This question then is ours—are we doing our part in the growth of the race? In the current of life are we moving forward? Do our years mark milestones in humanity’s struggle towards perfection? Is the God within us so much more unrolled, when our development has reached its highest point? Can we transmit to our children a better heritage of brain and soul than our fathers left to us? Has the race through us gained some little in the direction of the law of love? If we have done our part in this struggle our lives have not been in vain.
This question then is ours—are we doing our part in the growth of the race? In the current of life are we moving forward? Do our years mark milestones in humanity’s struggle towards perfection? Is the God within us so much more unrolled, when our development has reached its highest point? Can we transmit to our children a better heritage of brain and soul than our fathers left to us? Has the race through us gained some little in the direction of the law of love? If we have done our part in this struggle our lives have not been in vain.
—David Starr Jordan.
Virgil said of the winning crew in his boat-race, “They can, because they believe they can.”
Let us be of good cheer, remembering that the misfortunes hardest to bear are those which never come.
—Lowell.
To be wise we must first learn to be happy: for those who can finally issue forth from self by the portal of happiness, know infinitely wider freedom than those who pass through the gate of sadness.
—Maurice Materlinck.
When we humor our weaknesses they force themselves continually upon our attention, like spoiled children. When we assert our mastery of ourselves and compel its recognition, we stand secure in our sovereign rights.
—Chas. B. Newcomb.
Put away all sarcasm from your speech. Never complain. Do not prophesy evil. Have a good word for everyone, or else keep silent.
—Henry Ward Beecher.
Boys flying kites haul in their white winged birds,You can’t do that way when you’re flying words.Thoughts unexpressed may sometimes fall back dead,But God himself can’t stop them when they’re said.
Boys flying kites haul in their white winged birds,You can’t do that way when you’re flying words.Thoughts unexpressed may sometimes fall back dead,But God himself can’t stop them when they’re said.
Boys flying kites haul in their white winged birds,You can’t do that way when you’re flying words.Thoughts unexpressed may sometimes fall back dead,But God himself can’t stop them when they’re said.
Boys flying kites haul in their white winged birds,
You can’t do that way when you’re flying words.
Thoughts unexpressed may sometimes fall back dead,
But God himself can’t stop them when they’re said.
—Will Carleton.
Mould conditions aright, and men will grow good to fit them.
—Horace Fletcher.
PrideIs littleness; he who feels contemptFor any living thing hath facultiesWhich he has never used.
PrideIs littleness; he who feels contemptFor any living thing hath facultiesWhich he has never used.
PrideIs littleness; he who feels contemptFor any living thing hath facultiesWhich he has never used.
Pride
Is littleness; he who feels contempt
For any living thing hath faculties
Which he has never used.
—Wordsworth.
Treat your friends for what you know them to be. Regard no surfaces. Consider not what they did, but what they intended.
—Henry D. Thoreau.
Small kindnesses, small courtesies, small considerations, habitually practiced in our social intercourse, give a greater charm to the character than the display of great talent and accomplishments.
—Kelty.
I believe that the mind can be profaned by the habit of attending to trivial things, so that all our thoughts shall be tinged with triviality.
—Henry D. Thoreau.
Don’t hang a dismal picture on the wall, and do not daub with sables and glooms in your conversation. Don’t be a cynic and disconsolate preacher.
—Emerson.
No good thing is failure and no evil thing success.
—W. C. Gannett’s favorite proverb.
Wisdom is knowing what to do next;Skill is knowing how to do it, and Virtue is doing it.
Wisdom is knowing what to do next;Skill is knowing how to do it, and Virtue is doing it.
Wisdom is knowing what to do next;Skill is knowing how to do it, and Virtue is doing it.
Wisdom is knowing what to do next;
Skill is knowing how to do it, and Virtue is doing it.
—David Starr Jordan.
Always laugh when you can; it is a cheap medicine. Merriment is a philosophy not well understood. It is the sunny side of existence.
—Byron.
If we are not responsible for the thoughts that pass our doors, we are at least responsible for those we admit and entertain.
—Charles B. Newcomb.
Not for the crying,Not for the loud beseechingWill peace draw near.Rest with palms folded,Rest with thine eyelids fallen,Lo! peace is here.
Not for the crying,Not for the loud beseechingWill peace draw near.Rest with palms folded,Rest with thine eyelids fallen,Lo! peace is here.
Not for the crying,Not for the loud beseechingWill peace draw near.Rest with palms folded,Rest with thine eyelids fallen,Lo! peace is here.
Not for the crying,
Not for the loud beseeching
Will peace draw near.
Rest with palms folded,
Rest with thine eyelids fallen,
Lo! peace is here.
—E. R. Sill.
Would you remain always young, and would you carry all joy and buoyancy of youth into your maturer years? Then have care concerning but one thing—how you live in your thought world.
—R. W. Trine.
