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Reading edition
552
A clouded face Strikes deeper than an angry blow.
553
FACE PICTURES.
We write our lives upon our faces, deep, An autograph which they will always keep. Thoughts cannot come and leave behind no trace Of good or ill; they quickly find a place Where they who will may read as in a book, The hidden meaning of our slightest look.
554
Nature has written a letter of credit on some men's faces which is honored wherever it is presented.
—Thackeray.
555
The surest way not to fail, is to determine to succeed.
—Sheridan.
556
THE MOUNTAIN FLOWER.
In Ross-shire, Scotland, there is an immense mountain gorge. The rocks have been rent in twain, and set apart twenty feet, forming two perpendicular walls two hundred feet in height. On either side of these natural walls, in crevices where earth has collected, grow wild flowers of rare quality and beauty. A company of tourists visiting that part of the country were desirous to possess themselves of specimens of these beautiful mountain flowers; but how to obtain them they knew not. At length they thought they might be gathered by suspending a person over the cliff by a rope. They offered a Highland boy, who was near by, a handsome sum of money to undertake the difficult and dangerous task. The boy looked down into the awful abyss that yawned below, and shrunk from the undertaking; but the money was tempting. Could he confide in the strangers? Could he venture his life in their hands? He felt that he could not; but he thought of his father, and, looking once more at the cliff, and then at the proffered reward, his eyes brightened, and he exclaimed: "I'll go if my father holds the rope." Beautiful illustration of the nature of faith.
557
Faith builds a bridge from this world to the next.
—Dr. Young.
558
To be trusted is perhaps a greater compliment than to be loved.
559
He who believes in nobody knows that he himself is not to be trusted.
—Auerbach.
560
Trust not him that hath once broken faith.
—Shakespeare.
561
It goes a great way toward making a man faithful, to let him understand that you think him so.
—Seneca.
562
All that a man gets by being untruthful is, that he is not believed when he speaks the truth.
563
Telling an untruth is like leaving the highway and going into a tangled forest. You know not how long it will take you to get back, or how much you will suffer from the thorns and briers in the wild woods.
564
There is no greater mistake in social life than indulging in over-familiarity. Intercourse, even between intimate friends, should have some dignity about it.
565
A family is a little world within doors; the miniature resemblance of the great world without.
—J. A. James.
566
Where can one be happier than in the bosom of his family?
—Young.
567
FAMILY REUNION.
We are all here— Father, mother, sister, brother, All who hold each other dear. Each chair is filled, we're all at home; To-night let no stranger come. It is not often thus around Our old, familiar hearth we're found Blessed, then, the meeting and the spot: For once be every care forgot; Let gentle peace assert her power, And kind affection rule the hour: We're all, all here.
—Charles Sprague.
568
Farewell! a word that must be, and hath been— A sound which makes us linger;—yet—farewell.
—Byron.
569
FAREWELL.
If thou dost bid thy friend farewell, But for one night though that farewell may be, Press thou his hand in thine. How canst thou tell how far from thee Fate or caprice may lead his steps ere that to-morrow comes? Men have been known lightly to turn the corner of a street, And days have grown to months, And months to lagging years, ere they Have looked in loving eyes again.... Yea, find thou always time to say some earnest word Between the idle talk, lest with thee henceforth, Night and day, regret should walk.
—Unknown.
570
MAN AND THE FARM.
It is a common complaint that the farm and farm life are not appreciated by our people. We long for the more elegant pursuits, or the ways and fashions, of the town. But the farmer has the most sane and natural occupation, and ought to find it sweeter, if less highly seasoned, than any other. He alone, strictly speaking, has a home. How many ties, how many resources, he has!—his friendship with his cattle, his team, his dog, his trees; the satisfaction in his growing crops, in his improved fields; his intimacy with nature, with bird and beast, and with the quickening elemental forces; his co-operations with the cloud, the sun, the seasons, heat, wind, rain, frost. It humbles him, teaches him patience and reverence. Cling to the farm, make much of it, put yourself into it, bestow your heart and brain upon it.
