He who ordained the Sabbath loved the poor.
—O. W. Holmes.
1685
Those persons who are in the habit of avoiding worldly cares on the Sabbath, are the most remarkable for the perfect performance of their duties during the week. The influence of a change of thought on the Sabbath upon the minds of such persons, resembles that of a change of food upon the body. It seems to give a fresh spring to the mental operations, as the latter does to the physical.
1686
SABBATH.
Hail, Sabbath! thee I hail, the poor man's day:
On other days the man of toil is doom'd
To eat his joyless bread—the ground
Both seat and board—screen'd from the winter's cold
And summer's heat, by neighboring hedge or tree;
But on this day, embosom'd in his home,
He shares the frugal meal with those he loves.
—Grahame.
1687
A well-spent Sabbath on earth, prepares us for the spending of a better one in heaven.
1688
Better a little in safety, than an abundance, surrounded by danger.
1689
More can be said in one minute than can be forgotten in a lifetime.
1690
SALT.
When Henry Drummond was traveling in tropical Africa, he found that salt was regarded by the natives as a rare luxury. Often he offered the native boys the choice between a pinch of salt and a lump of sugar, and they always chose the salt. Once he presented the head man of a village with a spoonful of salt. The chief twisted a leaf into a little bag, into which he poured the salt. Then he held out his hand to the children who crowded around, and each was allowed one lick of his empty palm.
1691
A NAME ON THE SEA SAND.
Alone I walked the ocean strand:
A pearly shell was in my hand;
I stooped and wrote upon the sand
My name, the year, the day.
As onward from the spot I passed,
One lingering look behind I cast;
A wave came rolling high and fast
And washed my lines away.
And so, methought, 'twill shortly be
With every mark on earth from me.
The above pretty lines are only superficially true. No man can live on earth without leaving, "footprints on the sands of time," which will influence those who come after him for good or evil.
1692
EMULATION IN A SCHOOL.
More is learned in a public than in a private school from emulation: there is the collision of mind with mind, or the radiation of many minds pointing to one centre.
—Dr. Johnson.
1693
THE DAME—SCHOOL.
Here first I entered, though with toil and pain,
The low vestibule of learning's fane:
Entered with pain, yet soon I found the way,
Though sometimes toilsome, many a sweet display.
Much did I grieve, on that ill-fated morn,
When I was first to school reluctant borne;
Severe I thought the dame, though oft she tried
To soothe my swelling spirits when I sighed;
And oft, when harshly she reproved, I wept,
To my lone corner broken-hearted crept,
And thought of tender home, where anger never kept.
********
But soon inured to alphabetic toils,
Alert I met the dame with jocund smiles;
First at the form, my task forever true,
A little favorite rapidly I grew:
And oft she stroked my head with fond delight,
Held me a pattern to the dunce's sight;
And as she gave my diligence its praise,
Talked of the honors of my future days.
—Henry Kirke White.
1694
It has been remarked that some [1694:A]duxes at school and prizemen at the university have run too soon to seed, and in after-years been heard of no more; while on the contrary,—comforting fact for the parents of dull boys—not a few who have become distinguished men made no figure at all in their educational career.
—From Memoir of Dr. Guthrie.
FOOTNOTES:
1695
EARLY TRIALS OF DISTINGUISHED SCHOLARS.
It is related of Dr. Adam, the celebrated rector of the High School of Edinburgh, that when at college he had to be content with a penny roll for his dinner. Similar, though more severe, were the early trials of Samuel Drew, also of Edinburgh. At the age of ten he was apprenticed to a shoemaker, a calling which he continued to follow long after he had become celebrated as an author. For days and days together in his early life he was too poor to spend even a penny for his dinner; and he was accustomed, when dinner-time came, to tie his apron-string tighter to lessen the pang of hunger, and go on with his work till evening. Through years of hardship and drudgery his courage never forsook him; amidst ceaseless labor he strove unremittingly to improve his mind, studying astronomy, history, and metaphysics; and finally, from the humblest circumstances, he rose to occupy a conspicuous place as an author, a philosopher, and a metaphysician.
