HARRIET BEECHER STOWE
HARRIET BEECHER STOWE
CHAPTER IIITHE JOY OF DOING
What I must do is all that concerns me, not what the people think.—Emerson.Half-way, half-hearted doings never amount to much. Battles are not won with flags at half-mast. No, they are run up to the very tops of their standards and are waved as far toward the heavens as is possible.
Gentle words, quiet words, are, after all, the most powerful words.—Washington Gladden.If we lack enthusiasm we are almost as certain to fail of achieving an end as a locomotive engine that lacks steam is of climbing the grade. Even a listless, lackadaisical spirit may get on all right so long as the path of life is all on a level or is down grade, but when it comes to hill-climbing and the real experiences of life that serve to develop character, it is likely to give up the contest and surrender the prize it might win to other and more earnest competitors.
Aim above morality. Be not simply good; be good for something.—Thoreau."If you would get the best results, do your work with enthusiasm as well as fidelity," says Dr. Lyman Abbott. "Only he can who thinks he can!" says OrisonSwett Marden. "The world makes way only for the determined man who laughs at barriers which limit others, at stumbling-blocks over which others fall. TheNothing will be mended by complaints.—Johnson.man who, as Emerson says, ’hitches his wagon to a star,’ is more likely to arrive at his goal than the one who trails in the slimy path of the snail."
Peace! Peace! How sweet the word and tender! Its very sound should wrangling discord still.—Nathan Haskell Dole.Every girl knows that the girl friends whom she loves best are the ones who are alive to the world about them and who feel an enthusiasm in the tasks and privileges that confront them.
Enthusiasm is the breeze that fills the sails and sends the ship gliding over the happy waves. It is the joy of doing things and of seeing that things are well done. It gives to work a thoroughness and a delicious zest and to play a whole-souled, health-giving delight.
The Spartans did not inquire how many the enemy are, but where they are.—Agis II.Only they who find joy in their work can live the larger and nobler life; for without work, and work done joyously, life must remain dwarfed and undeveloped. "If you would have sunlight in your home," writes Stopford Brooke, "see that you have work in it; that you work yourself, and set others to work. Nothing makes moroseness andThe man in whom others believe is a power, but if he believes in himself he is doubly powerful.—Willis George Emerson.heavy-heartedness in a house so fast as idleness. The very children gloom and sulk if they are left with nothing to do. If all have their work, they have not only their own joy in creating thought, in making thought into form, in driving on something to completion, but they have the joy of ministering to the movement of the whole house, when they feel thatThe secrecy of success is constancy to purpose.—Disraeli.what they do is part of a living whole. That in itself is sunshine. See how the face lights up, how the step is quickened, how the whole man or child is a different being from the weary, aimless, lifeless, complaining being who had no work! It is all the difference between life and death."
WeMen talk about the indignity of doing work that is beneath them, but the only indignity that they should care for is the indignity of doing nothing.—W. R. Haweis.must play life’s sweet keys if we would keep them in tune. Charles Kingsley says: "Thank God every morning when you get up that you have something to do that day which must be done whether you like it or not. Being forced to work, and forced to do your best, will breed in you temperance and self-control, diligence and strength of will, cheerfulness and content, and a hundred virtues which the idle will never know."
AllShare your happiness with others, but keep your troubles to yourself.—Patrick Flynn.the introspective thinkers of the world have agreed that nothing else is so hard to do as is "nothing." It is unwholesome for one to have more leisure than a mere breathing spell now and then for the purpose of setting to work once more with renewed energy.