—John Burroughs.
571
A HINT TO A FARMER.
Shun thou seats in the shade, nor sleep till the dawn! in the season When it is harvest-time, and your skin is parched in the sunshine.
572
MY FATHER.
How beautiful is the following picture by Caroline Anne Bowles, only child of Captain Charles Bowles, of Blackland, England. Born 1787:
My father loved the patient angler's art, And many a summer's day, from early morn To latest evening, by some streamlet's side, We two have tarried; strange companionship! A sad and silent man; a joyous child! Yet those were days as I recall them now Supremely happy. Silent though he was, My father's eyes were often on his child Tenderly eloquent—and his few words Were kind and gentle. Never angry tone Repulsed me if I broke upon his thoughts With childish question. But I learned at last, Learned intuitively to hold my peace. When the dark hour was on him, and deep sighs Spoke the perturbed spirit—only then I crept a little closer to his side, And stole my hand in his, or on his arm Laid my cheek softly: till the simple wile Won on his sad abstraction, and he turned With a faint smile, and sighed and shook his head, Stooping toward me; so I reached at last Mine arm about his neck and clasped it close, Printing his pale brow with a silent kiss.
—From Littell's Living Age.
573
Love for a Father.—In the year 1773, a gentleman in England, whose health was rapidly declining, was advised by his physicians to go to Spa for the recovery of his health. His daughters feared that those who had only motives entirely mercenary would not pay him that attention which he might expect from those who, from duty and affection united, would feel the greatest pleasure in ministering to his ease and comfort; they, therefore, resolved to accompany him. They proved that it was not a spirit of dissipation and gaiety that led them to the springs, for they were not to be seen in any of the gay and fashionable circles; they were never out of their father's company, and never stirred from home, except to attend him, either to take the air or drink the waters; in a word, they lived a most recluse life in the midst of a town then the resort of the most illustrious and fashionable personages of Europe. This exemplary attention to their father procured these three amiable sisters the admiration of all the visitors at Spa, and was the cause of their elevation to that rank in life to which their merits gave them so just a title. They were all married to noblemen: one to the Earl of Beverly, another to the Duke of Hamilton, and a third to the Duke of Northumberland. And it is justice to them to say that they reflected honor on their rank, rather than derived any from it.
—Arvine.
574
MY FATHER.
I have a Father! It needeth not that I should see His face, When each new day brings token of His grace. Who can deny the Power that brings to pass The yearly miracle of springing grass? Who can withhold allegiance, that sees The harvest glory of the fruited trees?
575
Confessing a fault makes half amends. Denying one doubles it.
576
Not to repent of a fault, is to justify it.
—Pliny.
577
Whoever thinks a faultless one to see Thinks what ne'er was, nor is, nor e'er will be.
—Pope.
578
Faults.—Every man has a bag hanging before him, in which he puts his neighbors' faults, and another behind him in which he stows his own.
—Shakespeare.
579
Better find one of our own faults, Than ten Of our neighbor's.
580
A GREAT MAN'S FAULTS.
Lord Bolingbroke was one evening at a large party. Political subjects were talked of, and the conversation finally turned on the famous Duke of Marlborough. Every one had something to say against him, many blaming his avarice. Bolingbroke was silent. One of the company inquired, "How is it that you say nothing? You knew him better than all of us, and could tell us a good deal about him." Bolingbroke replied, "He was a great man, and I have forgotten all his faults."
581
Each should be sure of an untarnished name, Before he ventures others' faults to blame.
582
The greatest of faults, is to be conscious of none.
583
Wink at wee (little) faults; Your ain are muckle.
—Scotch.
584
He who asks timidly courts a refusal.
585
There is pleasure in meeting the eyes of one on whom you are going to confer a favor.
—La Bruyere.
586
FAVORITISM.