The life of Balzac too, the French author, whose brilliant abilities won for him at last such wealth, fame and influence in France, is a type of many a literary career. At the age of twenty his wealthy parents wished to make him a notary. He announced his determination to become an author. "But" urged the father, "do you not know to what state the occupation of a writer will lead you? In literature a man must be either king or a hodman." "Very well," replied Balzac, "I will be king!" The family left town; the youth was left to his fate in a garret, with the magnificent allowance of twenty-five francs a month. The first ten years he fought with poverty and all its evils; the second decade made him his own master. These ten years, says a writer in a British magazine, were years of glory, wealth, and luxury. He had won the literary crown, as in youth he predicted. His later residences were palaces, richly decorated, and full of rare pictures, statuary, and valuable curiosities.
—From "Getting on in the World."
—By William Mathews, LL. D.
1696
Scotland:—With a rigorous climate and a small country, much of it wild and untillable mountain and moor, and with fewer people in the whole country than in the city of London, and to-day she wields an influence in the world out of all proportion to her population and resources. In fact, the Scotch are in many respects the greatest people of modern times.
—From "A Year in Europe."
—By Walter W. Moore, D. D., LL. D.
1697
Love the sea? I dote upon it—from the beach.
—Douglas Jerrold.
1698
How sweet it is, mother, to see the sea from the land, when we are not sailing!
—Archippus.
1699
THOUGHTS AT SEA.
There is something grand, even to awfulness, in the thought of utter helplessness which you feel at sea. Sky and water—with no living thing visible over the vast expanse—for days together just your own vessel with its human freight—and God! To a thoughtful mind there is no surer teaching both of humility and trust.
—Punshon.
1700
Old people see best in the distance.
—German.
1701
'Tis in my memory lock'd,
And you yourself shall keep the key of it.
—Shakespeare.
1702
A secret is seldom safe in more than one breast.
1703
What is known to three is usually known to everybody.
1704
Those who enquire much into the affairs of others are seldom capable of retaining the secret that they learn; Therefore,
Shun the inquisitive and curious man,
For what he hears, he will relate again.
1705
To keep your own secrets is wisdom; but to expect others to keep them is folly.
—Holmes.
1706
Secrets make a dungeon of the heart, and a jailer of its owner.
1707
Where secrecy or mystery begins, vice or roguery is not far off.
—Johnson.
1708
Be able at all times to yield your personal preference.
—Gestfeld.
1709
Be what your friends think you are; avoid being what your enemies say you are.
1710
Wouldst thou be crowned monarch of a little world, command thyself.
1711
CONCEIT OF SELF REBUKED.
"When I was younger than I am now," says a lawyer who is still somewhat this side of middle age, "I had a position in the office of a man who has a big reputation. Naturally, I felt my responsibility. It was plain to me that the head of the firm had outlived his usefulness, and I used to feel sorry to think what would happen to him if I ever left him. Sheer magnanimity made me overlook a lot of things.
"I wasn't treated in that office with all the deference due me, but I stood it till one day somebody went too far. Then I marched into the old gentleman's private office and laid down the law to him. I told him I wasn't going to endure such treatment another day. I was going to quit, that was what I was going to do, and I was going to quit right then and there. I unburdened my mind freely, and then I stopped to give him a chance to apologize and beg me not to ruin him by leaving. He didn't look up from his desk. He said to me in a polite kind of way, 'Please don't slam the door when you go out.'"
—Washington Post.
1712
They that do much themselves deny,
Receive more blessings from the sky.
—Creech.
1713
SELF-DENIAL.
Teach self-denial and make its practice pleasurable, and you create for the world a destiny more sublime than ever issued from the brain of the wildest dreamer.
—Sir Walter Scott.
1714
Two things are difficult for man to do;
'Tis to be selfish and honest, too.
1715
Give us something to admire in yourself, not in your belongings.—(To one who boasts of his ancestry.)
1716
Do you want to know the man against whom you have most reason to guard yourself? Your looking glass will give you a very fair likeness of his face.
—Whately.
1717
Don't support yourself on others;
If the column falls, where are you?
—Shaw.
1718
We judge ourselves by what we feel capable of doing, while others judge us by what we have already done.
—Longfellow.
1719
The personal pronoun "I" should be the coat of arms of some individuals.
—Rivarol.
1720
He that is warm is apt to think all are so.
1721
The Lord doesn't look so much at what you've given, as to what you have left.
—An Old Writer.