Lord, for to-morrow and its needsI do not pray,Help me from stain of sinJust for to-day.Let me both diligently workAnd duly pray,Let me be kind in word and deedJust for to-day.Let me be slow to do my will,Prompt to obey,Help me to sacrifice myselfJust for to-day.Let me no wrong or idle wordUnthinking say,Put Thou Thy seal upon my lipsJust for to-day.So for to-morrow and its needsI do not pray,But keep me, guide me, hold me, Lord,Just for to-day.
Lord, for to-morrow and its needsI do not pray,Help me from stain of sinJust for to-day.Let me both diligently workAnd duly pray,Let me be kind in word and deedJust for to-day.Let me be slow to do my will,Prompt to obey,Help me to sacrifice myselfJust for to-day.Let me no wrong or idle wordUnthinking say,Put Thou Thy seal upon my lipsJust for to-day.So for to-morrow and its needsI do not pray,But keep me, guide me, hold me, Lord,Just for to-day.
Lord, for to-morrow and its needsI do not pray,Help me from stain of sinJust for to-day.
Lord, for to-morrow and its needs
I do not pray,
Help me from stain of sin
Just for to-day.
Let me both diligently workAnd duly pray,Let me be kind in word and deedJust for to-day.
Let me both diligently work
And duly pray,
Let me be kind in word and deed
Just for to-day.
Let me be slow to do my will,Prompt to obey,Help me to sacrifice myselfJust for to-day.
Let me be slow to do my will,
Prompt to obey,
Help me to sacrifice myself
Just for to-day.
Let me no wrong or idle wordUnthinking say,Put Thou Thy seal upon my lipsJust for to-day.
Let me no wrong or idle word
Unthinking say,
Put Thou Thy seal upon my lips
Just for to-day.
So for to-morrow and its needsI do not pray,But keep me, guide me, hold me, Lord,Just for to-day.
So for to-morrow and its needs
I do not pray,
But keep me, guide me, hold me, Lord,
Just for to-day.
—Canon Farrar.
To live in love is to live an everlasting youth. Whoever enters old age by this royal road will find the last of life to be the very best of life. Instead of finding himself descending the hills of life, he will find it up-hill all the way, into clearer air. There the vision reaches further; here the sunsets are more golden and the twilight lasts longer.
—Mrs. Mary A. Livermore.
Those who live on the mountain have a longer day than those who live in the valley. Sometimes all we need to brighten our day is to rise a little higher.
—Rev. S. J. Barrows.
Good luck is the willing handmaid of upright, energetic character, and conscientious observance of duty.
—James Russell Lowell.
The highest compact we can make with our fellow is, let there be truth between us two forevermore.
—Emerson.
Unfaithfulness in the keeping of an appointment is an act of clear dishonesty. You may as well borrow a person’s money as his time.
—Horace Mann.
All service ranks the same with God—There is no last nor first.
All service ranks the same with God—There is no last nor first.
All service ranks the same with God—There is no last nor first.
All service ranks the same with God—
There is no last nor first.
—Browning.
Logic makes only one demand, that of conscience. But life makes a thousand. The body wants health; the imagination cries out for beauty; and the heart for love. Pride asks for consideration; the soul yearns for peace; the conscience for holiness; our whole being is athirst for happiness and for perfection.
—Amiel.
What if it does look like rain, it is fine now!
—William Smith.
Was there ever a wiser or more loving conspiracy than that which keeps the venerable figure of Santa Claus from slipping away, with all the other old-time myths, into the forsaken wonderland of the past?
—Hamilton Wright Mabie.
Mankind are always happier for having been happy. So that if you make them happy now, you make them happy twenty years hence by the memory of it.
—Sydney Smith.
Never fancy you could be something if only you had a different lot and sphere assigned you. The very things that you most deprecate, as fatal limitations or obstructions, are probably what you most want. What you call hindrances, obstacles, discouragements, are probably God’s opportunities.
—Horace Bushnell.
Who may not strive, may yet fulfilThe harder task of standing still,And good but wished, with God is done.
Who may not strive, may yet fulfilThe harder task of standing still,And good but wished, with God is done.
Who may not strive, may yet fulfilThe harder task of standing still,And good but wished, with God is done.
Who may not strive, may yet fulfil
The harder task of standing still,
And good but wished, with God is done.
—Whittier.
Happiness and the sense of victory are only for those who live for conscience and duty and the soul’s higher ideals.
—Newell Dwight Hillis.
“Try this for one day:—Think as though your thoughts were visible to all about you.”
The world turns aside to let any man pass who knows whither he is going.
—David Starr Jordan.
Beware lest thy friend learn to tolerate one frailty of thine, and so an obstacle be raised to the progress of thy love.
—Thoreau.
As soon as a stranger is introduced into any company, one of the first questions which all wish to have answered, is, How does that man get his living? And with reason; every man is a consumer, and ought to be a producer. He fails to make his place good in the world unless he not only pays his debts but also adds something to the common wealth.