Neither days, nor lives can be made noble or holy by doing nothing in them.—Ruskin.They who work with their hearts as well as their hands do not grow tired. A labor of love is a labor of growing delight. "The moment toil is exchanged for leisure," writes Munger, "a gate is opened to vice. When wealth takes offUse thy youth as the springtime, wherein thou oughtest to plant and sow all provisions for a long and happy life.—Walter Raleigh.the necessity of labor and invites to idleness, nature executes her sharpest revenge upon such infraction of the present order; the idle rich live next door to ruin." And Burton puts the case even more strongly when he says: "He or she that is idle, be they of what condition they will, never so rich, so well allied, fortunate, happy—let them have all things in abundance and felicity thatTo have ideas is to gather flowers; to think is to weave them into garlands.—Madame Swetchine.heart can wish and desire,—all contentment—so long as he or she or they are idle, they shall never be pleased, never well in mind or body, but weary still, sickly still, vexed still, loathing still, weeping, sighing, grieving, suspecting,offended with the world, with every object, wishing themselves gone or dead, or else carried away with some foolish phantasy or other."
ButWhen a firm decisive spirit is recognized, it is curious to see how the space clears around a man and leaves him room and freedom.—John Foster.riches do not necessarily have to be associated with idleness. Riches rightly employed bestow upon the possessors of them the blessed privilege of being employed in the kind of work where they can serve to the best advantage and do most for their fellowmen. Indeed, the possession of riches places upon those who have them the moral necessity and obligation of doing more and better things in the world than is expected of the ones less amply supplied with wealth. "From every man according to his ability; to every man according to his needs." The larger responsibilities are placed upon those to whom are given the larger means of achievement.
SoThat person is blest who does his best and leaves the rest, so do not worry.—A. E. Winship.it is a mistake to fancy that the possession of great riches would relieve us from doing all the tasks and duties for ourselves and for others that are inevitably essential for the physical and spiritual health and happiness of all mankind. No matter in whatever walk ofWork is the best thing to make us love life.—Ernest Renan.life we may find ourselves, we must exercise our muscles or they will become weak and useless; we must stir and interest our hearts or they will grow hard and unresponsive; we must use our minds or they will become dull and inactive; we must employ our consciences or they will grow to be blind and unsafe guides that must lead us into dark distress.
ButIf you want to be miserable, think about yourself,—about what you want, what you like, what respect people ought to pay to you, and what people think of you.—Charles Kingsley.to be employed does not mean that we must necessarily work in the fields, or in the factory, or in the office. There are a thousand ways in which we may serve the world. The only requirement is that we shall devote a portion of our time and energy to genuine service in behalf of our brothers, our sisters, our parents, our teachers, our friends, and all the world. And we must be grateful for the chance to serve others and deem it an opportunity rather than an obligation.
Aspiration carries one half the way to one’s desire.—Elizabeth Gibson.And above all, we must find delight in the work we are privileged to do. "Every one should enjoy life," writes the ever glad and inspiring pen guided by theThe best thing is to do well what one is doing at the moment.—Pittacus.hand of Patrick Flynn: "Life was made to enjoy. We mean life, itself. Thevery living and breathing. It is a divine pleasure to inhale a breath of fragrant air out here in the country these charming summer mornings. And what jewels can compare in color or brilliancyTo work and not to genius I owe my success.—Daniel Webster.with the pearly dewdrops that shine and glisten in the early sun! And the sun, itself! The great, mysterious, miraculous sun! Its myriads of vibrationsNo thought is beautiful which is not just, and no thought can be just, that is not founded on truth.—Joseph Addison.dancing in the warm air like golden fairies and dazzling one’s eyes with their wondrous beauty! Aye, and filling one’s soul with love and one’s body with health. And in the evening when the day’s work is done there is above us that mysterious depth of star-spangled sky. We cannot fathom its mystery but like a stream of grace descending from heaven, we can feel the cool, refreshing dew on our upturned brow. Until at last we feel that we should like to take wing and actually fly up among thoseThe loss of self-respect is the only true beggary.—John Lancaster Spalding.unknown worlds and come back with the story to our readers. And even though we cannot grow the wings, we go up in fancy and seldom come back without some new tale. The message is: ’Live life, love life, enjoy life, if you would overcome all fear of death.’"
That is the spirit in which we should look upon all the beauty and wonder about us. To-morrow will ever be a joyous hope and yesterday a golden memory, if we are thoughtful regarding the manner in which we live
TO-DAY
Let’s live to-day so it shall be,When shrined within the memory,As free from self-inflicted sorrowsAs are our hopes of our to-morrows.
