Don’t borrow a creed from other people,Nor hang most faith on the stoutest steeple.Look up for your law, but oh! look higherThan the hands on any human spire.If ten think alike, and you think alone,That never proves ’tis ten to oneThey are right, you wrong; for truth, you see,Is not a thing of majority.It never can make you false, them true,That there’s more of them than there is of you:If your touch is on Truth’s garment’s hem,There is more of you than a world of them.’Tis not alone in the Orient regionThat a certain hero’s name is Legion.Nor was it only for once to beThat the whole herd together ran down to the sea.Your zenith for no man else is true:Your beam from the sun comes alone to you.And the thought the great God gave your brainIs your own for the world, or the world’s in vain.
Don’t borrow a creed from other people,Nor hang most faith on the stoutest steeple.Look up for your law, but oh! look higherThan the hands on any human spire.If ten think alike, and you think alone,That never proves ’tis ten to oneThey are right, you wrong; for truth, you see,Is not a thing of majority.It never can make you false, them true,That there’s more of them than there is of you:If your touch is on Truth’s garment’s hem,There is more of you than a world of them.’Tis not alone in the Orient regionThat a certain hero’s name is Legion.Nor was it only for once to beThat the whole herd together ran down to the sea.Your zenith for no man else is true:Your beam from the sun comes alone to you.And the thought the great God gave your brainIs your own for the world, or the world’s in vain.
Don’t borrow a creed from other people,Nor hang most faith on the stoutest steeple.Look up for your law, but oh! look higherThan the hands on any human spire.If ten think alike, and you think alone,That never proves ’tis ten to oneThey are right, you wrong; for truth, you see,Is not a thing of majority.It never can make you false, them true,That there’s more of them than there is of you:If your touch is on Truth’s garment’s hem,There is more of you than a world of them.’Tis not alone in the Orient regionThat a certain hero’s name is Legion.Nor was it only for once to beThat the whole herd together ran down to the sea.
Don’t borrow a creed from other people,
Nor hang most faith on the stoutest steeple.
Look up for your law, but oh! look higher
Than the hands on any human spire.
If ten think alike, and you think alone,
That never proves ’tis ten to one
They are right, you wrong; for truth, you see,
Is not a thing of majority.
It never can make you false, them true,
That there’s more of them than there is of you:
If your touch is on Truth’s garment’s hem,
There is more of you than a world of them.
’Tis not alone in the Orient region
That a certain hero’s name is Legion.
Nor was it only for once to be
That the whole herd together ran down to the sea.
Your zenith for no man else is true:Your beam from the sun comes alone to you.And the thought the great God gave your brainIs your own for the world, or the world’s in vain.
Your zenith for no man else is true:
Your beam from the sun comes alone to you.
And the thought the great God gave your brain
Is your own for the world, or the world’s in vain.
—Edward Rowland Sill.
Discontent is want of self-reliance: it is infirmity of will.
—Emerson.
“He that brings sunshine into the lives of others cannot keep it from himself.”
Give us, oh, give us, the man who sings at his work! Be his occupation what it may, he is equal to any of those who follow the same pursuit in silent sullenness. He does more in the same time—he will do it better—he will persevere longer.
—Carlyle.
Set about what thou intendest to do: the beginning is half the battle.
—Cæsar.
By the street of By-and-By, one arrives at the house of Never.
—Cervantes.
No wind serves him who has no destined port.
—Montaigne.
Be sure you give men the best of your wares though they be poor enough; and the gods will help you to lay by a better store for the future.
—Henry D. Thoreau.
Reading is indeed to the mind as food is to the body—the material of which its fibre is made. It is surprising to note the difference in the quality of mental thought which even one-half hour’s good reading each day will make.
—Lilian Whiting.
Men are four:He who knows, and knows he knows,—He is wise—follow him.He who knows, and knows not he knows,—He is asleep—wake him:—He who knows not, and knows not he knows not,—He is a fool—shun him.He who knows not, and knows he knows not,—He is a child—teach him.
Men are four:He who knows, and knows he knows,—He is wise—follow him.He who knows, and knows not he knows,—He is asleep—wake him:—He who knows not, and knows not he knows not,—He is a fool—shun him.He who knows not, and knows he knows not,—He is a child—teach him.
Men are four:He who knows, and knows he knows,—He is wise—follow him.He who knows, and knows not he knows,—He is asleep—wake him:—He who knows not, and knows not he knows not,—He is a fool—shun him.He who knows not, and knows he knows not,—He is a child—teach him.
