For not in far-off realms of spaceThe Spirit hath its throne;In every heart it findeth placeAnd waiteth to be known.
For not in far-off realms of spaceThe Spirit hath its throne;In every heart it findeth placeAnd waiteth to be known.
For not in far-off realms of spaceThe Spirit hath its throne;In every heart it findeth placeAnd waiteth to be known.
For not in far-off realms of space
The Spirit hath its throne;
In every heart it findeth place
And waiteth to be known.
—F. L. Hosmer.
Difficulties may surround our path; but if the difficulties be not in ourselves, they may generally be overcome.
—Prof. Jowett.
Life is made up, not of great sacrifices or duties, but of little things, in which smiles and kindnesses and small obligations, given habitually, are what win and preserve the heart and secure comfort.
—Sir Humphrey Davy.
He that respects himself is safe from others;He wears a coat of mail that none can pierce.
He that respects himself is safe from others;He wears a coat of mail that none can pierce.
He that respects himself is safe from others;He wears a coat of mail that none can pierce.
He that respects himself is safe from others;
He wears a coat of mail that none can pierce.
—Longfellow.
Chilo, having had the question put to him, What is difficult? said: “To be silent about secrets; to make good use of one’s leisure; and to be able to submit to injustice.”
We should every day call ourselves to an account. What infirmity have I mastered to-day? What temptation have I resisted? What virtue acquired? Our vices will abate of themselves if they be brought every day to the shrift.
—Seneca.
Life is something, while the senses heedThe spirit’s call;Life is nothing, when our grosser needEngulfs it all.
Life is something, while the senses heedThe spirit’s call;Life is nothing, when our grosser needEngulfs it all.
Life is something, while the senses heedThe spirit’s call;Life is nothing, when our grosser needEngulfs it all.
Life is something, while the senses heed
The spirit’s call;
Life is nothing, when our grosser need
Engulfs it all.
—Julia Ward Howe.
The true spirit of conversation consists in building on another man’s observation, not overturning it.
—Bulwer.
Revery is the Sunday of thought; and who knows which is the more important and fruitful for man, the laborious tension of the week, or the life-giving repose of the Sabbath?
—Amiel’s Journal.
There is nothing ridiculous in seeming to be what you really are, but a good deal in affecting to be what you are not.
—Sir J. Lubbock.
In life’s small things be resolute and greatTo keep thy muscles trained: knowest thou when FateThy measure takes, or when she’ll say to thee,“I find thee worthy, do this thing for me?”
In life’s small things be resolute and greatTo keep thy muscles trained: knowest thou when FateThy measure takes, or when she’ll say to thee,“I find thee worthy, do this thing for me?”
In life’s small things be resolute and greatTo keep thy muscles trained: knowest thou when FateThy measure takes, or when she’ll say to thee,“I find thee worthy, do this thing for me?”
In life’s small things be resolute and great
To keep thy muscles trained: knowest thou when Fate
Thy measure takes, or when she’ll say to thee,
“I find thee worthy, do this thing for me?”
—Lowell.
If I can stop one heart from breaking,I shall not live in vain.If I can ease one life the aching,Or cool one pain,Or help one fainting robinUnto his nest again,I shall not live in vain.
If I can stop one heart from breaking,I shall not live in vain.If I can ease one life the aching,Or cool one pain,Or help one fainting robinUnto his nest again,I shall not live in vain.
If I can stop one heart from breaking,I shall not live in vain.If I can ease one life the aching,Or cool one pain,Or help one fainting robinUnto his nest again,I shall not live in vain.
If I can stop one heart from breaking,
I shall not live in vain.
If I can ease one life the aching,
Or cool one pain,
Or help one fainting robin
Unto his nest again,
I shall not live in vain.
—Emily Dickinson.
I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of a man to elevate his life by a conscious endeavor. It is something to be able to paint a particular picture, or to carve a statue, and so make a few objects beautiful; but it is far more glorious to carve and paint the very atmosphere and medium through which we look, which morally we can do.
—Henry D. Thoreau.
Much which we think essential is merely a matter of habit.
—Thomas Wentworth Higginson.
The royal road to success is to obey the inner genius, to act in accordance with one’s own intuition, regardless of the fear or favor of those who are bound to the wheel of conventional consistency.
—Lilian Whiting.
Act well at the moment, and you have performed a good action for all eternity.
—Lavater.
New occasions teach new duties;Time makes ancient good uncouth;They must upward still, and onward,Who would keep abreast of truth.
