Many Thoughts of Many Minds Part 59

Our time is fix'd; and all our days are number'd; How long, how short, we know not: this we know, Duty requires we calmly wait the summons, Nor dare to stir till Heaven shall give permission.

Like sentries that must keep their destined stand, And wait th' appointed hour, till they're relieved, Those only are the brave who keep their ground, And keep it to the last.

--BLAIR.

Suicide is not a remedy.--JAMES A. GARFIELD.

Beware of desperate steps. The darkest day, Live till to-morrow, will have pa.s.s'd away.

--COWPER.

The coward sneaks to death; the brave live on.--DR. GEORGE SEWELL.

SUPERSt.i.tION.--I think we cannot too strongly attack superst.i.tion, which is the disturber of society; nor too highly respect genuine religion, which is the support of it.--ROUSSEAU.

There is but one thing that can free a man from superst.i.tion, and that is belief. All history proves it. The most sceptical have ever been the most credulous.--GEORGE MACDONALD.

Superst.i.tion! that horrid incubus which dwelt in darkness, shunning the light, with all its racks, and poison chalices, and foul sleeping draughts, is pa.s.sing away without return. Religion cannot pa.s.s away.

The burning of a little straw may hide the stars of the sky; but the stars are there and will reappear.--CARLYLE.

Religion wors.h.i.+ps G.o.d, while superst.i.tion profanes that wors.h.i.+p.--SENECA.

Superst.i.tion is the only religion of which base souls are capable.

--JOUBERT.

Superst.i.tion always inspires littleness, religion grandeur of mind; the superst.i.tious raises beings inferior to himself to deities.--LAVATER.

The child taught to believe any occurrence a good or evil omen, or any day of the week lucky, hath a wide inroad made upon the soundness of his understanding.--DR. WATTS.

Superst.i.tion is a senseless fear of G.o.d; religion, the pious wors.h.i.+p of G.o.d.--CICERO.

Superst.i.tion renders a man a fool, and scepticism makes him mad.

--FIELDING.

I die adoring G.o.d, loving my friends, not hating my enemies, and detesting superst.i.tion.--VOLTAIRE.

SYMPATHY.--Sympathy is the first great lesson which man should learn.

It will be ill for him if he proceeds no farther; if his emotions are but excited to roll back on his heart, and to be fostered in luxurious quiet. But unless he learns to feel for things in which he has no personal interest, he can achieve nothing generous or n.o.ble.--TALFOURD.

To commiserate is sometimes more than to give; for money is external to a man's self, but he who bestows compa.s.sion communicates his own soul.--MOUNTFORD.

A helping word to one in trouble is often like a switch on a railroad track,--but one inch between wreck and smooth-rolling prosperity.

--BEECHER.

The greatest pleasures of which the human mind is susceptible are the pleasures of consciousness and sympathy.--PARKE G.o.dWIN.

What gem hath dropp'd and sparkles o'er his chain?

The tear most sacred, shed for other's pain, That starts at once--bright--pure--from pity's mine, Already polish'd by the Hand Divine.

--BYRON.

Sympathy is especially a Christian duty.--SPURGEON.

TACT.--Grant graciously what you cannot refuse safely, and conciliate those you cannot conquer.--COLTON.

A little management may often evade resistance, which a vast force might vainly strive to overcome.

TALENT.--Talent of the highest order, and such as is calculated to command admiration, may exist apart from wisdom.--ROBERT HALL.

Whatever you are from nature, keep to it; never desert your own line of talent. Be what Nature intended you for, and you will succeed; be anything else, and you will be ten thousand times worse than nothing.

--SYDNEY SMITH.

Talent without tact is only half talent.--HORACE GREELEY.

TALKING.--Though we have two eyes, we are supplied with but one tongue. Draw your own moral.--ALPHONSE KARR.

No great talker ever did any great thing yet, in this world.--OUIDA.

If you light upon an impertinent talker, that sticks to you like a bur, to the disappointment of your important occasions, deal freely with him, break off the discourse, and pursue your business.--PLUTARCH.

What you keep by you, you may change and mend; But words once spoken can never be recalled.

--ROSCOMMON.

Such as thy words are, such will thy affections be esteemed; and such will thy deeds as thy affections, and such thy life as thy deeds.

--SOCRATES.

But far more numerous was the herd of such, Who think too little, and who talk too much.

--DRYDEN.

He who indulges in liberty of speech, will hear things in return which he will not like.--TERENCE.

The tongue is the instrument of the greatest good and the greatest evil that is done in the world.--SIR WALTER RALEIGH.

He who seldom speaks, and with one calm well-timed word can strike dumb the loquacious, is a genius or a hero.--LAVATER.

A wise man reflects before he speaks; a fool speaks, and then reflects on what he has uttered.--FROM THE FRENCH.

Those who have few affairs to attend to are great speakers. The less men think, the more they talk.--MONTESQUIEU.

Speaking much is a sign of vanity; for he that is lavish in words, is a n.i.g.g.ard in deed.--SIR WALTER RALEIGH.

TEARS.--Tears of joy are the dew in which the sun of righteousness is mirrored.--RICHTER.

There is a sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness, but of power. They speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues. They are the messengers of overwhelming grief, of deep contrition, and of unspeakable love.--WAs.h.i.+NGTON IRVING.

The tear down childhood's cheek that flows, Is like the dewdrop on the rose; When next the summer breeze comes by, And waves the bush, the flower is dry.

--WALTER SCOTT.