The tactful person looks out for opportunities to be helpful, without being obtrusive.—Margaret E. Sangster.There are many who make the serious mistake of thinking that joyousness and cheerfulness are only for the play hour and are not to be made a part and factor of the time we must devote to toil. No view could be more faulty and regrettable. It is in our working hours that we should seek to be cheerful and sunshiny. All of our tasks should be sweetened and glorified with the leaven of good humor.
The task seems never very longIf measured with a smile and song.
It is labor alone, backed by a good conscience, that keeps us healthy, happy and sane.—Godfrey Blount.Listen while one faithful worker, Emory Belle, tells us how she carriedthe spirit of good cheer to her daily tasks and what came of it:
"I started out to my work one morning, determined to try the power of cheerful thinking (I had been moody long enough). I said to myself: ’I haveLabor was truly said by the ancients to be the price which the gods set upon everything worth having.—Lord Avebury.often observed that a happy state of mind has a wonderful effect upon my physical make-up, so I will try its effect upon others, and see if my right thinking can be brought to act upon them.’ You see, I was curious. As I walked along, more and more resolved on my purpose, and persisting that I was happy, that the world was treating me well, I was surprised to find myself lifted up, as it were; my carriage became more erect, my step lighter, and I had the sensation of treadingOur daily duties are a part of our religious life just as much as our devotions are.—Beecher.on air. Unconsciously, I was smiling, for I caught myself in the act once or twice. I looked into the faces of the women I passed and there saw so much trouble and anxiety, discontent, even to peevishness, that my heart went out to them, and I wished I could impart toOur doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft might win, by fearing to attempt.—Shakespeare.them a wee bit of the sunshine I felt pervading me.
"Arriving at the office, I greeted the book-keeper with some passing remark,that for the life of me I could not have made under different conditions, I am not naturally witty; it immediately putEnergy and determination have done wonders many a time.—Dickens.us on a pleasant footing for the day; she had caught the reflection. The president of the company I was employed by was a very busy man and much worried over his affairs, and at some remark that he made about my work I would ordinarily have felt quite hurt (being tooThe finest qualities of our nature, like the bloom on fruits, can be preserved only by the most delicate handling.—Thoreau.sensitive by nature and education); but this day I had determined nothing should mar its brightness, so replied to him cheerfully. His brow cleared, and there was another pleasant footing established, and so throughout the day I went, allowing no cloud to spoil its beauty for me or others about me. At theDiscretion of speech is more than eloquence: and to speak agreeably to him with whom we deal is more than to speak in good words or in good order.—F. Bacon.kind home where I was staying the same course was pursued, and, where before I had felt estrangement and want of sympathy, I found congeniality and warm friendship. People will meet you half-way if you will take the trouble to go that far.
"So, my sisters, if you think the world is not treating you kindly don’t delay a day, but say to yourselves: ’I am going to keep young in spite of my gray hairs;Bread of flour is good: but there is bread, sweet as honey, if we would eat it, in a good book.—John Ruskin.even if things do not always come my way I am going to live for others, and shed sunshine across the pathway of all I meet.’ You will find happiness springing up like flowers around you, will never want for friends or companionship, and above all the peace of God will rest upon your soul."
What is wrong to-day won’t be right to-morrow.—Dutch Proverb.And all of this was brought about by a change in the attitude of the mind and a determination to look upon the sunshiny, rather than the dark, side of life. We can all do as much. It is for us to say whether we will be happy and make others happy, or whether we shall be distressed and thereby distress others.
We are only so far worthy of esteem as we know how to appreciate.—Goethe.What sort of girl are you going to be? Are you going to make the world glad or sorry that you are in it? Why don’t you decide, as you read these lines, as did Emory Belle when starting to her work that morning, that you will try to carry sunshine and not gloom into the lives of all you meet? Let us hope that there is no great reform in this matter to be worked in your life; but that you have ever been a joy-bringer and not a gloom-maker.