New occasions teach new duties;Time makes ancient good uncouth;They must upward still, and onward,Who would keep abreast of truth.
New occasions teach new duties;Time makes ancient good uncouth;They must upward still, and onward,Who would keep abreast of truth.
New occasions teach new duties;
Time makes ancient good uncouth;
They must upward still, and onward,
Who would keep abreast of truth.
—James Russell Lowell.
What do we live for if it is not to make life less difficult to each other?
—George Eliot.
Good to forgive, best to forget.
—Browning.
What reason have we to think any other station in the universe more sanctifying than our own? There is none, so far as we can tell, under the more immediate touch of God, none whence sublimer deeps are open to adoration, none murmuring with the whisper of more thrilling affections or ennobled as the theater of more glorious duties. Those to whom the earth is not consecrated will find their heaven profane.
—Dr. James Martineau.
Whoever can influence men should strive to make them more courageous, more enduring, more hopeful, simpler, more joyful.
—Bishop Spaulding.
It is our part in life to work with all our strength toward the realization of ideal humanity, to add one more link to the chain which joins the man-brute of the past, through the man of the present, to the man of the future. The man who is likest Him, we have chosen for our ideal.
—David Starr Jordan.
My own experience and development deepens every day my conviction that our moral progress may be measured by the degree in which we sympathize with individual suffering and individual joy.
—George Eliot.
“When opposition of any kind is necessary, drop all color of emotion out of it and let it be seen in the white light of truth.”
The true use of a man’s possessions is to help his work, and the best end of all his work is to show us what he is. The noblest workers of our world bequeath us nothing so great as the image of themselves.
—James Martineau.
“What is the secret of your life?” asked Mrs. Browning of Charles Kingsley; “tell me, that I may make mine beautiful too?” He replied, “I had a friend.”
—William C. Gannett.
Better make penitents by gentleness than hypocrites by severity.
—St. Francis de Sales.
Wondrous is the strength of cheerfulness; altogether past calculation its powers of endurance.
—Carlyle.
Yea, from the table of my memory I’ll wipe away all trivial fond records, that youth and observation copied there; and thy commandment all along shall live within the book and volume of my brain, unmixed with baser matter.
—Shakespeare.
I am surprised that intelligent men do not see the immense value of good temper in their homes; and am amazed that they will take such pains to have costly houses and fine furniture, and yet sometimes neglect to bring home with them good temper.
—Theodore Parker.
Everyone should consider his body as a priceless gift from one whom he loves above all, a marvelous work of art, of indescribable beauty, and mastery beyond human conception, and so delicate that a word, a breath, a look, nay, a thought may injure it.
—Nikola Tesla.
Beware of desperate steps; the darkest day,Lived till to-morrow, will have passed away.
Beware of desperate steps; the darkest day,Lived till to-morrow, will have passed away.
Beware of desperate steps; the darkest day,Lived till to-morrow, will have passed away.
Beware of desperate steps; the darkest day,
Lived till to-morrow, will have passed away.
—Cowper.
Education should be full of feeling. It takes sunlight to draw out the fragrance of the violet and the perfume of the rose.
—Ellen A. Richardson.
We are encompassed about by the forces that make for righteousness. All power we possess, or seem to possess, comes from our accord with these forces. There is no lasting force, except the power of God.
—David Starr Jordan.
If one admires the patience, gentleness, sweetness and unfailing energy of another; if he finds himself renewed and invigorated and inspired by such contact,—why does he not himself so live that he may bring the same renewal and inspiration to others?
—Lilian Whiting.
The flighty purpose never is o’ertookUnless the deed go with it.
The flighty purpose never is o’ertookUnless the deed go with it.
The flighty purpose never is o’ertookUnless the deed go with it.
The flighty purpose never is o’ertook
Unless the deed go with it.
—Shakespeare.
Characters are determined not by the opinions which we profess, but by those on which our thoughts habitually fasten, which recur to them most forcibly and which color our ordinary views of God and duty.
—William Ellery Channing.
We are too busy, too encumbered, too much occupied, too active! We read too much! The one thing needful is to throw off all one’s load of cares, and to become young again, living happily and gracefully in the present hour. We must know how to put occupation aside, which does not mean that we must be idle.
—Translation, Mrs. Humphry Ward.