A little figure glided through the hall. "Is that you, Pet?" the words came tenderly. A sob—suppressed to let the answer fall,— "It isn't Pet, mama, it's only me." The quivering baby-lips! They had not meant To utter any word that could plant a sting, But to that mother-heart a strange pang went; She heard, and stood like a convicted thing. One instant, and a happy little face Thrilled 'neath unwonted kisses rained above; And from that moment "Only Me" had place And part with Pet in tender mother-love.
587
We like better to see those on whom we confer benefits, than those, alas! from whom we receive them.
588
It is not the quantity of the meat but the cheerfulness of the guests, which makes the feast.
—Lord Clarendon.
589
Feast to-day with many makes fast to-morrow.
—Plautus.
590
FEASTING AND FASTING.
Accustom early in your youth To lay embargo on your mouth; And let no rarities invite To pall and glut your appetite; But check it always, and give o'er With a desire of eating more; For where one dies by inanition, A thousand perish by repletion: To miss a meal sometimes is good,— It ventilates and cools the blood.
—Raynard.
591
Every young man has a fine season in his life when he will accept no office, and every young woman has the same in hers, when she will accept no husband; by and by they both change, and often take one another into the bargain.
—Richter.
592
FIDELITY.
He was—True as the needle to the pole, Or as the dial to the sun.
593
MY OWN FIRESIDE.
Let others seek for empty joys At ball or concert, rout or play; Whilst, far from fashion's idle noise, Her gilded domes, and trappings gay, I while the wintry eve away,— 'Twixt book and lute the hours divide And marvel how I e'er could stray From thee—my own Fireside!
594
All that a fish drinks goes out at the gills. (Spent as soon as got.)
595
Did we not flatter ourselves, the flattery of others could never hurt us.
—Rochefoucauld.
596
Boswell: "No quality will get a man more friends than a disposition to admire the qualities of others. I do not mean flattery, but a sincere admiration." Johnson: "Nay, Sir, flattery pleases very generally. In the first place, the flatterer may think what he says to be true; but in the second place, whether he thinks so or not, he certainly thinks those whom he flatters of consequence enough to be flattered."
—Boswell's Johnson.
597
Flowers.—These children of the meadows, born of sunshine and of showers!
—Whittier.
598
Flowers.—Pretty daughters of the Earth and Sun.
599
What a desolate place would be a world without a flower! It would be a face without a smile—a feast without a welcome Are not flowers the stars of the earth? and are not the stars we see at night the flowers of heaven?
600
It is my faith that every flower which blows Enjoys the air it breathes.
—Wordsworth.
601
How many a flower is born to blush unseen, And waste its sweetness on the desert air.
—Gray.
602
I never cast a flower away, The gift of one who cared for me; A little flower—a faded flower, But it was done reluctantly.
—L. E. Landon.
603
Flowers are the pledges of fruit.
—From the Danish.
604
He who gives advice to a fool, beats the air with a stick.
605
None is a fool always, everyone sometimes.
606
Infallible Test.—A theological student, supposed to be deficient in judgment, was asked by a professor, in the course of a class examination, "Pray, how would you discover a fool?" "By the questions he would ask," was the rather stunning reply.
607
One never needs one's wits so much as when one has to do with a fool.
608
Nothing is so silly as to insist on being the only person who is right.
609
How ill white hairs become a fool and jester.
610
If all fools wore white caps, the majority of us would look like a flock of geese.
611
Young folks tell what they do, old ones what they have done, and the others (fools) what they intend to do.
612
Where force prevails, right perishes.
—Spanish.
613
If there is a harvest ahead, even a distant one, it is poor thrift to be stingy of your seed-corn!
—Carlyle.
614
A FOREST IDYL.
Stranger, if thou hast learned a truth which needs No school of long experience, that the world Is full of guilt and misery, and hast seen Enough of all its sorrows, crimes and cares To tire thee of it, enter this wild wood And view the haunts of Nature. The calm shade Shall bring a kindred calm, and the sweet breeze That makes the green leaves dance, shall waft a balm To thy sick heart.
—Bryant.