—Emerson.
All impatience disturbs the circulation, scatters force, makes concentration difficult if not impossible.
—C. B. Newcomb.
When the sun of joy is hiddenAnd the sky is overcast,Just remember light is comingAnd a storm can never last.
When the sun of joy is hiddenAnd the sky is overcast,Just remember light is comingAnd a storm can never last.
When the sun of joy is hiddenAnd the sky is overcast,Just remember light is comingAnd a storm can never last.
When the sun of joy is hidden
And the sky is overcast,
Just remember light is coming
And a storm can never last.
—J. B. Smiley.
There is no music in a rest, that I know of, but there is the making of music in it.
—Ruskin.
Our lives are songs;God writes the words,And we set them to music at leisure:And the song is sad, or the song is gladAs we choose to fashion the measure.We must write the song,Whatever the words,Whatever its rhyme, or meter;And if it is sad, we must make it glad,And if sweet, we must make it sweeter.
Our lives are songs;God writes the words,And we set them to music at leisure:And the song is sad, or the song is gladAs we choose to fashion the measure.We must write the song,Whatever the words,Whatever its rhyme, or meter;And if it is sad, we must make it glad,And if sweet, we must make it sweeter.
Our lives are songs;God writes the words,And we set them to music at leisure:And the song is sad, or the song is gladAs we choose to fashion the measure.
Our lives are songs;
God writes the words,
And we set them to music at leisure:
And the song is sad, or the song is glad
As we choose to fashion the measure.
We must write the song,Whatever the words,Whatever its rhyme, or meter;And if it is sad, we must make it glad,And if sweet, we must make it sweeter.
We must write the song,
Whatever the words,
Whatever its rhyme, or meter;
And if it is sad, we must make it glad,
And if sweet, we must make it sweeter.
—Gibbon.
For what you find in these sweet days,Depends on how you go about it;A glad heart helps poor eyes to see,What brightest eyes can’t see without it.One child sees sunlit air and skyAnd bursting leaf buds, round and ruddy;Another looks at his own feet,And only sees that it is muddy!
For what you find in these sweet days,Depends on how you go about it;A glad heart helps poor eyes to see,What brightest eyes can’t see without it.One child sees sunlit air and skyAnd bursting leaf buds, round and ruddy;Another looks at his own feet,And only sees that it is muddy!
For what you find in these sweet days,Depends on how you go about it;A glad heart helps poor eyes to see,What brightest eyes can’t see without it.
For what you find in these sweet days,
Depends on how you go about it;
A glad heart helps poor eyes to see,
What brightest eyes can’t see without it.
One child sees sunlit air and skyAnd bursting leaf buds, round and ruddy;Another looks at his own feet,And only sees that it is muddy!
One child sees sunlit air and sky
And bursting leaf buds, round and ruddy;
Another looks at his own feet,
And only sees that it is muddy!
—Henrietta R. Eliot.
The work of the world is done by few;God asks that a part be done by you.
The work of the world is done by few;God asks that a part be done by you.
The work of the world is done by few;God asks that a part be done by you.
The work of the world is done by few;
God asks that a part be done by you.
—Sarah K. Bolton.
This nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
—Abraham Lincoln.
We are haunted by an ideal life, and it is because we have within us the beginning and the possibility of it.
—Phillips Brooks.
Earth’s crammed with heaven,And every common bush afire with God.
Earth’s crammed with heaven,And every common bush afire with God.
Earth’s crammed with heaven,And every common bush afire with God.
Earth’s crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with God.
—E. B. Browning.
Thoughts are forces: through their instrumentality we have in our grasp, and as our rightful heritage, the power of making life and all its manifold conditions exactly what we will.
—R. W. Trine.
People seem not to see that their opinion of the world is also a confession of character.
—Emerson.
HORATIO STEBBINSThe understanding is the vestibule of the mind! Uncover thy head, and enter the temple of the soul! Behold the power, the beauty and the love! If we had nothing but understanding, how little should we know or think or feel!
HORATIO STEBBINSThe understanding is the vestibule of the mind! Uncover thy head, and enter the temple of the soul! Behold the power, the beauty and the love! If we had nothing but understanding, how little should we know or think or feel!
The understanding is the vestibule of the mind! Uncover thy head, and enter the temple of the soul! Behold the power, the beauty and the love! If we had nothing but understanding, how little should we know or think or feel!
Blessed are the Happiness Makers. Blessed are they who know how to shine on one’s gloom with their cheer.
—Henry Ward Beecher.
The time will come when the civilized man will feel that the rights of every living creature on the earth are as sacred as his own. Anything short of this cannot be perfect civilization.
—David Starr Jordan.
Search thine own heart. What paineth theeIn others, in thyself may be;All dust is frail, all flesh is weak;Be thou the true man thou dost seek.
