“Equidem plura transcribo, quam credo:  nam nec affirmare
     sustineo, de quibus dubito, nec subducere quae accepi;”

     ["Truly, I set down more things than I believe, for I can neither
     affirm things whereof I doubt, nor suppress what I have heard.” 
     —­Quintus Curtius, ix.]

and this other: 

               “Haec neque affirmare neque refellere operae
               pretium est; famae rerum standum est.”

     ["’Tis neither worth the while to affirm or to refute these things;
     we must stand to report”—­Livy, i., Praef., and viii. 6.]

And writing in an age wherein the belief of prodigies began to decline, he says he would not, nevertheless, forbear to insert in his Annals, and to give a relation of things received by so many worthy men, and with so great reverence of antiquity; ’tis very well said.  Let them deliver to us history, more as they receive it than as they believe it.  I, who am monarch of the matter whereof I treat, and who am accountable to none, do not, nevertheless, always believe myself; I often hazard sallies of my own wit, wherein I very much suspect myself, and certain verbal quibbles, at which I shake my ears; but I let them go at a venture.  I see that others get reputation by such things:  ’tis not for me alone to judge.  I present myself standing and lying, before and behind, my right side and my left, and, in all my natural postures.  Wits, though equal in force, are not always equal in taste and application.

This is what my memory presents to me in gross, and with uncertainty enough; all judgments in gross are weak and imperfect.

     ETEXT editor’s bookmarks: 

     A hundred more escape us than ever come to our knowledge
     A man must have courage to fear
     A man never speaks of himself without loss
     A man’s accusations of himself are always believed
     Agitation has usurped the place of reason
     All judgments in gross are weak and imperfect
     Any argument if it be carried on with method
     Apprenticeships that are to be served beforehand
     Arrogant ignorance
     Avoid all magnificences that will in a short time be forgotten
     Being as impatient of commanding as of being commanded
     Defer my revenge to another and better time
     Desires, that still increase as they are fulfilled
     Detest in others the defects which are more manifest in us
     Disdainful, contemplative, serious and grave as the ass
     Do not, nevertheless, always believe myself
     Events are a very poor testimony of our worth and parts. 
     Every abridgment of a good book is a foolish abridgment
     Fault not to discern how far a man’s worth extends
     Folly and absurdity are not to be cured by bare admonition
     Folly satisfied with itself than any reason can reasonably be