The new conditions of life demand the higher spirituality of the individual. But what is this? Is it a name, a mental state of exaltation, an ecstasy? Is it an exalted hour, or is it conduct? Is it a merely theoretical thing, a vision caught in some rare hour?... If it be thus, it may have a decorative value in ethics, but is devoid of any practical bearing on our common life. Unless spirituality is the power that transforms falsehood to truth, selfishness to generosity, unless it enters into character as a pervasive force, of what use can it be?
Spirituality is not negative. It is not the mere absence of sin. It is the most positive state.
—The World Beautiful, Lilian Whiting.
The world seemed empty, and black, and cold,And wretched, and helpless, and very old.God gave me a thought; a new world grew,The thought created the world anew.
The world seemed empty, and black, and cold,And wretched, and helpless, and very old.God gave me a thought; a new world grew,The thought created the world anew.
The world seemed empty, and black, and cold,And wretched, and helpless, and very old.God gave me a thought; a new world grew,The thought created the world anew.
The world seemed empty, and black, and cold,
And wretched, and helpless, and very old.
God gave me a thought; a new world grew,
The thought created the world anew.
—S. W. Foss.
Apology is only egotism wrong side out.
—Oliver Wendell Holmes.
No one has any more right to go about unhappy than he has to go about ill-bred. He owes it to himself, to his friends, to society and the community in general, to live up to his best spiritual possibilities, not only now and then, but every day and every hour.
—Lilian Whiting.
Who shoots at the mid-day sun, though he be sure that he shall never hit the mark, yet as sure is he that he shall shoot higher than he who aims but at a bush.
—Sir Philip Sidney.
Blessed are they who have the gift of making friends, for it is one of God’s best gifts. It involves many things, but, above all, the power of going out of one’s self, and seeing and appreciating whatever is noble and loving in another.
—Thomas Hughes.
There is no duty the fulfillment of which will not make you happier, nor any temptation for which there is no remedy.
—Seneca.
Let nothing come between you and the light.
—Henry D. Thoreau.
“The summer vanishes, but soon shall comeThe glad young days of yet another year.So do not mourn the passing of a joy,But rather wait the coming of a good,And know God never takes a gift awayBut He sends other gifts to take its place.”
“The summer vanishes, but soon shall comeThe glad young days of yet another year.So do not mourn the passing of a joy,But rather wait the coming of a good,And know God never takes a gift awayBut He sends other gifts to take its place.”
“The summer vanishes, but soon shall comeThe glad young days of yet another year.So do not mourn the passing of a joy,But rather wait the coming of a good,And know God never takes a gift awayBut He sends other gifts to take its place.”
“The summer vanishes, but soon shall come
The glad young days of yet another year.
So do not mourn the passing of a joy,
But rather wait the coming of a good,
And know God never takes a gift away
But He sends other gifts to take its place.”
We must be as courteous to a man as to a picture, which we are willing to give the benefit of a good light.
—Emerson.
The old year is fast slipping back behind us. We cannot stay it if we would. We must go on and leave our past. Let us go forth nobly. Let us go as those whom greater thoughts and greater deeds await beyond.
—Phillips Brooks.
Opportunity is a good angel, but she deserts those who fail to recognize her. The ring of power must be worn; ... if the charm is not held to service, it slips away.
—Lilian Whiting.
A dull day need not be a depressing day; depression always implies physical or moral weakness, and is therefore never to be tolerated so long as one can struggle against it.
—Hamilton W. Mabie.
’Tis greatly wise to talk with our past hoursAnd ask them what report they bore to heaven.
’Tis greatly wise to talk with our past hoursAnd ask them what report they bore to heaven.
’Tis greatly wise to talk with our past hoursAnd ask them what report they bore to heaven.
’Tis greatly wise to talk with our past hours
And ask them what report they bore to heaven.
—Young’s Night Thoughts.
For the will and not the gift makes the giver.
—Lessing.
Write it on your heart that every day is the best day of the year.
—Emerson.
If I shoot at the sun I may hit a star.
—P. T. Barnum.
The highest point of achievement of yesterday is the starting point of to-day.
—Motto of Paulist Fathers.
I look upon that man as happy, who, when there is a question of success, looks into his work for a reply; not into the market, not into opinion, not into patronage. Work is victory. You want but one verdict; if you have your own, you are secure of the rest.
—Emerson.
There is ever a song somewhere, my dear,Be the skies above or dark or fair,There is ever a song that our hearts may hear—There is ever a song somewhere, my dear—There is ever a song somewhere!
There is ever a song somewhere, my dear,Be the skies above or dark or fair,There is ever a song that our hearts may hear—There is ever a song somewhere, my dear—There is ever a song somewhere!