Therefore let us look well to theWe are grateful that abundant life lies waiting in the heart of winter, and there is no condition where life is not.—Isabel Goodhue.attitude of mind and our habit of looking at things. One of our careful students of human attributes tells us—and the truth of which we all know—"that there is nothing surer than that we go and grow in just that direction in which our mind is most firmly fixed. Hoarding money absorbs the whole time and mind of the miser; how to scatter it is the chief thought of the spendthrift. Our dailyWishing will bring things in the degree that it incites you to go after them.—Muriel Strode.actions, and their result on our lives, are the effect of a cause—and that cause is invariably our previous thought. What you think most of to-day will be most likely what you will repeat to-morrow. Therefore it is of the utmostIt is impossible to estimate the power for good of a bright, glad shining face. Of all the lights you carry on your face Joy shines farthest out to sea.—Anonymous.importance that we begin to think as deeply as possible on just those things that build us up. Half the work is already done if we can only concentrate our minds on that which we desire to do. It is the mind that drags us either up or down. Where that leads we follow.
No one in this world of ours ever became great by echoing the voice of another, repeating what that other has said.—J. C. Van Dyke.The power of direction is with us, but we cannot send our mind in one direction and then take the opposite road ourselves. Therefore, whether we are moving upward or downward in the scale of life depends on whether we are thinking up or thinkingdown. This is a truth that every person’s experience will prove to his ownOne fault mender equals twenty faultfinders.—Earl M. Pratt.satisfaction. Thought impels action, action forms habit, and habit rules our lives. So that no matter what direction we may wish to take, up or down, it is only necessary for us to fix our mind in the desired direction."
Let us then, be what we are, speak what we think, and in all things keep ourselves loyal to truth.—Longfellow.So let us pause and take an account of stock and ascertain whether we are thinking ourselves up or down, whether we are building truthfully or falsely, whether we are going forward or backward,
JUST THIS MINUTE
If we’re thoughtful, just this minute,In whate’er we say or do;If we put a purpose in itThat is honest, through and through,We shall gladden life and give itGrace to make it all sublime;For, though life is long, we live itJust this minute at a time.
There are some people whose smile, the sound of whose voice, whose very presence, seems like a ray of sunshine, to turn everything they touch into gold.—Lord Avebury.Just this minute we are goingToward the right or toward the wrong,Just this minute we are sowingSeeds of sorrow or of song.Just this minute we are thinkingOn the ways that lead to God,Or in idle dreams are sinkingTo the level of the clod.
Yesterday is gone, to-morrowNever comes within our grasp;Just this minute’s joy or sorrow,That is all our hands may clasp.Just this minute! Let us take itAs a pearl of precious price,And with high endeavor make itFit to shine in paradise.
It is work which gives flavor to life. Mere existence without object and without effort is a poor thing. Idleness leads to languor, and languor to disgust.—Amiel.One who finds joy in the doing of things can work more easily and steadily than one who works unwillingly and unhappily. Good nature is a lubricant for all the wheels of life. It changes the leaden feet of duty into the airy wings of opportunity, it not only brings happiness but that almost necessary adjunct of happiness,—health.
"In the maintenance of health and the cure of disease," says Dr. A. J.How poor are they who have only money to give!—John Lancaster Spalding.Sanderson, "cheerfulness is a most important factor. Its power to do good like a medicine is not an artificial stimulation of the tissues, to be followed by reaction and greater waste, as is the case with many drugs; but the effect of cheerfulness isFear begets fear.—A. E. Winship.an actual life-giving influence through a normal channel the results of which reach every part of the system. It brightens the eye, makes ruddy the countenance, brings elasticity to the step, and promotes all the inner forces by which life is sustained. The blood circulates more freely, the oxygen comes to its home in the tissues, health is promoted, and disease is banished."