Men are four:
He who knows, and knows he knows,—
He is wise—follow him.
He who knows, and knows not he knows,—
He is asleep—wake him:—
He who knows not, and knows not he knows not,—
He is a fool—shun him.
He who knows not, and knows he knows not,—
He is a child—teach him.
—Arabian Proverb.
Cherish ideals as the traveler cherishes the north star, and keep the guiding light pure and bright and high above the horizon.
—Newell Dwight Hillis.
The days come and go like muffled and veiled figures sent from a distant friendly party; but they say nothing, and if we do not use the gifts they bring, they carry them as silently away.
—Emerson.
’Tis not in seeking,’Tis not in endless striving,Thy quest is found.Be still and listen,Be still and drink the quietOf all around.
’Tis not in seeking,’Tis not in endless striving,Thy quest is found.Be still and listen,Be still and drink the quietOf all around.
’Tis not in seeking,’Tis not in endless striving,Thy quest is found.Be still and listen,Be still and drink the quietOf all around.
’Tis not in seeking,
’Tis not in endless striving,
Thy quest is found.
Be still and listen,
Be still and drink the quiet
Of all around.
—E. R. Sill.
To keep one’s foot firmly set in the way that leads upwards, however dark and thorny it may be at the moment, is to conquer.
—The World Beautiful, Lilian Whiting.
And daily, hourly, loving and givingIn the poorest life makes heavenly living.
And daily, hourly, loving and givingIn the poorest life makes heavenly living.
And daily, hourly, loving and givingIn the poorest life makes heavenly living.
And daily, hourly, loving and giving
In the poorest life makes heavenly living.
—Rose Terry Cooke.
To love is the great glory, the last culture, the highest happiness; to be loved is little in comparison.
—The Story of William and Lucy Smith, George S. Merriam.
To persevere in one’s duty, and to be silent, is the best answer to calumny.
—Washington.
I have lived to know that the secret of happiness is never to allow your energies to stagnate.
—Adam Clarke.
Entertaining is the finest of all the fine arts, and it cannot be done by proxy. It cannot be done by the cook, nor yet by the decorator. Let the hostess give her guests her personal interest, her sympathetic comprehension, and she will have then mastered the delicate and subtle art.
—Lilian Whiting.
Read the best books first, or you may not have a chance to read them at all.
—Henry D. Thoreau.
I am primarily engaged to myself to be a public servant to all the gods, to demonstrate to all men that there is a good will and intelligence at the heart of things, and ever higher and yet higher leadings.
—Emerson.
Be noble, and the nobleness that liesIn other men, sleeping, but never dead,Will rise in majesty to meet thine own;Then shalt thou see it gleam in many eyes,Then will pure light about thy way be shed.
Be noble, and the nobleness that liesIn other men, sleeping, but never dead,Will rise in majesty to meet thine own;Then shalt thou see it gleam in many eyes,Then will pure light about thy way be shed.
Be noble, and the nobleness that liesIn other men, sleeping, but never dead,Will rise in majesty to meet thine own;Then shalt thou see it gleam in many eyes,Then will pure light about thy way be shed.
Be noble, and the nobleness that lies
In other men, sleeping, but never dead,
Will rise in majesty to meet thine own;
Then shalt thou see it gleam in many eyes,
Then will pure light about thy way be shed.
—Lowell.
Few causes age the body faster than wilful indolence and monotony of mind—the mind, that very principle of physical youthfulness.
—James Lane Allen.
“To speak wisely may not always be easy, but not to speak ill requires only silence.”
If you have not slept, or if you have slept, or if you have a headache, or sciatica, or leprosy, or thunder stroke, I beseech you by all the angels to hold your peace, and not pollute the morning, to which all the housemates bring serene and pleasant thoughts, by corruptions and groans.
—Emerson.
“‘Downward the path of life!’ Oh, no!Up, up, with patient steps, I go;I watch the skies fast brightening there;I breathe a sweeter, purer air.”
“‘Downward the path of life!’ Oh, no!Up, up, with patient steps, I go;I watch the skies fast brightening there;I breathe a sweeter, purer air.”
“‘Downward the path of life!’ Oh, no!Up, up, with patient steps, I go;I watch the skies fast brightening there;I breathe a sweeter, purer air.”