Search thine own heart. What paineth theeIn others, in thyself may be;All dust is frail, all flesh is weak;Be thou the true man thou dost seek.
Search thine own heart. What paineth theeIn others, in thyself may be;All dust is frail, all flesh is weak;Be thou the true man thou dost seek.
Search thine own heart. What paineth thee
In others, in thyself may be;
All dust is frail, all flesh is weak;
Be thou the true man thou dost seek.
—Whittier.
Beware of despairing about yourself.
—St. Augustine.
If you were born to honor, show it now:If put upon you, make the judgment goodThat thought you worthy of it.
If you were born to honor, show it now:If put upon you, make the judgment goodThat thought you worthy of it.
If you were born to honor, show it now:If put upon you, make the judgment goodThat thought you worthy of it.
If you were born to honor, show it now:
If put upon you, make the judgment good
That thought you worthy of it.
—Shakespeare.
Then a voice within his breastWhispered, audible and clear:“Do thy duty; that is best;Leave unto the Lord the rest!”
Then a voice within his breastWhispered, audible and clear:“Do thy duty; that is best;Leave unto the Lord the rest!”
Then a voice within his breastWhispered, audible and clear:“Do thy duty; that is best;Leave unto the Lord the rest!”
Then a voice within his breast
Whispered, audible and clear:
“Do thy duty; that is best;
Leave unto the Lord the rest!”
—Longfellow.
“There are loyal hearts, there are spirits brave,There are souls that are pure and true;Then give to the world the best you have,And the best will come to you.Give love, and love to your heart will flow,A strength in your utmost need;Have faith, and a score of hearts will showTheir faith in your word and deed.”
“There are loyal hearts, there are spirits brave,There are souls that are pure and true;Then give to the world the best you have,And the best will come to you.Give love, and love to your heart will flow,A strength in your utmost need;Have faith, and a score of hearts will showTheir faith in your word and deed.”
“There are loyal hearts, there are spirits brave,There are souls that are pure and true;Then give to the world the best you have,And the best will come to you.Give love, and love to your heart will flow,A strength in your utmost need;Have faith, and a score of hearts will showTheir faith in your word and deed.”
“There are loyal hearts, there are spirits brave,
There are souls that are pure and true;
Then give to the world the best you have,
And the best will come to you.
Give love, and love to your heart will flow,
A strength in your utmost need;
Have faith, and a score of hearts will show
Their faith in your word and deed.”
Fortune will call at the smiling gate.
—Japanese Proverb.
“Talk health; the dreary never-ending taleOf mortal maladies is worn and stale.You cannot charm or interest or pleaseBy harping on that minor chord, disease.Say you are well, or all is well with youAnd God shall hear your words and make them true.”
“Talk health; the dreary never-ending taleOf mortal maladies is worn and stale.You cannot charm or interest or pleaseBy harping on that minor chord, disease.Say you are well, or all is well with youAnd God shall hear your words and make them true.”
“Talk health; the dreary never-ending taleOf mortal maladies is worn and stale.You cannot charm or interest or pleaseBy harping on that minor chord, disease.Say you are well, or all is well with youAnd God shall hear your words and make them true.”
“Talk health; the dreary never-ending tale
Of mortal maladies is worn and stale.
You cannot charm or interest or please
By harping on that minor chord, disease.
Say you are well, or all is well with you
And God shall hear your words and make them true.”
Whenever you are angry, be assured that it is not only a present evil, but that you have increased a habit.
—Epictetus.
How true it is that what we really see day by day depends less on the objects and scenes before our eyes than on the eyes themselves and the minds and hearts that use them.
—F. D. Huntington.
You have not fulfilled every duty, unless you have fulfilled that of being pleasant.
—Charles Buxton.
If I am not for myself who will be for me? But if I am for myself alone what am I? If not now—when?
—Hillel.
I asked the New Year for some motto sweet,Some rule of life by which to guide my feet;I asked and paused. It answered, soft and low:“God’s will to know.”“Will knowledge then suffice, New Year?” I cried;But ere the question into silence died,The answer came: “Nay; this remember, too,God’s will to do.”“To know; to do; can this be all we giveTo Him in Whom we are, and move and live?No more, New Year?” “This, too, must be your care:God’s will to bear.”Once more I asked: “Is there still more to tell?”And once again the answer sweetly fell;“Yea, this one thing, all other things above;God’s will to love.”
I asked the New Year for some motto sweet,Some rule of life by which to guide my feet;I asked and paused. It answered, soft and low:“God’s will to know.”“Will knowledge then suffice, New Year?” I cried;But ere the question into silence died,The answer came: “Nay; this remember, too,God’s will to do.”“To know; to do; can this be all we giveTo Him in Whom we are, and move and live?No more, New Year?” “This, too, must be your care:God’s will to bear.”Once more I asked: “Is there still more to tell?”And once again the answer sweetly fell;“Yea, this one thing, all other things above;God’s will to love.”