1722
If solid happiness we prize,
Within our breast this jewel lies,
From our own selves our joys must flow,
And that dear hut, our home.
—Cotton.
1723
Self-interest is the compass by which some men
Do set the course of their opinions.
1724
Remember that self-interest is more likely to warp your judgment than all other circumstances combined, therefore, look well to your duty when your interest is concerned.
1725
The world is very much ruled by interest alone.
1726
The least that one can say of himself is still too much.
—Joubert.
1727
He that falls in love with himself will have no rival.
1728
No one can disgrace us but ourselves.
—Holland.
1729
On their own merits modest men are dumb.
—Geo. Colman.
1730
It is more easy to be wise for others, than for ourselves.
—La Rochefoucauld.
1731
No man fights a harder battle than the man who overcomes himself.
1732
To me, there is none like you but yourself.
—From the address of a grateful Hindoo to Sir Wm. Jones.
1733
One always knocks one's self on the sore place.
—From the French.
1734
You say, not always wisely, Know thyself!
Know others, ofttimes is the better maxim.
—Menander, Born 342 B. C.
1735
No object is more pleasing to the eye than the sight of a man whom you have obliged; nor any music so agreeable to the ear, as the voice of one that owns you for his benefactor.
1736
Self-laudation abounds among the unpolished, but nothing can stamp a man more sharply as ill-bred.
1737
We know what we are, but know not what we may be.
1738
Some persons have a prudent consideration for Number—one.
1739
Some persons can neither stir hand nor foot without making it clear they are thinking of themselves, and laying little traps for approbation.
—S. Smith.
1740
We hardly find any persons of good sense, save those who agree with us!
1741
We find few sensible people, except those who are of our way of thinking.
1742
Never trouble another for what you can do yourself.
1743
The question was asked, "Why can we see other people's failings sooner than our own? and why can we give advice to others easier than follow it ourselves?" A sensible man asked in reply, "Why can our eyes see everything else but themselves?"
1744
What others say of me, matters little.
What I myself say and do,
Matters much.
1745
Self-interest is but the survival of the animal in us. Humanity only begins for man with self-surrender.
—Amiel.
1746
Did it ever strike you that continual mourning was multiplied selfishness?
—Ursula.
1747
Take the selfishness out of the world and there would be more happiness than we should know what to do with.
—H. W. Shaw.
1748
"There is no harm in being respected in this world, as I have found out," said Thackeray, "and if you don't brag a little for yourself, depend on it there is no person of your acquaintance who will tell the world of your merits, and take the trouble off your hands."
1749
Common sense among men born to fortune is rare.
—Juvenal.
1750
He lacks sense who broods over the past.
1751
2 Kings x, 16.—"Jehu said, Come with me, and see my zeal for the Lord."
John Fox, the author of the "Book of Martyrs," was once met by a woman who showed him a book she was carrying, and said, "See you not that I am going to a sermon?" The good man replied, "If you will be ruled by me, go home, for you will do little good to-day at church." "When, then," asked she, "would you counsel me to go?" His reply was, "When you tell no one beforehand."
1752
A CRUSHING ARGUMENT AGAINST MANUSCRIPT SERMONS.
A clergyman thought his people were making rather an unconscionable objection to his using a manuscript in delivering a sermon.
They urged, "What gars ye tak' up your bit papers to the pu'pit?"
He replied "that it was best, for really he could not remember his sermons, and he must have the paper."
"Weel, weel, minister, then dinna expect that we can remember them."
1753
PREACHING.
A leading Welsh minister—and Welsh ministers are, I think, among the best preachers—was invited to preach an anniversary sermon before one of the great societies in London. Naturally anxious to disregard no propriety, he consulted the proper authority, the secretary. "Should I read my sermon?" "Oh, it is no matter, only bring some of your Welsh fire with you." "But you cannot, my dear sir, carry fire on paper." "No, that is true; but you may use the paper to kindle the fire."
—Rev. John Hall.
1754
A SCOTCH PREACHER.
