William Penn. (1644–1718). Fruits of Solitude.
The Harvard Classics. 1909–14. |
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| Part I |
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| Posterity |
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| 213. We are too careless of Posterity; not considering that as they are, so the next Generation will be. | 1 |
| 214. If we would amend the World, we should mend Our selves; and teach our Children to be, not what we are, but what they should be. | 2 |
| 215. We are too apt to awaken and turn up their Passions by the Examples of our own; and to teach them to be pleased, not with what is best, but with what pleases best. | 3 |
| 216. It is our Duty, and ought to be our Care, to ward against that Passion in them, which is more especially our Own Weakness and Affliction: For we are in great measure accountable for them, as well as for our selves. | 4 |
| 217. We are in this also true Turners of the World upside down; For Money is first, and Virtue last, and least in our care. | 5 |
| 218. It is not How we leave our Children, but What we leave them. | 6 |
| 219. To be sure Virtue is but a Supplement, and not a Principal in their Portion and Character: And therefore we see so little Wisdom or Goodness among the Rich, in proportion to their Wealth. | 7 |
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