“‘Downward the path of life!’ Oh, no!
Up, up, with patient steps, I go;
I watch the skies fast brightening there;
I breathe a sweeter, purer air.”
Happiness rarely is absent. It is we that know not of its presence. The greatest felicity avails us nothing if we know not that we are happy.
—Maurice Materlinck.
There is no good in life but love—but love!What else looks good, is some shade flung from love;Love gilds it, gives it worth.
There is no good in life but love—but love!What else looks good, is some shade flung from love;Love gilds it, gives it worth.
There is no good in life but love—but love!What else looks good, is some shade flung from love;Love gilds it, gives it worth.
There is no good in life but love—but love!
What else looks good, is some shade flung from love;
Love gilds it, gives it worth.
—Robert Browning.
Oliver Wendell HolmesThe great thing in the world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving.
Oliver Wendell HolmesThe great thing in the world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving.
The great thing in the world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving.
Instead of a gem, or even a flower, cast the gift of a lovely thought into the heart of a friend.
—Geo. Macdonald.
Be satisfied with nothing but your best.
—Edward Rowland Sill.
Do not think it wasted time to submit yourself to any influence that will bring upon you any noble feeling.
—Ruskin.
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 ... a hundred virtues which the idle never know.
—Charles Kingsley.
Foresight is very wise, but foresorrow is very foolish; and castles are, at any rate, better than dungeons in the air.
—Sir John Lubbock.
It requires a sterner virtue than good nature to hold fast the truth, that it is nobler to be shabby and honest, than to do things handsomely in debt.
—Juliana H. Ewing.
“Drop the subject when you cannot agree; there is no need to be bitter because you know you are right.”
It is not only a part of the wisdom of happiness, but it is absolutely essential to the conditions of any true work in the world, to so live that one may not be too greatly affected by the attitude of other people. A man’s life is, after all, primarily between God and himself.
—Lilian Whiting.
Get your distaff ready, and God will send you flax.
—Mary A. Livermore’s favorite proverb.
The thoughts that come often unsought, and, as it were, drop into the mind, are commonly the most valuable we have, and therefore should be secured, because they seldom return again.
—Locke.
The little worries that we meet each dayMay be as stumbling-blocks across our way,Or we may make them stepping-stones to beOf grace, O Lord, to Thee!
The little worries that we meet each dayMay be as stumbling-blocks across our way,Or we may make them stepping-stones to beOf grace, O Lord, to Thee!
The little worries that we meet each dayMay be as stumbling-blocks across our way,Or we may make them stepping-stones to beOf grace, O Lord, to Thee!
The little worries that we meet each day
May be as stumbling-blocks across our way,
Or we may make them stepping-stones to be
Of grace, O Lord, to Thee!
—A. E. Hamilton.
A man’s own good breeding is the best security against other people’s ill manners.
—Chesterfield.
The best teacher of duties that still lie near to us, is the practice of those we see and have at hand.
—Carlyle.
“The secret of a sweet and Christian life is learning to live by the day. It is the long stretches that tire us.”
To one who is in the rôle of host there can be no more bitter rebuke than to have any guest or chance caller go out from the portals with the feeling that he is sorry he came—that he is depressed rather than up-lifted. For all personal association, whether permanent or transient, whether prearranged or a matter of accidental contact, should leave behind it a lingering charm, a deeper sense of the loveliness of life.
—Lilian Whiting.
One of the natural tendencies of the mortal mind is toward proselyting. The moment we believe something to be true, we begin to try to convert others to our belief. We learn to say, with some degree of realization, “God worketh in me to will and to do of His good pleasure,” but we quite forget that the same God is working equally in our brother “to will and to do.” “I am the door,” says the Christ within every man’s own soul. Now you are trying to have your dear one enter in through your door. He must enter in through his own Christ, his own desire.
—H. Emilie Cady.
You may not be able to leave your children a great inheritance, but day by day you may be weaving coats for them which they will wear through all eternity.
—T. L. Cuyler.
He that cannot forgive others, breaks the bridge over which he must pass himself; for every man has need to be forgiven.
—Lord Herbert.
We exhaust our strength in our impatience at our work, and the conditions that surround us. There is nothing that comes to us which we could not do easily with true adjustment, but we waste our forces in our worries.
—C. B. Newcomb.
It seems as if heroes had done almost all for the world that they can do; and not much more can come until common men awake and take their common tasks. I believe the common man’s task is the hardest.