The Rev. John Brown, of Haddington, rose from a poor shepherd boy to become a distinguished minister, and afterwards a celebrated professor, author of the "Self-Interpreting Bible," and many other works. Robert Turnbull said of him in one of his books:—"When a poor shepherd boy, he conceived the idea of learning Latin and Greek, and having procured a few old books, actually accomplished the task, while tending his cattle on the hills. So successful was he that some of the old and superstitious people in the neighborhood concluded that he must have been assisted by 'the evil spirit.' On one occasion he went to Edinburgh, plaided and barefoot, walked into a bookseller's shop, and asked for a Greek Testament. 'What are you going to do with a Greek Testament?' said the bookseller. 'Read it,' was the prompt reply. 'Read it!' exclaimed the sceptical bookseller with a smile; 'ye may have it for nothing if ye'll read it.' Taking the book, he quietly read off a few verses, and gave the translation; on which he was permitted to carry off the Greek Testament in triumph."
—Rob't Turnbull.
1755
THE BEST SERMONS.
If we would give ourselves only half an hour's reflection at the close of every day, we would preach to ourselves the best sermons that could be uttered every week.
1756
Oh ponder well! be not severe!
—Unknown.
1757
What shadows we are! what shadows we pursue!
1758
THE LOST SHEEP.
"Oh, gentle Shepherd, climbing rugged mountains,
And crossing waters deep,
How long wouldst Thou be willing to go homeless,
To find a wandering sheep?"
"I count not time," the Shepherd gently answered,
"As thou dost count and bind
The days in the weeks, the weeks in months;
My count is just until I find.
And that should be the limit of my journey,
I'd cross the waters deep,
And climb the hill-slopes with untiring patience,
Until I found my sheep."
—Luke xv, 4v.
1759
Sickness is every man's master.
—From the Danish.
1760
No duns outside, and no doctors within.
(Absence of sickness and debt.)
—Chinese.
1761
Out of sight, out of mind.
1762
Silence is the safest response for all the contradiction that arises from impertinence, vulgarity, or envy.
—Zimmerman.
1763
Silence is the best resolve for him who distrusts himself.
—Rochefoucauld.
1764
Silence is the consummate eloquence of sorrow.
1765
Of keeping silence few have paid the cost;
Of having said too much, a countless host.
1766
Silence is often an answer.
1767
The silence often of pure innocence,
Persuades, when speaking fails.
—Shakespeare.
1768
There is a sure reward for faithful silence.
—Horace.
1769
He knows much who knows how, and when, to be silent.
—Scotch.
1770
Plated silver.
(Sarcastically applied to pretenders.)
1771
Most rare is now our old simplicity.
1772
Commit a sin twice, it will seem a sin no longer.
—From The Talmud.
1773
Men's sins are before our eyes: our own, behind our backs.
—Seneca.
1774
Many a man will give another man a letter of recommendation, though he would hardly lend the applicant a dollar.
1775
A HAPPY USE OF SINGING.
An excellent clergyman, possessing much knowledge of human nature, instructed his large family of daughters in the theory and practice of music. They were all observed to be exceedingly amiable and happy. A friend inquired if there was any secret in his mode of education. He replied—"When anything disturbs their temper, I say to them sing, and if I hear them speaking against any person, I call them to sing to me; and so they have sung away all causes of discontent, and every disposition to scandal."
—Arvine.
1776
He who stands still in mud,—sinks.
1777
SLANDER AND EVIL SPEAKING.
A lady who had been in the habit of spreading slanderous reports once confessed her fault to St. Philip Neri, who lived several hundred years ago. She asked him how she could cure it. "Go," he said in reply, "to the nearest market-place, buy a chicken just killed, pluck its feathers all the way, and come back to me." She was greatly surprised, wondering in what way a dead chicken could help her overcome her evil habit; but she did as he bade her, and came back to him with the plucked chicken in her hand. "Now go back," he said, "and bring me all the feathers you have scattered." "But this is impossible," she replied: "I cast the feathers carelessly, and the wind carried them away; how can I recover them?" "That," he said, "is exactly like your words of slander. They have been carried about in every direction. You cannot recall them. Go and slander no more." It was a striking way of teaching a very important lesson.
1778
He who slanders his neighbors makes a rod for himself.
—Dutch.
1779
He will always be a slave, who does not know how to live upon a little.
—Horace.
1780
Slaves cannot breathe in Britain; if their lungs
Receive our air, that moment they are free;
They touch our country, and their shackles fall.
—Cowper.
1781
SLAVERY.