615
A retentive memory may be a good thing, but the ability to forget is the true token of greatness.
616
If there be One of you all that ever from my presence I have with sadden'd heart unkindly sent, I here, in meek repentance, of him crave A brother's hand, in token of forgiveness.
617
'Tis easier for the generous to forgive Than for the offender to ask it.
618
THE ALTERNATIVES.
A gentleman went to a friend, in great anger at a real injury he had received, which he intended to resent. After relating the particulars, he enquired if it would not be manly to resent it? His friend replied, "Yes; it would doubtless be manly to resent it, but it would be godlike to forgive it."
619
FORGIVENESS.
How beautifully falls Forgiveness—'tis the attribute of God— From human lips that bless'd word, Forgive; Thrice happy he whose heart has been so schooled That he can give it utterance; it imparts Celestial grandeur to the human soul, And maketh man an angel.
620
We forgive just as long as we love.
621
FORGIVE.
Hast thou a grudge within thy breast, Which time will not repair? Is hatred still a lurking guest To intercept thy prayer? "Forgive, and thou shalt be forgiven" Is the decree of heaven. "Till seven times! shall I forgive?" Was asked our gracious Lord, List to his answer, heed and live, "Seventy times seven" 's His word. "Forgive, and ye shall be forgiven;" Doubt not the word of heaven.
—Unknown.
622
He that cannot forgive others, breaks down the bridge over which he must pass himself, for every one has need to be forgiven.
—Lord Herbert.
623
The world never forgives; it is only God and our mothers that can do that.
—Ellen F. Fowler.
624
Forgiveness that covers only part of the wrong, is like two fingers given in a handshake.
—Wells.
625
SUPPOSE YOU TRY FORGIVENESS.
The story is told of a British soldier who had broken every rule of the army and on whom every form of punishment had been inflicted without avail. He sinned again. His commanding officer was in despair as to what should be done. A fellow officer said, "Suppose you try forgiveness." The guilty soldier was summoned. On being asked what he had to say in palliation of his offense, he hung his head and replied: "Nothing, except I'm very sorry." "Well," said the officer, "We have decided to forgive you." The culprit looked dazed, burst into tears, saluted, and went out to become one of the best soldiers in the army.
—From The Rise of a Soul. By James I. Vance.
626
Individuals sometimes forgive, but bodies and societies never do.
627
Nothing is more dangerous to men than a sudden change of fortune.
—Quintilian.
628
The continuance of good fortune forms no ground of ultimate security.
629
Fortune gives too much to many, but to none enough.
—Martial.
630
Good-fortune comes to some people while they are asleep, i. e., without their seeking it.
631
Good fortune that comes seldom, comes more welcome.
—Dryden.
632
How often it is, in the twinkling of an eye one vicissitude of fortune follows another.
—Horatius.
633
That which we acquire with most difficulty, we retain the longest; as those who have earned a fortune are usually more careful of it than those who have inherited one.
—Cotton.
634
Fortune knocks once at least at every one's door.
635
If fortune favors you, do not be too elated; if she frowns, do not despond too much.
636
Manners often make fortunes.
637
Fortune sometimes makes quick despatch, and in a day May strip you bare as beggary itself.
—Cumberland.
638
The Result of Fortune:—The generality of men sink in virtue as they rise in fortune.
—Sir J. Beaumont.
639
Don't live in hope with your arms folded. Fortune smiles on those who roll up their sleeves and put their shoulders to the wheel.
640
Whil'st fortun'd favour'd; friends, you smil'd on me: But, when she fled, a friend I could not see.
—Burton.
641
GOD IN THE HEART.
Collins, the freethinker, met a plain countryman going to church. He asked him where he was going. "To church sir." "What to do there?" "To worship God." "Pray, whether is your God a great or little God?" "He is both, sir." "How can He be both?" "He is so great that the heaven of heavens cannot contain Him, and so little that He can dwell in my heart." Collins declared that this simple answer had an effect upon his mind such as all the volumes which learned men had written against him had not.