There is ever a song somewhere, my dear,Be the skies above or dark or fair,There is ever a song that our hearts may hear—There is ever a song somewhere, my dear—There is ever a song somewhere!
There is ever a song somewhere, my dear,
Be the skies above or dark or fair,
There is ever a song that our hearts may hear—
There is ever a song somewhere, my dear—
There is ever a song somewhere!
—James Whitcomb Riley.
“The Present, the Present is all thou hastFor thy sure possessing;Like the Patriarch’s angel, hold it fastTill it gives its blessing.”
“The Present, the Present is all thou hastFor thy sure possessing;Like the Patriarch’s angel, hold it fastTill it gives its blessing.”
“The Present, the Present is all thou hastFor thy sure possessing;Like the Patriarch’s angel, hold it fastTill it gives its blessing.”
“The Present, the Present is all thou hast
For thy sure possessing;
Like the Patriarch’s angel, hold it fast
Till it gives its blessing.”
What a sublime doctrine it is that goodness cherishednow, is eternal life already entered upon!
—William Ellery Channing.
He who feels contemptFor any living thing, hath facultiesThat he has never used:And thought with himIs in its infancy.
He who feels contemptFor any living thing, hath facultiesThat he has never used:And thought with himIs in its infancy.
He who feels contemptFor any living thing, hath facultiesThat he has never used:And thought with himIs in its infancy.
He who feels contempt
For any living thing, hath faculties
That he has never used:
And thought with him
Is in its infancy.
—Phillips Brooks.
“‘This one thing I do,’ or, ‘These forty things I dabble in,’—which shall it be?”
I expect to pass through this life but once. If, therefore, there is any kindness I can show, or any good I can do to any fellow-being, let me do it now, let me not defer it, for I shall not pass this way again.
—Mrs. A. B. Hegeman.
We get no good by being ungenerous, even to a book.
—E. B. Browning.
Build a little fence of trust around to-day,Fill the space with loving deeds and therein stay;Look not through the sheltering bars upon to-morrow,God will help thee bear what comes of joy or sorrow.
Build a little fence of trust around to-day,Fill the space with loving deeds and therein stay;Look not through the sheltering bars upon to-morrow,God will help thee bear what comes of joy or sorrow.
Build a little fence of trust around to-day,Fill the space with loving deeds and therein stay;Look not through the sheltering bars upon to-morrow,God will help thee bear what comes of joy or sorrow.
Build a little fence of trust around to-day,
Fill the space with loving deeds and therein stay;
Look not through the sheltering bars upon to-morrow,
God will help thee bear what comes of joy or sorrow.
—Mary Frances Butts.
A wide-spreading, hopeful disposition is the best umbrella for this vale of tears.
—Wm. D. Howells.
He who meets life as though it meant something worth finding out, and who expresses his best self, is the one who has the permanent basis of happiness.
—H. W. Dresser.
Conscience is nothing else but the echo of God’s voice within the soul.
—E. B. Hall.
We prepare ourselves for sudden deeds by the reiterated choice of good or evil, that gradually determines character.
—George Eliot.
To be courteous to one’s peers is all very well, but it is fairness and courtesy and consideration to those in dependent or limited conditions that constitute the true test of the gentleman or lady.
—Lilian Whiting.
I like not only to be loved, but to be told I am loved. The realm of silence is large enough beyond the grave.
—George Eliot.
I should count myself fortunate if my home were remembered for some inspiring quality of faith, charity, and aspiring intelligence.
—Hamilton W. Mabie.
How soon a smile of God can change the world!How we are made for happiness—how workGrows play, adversity a winning fight!
How soon a smile of God can change the world!How we are made for happiness—how workGrows play, adversity a winning fight!
How soon a smile of God can change the world!How we are made for happiness—how workGrows play, adversity a winning fight!
How soon a smile of God can change the world!
How we are made for happiness—how work
Grows play, adversity a winning fight!
—Browning.
Let this auspicious morning be expressedWith a white stone distinguished from the rest,White as thy fame, and as thy honor clear,And let new joys attend on thy now added year.
Let this auspicious morning be expressedWith a white stone distinguished from the rest,White as thy fame, and as thy honor clear,And let new joys attend on thy now added year.
Let this auspicious morning be expressedWith a white stone distinguished from the rest,White as thy fame, and as thy honor clear,And let new joys attend on thy now added year.
