On Keeping One's Eyes Open
Charles Spurgeon · John Ploughman's Talk; or, Plain Advice for Plain People
" There are many baits for fishes."
TO get through this world a man must
look about him, and even sleep with
one eye open ; for there are many baits for
(69)
70 JOHN PLOUGHMAN'S TALK.
fishes, many nets for birds, and many traps
for men. While foxes are so common we
must not be geese. There is a very great
difference in this matter among people of
my acquaintance: many see more with one
eye than others with two, and many have
fine eyes and cannot see a jot. All heads
are not sense-boxes. Some are so cunning
that they suspect everybody, and so live
all their lives in miserable fear of their
neighbors ; others are so simple that every
knave takes them in, and makes his penny
of them. One man tries to see through a
brick wall, and hurts his eyes ; while
another finds out a hole in it, and sees as
far as he pleases. Some work at the mouth
of a furnace, and are never scorched ; and
others burn their hands at the fire when
they only mean to warm them. Now, it is
true that no one can give another experi-
ence, and we must all pick up wit for our-
selves; yet I shall venture to give some
of the homely cautions which have served
my turn, and perhaps they may be of use to
others as they have been to me.
Nobody is more like an honest man than
a thorough rogue. When you see a man
ON KEEPING ONE'S EYES OPEN. 71
with a great deal .of religion displayed in
his shop window, you may depend upon it
he keeps a very small stock of it within.
Do not choose your friend by his looks :
handsome shoes often pinch the feet. Don't
be fond of compliments : remember, " Thank
you, pussy, and thank you, pussy," killed
the cat. Don't believe in the man who talks
most; for mewing cats are very seldom
good mousers. By no means put yourself
in another person's power: if you put pour
thumb between two grinders, they are very
apt to bite. Drink nothing without seeing
it; sign nothing without reading it, and
make sure that it means no more than it
says. Don't go to law unless you have
nothing to lose : lawyer's houses are built
on fools' heads. In any business, never
wade into water where you cannot see the
bottom. Put no dependence upon the
label of a bag ; and count money after your
own kin. See the sack opened before you
buy what is in it ; for he who trades in the
dark asks to be cheated. Keep clear of the
man who does not value his own character.
Beware of everyone who swears : he who
would blaspheme his Maker would make
72 JOHN PLOUGHMAN'S TALK.
no bones of lying or stealing. Beware of
no man more than of yourself: we carry
our worst enemies within us. When a new
opinion or doctrine comes before you, do
not bite till you know whether it is bread
or a stone ; and do not be sure that the
gingerbread is good because of the gilt
on it. Never shout holloa ! till you are
quite out of the wood; and don't cry fried
fish till they are caught in the net. There's
always time enough to boast — wait a little
longer. Don't throw away dirty water till
you have got clean ; keep on at scraping the
roads till you can get better work; for the
poorest pay is better than none, and the
humblest office is better than being out of
employment. Always give up the road to
bulls and madmen ; and never fight with
a coalheaver or contend with a base char-
acter; for they will be sure to blacken
you.
" Neither trust nor contend,
Nor lay wagers, nor lend,
And you may depend
You'll have peace to your end."
I cannot say quite so much as that old
rhyme does, for there's more than that
ON KEEPING ONE 'S E YES OPEN. 73
wanted to give peace, but certainly it will
help to it. Never ride a broken-kneed
horse : the trader who has once been a
fraudulent bankrupt is not the man for you
to deal with. A rickety chair is a danger-
ous seat. Be shy of people who are over
polite, and don't be too fast with those who
are forward and rough. When you sus-
pect a design in anything, be on your guard ;
set the trap as soon as you smell a rat, but
mind you don't catch your own fingers in
it. Have very little to do with a boaster,
for his beer is all froth, and though he
brags that all his goods, and even his cop-
per kettles, are gold and silver, you will soon
find out that a boaster and a liar are first
cousins. Commit all your secrets to no
man ; trust in God with all your heart, but
let your confidence in friends be weighed in
the balances of prudence, seeing that men
are but men, and all men are frail. Trust
not great weights to slender threads. Yet
be not evermore suspicious, for suspicion
is a cowardly virtue at best. Men are not
angels, remember that ; but they are not
devils, and it is too bad to think them so.
One thing be sure of, never believe in any
74 JOHN PLOUGHMAN'S TALK.
priest of any religion, for before a man
could be bad enough to pretend to be a
priest, he must have hardened his heart and
blinded his conscience to the most horrible
degree. Our governors imprison gipsies for
telling fortunes, and yet they give fat liv-
ings to those vagabonds who deceive the
people in much weightier things. " Bad
company," said the thief, as he went to the
gallows between the hangman and a priest ;
a very honest speech, and a very true word,
though spoken in jest. It is the ignorance
of fools which keeps the pot boiling for
priests. May God clean this land from the
plague of their presence, and make men wise
enough to see through their crafty devices.
Lastly, my advice to all is — remember that
good wisdom is that which will turn out to
be wise in the end ; seek it, friends, and seek
it at the hands of the wisest of all teachers,
the Lord Jesus. Trust him, and he will
never fail you ; be guided by his word, and
it will never mislead you ; pray in his name,
and your requests shall be granted. Re-
member, he that leans on man will find him
a broken reed, but he who builds on Christ
has a firm foundation. You may follow
ON KEEPING ONE'S EYES OPEN 75
Jesus with your eyes shut if you please,
but when others would guide you keep all
your eyes open even if you have a dozen,
and all of them as powerful as telescopes.