When we note how generally theWhat an absurd thing it is to pass over all the valuable parts of a man and fix our attention on his infirmities!—Addison.members of the medical profession ascribe to cheerfulness the very highest of health-giving powers, we are led to think that the wise words quoted above possess a foundation of scientific fact. "Faith, hope and love," says Charles G. Ames, "are purifiers of the blood. They have a peptic quality. They open and enlarge all the channels of bodily vitality. As was learned long ago, ’AThere can be no true rest without work and the full delight of a holiday cannot be known except by the man who has earned it.—Hugh Black.merry heart doeth good like a medicine.’ And the self-control which keeps reason on the throne and makes passion serve is the best of all domestic physicians."
So the girl who would go down the paths of sunshine will put joy and enthusiasm into her work and into her play. She will practice her musicThe more we do the more we can do; the more busy we are the more leisure we have.—Hazlitt.lesson, take up her studies at school, assist in performing the household duties, and in doing the many tasks that come to her hands in a joyous, whole-hearted manner.
In so doing she will make aLost—a golden hour, set with sixty diamond minutes. There is no reward, for it is gone forever.—Beecher.pleasure of that which, with dull complaining, would be a drag and a distress. By this cheerful attitude of mind she will be able to mold all things to her will and, better still, she will be able to mold her will to her highest ideal of splendid womanhood. For none can doubt that manGood company and good conversation are the sinews of virtue.—Stephen Allen.is the architect of his own fortune, to a very great extent. He is even more than that, he is of his own self
THE SCULPTOR
I am the sculptor: I, myself, the clay,Of which I am to fashion, as I will,In deed and in desire, day by day,The pattern of my purpose, good or ill.
In breathless bronze nor the insensate stoneMust my enduring passion find its goal;Within the living statue I enthroneThat essence of eternity, the soul.
A triumph is the closing scene of a contest.—A. E. Winship.Nor space nor time that soul of yearning bars;It flashes to the zenith of the sky,And dwelling mid the mystery of the stars,Aspires to answer the Eternal Why.
It loves the pleasing note of lute and lyre,The lily’s purple, the red rose’s glow;It wonders at the witchery of the fire,And marvels at the magic of the snow.
Don’t forget that the man who can but doesn’t must give place to the man who can’t but tries.—Comtelburo."Who taught," it asks, "the ant to build her nest?The bee her cells? the hermit thrush to sing?The dove to plume his iridescent breast?The butterfly to paint his gorgeous wing?
"The spider how to spin so wondrous wise?The nautilus to form his chambered shell?The carrier-pigeon under alien skies,Who taught him how his homeward course to tell?"
By force or favor it would win from fateThe sacred secret of the blood and breath:Learn all the hidden springs of love and hate,And gain dominion over life and death.
Advise well before you begin, and when you have maturely considered, then act with promptitude.—Sallust.In every feature of this sculptured faceOf spirit and of substance, I must moldThe shining symbol of a grander grace;The hope toward which the centuries have rolled.
Oh, hands of mine that the unnumbered yearsEvolved from hoof and wing and claw and fin,’T is ours to bring from out the stress and tears,A godlike figure fashioned from within.
LOUISA M. ALCOTT
LOUISA M. ALCOTT
CHAPTER IVSOME EVERY-DAY VIRTUES
I would rather be right than president!"Each, whatever his estate, in his own unconscious breast bears the talisman of fate.—John Townsend Trowbridge.
At first thought those words seem to be the declaration of an unusually upright and conscientious person. But let us study them a little more deeply and closely.
When a man has not a good reason for doing a thing, he has one good reason for letting it alone.—Thomas Scott.The desire to do right and to deserve the approbation of all good people is very strong in every human breast. Not until a man has lost his moral sense of values would he trade his integrity and self-respect for any other gift the world could offer. This being true, who among us would care to be president if in order to occupy that exalted position he must be obviously in the wrong?
Once a body laughs he cannot be angry more.—James M. Barrie.Thus we see that after all is said and done, the one great prize for which we all aspire is the love and good will of our friends and of the world. For no matterSuccess is usually the result of a sharpened sense of what is wanted.—Frank Moore Colby.how much of wealth and fame may come to us, without the love and respect of our fellow beings we must ever remain poor and friendless.
