The vanity of the worldThe vanity of the vvorld

Whether they get them, or no, yet still they are disappointed in their hopes. ^dIf they cannot compass their designs, then they are tormented, because they fall short of what they laboured for; if they do compass them, yet still they are tormented, because what they laboured for, falls short of what they expected from it. The truth is, the World is much better in show than substance: And those very things we admire before we enjoy them, yet afterward, we find much less in them than we expected. As he that sees a falling Star shoot through the ⟨p. 38⟩Air, and draw after it a long train of light, runs to the place, and thinking to get some bright and glittering thing, catches up nothing but a filthy jelly; such is the disappointment we find in our pursuit after the enjoyments of this world: They make a glorious show at a distance, but when we come near them, we find our hopes deluded, and nothing upon the place but a vile slime.

Whether they get them, or no, yet still they are disappointed in their hopes. ^dIf they cannot compass their designs, then they are tormented, because they fall short of what they laboured for; if they do compass them, yet still they are tormented, because what they laboured for, falls short of what they expected from it. The truth is, the World is much better in shew than substance: And those very things we admire before we enjoy them, yet afterward, we find much less in them than we expected. As he that sees a falling Star shoot through the ⟨p. 38⟩Air, and draw after it a long train of light, runs to the place, and thinking to get some bright and glittering thing, catches up nothing but a filthy jelly; such is the disappointment we find in our pursuit after the enjoyments of this world: They make a glorious shew at a distance, but when we come near them, we find our hopes deluded, and nothing upon the place but a vile slime.

1. dEx bis tristitia sequitur, si aut non successit, aut successus pudet Senc. de tranquil. c. 11.