I asked the New Year for some motto sweet,Some rule of life by which to guide my feet;I asked and paused. It answered, soft and low:“God’s will to know.”“Will knowledge then suffice, New Year?” I cried;But ere the question into silence died,The answer came: “Nay; this remember, too,God’s will to do.”“To know; to do; can this be all we giveTo Him in Whom we are, and move and live?No more, New Year?” “This, too, must be your care:God’s will to bear.”Once more I asked: “Is there still more to tell?”And once again the answer sweetly fell;“Yea, this one thing, all other things above;God’s will to love.”
I asked the New Year for some motto sweet,
Some rule of life by which to guide my feet;
I asked and paused. It answered, soft and low:
“God’s will to know.”
“Will knowledge then suffice, New Year?” I cried;
But ere the question into silence died,
The answer came: “Nay; this remember, too,
God’s will to do.”
“To know; to do; can this be all we give
To Him in Whom we are, and move and live?
No more, New Year?” “This, too, must be your care:
God’s will to bear.”
Once more I asked: “Is there still more to tell?”
And once again the answer sweetly fell;
“Yea, this one thing, all other things above;
God’s will to love.”
—J. M. C. Bouchard, S. J.
Shun idleness, it is the rust that attaches itself to the most brilliant metals.
—Voltaire.
Few men suspect how much mere talk fritters away spiritual energy—that which should be spent in action, spends itself in words. Hence he who restrains that love of talk lays up a fund of spiritual strength.
—F. W. Robertson.
Truthfulness is the foundation of all personal excellence. It exhibits itself in conduct. It is rectitude, truth in action, and shines through every word and deed.
—Samuel Smiles.
The cry of the age is more for fraternity than for charity. If one exists, the other will follow, or better still, will not be needed.
—Dr. Henry D. Chapin.
There is philosophy as well as philanthropy in the keeping in touch with all sweetness and love, in the being swift to be kind. This is living on the spiritual plane, and spirituality is power.
—Lilian Whiting.
Manners are the happy ways of doing things. If they are superficial, so are the dewdrops, which give such a depth to the morning meadows.
—Emerson.
Being all fashioned of the self-same dust,Let us be merciful as well as just.
Being all fashioned of the self-same dust,Let us be merciful as well as just.
Being all fashioned of the self-same dust,Let us be merciful as well as just.
Being all fashioned of the self-same dust,
Let us be merciful as well as just.
—Longfellow.
“The man who never makes mistakes loses a great many chances to learn something.”
Why should a true and sincere appreciation be termed flattery, and degraded to the level of insincere praise? Why should an individual be accused of acting from base and selfish policy because he feels the glow and warmth of social response?
—The World Beautiful, Lilian Whiting.
Our power over others lies not so much in the amount of thought within us as in the power of bringing it out.
—W. E. Channing.
Could a greater miracle take place than for us to look through each other’s eyes for an instant?
—Thoreau.
Why should we wear black for the guests of God?
—Ruskin.
I always seek the good that is in people and leave the bad to Him who made mankind and knows how to round off the corners.
—Goethe’s Mother.
I am not concerned that I have no place,I am concerned how I may fit myself for one.I am not concerned that I am not known,I seek to be worthy to be known.
I am not concerned that I have no place,I am concerned how I may fit myself for one.I am not concerned that I am not known,I seek to be worthy to be known.
I am not concerned that I have no place,I am concerned how I may fit myself for one.I am not concerned that I am not known,I seek to be worthy to be known.
I am not concerned that I have no place,
I am concerned how I may fit myself for one.
I am not concerned that I am not known,
I seek to be worthy to be known.
—Confucius.
The sunrise never failed us yet.
—Celia Thaxter.
Don’t bewail and bemoan. Omit the negative propositions. Nerve us with incessant affirmations. Don’t waste yourself in rejection, nor bark against the bad, but chant the beauty of the good.
—Emerson.
How the sting of poverty, or small means, is gone when one keeps house for one’s own comfort, and not for the comfort of one’s neighbors.
—Dinah Maria Mulock.
Culture is not an accident of birth, although our surroundings advance or retard it; it is always a matter of individual education.
—Hamilton W. Mabie.
No man need hunt for his mission. His mission comes to him. It is not above, it is not below, it is not far—not to make happy human faces now and then among the children of misery, but to keep happy human faces about us all the time.
—J. F. W. Ware.
God’s best gift to us is not things, but opportunities.
—Alice W. Rollins.
Whoever will prosper in any line of life must save his own time and do his own thinking. He must spend neither time nor money which he has not earned.
—David Starr Jordan.