O execrable son! so to aspire
Above his brethren, to himself assuming
Authority usurp'd, from God not given.
He gave us only over beast, fish, fowl,
Dominion absolute; that right we hold
By His donation; but man over men
He made not lord; such title to Himself
Reserving, human left from human—free.
—Milton.
1782
Sleep.—I never take a nap after dinner, but when I have had a bad night, and then the nap takes me.
—Sam'l Johnson.
1783
We are all equals when we are asleep.
—Spanish.
1784
If you want the night to seem a moment to you, sleep all night.
1785
—Coleridge.
1786
Sleep.—Even sleep is characteristic. How charming are children in their lovely innocence! How angel-like their blooming hue! How painful and anxious is the sleep and expression in the countenance of the guilty.
—W. Von Humboldt.
1787
When I go to sleep, I let fall the windows of mine eyes.
—Shakespeare.
1788
The sleep of a laboring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much: but the abundance of the rich will not suffer him to sleep.
—Eccles. v, 12v.
1789
Heaven trims our lamps while we sleep.
—Alcott.
1790
Sleep! to the homeless, thou art home,
The friendless find in thee a friend;
And well is, wheresoe'r he roams,
Who meets thee at his journey's end.
—Ebenezer Elliott.
1791
A RESTFUL PREACHER.
Dean Ramsey relates that the Earl of Lauderdale was alarmingly ill, one distressing symptom being a total absence of sleep, without which the medical men declared he could not recover. His son, who was somewhat simple, was seated under the table, and cried out, "Sen' for that preaching man frae Livingstone, for fayther aye sleeps in the kirk." One of the doctors thought the hint worth attending to, and the experiment of "getting a minister till him" succeeded, for sleep came on and the earl recovered.
1792
Come sleep, O sleep! the certain knot of peace,
The poor man's wealth, the prisoner's release,
The indifferent judge between the high and low!
—Sir P. Sidney.
1793
Sleep.
Do not omit the heavy offer of it;
It seldom visits sorrow; when it doth,
It is a comforter.
—Shakespeare.
1794
Sleep, thou patron of mankind,
Great physician of the mind,
Who dost nor pain nor sorrow know,
Sweetest balm of every woe.
—Sophocles, born 496 B. C.
1795
Sleep has often been mentioned as the image of death, so like it, that we should not trust it without prayer.
1796
MYSTERY OF SLEEP.
What mortal knows
Whence came the tint and odor of the rose?
What probing deep
Has ever solved the mystery of sleep?
—T. B. Aldrich.
1797
SMILES ALWAYS ATTRACTIVE.
Whether seen playing upon the face of young innocence, or upon the furrowed visage of venerable age, smiles are always attractive and blissful. He who wears a smiling face is a practical philanthropist. He dispels the clouds of gloom that overshadow the brows of care, and the hearts of sorrow he meets in his life-paths, as the sun dispels the misty clouds of morning from the face of nature.
1798
A smile is ever more bright and beautiful with a tear upon it.
1799
Put a smile on your face when you go out for a walk, and it will be surprising how many pleasant people you will meet.
1800
Who can tell the value of a smile? It costs the giver nothing, but is beyond price to the erring and relenting, the sad and cheerless.
1801
WHEN ADAM SMITH PROPOSED.
A new story of Adam Smith was told recently at a convention in Kirkaldy, Scotland, the birthplace of the economist. The professor fell in love and proposed. The offer was refused. Next day the lady met Smith in Princess street, Edinburgh, and reopened the question of the proposal, about which she had been thinking. "You remember what I said?" the lady inquired, and the philosopher replied that he did. "Well," added the lady, "I was only joking." "You remember what I asked?" said Smith. "Yes" replied the lady. "Well," said Smith, "I was only joking too."
1802
It is said that Sir Walter Raleigh once made a wager with Queen Elizabeth that he could weigh the smoke from his tobacco pipe. He weighed the tobacco before smoking, and the ashes afterwards. When Elizabeth paid the wager, she said, "I have seen many a man turn his gold into smoke, but you are first who has turned his smoke into gold."
1803
Among unequals what society
Can sort, what harmony, or true delight?
—Milton.
1804
Society is built upon trust, and trust upon confidence of one another's integrity.
—Dr. South.