—Phillips Brooks.
When we climb to heaven ’tis on the rounds of love to men.
—Whittier.
When you find a person a little better than his word, a little more liberal than his promise, a little more than borne out in his statements by facts, a little larger in deed than in speech, you recognize a kind of eloquence in that person’s utterance not laid down in Blair or Campbell.
—Holmes.
Young man! let the nobleness of your mind impel you to its improvement. You are too strong to be defeated, save by yourself.
—W. D. Howard.
What we earnestly aspire to be, that in some sense we are.
—Anna Jameson.
The mark of the man of the world is absence of pretension. He does not make a speech, he takes a low business tone, avoids all brag, promises not at all, performs much. He calls his employment by its lowest names, and so takes from evil tongues their sharpest weapon.
—Emerson.
“In judging others, weigh carefully the method against the motive. If the latter be pure, be patient and charitable, however different from your own the method may be.”
“Refuse to regard as unfortunate the treatment you receive from others; let it stimulate you to deal more justly with yourself and with them.”
The strength of affection is a proof not of the worthiness of the object, but of the largeness of the soul which loves.
—F. W. Robertson.
Every flower is a hint of His beauty; every grain of wheat a token of His beneficence; every atom of dust, a revelation of His power. In and through all things He is attracting our regard.
—Furness.
One never speaks of himself except at a loss.
—Montaigne.
It is easy in the world, to live after the world’s opinion: it is easy in solitude, to live after our own. But the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude.
—Emerson.
If you knew the lightThat your soul casts in my sight,How I look to youFor the good and true,The beauteous and the right.
If you knew the lightThat your soul casts in my sight,How I look to youFor the good and true,The beauteous and the right.
If you knew the lightThat your soul casts in my sight,How I look to youFor the good and true,The beauteous and the right.
If you knew the light
That your soul casts in my sight,
How I look to you
For the good and true,
The beauteous and the right.
—Robert Browning.
Manners impress as they indicate real power. A man who is sure of his point, carries a broad and contented expression, which everybody reads. And you cannot rightly train one to an air and manner, except by making him the kind of man of whom that manner is the natural expression. Nature forever puts a premium on reality.
—Emerson.
Who looks to Heaven alone to save his soulMay keep the path, but will not reach the goal:But he who walks in love may wander far,And God will bring him where the blessed are.
Who looks to Heaven alone to save his soulMay keep the path, but will not reach the goal:But he who walks in love may wander far,And God will bring him where the blessed are.
Who looks to Heaven alone to save his soulMay keep the path, but will not reach the goal:But he who walks in love may wander far,And God will bring him where the blessed are.
Who looks to Heaven alone to save his soul
May keep the path, but will not reach the goal:
But he who walks in love may wander far,
And God will bring him where the blessed are.
—Henry Van Dyke.
“If you and I—just you and I—Should laugh instead of worry;If we should grow—just you and I—Kinder and sweeter hearted,Perhaps in some near by and byA good time might get started;Then what a happy world ’twould beFor you and me—for you and me!”
“If you and I—just you and I—Should laugh instead of worry;If we should grow—just you and I—Kinder and sweeter hearted,Perhaps in some near by and byA good time might get started;Then what a happy world ’twould beFor you and me—for you and me!”
“If you and I—just you and I—Should laugh instead of worry;If we should grow—just you and I—Kinder and sweeter hearted,Perhaps in some near by and byA good time might get started;Then what a happy world ’twould beFor you and me—for you and me!”
“If you and I—just you and I—
Should laugh instead of worry;
If we should grow—just you and I—
Kinder and sweeter hearted,
Perhaps in some near by and by
A good time might get started;
Then what a happy world ’twould be
For you and me—for you and me!”
Let nothing disturb thee,Nothing affright thee;All things are passing;God never changeth;Patient enduranceAttaineth to all things;Who God possessethIn nothing is wanting;Alone God sufficeth.
Let nothing disturb thee,Nothing affright thee;All things are passing;God never changeth;Patient enduranceAttaineth to all things;Who God possessethIn nothing is wanting;Alone God sufficeth.
Let nothing disturb thee,Nothing affright thee;All things are passing;God never changeth;Patient enduranceAttaineth to all things;Who God possessethIn nothing is wanting;Alone God sufficeth.