Let this auspicious morning be expressed
With a white stone distinguished from the rest,
White as thy fame, and as thy honor clear,
And let new joys attend on thy now added year.
—Dryden.
Give to a gracious message a host of tongues; but let ill tidings tell themselves.
—Shakespeare.
Still o’er the earth hastes Opportunity,Seeking the hardy soul that seeks for her.Be not abroad, nor deaf with household caresThat chatter loudest as they mean the least;Swift-willed is thrice willed; late means nevermore;Impatient is her foot, nor turns again.
Still o’er the earth hastes Opportunity,Seeking the hardy soul that seeks for her.Be not abroad, nor deaf with household caresThat chatter loudest as they mean the least;Swift-willed is thrice willed; late means nevermore;Impatient is her foot, nor turns again.
Still o’er the earth hastes Opportunity,Seeking the hardy soul that seeks for her.Be not abroad, nor deaf with household caresThat chatter loudest as they mean the least;Swift-willed is thrice willed; late means nevermore;Impatient is her foot, nor turns again.
Still o’er the earth hastes Opportunity,
Seeking the hardy soul that seeks for her.
Be not abroad, nor deaf with household cares
That chatter loudest as they mean the least;
Swift-willed is thrice willed; late means nevermore;
Impatient is her foot, nor turns again.
—James Russell Lowell.
To live content with small means—to seek elegance rather than luxury, and refinement rather than fashion, to be worthy not respectable, and wealthy not rich—to study hard, think quietly, talk gently, act frankly, to listen to stars and birds, babes and sages, with open heart—to bear all cheerfully—do all bravely, await occasions—never hurry; in a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious, grow up through the common. This is to be my symphony.
—William Ellery Channing.
Let us do our duty in our shop or our kitchen, the market, the street, the office, the school, the home, just as faithfully as if we stood in the front rank of some great battle, and we knew that victory for mankind depended on our bravery, strength, and skill. When we do that, the humblest of us will be serving in that great army which achieves the welfare of the world.
—Theodore Parker.
Opportunities correspond with almost mathematical accuracy to the ability for using them.
—Lilian Whiting.
The blessedness of life depends more upon its interests than upon its comforts.
—George Macdonald.
No man finds himself until he has created a world for his own soul; a world apart from care and weakness and the confusion of strife, in which the faiths that inspire him, and the ideals that lead him are the great and lasting verities.
—Hamilton W. Mabie.
Endeavor to be patient in bearing the defects and infirmities of others, of what sort soever they be; for thou thyself also hast many failings which must be borne with by others.
—Thomas à Kempis.
He who does a good deed is instantly ennobled. He who does a mean deed is by the action itself contracted. He who puts off impurity thereby puts on purity.
—Emerson.
They also serve who only stand and wait.
—Milton.
He that is choice of his time will be choice of his company and choice of his actions.
—Jeremy Taylor.
In all things throughout the world, the man who looks for the crooked will see the crooked, and the man who looks for the straight will see the straight.
—Ruskin.
Begin, live, aspire, realize the best ideal of the moment; and this earnest effort shall lead the way to greater achievement.
—H. W. Dresser.
Music is a moral law. It gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, a charm to sadness, gayety and life to everything. It is the essence of order, and leads to all that is good, just, and beautiful.
—Plato.
If thou wouldst speak a word of loving cheer,Oh, speak it now. This moment is thine own.
If thou wouldst speak a word of loving cheer,Oh, speak it now. This moment is thine own.
If thou wouldst speak a word of loving cheer,Oh, speak it now. This moment is thine own.
If thou wouldst speak a word of loving cheer,
Oh, speak it now. This moment is thine own.
—Nellie M. Richardson.
Can a man help imitating that with which he holds reverential converse?
—Plato.
If a man can write a better book, preach a better sermon, or make a better mouse-trap, than his neighbor, though he builds his house in the woods, the world will make a beaten path to his door.
—Emerson.
Come, let us live the poetry we sing.
—Edwin Markham.
“Instead of wishing that all men were of our mind, we should account it one of the first blessings of life that there are men who do not agree with us. The currents of sea and air are not more necessary than the currents of thought.”
In looking back over our lives, we often see that what seemed at the time the worst hours and the most hopeless in their wretchedness were in reality the best of all! They developed powers within us that had heretofore slept; developed energies of which we had never dreamed.
—James Freeman Clarke.
Let your task be to render yourself worthy of love, and this even more for your own happiness than for that of another’s.
—Maurice Materlinck.