1805
Society is no comfort
To one not sociable.
—Shakespeare.
1806
If you wish to appear agreeable in society, you must consent to be taught many things which you know already.
—Lavater.
1807
Society is ever ready to worship success, but rarely forgives failure.
—Mme. Rowland.
1808
Johnson:—"Sir, your levellers wish to level down as far as themselves; but they cannot bear levelling up to themselves. They would all have some people under them; why not then have some people above them?"
—Boswell's Johnson.
1809
The true art of being agreeable is to appear well pleased with all the company, and rather to seem well entertained with them, than to bring entertainment to them.
1810
LONGING FOR SOLITUDE.
Oh, for a lodge in some vast wilderness,
Some boundless contiguity of shade,
Where rumor of oppression and deceit,
Might never reach me more! my ear is pain'd,
My soul is sick, with every day's report
Of wrong and outrage, with which earth is fill'd.
—Cowper.
1811
Something.—To do something, however small, to make others happier and better, is the highest ambition, the most elevating hope, which can inspire a human being.
—Lord Avebury.
1812
TO MY DEAR SON.
On his 21st Birthday, with a Silver Lamp, "Fiat Lux."
—Lady Dufferin, 1807-1867.
How shall I bless thee? Human love
Is all too poor in passionate words;
The heart aches with a sense above
All language that the lip affords:
Therefore a symbol shall express
My love,—a thing not rare or strange,
But yet—eternal—measureless—
Knowing no shadow and no change.
Light! which of all the lovely shows
To our poor world of shadows given,
The fervent prophet-voices chose
Alone, as attribute of heaven!
At a most solemn pause we stand,
From this day forth, for evermore,
The weak but loving human hand
Must cease to guide thee as of yore.
Then, as thro' life thy footsteps stray,
And earthly beacons dimly shine,
"Let there be light" upon thy way,
And holier guidance far than mine!
"Let there be light" in thy clear, clear soul,
When passion tempts and doubts assail;
When grief's dark tempests o'er thee roll,
"Let there be light" that shall not fail!
So, angel-guarded, may'st thou tread
The narrow path which few may find,
And at the end, look back, nor dread
To count the vanished years behind!
And pray that she, whose hand doth trace
This heart-warm prayer,—when life is past—
May see and know thy blessed face,
In God's own glorious light at last!
—From the Victorian Anthology,
—by Sir M. E. Grant Duff.
1813
A clever man once said to his son: "John, when you chase the dollars, all right; but look out, my boy, when the dollars chase you."
1814
Send your son into the world with good principles, a good education, and industrious habits, and he will find his way in the dark.
1815
TO MY SON.
Some of the rarest gems and most beautiful flowers are often found in out-of-the-way places. Here is one.
Do you know that your soul is of my soul, such part,
That you seem to be fibre and core of my heart?
None other can pain me as you, dear, can do;
None other can please me or praise me as you.
Remember the world will be quick with its blame
If shadow or stain ever darken your name.
"Like mother, like son," is a saying so true,
The world will judge largely of "mother" by you.
Be yours then the task, if task it shall be,
To force this proud world to do homage to me;
Be sure it will say, when its verdict you've won.
"She reaps as she sowed, lo, this man is her son."
—Author Unknown.
1816
HIS FATHER'S ABILITY.
At ten years of age a boy thinks his father knows a great deal;
At fifteen he knows as much as his father;
At twenty he knows twice as much;
At thirty he is willing to take his advice;
At forty he begins to think his father knows something, after all;
At fifty he begins to seek his advice;
And at sixty, after his father is dead, he thinks he was the smartest man that ever lived.
1817
A son who loves his home is a joy to his parents.
1818
A man who has got a good son-in-law, has gained a son; but he who has found a bad one, has lost a daughter.
1819
Sorrow concealed, like an oven stopped, doth burn the heart to cinders.
—Shakespeare.
1820
Sorrow's best antidote is employment.
1821
There are people who are always anticipating trouble, and in this way they manage to enjoy many sorrows that never really happen to them.
—H. W. Shaw.
1822
The love of the poor, to the poor, is often remarked: Privation and sorrow knit hearts as no bands of gold can.
—Thos. D. Brown.
1823
If hearty sorrow
Be a sufficient ransom for offense,
I tender it here; I do as truly suffer
As e'er I did commit.