Let nothing disturb thee,
Nothing affright thee;
All things are passing;
God never changeth;
Patient endurance
Attaineth to all things;
Who God possesseth
In nothing is wanting;
Alone God sufficeth.
—Longfellow.
The world is full of judgment-days, and in every assembly that a man enters, in every action he attempts, he is gauged and stamped. A man passes for what he is worth.
—Emerson.
Life is noble in proportion to the nobleness of faith; it is successful in proportion to the fixedness of faith.
—Joseph Le Conte.
We should tell ourselves once for all that it is the first duty of the soul to become as happy, complete, independent, and great as lies in its power.
—Maurice Materlinck.
“Cold and reserved natures should remember that though not infrequently flowers may be found beneath the snow, it is chilly work to dig for them, and few care to take the trouble.”
Whenever we send out loving thought in generous profusion, every part of our environment echoes back a sweet benediction.
—Henry Wood.
A good book, whether a novel or not, is one that leaves you farther on than when you took it up. If when you drop it, it drops you down in the same old spot, with no finer outlook, no clearer vision, no stimulated desires for that which is better and higher, it is in no sense a good book.
—Anna Warner.
Silence is a great peacemaker.
—Longfellow.
Each act of humble service is that divine touching of the ground which enables one to get the spring whereby he leaps to greater heights.
—R. W. Trine.
Every noble life leaves the fibre of it interwoven forever in the works of the world.
—Ruskin.
“It is no use running; to set out betimes is the main point.”
One ought never to speak of the faults of one’s friends; it mutilates them. They can never be the same afterward.
—William D. Howells.
Whatever betide, every misfortune must be overcome by enduring it.
—Virgil.
“Never argue with a man who talks loud. You couldn’t convince him in a thousand years.”
The new science perceives that instincts and aspirations in the mind are facts of nature that must be interpreted and accounted for by reason as truly as a stone in the hand.
—Newell Dwight Hillis.
Work and love: that is the body and soul of the human being. Happy he where they are one.
—Auerbach.
You picture to yourself the beauty of bravery and steadfastness. And then some little, wretched, disagreeable duty comes which is your martyrdom, the lamp for your oil; and if you do not do it, your oil is spilled.
—Phillips Brooks.
“Watch the thought you hold for the neighbor who is yet living in the consciousness of truth as you understand it. As you are taught of the Spirit, so will he be taught in the way best adapted to him.”
Why do we so often prefer to believe in the necessity of suffering and weakness rather than in the possibility of strength and gladness?
—C. B. Newcomb.
Great powers and natural gifts do not bring privileges to their possessor, so much as they bring duties.
—Henry Ward Beecher.
Every day should have some partFree for the Sabbath of the heart.
Every day should have some partFree for the Sabbath of the heart.
Every day should have some partFree for the Sabbath of the heart.
Every day should have some part
Free for the Sabbath of the heart.
—Wordsworth.
The beautiful is as useful as the useful.
—Victor Hugo.
The higher education of women means more for the future than all conceivable legislative reforms. Its influence does not stop with the home.
—David Starr Jordan.
“It is not the spurt at the start, but the continued, unresting, unhasting advance that wins the day.”
That which is past is gone and irrevocable, and wise men have enough to do with things present and to come.
—Francis Bacon.
Whichever way the wind doth blowSome heart is glad to have it so;Then blow it east or blow it west,The wind that blows, that wind is best.
Whichever way the wind doth blowSome heart is glad to have it so;Then blow it east or blow it west,The wind that blows, that wind is best.
Whichever way the wind doth blowSome heart is glad to have it so;Then blow it east or blow it west,The wind that blows, that wind is best.
Whichever way the wind doth blow
Some heart is glad to have it so;
Then blow it east or blow it west,
The wind that blows, that wind is best.
—Caroline A. Mason.
A lady’s dress should be such as to please God, not laying aside taste, for is He not much more pleased when His children look well than otherwise? I have no idea that Christ was negligent of his dress. His garment was one counted worthy of casting lots upon.
—Mary Lyon.
Experience shows that success is due less to ability than to zeal. The winner is he who gives himself to his work, body and soul.
—Charles Buxton.
“The smelter bends above his pot of silverWatching its restless heavings to and fro,’Till ready for the careful coiner,His face reflected, the fused metal show.”
“The smelter bends above his pot of silverWatching its restless heavings to and fro,’Till ready for the careful coiner,His face reflected, the fused metal show.”