He is the richest who deserves the most friends. Wealth is a matter of theHe that falls in love with himself, will have no rivals.—Benjamin Franklin.heart and not of the pocket. A thousand slaves piling up wealth for their master cannot make him rich. It is not that which others do for us that makes us possessors of great wealth, but that which we do for others. All true riches are self made. Only when the hand and the heart are put into one’s work does it yield a lasting worth. In the final true analysis the picture forever belongs to the painter who paints it; the poem to the poet who writes it; the loaf of bread to the toiler who earns it. Wealth may acquire these things but it cannot own them.
A sinful heart makes a feeble hand.—Walter Scott.Therefore the true value of character is something that each must achieve for himself. It cannot be bought; it cannot be bequeathed to us; it must be earned by each individual who would possess it. Hence it is that these great riches may be acquired by all who desire to possess them.
Look within, for you have a lasting foundation of happiness at home that will always bubble up if you will but dig for it.—Marcus Aurelius Antoninus.Where are they to be found? Right here.
When may we obtain them? Right now.
Do you care to learn the only way in which you can come into possession of them? "Whoever you are—wise or foolish, rich or poor," says Rebecca Harding Davis, "God sent you into HisTo a friend’s house the road is never long.—Danish Proverb.world, as He sent every other human being, to help the men and women in it, to make them happier and better. If you do not do that, no matter what your powers may be, you are mere lumber, a worthless bit of world’s furniture. A Stradivarius, if it hangs dusty and dumb upon the wall, is not of as much real value as a kitchen poker which is used."
Honest toil is holy service; faithful work is praise and prayer.—Henry Van Dyke.So we learn that it is the fine practical spirit, content and willing to do the humble things which are possible of achievement that is doing most to lift the world to a higher and better plane. "Have you never met humble men andGive me the toiler’s joy who has seen the sunlight burst on the distant turrets in the land of his desire.—Muriel Strode.women," asks Gannett, "who read little, who knew little, yet who had a certain fascination as of fineness lurking about them? Know them, and you are likely to find them persons who have put somuch thought and honesty and conscientious trying into their common work—it may be sweeping rooms, or planingYou can buy a lot of happiness with a mighty small salary, but fashionable happiness always costs just a little more than you’re making.—George Horace Lorimer.boards, or painting walls—have put their ideals so long, so constantly, so lovingly into that common work of theirs, that finally these qualities have come to permeate not their work only, but so much of their being, that they are fine-fibred within, even if on the outside the rough bark clings."
If we are wisely introspective, we must reach the conclusion that humble though we may be, we are after all, aA tart temper never mellows with age, and a sharp tongue is the only edged tool that grows keener with constant use.—Washington Irving.component part of the great expression of being, and that we are well worth while. Then if we are worth while, it follows that all we do is worth while, for each of us is, in the end, the sum of all the things he has done. Once we have this idea that everything stands for something more than the mere thing itself—that it is correlated in its influences with all the other things that we and all others are doing, we shall invest all our tasks, little and big, with more of purpose and importance. Emerson says:
"There is no end to the sufficiency of character. It can afford to wait; it canWhere there is one man who squints with his eyes, there are a dozen who squint with their brains.—Oliver Wendell Holmes.do without what it calls success; it cannot but succeed. To a well-principled man existence is victory. He defends himself against failure in his main design by making every inch of the road to it pleasant. There is no trifle and no obscurity to him: he feels the immensity of the chain whose last link he holds in his hand, and is led by it."
When a true genius appears in the world you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him.—Jonathan Swift.Perhaps no other every-day virtue counts for so much in the general welfare of the world as the adapting of one’s self to, and the making the most of, one’s immediate surroundings. It is in the hundreds of little, unrecorded deeds of kindness and goodness that we lay the foundations of character. And because these humble lives, that mean so much to the other humble lives with which theyWhat we have got to do is to keep up our spirits and be neighborly. We shall come all right in the end, never fear.—Dickens.come into touch, are never specifically named and shouted by the multitudinous tongues of type, that many fail to see in them the elements of true and noble achievement with which they are crowned. "The most inspiring tales," it has been truly said, "are those that have not been written; the most heroic deeds are those that have not been told; the world’s greatest successes have beenHappiness is the feeling we experience when we are too busy to be miserable.—Thomas L. Masson.won in the quiet of men’s hearts, the noblest heroes are the countless thousands who have struggled and triumphed, rising on stepping-stones of their dead selves to higher things."