—Shakespeare.
1825
When sorrow is asleep wake it not.
1826
All sorrows are bearable if there is bread.
—Don Quixote.
1827
Let your thoughts dwell on your blessings, and you will forget your miseries.
—Gestfeld.
1828
BRIEF PULSATIONS OF JOY.
The little that I have seen in the world, and known of the history of mankind, teaches me to look upon their errors in sorrow, not in anger. When I take the history of one poor heart that has sinned and suffered, and represent to myself the struggles and temptations it passed through, the brief pulsations of joy, the tears of regret, the feebleness of purpose, the scorn of the world that has little charity, the desolation of the soul's sanctuary, and threatening voices within, health gone, happiness gone,—I would fain leave the erring soul of my fellow-man with Him from whose hands it came.
—Longfellow.
1829
Sum up at night what thou hast done by day,
And in the morning what thou hast to do.
Dress and undress thy soul, mark the decay
And growth of it; since we shall be
Most surely judged, make thy accounts agree.
—George Herbert.
1830
SOMEWHERE.
Somewhere, beyond the limitless space,
That mantles the stars, there is a place;
A beautiful place, where angels dwell.
Somewhere—but just where, no one can tell.
Nowhere on this realm, from pole to pole,
Did God appoint a home for the soul;
Yet "somewhere," above yon starry dome
There's a "house not made with hands," a home.
There, all is fragrant with sweet perfume
That falls from flowers which ever bloom;
In that far-off unknown land so fair.
Where the great Redeemer dwells—'tis there.
1831
When you can say nothing good of a man, change the subject.
1832
Gentle speech and courteous mood
Cost nothing, and are always good.
1833
Loose thinking leads to inaccurate speech.
1834
Forbear sharp speeches to her. She's a lady
So tender of rebukes, that words are strokes,
And strokes death to her.
—Shakespeare.
1835
Everything that one says too much, is insipid and tedious.
—Boilau.
1836
It is unbecoming in inferiors to assume boldness of speech.
—Aeschylus.
1837
Have more than thou showest;
Speak less than thou knowest;
Spend less than thou ownest.
—Greek.
1838
Obedience.—The man who has lost his purse will go wherever you wish.
—Horace.
1839
STORY OF A STANZA.
Many years ago Dr. Valpy, a well known English scholar, wrote a little verse of four lines as the longing of his heart and the confession of his faith. This was the simple stanza:—
"In peace let me resign my breath,
And Thy salvation see;
My sins deserve eternal death,
But Jesus died for me."
Some time afterwards he gave this verse to his friend Dr. Marsh, and it became a great blessing to him. Dr. Marsh read the lines to his friend Lord Roden, who was so impressed with them that he got the doctor to write them out, and then fastened the paper over the mantlepiece in his study, and there, yellow with age, they hung for many years.
—By Canon Dyson Hague, in London Record.
1840
Stars.—Those gold candles fix'd in heaven's air.
—Shakespeare.
1841
MAN'S LITTLENESS IN PRESENCE OF THE STARS.
Thou, proud man, look upon yon starry vault,
Survey the countless gems which richly stud
The night's imperial chariot;—Telescopes
Will show the myriads more, innumerous
As the sea-sand:—each of those little lamps
Is the great source of light, the central sun
Round which some other mighty sisterhood
Of planets travel,—every planet stocked
With living beings impotent, as thee.
Now, proud man—now, where is thy greatness fled?
What art thou in the scale of universe?
Less, less than nothing!
—Henry Kirke White.
1842
The stars govern men, but God governs the stars.
1843
No man can be expected to be wise on an empty stomach.
1844
The more violent the storm, the sooner it is over.
—Seneca.
1845
If a man be gracious unto strangers, it shows he is a citizen of the world, and his heart is no island cut off from other lands, but a continent that joins them.
1846
Be willing to pity the misery of the stranger! Thou givest to-day thy bread to the poor; to-morrow the poor may give it to thee.
—Michaelis.
1847
THE PASSING STRANGER.
He passed me on the street,
And never guessed
The strength he gave my heart,
And needed rest.
His noble face so shone
With holiness,
The very sight of it
Could not but bless.
