
“Upon the whole, a contented mind is the greatest blessing a man can enjoy in this world.”
No. 574 (30 July 1714).
The Spectator (1711–1714)
Voice of the Nile, from Odysseus' story, Book VIII, line 1290
The Odyssey : A Modern Sequel (1938)
Context: Blessed are those eyes that have seen more water than any man!
Blessed be that haughty mind that aimed at the greatest hope!
May you be blessed who row the current your life long
and now with dry unfreshened lips descend to Hades
to find the hidden deathless springs and slake your thirst!
My son, it's death who keeps and pours the deathless waters.
“Upon the whole, a contented mind is the greatest blessing a man can enjoy in this world.”
No. 574 (30 July 1714).
The Spectator (1711–1714)
“Blessed is trust, for it blesses both those who have it to give and those who receive it.”
Source: Aphorisms (1880/1893), p. 29.
To the 1864 general conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, as quoted in Abraham Lincoln : A History Vol. 6 (1890) by John George Nicolay and John Hay, Ch. 15, p. 324
1860s
“It is more blessed to give than to receive.”
Acts 20:35b
New Testament, Acts of the Apostles
Second Reply to Hayne (1830)