The Sphinx is the riddle, not the riddler.

Sphinx is the riddle, not the riddler.

Do not expect too much of the end of the world.

He who would love his fellow man
Must not expect too much of him.

"MARSYAS: Beware!
Easily trips the big word "dare."
Each man's an Œdipus, that thinks
He hath the four powers of the Sphinx,
Will, Courage, Knowledge, Silence. Son,
Even the adepts scarce win to one!
The Thoughts — they fall like rotten fruits.
But to destroy the power that makes
These thoughts — thy Self? A man it takes
To tear his soul up by the roots!
This is the mandrake fable, boy!"

Let mortal man keep to his own
Mortality, and not expect too much.

One of the first essentials in securing a good-natured equanimity is not to expect too much of the people amongst whom you dwell.

And Solomon says: Be not overmuch righteous; [ Ecclesiastes 7: 17 ] for restraint should temper righteousness.

I shouldn't wonder if you didn't wonder much too much!

The Sphinx is missing a nose. Someone shot it off in a moment of idle desecration — some say it was Mameluke Turks, others, Napoleonic soldiers.

Everyone who has to contend with unbelief should be advised that he ought not to take his own unbelief too seriously.