I pray you, O excellent wife, not to cumber yourself and me to get a rich dinner for this man or this woman who has alighted at our gate, nor a bed-chamber made ready at too great a cost. These things they can get for a dollar at any village. But let this stranger, if he will, in your looks, in your accent, and behavior, read your heart and earnestness, your thought and will, which he cannot buy at any price in any village or city, and which he may well travel fifty miles and dine sparely and sleep hard in order to behold. Certainly, let the board be spread and let the bed be dressed for the traveler; but let not the emphasis of hospitality lie in these things. Honor to the house where they are simple to the verge of hardship, so that there the intellect is awake and reads the laws of the Universe.
—Emerson.
JOHN VANCE CHENEYThe happiest heart that ever beatWas in some quiet breast,That found the common daylight sweetAnd left to heaven the rest.
JOHN VANCE CHENEYThe happiest heart that ever beatWas in some quiet breast,That found the common daylight sweetAnd left to heaven the rest.
The happiest heart that ever beatWas in some quiet breast,That found the common daylight sweetAnd left to heaven the rest.
The happiest heart that ever beatWas in some quiet breast,That found the common daylight sweetAnd left to heaven the rest.
The happiest heart that ever beatWas in some quiet breast,That found the common daylight sweetAnd left to heaven the rest.
The happiest heart that ever beat
Was in some quiet breast,
That found the common daylight sweet
And left to heaven the rest.
“The secret of the joy of living is the proper appreciation of what we actually possess.”
So then believe that every bird that sings,And every flower that stars the elastic sod,And every thought the happy summer bringsTo the pure spirit is a word of God.
So then believe that every bird that sings,And every flower that stars the elastic sod,And every thought the happy summer bringsTo the pure spirit is a word of God.
So then believe that every bird that sings,And every flower that stars the elastic sod,And every thought the happy summer bringsTo the pure spirit is a word of God.
So then believe that every bird that sings,
And every flower that stars the elastic sod,
And every thought the happy summer brings
To the pure spirit is a word of God.
—Coleridge.
Thrust an Emerson into any Concord, and his pungent presence will penetrate the entire region. Soon all who come within the radius of his life respond to his presence as flowers and trees respond with boughs, brilliant and fragrant, to the sunshine. After a little, each Emerson stands girt about with Hawthornes, Whittiers, Holmeses and Lowells.
—Newell Dwight Hillis.
Make it your habit not to be critical about small things.
—Edward Everett Hale.
The nobler life is just as possible to us all as that which is ignoble. The moment one will assert his freedom from petty cares, perplexities, troubles, and anxieties, that moment they fall off of themselves.
—A Study of Mrs. Browning, Lilian Whiting.
He approaches nearest to the gods who knows how to be silent even though he knows he is in the right.
—Cato.
Ah! let us hope that to our praiseGood God not only reckonsThe moments when we tread His ways,But when the spirit beckons—That some slight good is also wroughtBeyond self-satisfaction,When we are simply good in thought,Howe’er we fail in action.
Ah! let us hope that to our praiseGood God not only reckonsThe moments when we tread His ways,But when the spirit beckons—That some slight good is also wroughtBeyond self-satisfaction,When we are simply good in thought,Howe’er we fail in action.
Ah! let us hope that to our praiseGood God not only reckonsThe moments when we tread His ways,But when the spirit beckons—That some slight good is also wroughtBeyond self-satisfaction,When we are simply good in thought,Howe’er we fail in action.
Ah! let us hope that to our praise
Good God not only reckons
The moments when we tread His ways,
But when the spirit beckons—
That some slight good is also wrought
Beyond self-satisfaction,
When we are simply good in thought,
Howe’er we fail in action.
—Lowell.
We need only obey. There is guidance for each of us, and by lowly listening, we shall hear the right word.
—Emerson.
When a man has not a good reason for doing a thing, he has one reason for letting it alone.
—Sir Walter Scott.
Pure religion as taught by Jesus Christ is a life, a growth, a divine spirit within, coming out in love and sympathy and helpfulness to our fellow-men.
—Dr. H. W. Thomas.
Be sure of the foundation of your life. Know why you live as you do. Be ready to give a reason for it. Do not, in such a matter as life, build on opinion or custom, or what you guess is true. Make it a matter of certainty and science.
—Thomas Starr King.
Nothing raises the price of a blessing like its removal; whereas, it was its continuance which should have taught us its value.
—Hannah More.
The soul occupied with great ideas, best performs small duties.
—James Martineau.
Christianity wants nothing so much in the world as sunny people, and the old are hungrier for love than for bread. The Oil of Joy is very cheap, and if you can help the poor with a Garment of Praise, it will be better for them than blankets.
—Drummond.
You will find it less easy to uproot faults than to choke them by gaining virtues. Do not think of your faults, still less of others’ faults. In every person who comes near you look for what is good and strong; honor that; rejoice in it; and as you can, try to imitate it; and your faults will drop off like dead leaves, when their time comes.
—Ruskin.