642
The bird once out of hand is hard to recover.
—From the Danish.
643
FREEDOM WEEPS.
A time like this demands Strong minds, stout hearts, true faith and ready hands; Men whom the lust of office cannot kill, Men whom the spoils of office cannot buy, Men who possess opinion and a will, Men who have honor, men who will not lie, Men who can stand before a demagogue And scorn his treacherous flatteries without winking, Tall men, sun crowned, who live above the fog In public duty, and in private thinking; For while the rabble with their thumb worn creeds, Their large professions, and their little deeds Mingle in selfish strife, lo! Freedom weeps, Wrong rules the land and waiting Justice sleeps!
—Unknown.
644
He who attacks an absent friend, or who does not defend him when spoken ill of by another—that man is a dark character; beware of him.
645
Be my friend, and teach me to be thine!
646
TIMON'S SOLILOQUY.
My shadow, wheresoe'er I wend, Is with me, like a flattering friend. But chiefly when the sun in June Is climbing to its highest noon, My fond attendant closes near, As I were growing still more dear; And then, to show its love complete, Falls even servile at my feet, Where, proud of place, it scarcely nods Before the temple of the Gods. But when the evening sun descends, It seems to seek for other friends, Making a dial of the town, To tell that Timon's day goes down; And when the stormy night comes on, I look, and lo! my shade is—gone.
—Atlantic Monthly.
647
Ah, how good it feels; The hand of an old friend!
648
If you want enemies, excel others; if you want friends, let others excel you.
649
A man may have a thousand intimate acquaintances and not a friend among them all. If you have one friend, think yourself happy.
650
Go slowly to the entertainment of your friends, but quickly to their misfortunes.
651
LEAVE A FRIEND.
Leave a friend! So base I am not. I followed him in his prosperity, when the skies were clear and shining, and will not leave him when storms begin to rise; as gold is tried by the furnace, and the baser metal is shown, so the hollow-hearted friend is known by adversity.
—Metastasio.
652
Do not lose sight of old attachments for the sake of making new friendships.
653
A man who is fond of disputing, will, in time, have few friends to dispute with.
654
AN OLD RHYME.
I once had money and a friend, By both I set great store; I lent my money to my friend, He was my friend no more. If I had my money and my friend, As I had once before, I'd keep my money to myself, And lose my friend no more.
—Living Age.
655
If you have a friend worth loving, Love him. Yes, and let him know That you love him, ere life's evening Tinge his brow with sunset glow; Why should good words ne'er be said Of a friend till he is dead?
656
It is more dishonorable to distrust a friend than to be deceived by him.
—Rochefoucauld.
657
No life is so strong and complete, But it sometimes yearns for the smile of a friend.
—Wallace Bruce.
658
He was never a friend who ceased to be so—for a slight cause.
—Seneca.
659
A friend cannot be known in prosperity; and an enemy cannot be hidden in adversity.
660
When a friend asks, there should be no tomorrow.
661
The best mirror is an old friend.
662
I am not of that feather to shake off my friend when he must need me. I do know him, a gentleman that well deserves a help, which he shall have: I'll pay the debt and free him.
—Shakespeare.
663
A cut or slight from a foe or stranger, may be scarred over, but a stab from a friend you love hardly ever heals.
—H. L. Meader.
664
He that telleth thee that thou art always wrong, may be deceived; but he that saith that thou art always right, is surely not telling the truth.
665
No man can be happy without a friend, nor be sure of his friend till he is unfortunate.
666
He that ceases to be a friend never was a good one.
667
A FRIEND THAT STICKETH CLOSER THAN A BROTHER.
One there is above all others, Well deserves the name of Friend! His is love beyond a brother's, Costly, free, and knows no end: They who once His kindness prove, Find it everlasting love!
—Newton.
668
If you wink at your friend's vices you make them your own.
669
Without a friend the world is but a wilderness.
—German.
670
Absolute friends are very rare.