Since it is these humbler every-day virtues that one is called upon oftenest to exercise, or to neglect, it is apparentDuty is the sublimest word in the English language.—Gen. Robert E. Lee.that the one who possesses the most of them and who cultivates them the most earnestly has the greatest number of opportunities of winning the admiration of others. It is of a girl possessing this fine adaptability to the world’s workaday surroundings that "Amber" draws this pen-picture: "Shall I tell the kind of girlOptimism is the faith that leads to achievement; nothing can be done without hope.—Keller.that I especially adore? Well, first of all, let us take the working girl. She is not a ’lady’ in the acceptance of the term as it is employed by many members of this latter day’s hybrid democracy. She is just a blithe, cheery, sweet-temperedThe activity and soundness of a man’s actions will be determined by the activity and soundness of his thoughts.—Beecher.young woman. She may have a father rich enough to support her at home, but for all that she is a working girl. She is never idle. She is studying or sewing or helping about the home part of the day. She is romping or playing or swinging out of doors the other part. She is neverWhat men want is not talent, it is purpose; not the power to achieve, but the will to labor.—Bulwer Lytton.frowsy or untidy or lazy. She is never rude or slangy or bold. And yet she is always full of fun and ready for frolic. She does not depend upon a servant to do what she can do for herself. She is considerate toward all who serve her. She is reverent to the old and thoughtful of the feeble. She never criticises when criticism can wound, and she is ready with a helpful, loving word for every one. Sometimes she has no father, or her parents are too poor to support her. Then she goes out and earns her living by whatever her hands find to do. She clerks in a store, or she counts out change at a cashier’s desk, or she teaches school, or she clicks a typewriter, or rather a telegrapher’s key, butWe judge ourselves by what we feel capable of doing, while others judge us by what we have already done.—Longfellow.always and everywhere she is modest and willing and sweet.
"She has too much dignity to be imposed upon, or put to open affront, but she has humility also, and purity that differs from prudishness as a doveThe great hope of society is individual character.—Channing.in the air differs from a stuffed bird in a showcase. She is quick to apologize when she knows she is in the wrong, yet no young queen ever carried a higher head than she can upon justifiable occasions. SheConcentrate all your thought upon the work in hand. The sun’s rays do not burn until brought to a focus.—Alexander G. Bell.is not always imagining herself looked down upon because she is poor. She knows full well that out of her own heart and mouth proceed the only witnesses that can absolve or condemn her. If she is quick to be courteous, unselfish, gentle and retiring in speech and manner inAssociate with men of good quality if you esteem your reputation, for it is better to be alone than in bad company.—George Washington.public places, she is true gold, even though her dress be faded and her hat a little out of style. You cannot mistake any such girl any more than you can mistake the sunshine that follows the rain or the lark that springs from the hawthorne hedge. All things that are blooming and sweet attend her! The earth is better for her passing through it and heaven will be fairer for her habitation therein."
How fortunate it is for us who would practice these little every-day virtues that we do not have to wait for some noted person at some remote time to tell the world that we are striving in our own humble way to be kind and thoughtful. There is some one within the sound of our voice and within the reach of our hand who will be glad to testify to our goodness.
Kindness is never shown in vain.
