there is not one, that hath been transported to
the mad degree of love: which shows that great
spirits, and great business, do keep out this weak
passion. You must except, nevertheless, Marcus
Antonius, the half partner of the empire of Rome,
and Appius Claudius, the decemvir and lawgiver;
whereof the former was indeed a voluptuous man,
and inordinate; but the latter was an austere and
wise man: and therefore it seems (though rarely)
that love can find entrance, not only into an open
heart, but also into a heart well fortified, if watch
be not well kept. It is a poor saying of Epicurus,
Satis magnum alter alteri theatrum sumus; as if
man, made for the contemplation of heaven, and
all noble objects, should do nothing but kneel be-
fore a little idol, and make himself a subject,
though not of the mouth (as beasts are), yet of the
eye; which was given him for higher purposes. It
is a strange thing, to note the excess of this passion,
and how it braves the nature, and value of things,
by this; that the speaking in a perpetual hyper-
bole, is comely in nothing but in love. Neither is it
merely in the phrase; for whereas it hath been
well said, that the arch-flatterer, with whom all
the petty flatterers have intelligence, is a man's
self; certainly the lover is more. For there was
never proud man thought so absurdly well of him-
self, as the lover doth of the person loved; and
therefore it was well said, That it is impossible to
love, and to be wise. Neither doth this weakness