There is great danger in constant dissatisfaction. Sooner or later, it will involve the health, or finances, or both, for it destroys the mental balance, and impairs the judgment.
—C. B. Newcomb.
“Don’t nurse opportunity too long—take it into active partnership with you at once, lest it leave you for other company.”
We just shake hands at meetingWith many that come nigh;We nod the head in greetingTo many that go by,—But welcome through the gatewayOur few old friends and true;Then hearts leap up, and straightwayThere’s open house for you,Old Friends, there’s open house for you!The surface will be sparkling,Let but a sunbeam shine;Yet in the deep lies darkling,The true life of the wine!The froth is for the many,The wine is for the few;Unseen, untoucht of any,We keep the best for you,Old Friends, the very best for you!The many cannot know us;They only pace the strand,Where at our worst we show us—The waters thick with sand!But out beyond the leapingDim surge ’tis clear and blue;And there, Old Friends, we are keepingA sacred calm for you,Old Friends, a waiting calm for you.
We just shake hands at meetingWith many that come nigh;We nod the head in greetingTo many that go by,—But welcome through the gatewayOur few old friends and true;Then hearts leap up, and straightwayThere’s open house for you,Old Friends, there’s open house for you!The surface will be sparkling,Let but a sunbeam shine;Yet in the deep lies darkling,The true life of the wine!The froth is for the many,The wine is for the few;Unseen, untoucht of any,We keep the best for you,Old Friends, the very best for you!The many cannot know us;They only pace the strand,Where at our worst we show us—The waters thick with sand!But out beyond the leapingDim surge ’tis clear and blue;And there, Old Friends, we are keepingA sacred calm for you,Old Friends, a waiting calm for you.
We just shake hands at meetingWith many that come nigh;We nod the head in greetingTo many that go by,—But welcome through the gatewayOur few old friends and true;Then hearts leap up, and straightwayThere’s open house for you,Old Friends, there’s open house for you!
We just shake hands at meeting
With many that come nigh;
We nod the head in greeting
To many that go by,—
But welcome through the gateway
Our few old friends and true;
Then hearts leap up, and straightway
There’s open house for you,
Old Friends, there’s open house for you!
The surface will be sparkling,Let but a sunbeam shine;Yet in the deep lies darkling,The true life of the wine!The froth is for the many,The wine is for the few;Unseen, untoucht of any,We keep the best for you,Old Friends, the very best for you!
The surface will be sparkling,
Let but a sunbeam shine;
Yet in the deep lies darkling,
The true life of the wine!
The froth is for the many,
The wine is for the few;
Unseen, untoucht of any,
We keep the best for you,
Old Friends, the very best for you!
The many cannot know us;They only pace the strand,Where at our worst we show us—The waters thick with sand!But out beyond the leapingDim surge ’tis clear and blue;And there, Old Friends, we are keepingA sacred calm for you,Old Friends, a waiting calm for you.
The many cannot know us;
They only pace the strand,
Where at our worst we show us—
The waters thick with sand!
But out beyond the leaping
Dim surge ’tis clear and blue;
And there, Old Friends, we are keeping
A sacred calm for you,
Old Friends, a waiting calm for you.
—Gerald Massey.
It is my custom every night to run all over the words and actions of the past day; for why should I fear the sight of my errors when I can admonish and forgive myself? I was a little too hot in such a dispute: my opinion might have been as well spared, for it gave offense, and did no good at all. The thing was true; but all truths are not to be spoken at all times.
—Seneca.
Also, I think that good must come of good,And ill of evil—surely—unto all—In every place and time—seeing sweet fruitGroweth from wholesome roots, and bitter thingsFrom poison stocks; yea, seeing, too, how spiteBreeds hate, and kindness, friends, and patience, peace.
Also, I think that good must come of good,And ill of evil—surely—unto all—In every place and time—seeing sweet fruitGroweth from wholesome roots, and bitter thingsFrom poison stocks; yea, seeing, too, how spiteBreeds hate, and kindness, friends, and patience, peace.
Also, I think that good must come of good,And ill of evil—surely—unto all—In every place and time—seeing sweet fruitGroweth from wholesome roots, and bitter thingsFrom poison stocks; yea, seeing, too, how spiteBreeds hate, and kindness, friends, and patience, peace.
Also, I think that good must come of good,
And ill of evil—surely—unto all—
In every place and time—seeing sweet fruit
Groweth from wholesome roots, and bitter things
From poison stocks; yea, seeing, too, how spite
Breeds hate, and kindness, friends, and patience, peace.