“The smelter bends above his pot of silverWatching its restless heavings to and fro,’Till ready for the careful coiner,His face reflected, the fused metal show.”
“The smelter bends above his pot of silver
Watching its restless heavings to and fro,
’Till ready for the careful coiner,
His face reflected, the fused metal show.”
It is monotony which eats the heart out of joy, destroys the buoyancy of the spirit, and turns hope to ashes; it is monotony which saps the vitality of the emotions; depletes the energy of the will, and finally turns the miracle of daily existence into dreary commonplace. And monotony has its roots, not in our conditions, but in ourselves.
—Hamilton Wright Mabie.
Begin, therefore, with little things. Is it a little oil spilt or a little wine stolen? Say to yourself, this is the price paid for peace and tranquillity; and nothing is to be had for nothing. And when you call your servant, consider that it is possible he may not come at your call, or, if he does, that he may not do what you wish. But it is not at all desirable for him, and very undesirable for you, that it should be in his power to cause you any disturbance.
—Epictetus.
Let us never forget that an act of goodness is of itself an act of happiness. No reward coming after the event can compare with the sweet reward that went with it.
—Maurice Materlinck.
I said, “I will go out and look for mine enemies,” and that day I found no friends. Again, I said, “I will go out and look for my friends,” and that day I found no enemies.
—Gertrude R. Lewis.
Such as are thy habitual thoughts, such also will be the character of thy mind, for the soul is dyed by the thoughts.
—Marcus Aurelius.
Have faithfulness and sincerity as first principles.
—Confucius.
“If you will call your ‘troubles’ ‘experiences,’ and remember that every experience develops some latent force within you, you will grow vigorous and happy, however adverse your circumstances may seem to be.”
Wanting to have a friend is altogether different from wanting to be a friend. The former is a mere natural human craving, the latter is the life of Christ in the soul.
—J. R. Miller.
When we cultivate thoughts of strength for others, we ourselves grow strong. Habitual thoughts of peace bring us tranquillity.
—C. B. Newcomb.
All high happiness has in it some element of love; all love contains a desire for peace. One immediate effect of new happiness is to make us turn toward the past with a wish to straighten out its difficulties, heal its breaches and forgive its wrongs.
—James Lane Allen.
When I am very wearyI do not try to pray.I only shut my eyes, and waitTo hear what God will say.Such rest it is to wait for HimAs comes no other way.
When I am very wearyI do not try to pray.I only shut my eyes, and waitTo hear what God will say.Such rest it is to wait for HimAs comes no other way.
When I am very wearyI do not try to pray.I only shut my eyes, and waitTo hear what God will say.Such rest it is to wait for HimAs comes no other way.
When I am very weary
I do not try to pray.
I only shut my eyes, and wait
To hear what God will say.
Such rest it is to wait for Him
As comes no other way.
—Alice E. Worcester.
You have not fulfilled every duty unless you have fulfilled that of being pleasant.
—Charles Buxton.
We do a great deal of shirking in this life on the ground of not being geniuses.
—Rose E. Cleveland.
We never know for what God is preparing us in His schools—for what work on earth, for what work in the hereafter. Our business is to do our work well in the present place, whatever that may be.
—Dr. Lyman Abbott.
Health is the first of all liberties, and happiness gives us the energy which is the basis of health.
—Amiel’s Journal.
Not in the clamor of the crowded street,Nor in the shouts and plaudits of the throng,But in ourselves, are triumph and defeat.
Not in the clamor of the crowded street,Nor in the shouts and plaudits of the throng,But in ourselves, are triumph and defeat.
Not in the clamor of the crowded street,Nor in the shouts and plaudits of the throng,But in ourselves, are triumph and defeat.
Not in the clamor of the crowded street,
Nor in the shouts and plaudits of the throng,
But in ourselves, are triumph and defeat.
—Longfellow.
Whatever you may be sure of, be sure of this, that you are dreadfully like other people.
—James Russell Lowell.
There is a dust that settles on the heart as well as that which rests upon the ledge. It is better to wear out than to rust out.
—Sir John Lubbock.
How many a thing which we cast to the ground, when others pick it up becomes a gem.
—George Meredith.
Chas. W. WendteSuccess in life is a matter not so much of talent or opportunity as of concentration and perseverance.
Chas. W. WendteSuccess in life is a matter not so much of talent or opportunity as of concentration and perseverance.
