Many Thoughts of Many Minds Part 28

History is but the unrolled scroll of prophecy.--JAMES A. GARFIELD.

The world's history is a divine poem of which the history of every nation is a canto and every man a word. Its strains have been pealing along down the centuries, and though there have been mingled the discords of warring cannon and dying men, yet to the Christian philosopher and historian--the humble listener--there has been a divine melody running through the song which speaks of hope and halcyon days to come.--JAMES A. GARFIELD.

HOME.--There is no happiness in life, there is no misery, like that growing out of the dispositions which consecrate or desecrate a home.--CHAPIN.

It was the policy of the good old gentleman to make his children feel that home was the happiest place in the world; and I value this delicious home-feeling as one of the choicest gifts a parent can bestow.--WAs.h.i.+NGTON IRVING.

He is happiest, be he king or peasant, who finds peace in his home.--GOETHE.

'Tis sweet to hear the watch-dog's honest bark Bay deep-mouthed welcome as we draw near home; 'Tis sweet to know there is an eye will mark Our coming, and look brighter when we come.

--BYRON.

'Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam, Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home.

--JOHN HOWARD PAYNE.

There's a strange something, which without a brain Fools feel, and which e'en wise men can't explain, Planted in man, to bind him to that earth, In dearest ties, from whence he drew his birth.

--CHURCHILL.

The first sure symptom of a mind in health is rest of heart, and pleasure felt at home.--YOUNG.

Are you not surprised to find how independent of money peace of conscience is, and how much happiness can be condensed in the humblest home?--JAMES HAMILTON.

Breathes there a man with soul so dead, Who never to himself hath said, This is my own, my native land!

Whose heart hath ne'er within him burn'd, As home his footsteps he hath turn'd, From wandering on a foreign strand!

--SCOTT.

When home is ruled according to G.o.d's Word, angels might be asked to stay a night with us, and they would not find themselves out of their element.--SPURGEON.

Stint yourself, as you think good, in other things; but don't scruple freedom in brightening home. Gay furniture and a brilliant garden are a sight day by day, and make life blither.--CHARLES BUXTON.

In all my wanderings round this world of care, In all my griefs--and G.o.d has given my share-- I still had hopes my latest hours to crown, Amidst these humble bowers to lay me down; To husband out life's taper at the close, And keep the flame from wasting, by repose: I still had hopes, for pride attends us still, Amidst the swains to show my book-learn'd skill, Around my fire an evening group to draw, And tell of all I felt, and all I saw; And as a hare, whom hounds and horns pursue, Pants to the place from whence at first she flew, I still had hopes, my long vexations past, Here to return--and die at home at last.

--GOLDSMITH.

Home is the seminary of all other inst.i.tutions.--CHAPIN.

HONESTY.--To be honest as this world goes is to be one man picked out of ten thousand.--SHAKESPEARE.

The man who pauses in his honesty wants little of a villain.--H. MARTYN.

The man who is so conscious of the rect.i.tude of his intentions as to be willing to open his bosom to the inspection of the world is in possession of one of the strongest pillars of a decided character. The course of such a man will be firm and steady, because he has nothing to fear from the world, and is sure of the approbation and support of heaven.--WIRT.

Honesty needs no disguise nor ornament; be plain.--OTWAY.

"Honesty is the best policy;" but he who acts on that principle is not an honest man.--WHATELY.

The first step toward greatness is to be honest, says the proverb; but the proverb fails to state the case strong enough. Honesty is not only "the first step toward greatness,"--it is greatness itself.--BOVEE.

Let honesty be as the breath of thy soul, and never forget to have a penny, when all thy expenses are enumerated and paid: then shalt thou reach the point of happiness, and independence shall be thy s.h.i.+eld and buckler, thy helmet and crown; then shall thy soul walk upright nor stoop to the silken wretch because he hath riches, nor pocket an abuse because the hand which offers it wears a ring set with diamonds.

--FRANKLIN.

Nothing really succeeds which is not based on reality; sham, in a large sense, is never successful. In the life of the individual, as in the more comprehensive life of the State, pretension is nothing and power is everything.--WHIPPLE.

The more honesty a man has, the less he affects the air of a saint.

--LAVATER.

No man is bound to be rich or great,--no, nor to be wise; but every man is bound to be honest.--SIR BENJAMIN RUDYARD.

An honest man's the n.o.blest work of G.o.d.--POPE.

When men cease to be faithful to their G.o.d, he who expects to find them so to each other will be much disappointed.--BISHOP HORNE.

If he does really think that there is no distinction between virtue and vice, why, sir, when he leaves our houses let us count our spoons.

--DR. JOHNSON.

All other knowledge is hurtful to him who has not honesty and good-nature.--MONTAIGNE.

No legacy is so rich as honesty.--SHAKESPEARE.

What is becoming is honest, and whatever is honest must always be becoming.--CICERO.

HOPE.--All which happens in the whole world happens through hope. No husbandman would sow a grain of corn if he did not hope it would spring up and bring forth the ear. How much more are we helped on by hope in the way to eternal life!--LUTHER.

"Hast thou hope?" they asked of John Knox, when he lay a-dying. He spoke nothing, but raised his finger and pointed upward, and so died.--CARLYLE.

The riches of heaven, the honor which cometh from G.o.d only, and the pleasures at His right hand, the absence of all evil, the presence and enjoyment of all good, and this good enduring to eternity, never more to be taken from us, never more to be in any, the least degree, diminished, but forever increasing, these are the wreaths which form the contexture of that crown held forth to our hopes.--BISHOP HORNE.

A religious hope does not only bear up the mind under her sufferings but makes her rejoice in them.--ADDISON.

Hope is like the wing of an angel, soaring up to heaven, and bearing our prayers to the throne of G.o.d.--JEREMY TAYLOR.

Hope is our life when first our life grows clear, Hope and delight, scarce crossed by lines of fear: Yet the day comes when fain we would not hope-- But forasmuch as we with life must cope, Struggling with this and that--and who knows why?

Hope will not give us up to certainty, But still must bide with us.

--WM. MORRIS.

Hope springs eternal in the human breast, Man never is, but always to be blest.

--POPE.

A propensity to hope and joy is real riches; one to fear and sorrow, real poverty.--HUME.

True hope is based on the energy of character. A strong mind always hopes, and has always cause to hope, because it knows the mutability of human affairs, and how slight a circ.u.mstance may change the whole course of events. Such a spirit, too, rests upon itself; it is not confined to partial views or to one particular object. And if at last all should be lost, it has saved itself.--VON KNEBEL.

Hope, like the glimmering taper's light, Adorns and cheers the way; And still, as darker grows the night, Emits a brighter ray.

--GOLDSMITH.

HOSPITALITY.--Like many other virtues, hospitality is practiced in its perfection by the poor. If the rich did their share, how would the woes of this world be lightened!--MRS. KIRKLAND.