—Edwin Arnold.
If we would listen intently, we might hear the divine voice within, assuring us that God is our life; that spirit is the only substantial entity and that love is the only law.
—Henry Wood.
Let us grow out of the idea that because we do some one a favor or render him a service, that he is thereby under some transcendent obligation to us. Let us recognize the truth—that it is we who are obliged if he will permit us to do him a favor.
—Lilian Whiting.
Let us have faith that right makes might, and in that faith let us to the end dare to do our duty as we understand it.
—Abraham Lincoln.
Compass happiness, since happiness alone is victory. What you make of life, it will be to you. Take it up bravely, bear it on joyfully, lay it down triumphantly.
—Gail Hamilton.
Those things that are not practicable are not desirable. There is nothing that God has judged good for us that He has not given us the means to accomplish. If we cry like children for the moon, like children we must cry on.
—Burke.
I feel the earth move sunward,I join the great march onward,And take by faith while livingMy freehold of thanksgiving.
I feel the earth move sunward,I join the great march onward,And take by faith while livingMy freehold of thanksgiving.
I feel the earth move sunward,I join the great march onward,And take by faith while livingMy freehold of thanksgiving.
I feel the earth move sunward,
I join the great march onward,
And take by faith while living
My freehold of thanksgiving.
—John G. Whittier.
Howe’er it be, it seems to me’Tis only noble to be good;Kind hearts are more than coronets,And simple faith than Norman blood.
Howe’er it be, it seems to me’Tis only noble to be good;Kind hearts are more than coronets,And simple faith than Norman blood.
Howe’er it be, it seems to me’Tis only noble to be good;Kind hearts are more than coronets,And simple faith than Norman blood.
Howe’er it be, it seems to me
’Tis only noble to be good;
Kind hearts are more than coronets,
And simple faith than Norman blood.
—Tennyson.
Pin thy faith to no man’s sleeve; hast thou not two eyes of thine own?
—Carlyle.
Do your best loyally and cheerfully, and suffer yourself to feel no anxiety nor fear. Your times are in God’s hands. He has assigned you your place: He will direct your paths; He will accept your efforts, if they be faithful.
—Canon Farrar.
When we cease to look upon any experience as too hard, we have made a decided step in wise adjustment to life.
—H. W. Dresser.
A certain awkwardness marks the use of borrowed thoughts, but as soon as we have learned what to do with them, they become our own.
—Emerson.
The choir invisible! Who are members of it, if not all those who in any way are doing the day’s work, whatever it may be, as well as they know how; who are trying to make the world happier and pleasanter for those to whom their lives are naturally bound.
—John White Chadwick.
“By thine own soul’s law learn to live,And if men scorn thee, take no care,And if men hate thee, take no heed,But sing thy song and do thy deed,And hope thy hope, and pray thy prayer.”
“By thine own soul’s law learn to live,And if men scorn thee, take no care,And if men hate thee, take no heed,But sing thy song and do thy deed,And hope thy hope, and pray thy prayer.”
“By thine own soul’s law learn to live,And if men scorn thee, take no care,And if men hate thee, take no heed,But sing thy song and do thy deed,And hope thy hope, and pray thy prayer.”
“By thine own soul’s law learn to live,
And if men scorn thee, take no care,
And if men hate thee, take no heed,
But sing thy song and do thy deed,
And hope thy hope, and pray thy prayer.”
There are some who want to get rid of their past, who, if they could, would begin all over again, ... but you must learn, you must let God teach you, that the only way to get rid of your past is to get a future out of it.
—Phillips Brooks.
It is a sign that your reputation is small and sinking, if your own tongue must praise you.
—Sir Matthew Hale.
Because a man has shop to mindIn time and place, since flesh must live,Needs spirit lack all life behind,All stray thoughts, fancies fugitive,All loves except what trade can give?
Because a man has shop to mindIn time and place, since flesh must live,Needs spirit lack all life behind,All stray thoughts, fancies fugitive,All loves except what trade can give?
Because a man has shop to mindIn time and place, since flesh must live,Needs spirit lack all life behind,All stray thoughts, fancies fugitive,All loves except what trade can give?
Because a man has shop to mind
In time and place, since flesh must live,
Needs spirit lack all life behind,
All stray thoughts, fancies fugitive,
All loves except what trade can give?
—Browning.
There is no beautifier in form or behavior like the wish to scatter joy, and not pain, around us.
—Emerson.