Success in life is a matter not so much of talent or opportunity as of concentration and perseverance.
Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces up, snow is exhilarating; there is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather.
—Ruskin.
A haze on the far horizon,The infinite, tender sky;The ripe, rich tint of the corn-fields,And the wild geese sailing high;And all over upland and lowlandThe charm of the golden-rod,—Some of us call it AutumnAnd others call it God.
A haze on the far horizon,The infinite, tender sky;The ripe, rich tint of the corn-fields,And the wild geese sailing high;And all over upland and lowlandThe charm of the golden-rod,—Some of us call it AutumnAnd others call it God.
A haze on the far horizon,The infinite, tender sky;The ripe, rich tint of the corn-fields,And the wild geese sailing high;And all over upland and lowlandThe charm of the golden-rod,—Some of us call it AutumnAnd others call it God.
A haze on the far horizon,
The infinite, tender sky;
The ripe, rich tint of the corn-fields,
And the wild geese sailing high;
And all over upland and lowland
The charm of the golden-rod,—
Some of us call it Autumn
And others call it God.
—M. H. Carruth.
I built a chimney for a comrade old,I did the service not for hope or hire,And then I traveled on in winters cold;Yet all the day I glowed before the fire.
I built a chimney for a comrade old,I did the service not for hope or hire,And then I traveled on in winters cold;Yet all the day I glowed before the fire.
I built a chimney for a comrade old,I did the service not for hope or hire,And then I traveled on in winters cold;Yet all the day I glowed before the fire.
I built a chimney for a comrade old,
I did the service not for hope or hire,
And then I traveled on in winters cold;
Yet all the day I glowed before the fire.
—Edwin Markham.
Flowers, says Ruskin, seem intended for the solace of ordinary humanity. Children love them; quiet, tender, contented, ordinary people love them as they grow; they are the cottager’s treasure; and in the crowded town mark, as with a little broken fragment of rainbow, the windows of the workers in whose heart rests the covenant of peace.
Great privileges never go save in company with great responsibilities.
—Hamilton W. Mabie.
He who has a high standard of living and thinking will certainly do better than he who has none at all.
—Samuel Smiles.
You will find as you look back upon your life that the moments that stand out, the moments when you have really lived, are the moments when you have done things in a spirit of love.
—Henry Drummond.
And let him go where he will, he can only find so much beauty or worth as he carries.
—Emerson.
As you grow ready for it, somewhere or other you will find what is needful for you—in a book, or a friend, or, best of all, in your own thoughts, the eternal thought speaking in your thought.
—George Macdonald.
Be thou the rainbow to the storms of life!The evening beam that smiles the clouds awayAnd tints to-morrow with prophetic ray.
Be thou the rainbow to the storms of life!The evening beam that smiles the clouds awayAnd tints to-morrow with prophetic ray.
Be thou the rainbow to the storms of life!The evening beam that smiles the clouds awayAnd tints to-morrow with prophetic ray.
Be thou the rainbow to the storms of life!
The evening beam that smiles the clouds away
And tints to-morrow with prophetic ray.
—Byron.
Displays of moral excellence, truths set forth in living actions, are multiplied as they are shown. Men are won by what they approve. They are led to imitate what they admire. Laudable actions never stand alone. They go from eye to eye, from heart to heart, creating fresh copies of their immortal worth.
—Dr. Frothingham.
Wouldst shape a noble life? Then castNo backward glances toward the past,And though somewhat be lost and gone,Yet do thou act as one new-born;What each day needs, that shalt thou ask,Each day will set its proper task.
Wouldst shape a noble life? Then castNo backward glances toward the past,And though somewhat be lost and gone,Yet do thou act as one new-born;What each day needs, that shalt thou ask,Each day will set its proper task.
Wouldst shape a noble life? Then castNo backward glances toward the past,And though somewhat be lost and gone,Yet do thou act as one new-born;What each day needs, that shalt thou ask,Each day will set its proper task.
Wouldst shape a noble life? Then cast
No backward glances toward the past,
And though somewhat be lost and gone,
Yet do thou act as one new-born;
What each day needs, that shalt thou ask,
Each day will set its proper task.
—Goethe.
We should think just as though our thought were visible to all about us. Real character is not outward conduct, but quality of thinking.
—Henry Wood.
It is a much shallower and more ignoble occupation to detect faults than to discover beauties.
—Carlyle.