When you hold persistently to the successful mental state, you become a magnet drawing other people to aid you as you in return can aid them. But if you are much of the time despondent and gloomy, you become the negative magnet driving the best from you.
—Prentice Mulford.
There are two days about which nobody should ever worry, and these are yesterday and to-morrow.
—Robert J. Burdette.
A child, however educated, is still untaught if by his teaching we have not emphasized his individual character, if we have not strengthened his will and its guide and guardian, the mind.
—David Starr Jordan.
“I am only a child who is lyingOn the bosom of Infinite Love.I speak not of living or dying;I know not of sorrow or crying;My thoughts are dwelling above.“The spring of the life that is flowingIs hidden with Christ in God.Not yet the mystery knowing,I feel that the peace is growing,As a river grows deep and broad.“All I need without price I am buyingBy my trust in the Goodness above.There’s an end to my yearning and sighing,For just like a child I am lyingOn the bosom of Infinite Love.”
“I am only a child who is lyingOn the bosom of Infinite Love.I speak not of living or dying;I know not of sorrow or crying;My thoughts are dwelling above.“The spring of the life that is flowingIs hidden with Christ in God.Not yet the mystery knowing,I feel that the peace is growing,As a river grows deep and broad.“All I need without price I am buyingBy my trust in the Goodness above.There’s an end to my yearning and sighing,For just like a child I am lyingOn the bosom of Infinite Love.”
“I am only a child who is lyingOn the bosom of Infinite Love.I speak not of living or dying;I know not of sorrow or crying;My thoughts are dwelling above.
“I am only a child who is lying
On the bosom of Infinite Love.
I speak not of living or dying;
I know not of sorrow or crying;
My thoughts are dwelling above.
“The spring of the life that is flowingIs hidden with Christ in God.Not yet the mystery knowing,I feel that the peace is growing,As a river grows deep and broad.
“The spring of the life that is flowing
Is hidden with Christ in God.
Not yet the mystery knowing,
I feel that the peace is growing,
As a river grows deep and broad.
“All I need without price I am buyingBy my trust in the Goodness above.There’s an end to my yearning and sighing,For just like a child I am lyingOn the bosom of Infinite Love.”
“All I need without price I am buying
By my trust in the Goodness above.
There’s an end to my yearning and sighing,
For just like a child I am lying
On the bosom of Infinite Love.”
The optimist, by his superior wisdom and insight, is making his own heaven, and in the degree that he makes his own heaven, is he helping to make one for all the world beside.
—R. W. Trine.
Do not let your head run upon that which is none of your own, but pick out some of the best of your circumstances, and consider how eagerly you would wish for them, were they not in your possession.
—Marcus Aurelius.
Insist on your self; never imitate. There is at this moment for you an utterance brave and grand as that of the colossal chisel of Phidias, or the pen of Moses or Dante, but different from these. If you can hear what these patriarchs say, surely you can reply to them in the same pitch of voice.
—Emerson.
Just because there’s fallenA snow-flake on his forehead,He must go and fancy’Tis winter all the year!
Just because there’s fallenA snow-flake on his forehead,He must go and fancy’Tis winter all the year!
Just because there’s fallenA snow-flake on his forehead,He must go and fancy’Tis winter all the year!
Just because there’s fallen
A snow-flake on his forehead,
He must go and fancy
’Tis winter all the year!
—Aldrich.
How poor they are that have not patience.
—Shakespeare.
O God, animate us to cheerfulness! May we have a joyful sense of our blessings, learn to look on the bright circumstances of our lot, and maintain a perpetual contentedness.
—W. E. Channing.
Thy love shall chant its own beatitudesAfter its own self-working. A child’s kissSet on the sighing lips shall make thee glad;A poor man served by thee shall make thee rich;A sick man helped by thee shall make thee strong;Thou shalt be served thyself by every senseOf service which thou renderest.
Thy love shall chant its own beatitudesAfter its own self-working. A child’s kissSet on the sighing lips shall make thee glad;A poor man served by thee shall make thee rich;A sick man helped by thee shall make thee strong;Thou shalt be served thyself by every senseOf service which thou renderest.
Thy love shall chant its own beatitudesAfter its own self-working. A child’s kissSet on the sighing lips shall make thee glad;A poor man served by thee shall make thee rich;A sick man helped by thee shall make thee strong;Thou shalt be served thyself by every senseOf service which thou renderest.
Thy love shall chant its own beatitudes
After its own self-working. A child’s kiss
Set on the sighing lips shall make thee glad;
A poor man served by thee shall make thee rich;
A sick man helped by thee shall make thee strong;
Thou shalt be served thyself by every sense
Of service which thou renderest.
—E. B. Browning.
“Then take this honey for the bitterest cup;There is no failure, save in giving up;No real fall so long as one still tries,For seeming setbacks make the strong man wise.There’s no defeat, in truth, save from within;Unless you’re beaten there, you’re bound to win.”
