not to be as wise and capable as others, yet do
not despair; let not your zeal slacken, nor be wanting in
probity of heart !

6 Have confidence in yourself and trust to Providence!
There exists a greatness which is independent of men, fate,
and the applause of the world ; it consists in the internal
consciousness of our merit and rectitude, and our sense of it
grows stronger, the less it is taken notice of.

7 Be an agreeable companion to yourself: that is, never
be entirely unoccupied, nor confide entirely in the store of
knowledge which you have treasured up in your mind; but
collect new ideas from books and men.

8 Our own society does, however, never grow more te-
dious and distressing to ourselves than when w r e have painful
accounts to settle with our heart and conscience. If you wish
to convince yourself of the truth of this assertion, you need
but to observe the difference of your disposition.

9 How much dissatisfied with ourselves, how absent, and
how burdensome to ourselves, are we after a train of hours
which we have trifled away or spent in doing wrong, and how
serene, how happy to reflect upon our conduct, and to give
audience to our ideas at the close of a well spent day!