I met him only once
Upon my way,
Many years ago,
And yet to-day
That face of light and strength
Still dwells with me;
The man "had been with God"—
'Twas plain to see.
—Edith Campbell Babbitt.
1848
Men of age *** content themselves with a mediocrity of success.
—Bacon.
1849
Experience shows that success is due less to ability than to zeal. The winner is he who gives himself to his work.
1850
If you would go to the top, first go to the bottom.
1851
The worst use that can be made of success is to boast of it.
—Sir Arthur Helps.
1852
Mediocrity succeeds best in the world.
—Colton.
1853
FOOD FOR THOUGHT.
At a gathering in Australia, not long since, four persons met, three of whom were shepherds on a sheep-farm. One of these had taken a degree at Oxford, another at Cambridge, the third at a German university. The fourth was their employer, a squatter, rich in flocks and herds, but scarcely able to read and write, much less to keep accounts.
1854
SUCCESSFUL MEN WHO WERE NOT RICH.
A sense of the power and luxury in money, beyond all the wonder tales, has suddenly come to us.
In times like these, it is good to remember Agassiz, who refused to lecture at five hundred dollars a night because he was too busy to make money; Spurgeon, who refused to go to America to deliver fifty lectures at one thousand dollars a night, saying he could do better—he could stay in London and try to save fifty souls; and Emerson, who steadfastly declined to increase his income beyond one thousand two hundred dollars because he wanted his time to think.
—F. Bellamy in Everybody's Magazine.
1855
Attempt the end, and never stand to doubt,
Nothing's so hard but search will find it out.
—Herrick.
1856
Those who accomplish great things always begin with little things.
1857
That success costs too dear, which is attained by any sacrifice of truth, honor, or justice.
1858
He who waits to be absolutely sure of the success of an undertaking, will never undertake it.
1859
The poor have little,—beggars, none;
The rich too much,—enough, not one.
1860
The man who has a sufficiency, generally smiles at the artificial wants of others.
1861
The summer day
Endures not ever: toil ye while ye may.
—Hesiod, a Greek, 850 B. C.
1862
Sun.—The glorious lamp of heaven; with one eye vieweth all the world.
—Shakespeare.
1863
When the sun shines on you you see your friends.
1864
Sundays observe: think when the bells do chime,
'Tis angel's music; therefore come not late.
—George Herbert.
1865
FOR LITTLE BOYS AND GIRLS TO KNOW.
A boy of twelve, said to his little companion: "Do you know why Sunday was instituted from the seventh to the first day of the week." "No, I don't," replied the little boy, "I wish you would tell me." "Well, I will, and I know it is true, for my father told me: It was instituted from Saturday to Sunday in remembrance of Christ's resurrection from the dead on the first day of the week."
—Belhaven.
1866
The ways of superiors, are generally carried by inferiors, to excess.
1867
It is easy to swim when another holds up your head.
—From the Danish.
1868
Sympathy is the golden key that unlocks the hearts of others.
—S. Smith.
1869
A GOOD TEST.
A respectable merchant of London having become embarrassed in his circumstances, and his misfortunes being one day the subject of conversation in the Royal Exchange, several persons expressed the great sympathy they felt for him; whereupon a foreigner who was present, said, "I feel five hundred pounds for him; what do you feel?"
1870
A clasp of hands will oft reveal
A sympathy that makes us feel
Ourselves again; we lose our care:
And in our heart's first glad rebound
At tender sympathy new found,
The world once more seems bright and fair.
1871
I LAY IN SORROW, DEEP DISTRESSED.
I lay in sorrow, deep distressed:
My grief a proud man heard;
His looks were cold, he gave me gold,
But not a kindly word.
My sorrow passed,—I paid him back
The gold he gave to me;
Then stood erect and spoke my thanks,
And blessed his charity.
I lay in want, in grief and pain:
A poor man passed my way;
He bound my head, he gave me bread,
He watched me night and day.
How shall I pay him back again,
For all he did to me?
Oh, gold is great, but greater far
Is Heavenly Sympathy.
—Charles Mackay.
1872
The human heart sighs for sympathy and solace, in the dark hour of suffering and sorrow.
—Rev. Thos. M. McConnell.
1873
These two complain, but no one sympathizes with them:
He who lends money without witnesses;
And he who is lorded over by his wife.
—The Talmud.