“Then take this honey for the bitterest cup;There is no failure, save in giving up;No real fall so long as one still tries,For seeming setbacks make the strong man wise.There’s no defeat, in truth, save from within;Unless you’re beaten there, you’re bound to win.”
“Then take this honey for the bitterest cup;There is no failure, save in giving up;No real fall so long as one still tries,For seeming setbacks make the strong man wise.There’s no defeat, in truth, save from within;Unless you’re beaten there, you’re bound to win.”
“Then take this honey for the bitterest cup;
There is no failure, save in giving up;
No real fall so long as one still tries,
For seeming setbacks make the strong man wise.
There’s no defeat, in truth, save from within;
Unless you’re beaten there, you’re bound to win.”
A crowd of troubles passed him byAs he with courage waited;He said, “Where do you troubles flyWhen you are thus belated?”“We go,” they say, “to those who mope,Who look on life dejected,Who weakly say ‘good-bye’ to hope,We go where we’re expected.”
A crowd of troubles passed him byAs he with courage waited;He said, “Where do you troubles flyWhen you are thus belated?”“We go,” they say, “to those who mope,Who look on life dejected,Who weakly say ‘good-bye’ to hope,We go where we’re expected.”
A crowd of troubles passed him byAs he with courage waited;He said, “Where do you troubles flyWhen you are thus belated?”“We go,” they say, “to those who mope,Who look on life dejected,Who weakly say ‘good-bye’ to hope,We go where we’re expected.”
A crowd of troubles passed him by
As he with courage waited;
He said, “Where do you troubles fly
When you are thus belated?”
“We go,” they say, “to those who mope,
Who look on life dejected,
Who weakly say ‘good-bye’ to hope,
We go where we’re expected.”
—Francis J. Allison.
“Bring me men to match my mountains,Bring me men to match my plains;Men with empires in their purposeAnd new eras in their brains.”
“Bring me men to match my mountains,Bring me men to match my plains;Men with empires in their purposeAnd new eras in their brains.”
“Bring me men to match my mountains,Bring me men to match my plains;Men with empires in their purposeAnd new eras in their brains.”
“Bring me men to match my mountains,
Bring me men to match my plains;
Men with empires in their purpose
And new eras in their brains.”
“Who will remember that skies are grayIf he carries a happy heart all day?”
“Who will remember that skies are grayIf he carries a happy heart all day?”
“Who will remember that skies are grayIf he carries a happy heart all day?”
“Who will remember that skies are gray
If he carries a happy heart all day?”
A man is specially and divinely fortunate, not when his conditions are easy, but when they evoke the very best that is in him; when they provoke him to nobleness, and sting him to strength, when they clear his vision, kindle his enthusiasm and inspire his will.
—Hamilton Wright Mabie.
The deeper the feeling the less demonstrative will be the expression of it.
—Balzac.
The most I can do for my friend is simply to be his friend. If he knows I am happy in loving him, he will want no other reward.
—H. D. Thoreau.
“Live blameless; God is near.”
—Inscribed over the door of the house of Linnæus, at Hammerby, Sweden.
It is always good to know, if only in passing, charming human beings. It refreshes one like flowers and woods and clear brooks.
—George Eliot.
Do not discharge in haste the arrow which can never return: it is easy to destroy happiness; most difficult to restore it.
—Herder.
Disappointment should always be taken as a stimulant, and never viewed as a discouragement.
—C. B. Newcomb.
In all the crowded UniverseThere is but one stupendous word: Love.There is no tree that rears its crest,No fern or flower that cleaves the sodNor bird that sings above its nest,But tries to speak this word of God.
In all the crowded UniverseThere is but one stupendous word: Love.There is no tree that rears its crest,No fern or flower that cleaves the sodNor bird that sings above its nest,But tries to speak this word of God.
In all the crowded UniverseThere is but one stupendous word: Love.There is no tree that rears its crest,No fern or flower that cleaves the sodNor bird that sings above its nest,But tries to speak this word of God.
In all the crowded Universe
There is but one stupendous word: Love.
There is no tree that rears its crest,
No fern or flower that cleaves the sod
Nor bird that sings above its nest,
But tries to speak this word of God.
—J. G. Holland.
He who has a thousand friends has not one friend to spare,And he who has one enemy shall meet him everywhere.
He who has a thousand friends has not one friend to spare,And he who has one enemy shall meet him everywhere.
He who has a thousand friends has not one friend to spare,And he who has one enemy shall meet him everywhere.
He who has a thousand friends has not one friend to spare,
And he who has one enemy shall meet him everywhere.
—From the Arabic.
It is a great folly not to part with your own faults, which is possible, but to try instead to escape from other people’s faults, which is impossible.
—Marcus Aurelius.
“To persuade one soul to lead a better life is to leave the world better than you found it.”
If you intend to be happy, don’t be foolish enough to wait for a just cause.
—Chap-Book.