Beware of little expenses; a small leak will sink a great ship.
—Benjamin Franklin.
First make your arrangements, then trust in heaven; and in no case worry.
—Prof. Jowett.
“Hold thy peace or say something better than silence.”
“Friend, all the world’s a little queer, excepting thee and me; and sometimes I think thee a trifle peculiar.”
We live by our enthusiasm and our exaltations. Our sympathies are our strength. Our interests are our magnetisms, and are transmuted into our working capital.
—Lilian Whiting.
His heart was as great as the world, but there was no room in it to hold the memory of a wrong.
(Said of Lincoln.)
—Emerson.
He is all truth in his words, and justice in his actions, and if the whole world should disbelieve his integrity, dispute his character, and question his happiness, he would neither take it ill in the least, nor turn aside from that path that leads to the aim of life, toward which he must move, pure, calm, well prepared—and with perfect resignation in his fate.
—Marcus Aurelius.
Observe good faith and justice toward all nations, cultivate peace and harmony with all. Religion and morality enjoin this conduct; and can it be that good policy does not equally enjoin it?
—Washington.
It is well to believe that there needs but a little more thought, a little more courage, more love, more devotion to life, a little more eagerness, one day to fling open wide the portals of joy and of truth.
—Maurice Materlinck.
The mind has a thousand eyes,And the heart but one;Yet the light of a whole life diesWhen love is done.
The mind has a thousand eyes,And the heart but one;Yet the light of a whole life diesWhen love is done.
The mind has a thousand eyes,And the heart but one;Yet the light of a whole life diesWhen love is done.
The mind has a thousand eyes,
And the heart but one;
Yet the light of a whole life dies
When love is done.
—F. W. Bourdillon.
A man’s home is his castle, but it ought to be more. It ought to be his home. That it is his castle is his right by law. To make it a real home depends upon himself.
—Sir J. Lubbock.
We can fix our eyes on perfection and make almost everything speed towards it.
—W. E. Channing.
“It was the heaven within her that made a heaven without.”
He who, forgetting self, makes the object of his life service, helpfulness and kindness to others, finds his whole nature growing and expanding, himself becoming large-hearted, magnanimous, kind, sympathetic, joyous and happy; his life becoming rich and beautiful.
—Ralph Waldo Trine.
“Talk happiness; the world is sad enoughWithout your woes. No path is wholly rough:Look for the places that are smooth and clear,And speak of these to rest the weary earOf earth, so hurt by one continuous strainOf human discontent and grief and pain.”
“Talk happiness; the world is sad enoughWithout your woes. No path is wholly rough:Look for the places that are smooth and clear,And speak of these to rest the weary earOf earth, so hurt by one continuous strainOf human discontent and grief and pain.”
“Talk happiness; the world is sad enoughWithout your woes. No path is wholly rough:Look for the places that are smooth and clear,And speak of these to rest the weary earOf earth, so hurt by one continuous strainOf human discontent and grief and pain.”
“Talk happiness; the world is sad enough
Without your woes. No path is wholly rough:
Look for the places that are smooth and clear,
And speak of these to rest the weary ear
Of earth, so hurt by one continuous strain
Of human discontent and grief and pain.”
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,Lest we forget,—lest we forget!
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,Lest we forget,—lest we forget!
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,Lest we forget,—lest we forget!
Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,
Lest we forget,—lest we forget!
—Kipling.
This world’s no blot for usNor blank; it means intensely and means good:To find its meaning is my meat and drink.
This world’s no blot for usNor blank; it means intensely and means good:To find its meaning is my meat and drink.
This world’s no blot for usNor blank; it means intensely and means good:To find its meaning is my meat and drink.
This world’s no blot for us
Nor blank; it means intensely and means good:
To find its meaning is my meat and drink.
—Robert Browning.
The test of friendship is its fidelity when every charm of fortune and environment has been swept away, and the bare, undraped character alone remains; if love still holds steadfast, and the joy of companionship still survives, in such an hour, the fellowship becomes a beautiful prophecy of immortality.
—Hamilton Wright Mabie.
We lose vigor through thinking continually the same set of thoughts. New thought is new life.
—Prentice Mulford.
No sadder proof can be given by a man of his own littleness than disbelief in great men.
—Carlyle.
If you want knowledge, you must toil for it; if food, you must toil for it; and if pleasure, you must toil for it. Toil is the law. Pleasure comes through toil, and not by self-indulgence and indolence. When one gets to love work, his life is a happy one.
—Ruskin.