The public school playground transposes many a boy from a public liability to a public asset.—A. E.Winship.The gift blesses the giver, even though the one receiving the gift is ungrateful. Consciously or unconsciously we exert an influence upon all who come within the zone of our being. Surely those who know us best ought to be the ones to appreciateReal coolness and self-possession are the indispensable accompaniments of a great mind.—Dickens.us the most intelligently. If we are lovable, will they not love us? If we love them, will it not serve to make them lovable? Let us not keep the nice little attentions and the carefully selected words for the stranger and the passer-by, but have as much regard for the ones of our own intimate family circle.One of the crying needs of society is the revival of gentleness and of a refined considerateness in judging others.—Newell D. Hillis.We should be happy to do most for them who do most for us. One of our students of human happiness says to us: "Get into the way of idealizing what you have; let the picturesqueness of your own imagination play round the village where you do live, instead of the one where you wish to live; weave a romance round the brother you have got, insteadIn this world inclination to do things is of more importance than the mere power.—Chapin.of round the Prince Perfect of a husband whom you have not got." And Marcus Aurelius says: "Think not so much of what thou hast not, as of what thou hast; but of the things which thou hast, select the best, and then reflect how eagerlythey would have been sought if thou had’st them not."
Character lives in a man, reputation outside of him.—J. G.Holland.Culture, itself, is but a composite expression of our simple, every-day virtues. It must be measured by its outward manifestation of regard for the pleasure,Self-confidence is the first requisite to great undertakings.—Johnson.happiness and advancement of others. Literary culture will open up the windows of the soul that the light of virtue from within may shine forth and dispel the darkness of vice with which it comes in contact. "Unless one’s knowledge of good books—his literary scholarship—hasPatience is a necessary ingredient of genius.—Disraeli.so taken hold upon him as to make him exemplary, in a large measure, he cannot be said to be cultured," says one of our students of higher ethics. "His learning should cultivate a choice and beautiful address, a cheerful and loving countenance, a magnificent and spirited carriage, a refinement of manner, an agreeable presence."
The extent to which we may feel a sense of peaceful satisfaction at the end of a day, depends upon how we have lived that day. We soon learn that the day means most for us in which we do most for others. If we have lived for self alone, it has been
A LOST DAY
Count that day truly worse than lostYou might have made divine,Through which you sprinkled bits of frostBut never a speck of shine.
"At the end of life," says Hugh Black, "we shall not be asked how much pleasureFollow your honest convictions and be strong.—Thackeray.we had in it, but how much service we gave in it; not how full it was of success, but how full it was of sacrifice; not how happy we were, but how helpful we were; not how ambition was gratified, but how love was served. Life is judged by love; and love is known by her fruits."
The every-day virtues include very many fine little traits that serve unconsciously to make our paths smoother,Admonish your friends privately, but praise them openly.—Publius Syrus.our skies bluer and all of life more glad and golden. They constitute a habit of doing the right thing at all times and so quietly and unostentatiously that no one is made to feel any sense of obligation. One who possesses these virtues does not wait for stated times and occasions to bestow evidences of love and good will upon others, but like a flower in bloom spreads the fine perfume of friendship upon all who come within the charmed presence. Intuitively and unconsciouslyEconomy is of itself a great revenue.—Comtelburo.does the owner of these virtues follow the precept set forth by the philosopher: "I shall pass through this world but once; any good thing therefore that I can do, or any kindness that I can show to any human being, let me do it now. Let meGrace is the outward expression of the inward harmony of the soul.—Hazlitt.not defer it or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again." And in expressing the same sentiment Amiel says: "Do not wait to be just or pitiful or demonstrative towards those we love until they or we are struck down by illness or threatened with death. Life is short,Pull on the oar and not on your influential friends.—A. E.Winship.and we have never too much time for gladdening the hearts of those who are traveling the dark journey with us. Oh! be swift to love, make haste to be kind!" We should not wait till some sad experience has taught us the rare privilege we may now own of offeringOur grand business undoubtedly is not to see what lies dimly at a distance, but to do what lies clearly at hand.—Carlyle.
A ROSE TO THE LIVING
A rose to the living is moreThan sumptuous wreaths to the dead;In filling love’s infinite store;A rose to the living is more,If graciously given beforeThe hungering spirit is fled,—A rose to the living is moreThan sumptuous wreaths to the dead.