Whatever you wish to accomplish, be willing to do, and to commence your work at once, right where you find yourself, and decide that you do not want anything better to begin with than the conditions that surround you, for God is with you.
—Raja Yoga.
No one is respectable who is not doing his best.
—Horace Fletcher.
The broad-minded see the truth in different religions; the narrow-minded see only their differences.
—Chinese Proverb.
The dawn is not distant,Nor is the night starless;Love is eternal!God is still God, andHis faith shall not fail us;Christ is eternal!
The dawn is not distant,Nor is the night starless;Love is eternal!God is still God, andHis faith shall not fail us;Christ is eternal!
The dawn is not distant,Nor is the night starless;Love is eternal!God is still God, andHis faith shall not fail us;Christ is eternal!
The dawn is not distant,
Nor is the night starless;
Love is eternal!
God is still God, and
His faith shall not fail us;
Christ is eternal!
—Longfellow.
Let us be like the bird for a moment perchedOn a frail branch while he sings;Though he feels it bend, yet he sings his song,Knowing that he hath wings.
Let us be like the bird for a moment perchedOn a frail branch while he sings;Though he feels it bend, yet he sings his song,Knowing that he hath wings.
Let us be like the bird for a moment perchedOn a frail branch while he sings;Though he feels it bend, yet he sings his song,Knowing that he hath wings.
Let us be like the bird for a moment perched
On a frail branch while he sings;
Though he feels it bend, yet he sings his song,
Knowing that he hath wings.
—Victor Hugo.
Let us love so wellOur work shall still be sweeter for our love,And still our love be sweeter for our work.
Let us love so wellOur work shall still be sweeter for our love,And still our love be sweeter for our work.
Let us love so wellOur work shall still be sweeter for our love,And still our love be sweeter for our work.
Let us love so well
Our work shall still be sweeter for our love,
And still our love be sweeter for our work.
—Elizabeth Barrett Browning.
“If you have gracious words to sayOh, give them to our hearts to-day,But if your words will cause us sorrow,Pray keep them till the last to-morrow.”
“If you have gracious words to sayOh, give them to our hearts to-day,But if your words will cause us sorrow,Pray keep them till the last to-morrow.”
“If you have gracious words to sayOh, give them to our hearts to-day,But if your words will cause us sorrow,Pray keep them till the last to-morrow.”
“If you have gracious words to say
Oh, give them to our hearts to-day,
But if your words will cause us sorrow,
Pray keep them till the last to-morrow.”
High thoughts and noble in all landsHelp me: my soul is fed by such.But ah, the touch of life and hands,The human touch!Warm, vital, close, life’s symbols dear,These need I most, and now, and here.
High thoughts and noble in all landsHelp me: my soul is fed by such.But ah, the touch of life and hands,The human touch!Warm, vital, close, life’s symbols dear,These need I most, and now, and here.
High thoughts and noble in all landsHelp me: my soul is fed by such.But ah, the touch of life and hands,The human touch!Warm, vital, close, life’s symbols dear,These need I most, and now, and here.
High thoughts and noble in all lands
Help me: my soul is fed by such.
But ah, the touch of life and hands,
The human touch!
Warm, vital, close, life’s symbols dear,
These need I most, and now, and here.
—Richard Burton.
To live in the presence of great truths and eternal laws, to be led by permanent ideals,—that is what keeps a man patient when the world ignores him, and calm and unspoiled when the world praises him.
—Dr. A. Peabody.
The test of an enjoyment is the remembrance which it leaves behind.
—Jean Paul.
No education is complete, nor, indeed, of great permanent value, that does not teach how to live contentedly and to economize nerve energy.
—Mary Roberts Smith.
I have seen manners that make a similar impression with personal beauty, that give us the like exhilaration, and refine us like that. But they must be marked by fine perception, they must always show self-control. Then they must be inspired by the good heart.
—Emerson.
Patience! have faith and thy prayer will be answered.
—Longfellow.
“Sentiment cannot do duty for humanity.”
The life of a man consists not in seeing visions and in dreaming dreams, but in active charity and in willing service.
—Longfellow.
We find in life exactly what we put into it.
—Emerson.
Every duty we omit obscures some truth we should have known.
—Ruskin.
From Socrates to Browning the thinkers and poets have all been emancipators. In the end, this bringing of new light into the minds of the world will be counted their chief service.
—Hamilton W. Mabie.