671
Friends, but few on earth, and therefore dear.
—Pollok.
672
It is to chance we owe our relatives, to choice our friends.
673
Equals make the best friends.
674
False friends are like our shadows, keeping close to us while we walk in the sunshine, but leaving us the instant we cross into the shade.
—Bovee.
675
There are plenty acquaintances in the world, but very few real friends.
—Chinese.
676
By my skill I have got many acquaintances, my manners very many friends.
677
Friends are lost by calling often, and calling seldom.
678
CHOOSING FRIENDS.
We ought always to make choice of persons of such worth and honor for our friends, that, if they should even cease to be so, they will not abuse our confidence, nor give us cause to fear them as enemies.
—Addison.
679
Let us make the best of our friends while we have them, for how long we shall keep them is uncertain.
680
Friends are like melons. Shall I tell you why? To find one good, you must a hundred try.
—Claude Mermet.
681
Friends are sometimes like titled husbands, easy to get, if you have enough money.
—H. L. Meader.
682
Make new friends, but keep the old; Those are silver, these are gold.
683
My treasures are my friends.
684
Without friends, no one would choose to live, even if he had all other good things.
685
Old friends and old ways ought not to be disdained.
—Danish.
686
FRIENDS—PAUCITY OF
Friends, but few on earth, and therefore dear.
—Pollok.
687
The poor man's assets are his friends.
688
Purchase not friends by gifts; when thou ceasest to give such will cease to love.
—Fuller.
689
RECOGNITION IN HEAVEN.
Baxter said:—"I must confess, as the experience of my own soul, that the expectation of loving my friends in heaven principally kindles my love to them while on earth. If I thought I should never know, and consequently never love them after this life, I should number them with temporal things, and love them as such; but I now delightfully converse with my pious friends, in a firm persuasion that I shall converse with them forever; and I take comfort in those that are dead or absent, believing that I shall shortly meet them in heaven, and love them with a heavenly love."
690
A gift kept back where it was hoped, often separateth chief friends.
691
Strange to say,—I am the only one of my friends I can rely upon.
—Terence.
692
There is no living without friends.
—Portuguese.
693
True friends anticipate each other's wants.
694
Friends are sometimes like mushrooms, they spring up in out-of-the-way places.
695
At the gate of abundance there are many brothers and friends; at the gate of misfortune there is neither brother nor friend.
696
It is one of the severest tests of friendship to tell a man of his faults. So to love a man that you cannot bear to see the stain of sin upon him, and to go to him alone and speak painful truths in touching, tender words,—that is friendship, and a friendship as rare as it is precious.
697
Henceforth there shall be no other contention betwixt you and me, than which shall outdo the other in point of friendship.
698
Cultivate your neighbor's friendship; he needs you and you need him.
699
Friendship often ends in love; But love, in friendship —Never.
700
Renewed friendships require more care than those that have never been broken.
—Rochefoucauld.
701
Need for making Acquaintance.—If a man does not make new acquaintances as he advances through life, he will soon find himself left alone. A man should keep his friendship in constant repair.
—Sam'l Johnson.
702
Suspicion kills friendship.
—Hugh Black.
703
Who friendship with a knave hath made, Is judg'd a partner in the trade.
704
What need of years, long years, to prove The sense of friendship, or of love!
705
There is truly nothing purer and warmer than our first friendship, our first love.
—Jean Paul Richter.
706
The permanency of most friendships depends upon the continuity of good fortune.
707
Quickly made friendships, are often eagerly and quickly ended.
708
FRIENDSHIP—RARITY OF.
Rare is true love: true friendship is still rarer.
—Rochefoucauld.
709
Real friendship is like a sheltering tree.
710
He is my friend that helps me, and not he that pities me.
711
Friendship has a power To soothe affliction in her darkest hour.
—H. Kirke White.
712
O summer friendship, Whose flattering leaves, that shadow'd us in Our prosperity, with the least gust drop off In th' autumn of adversity!
—Massinger.
713
THE HIGHER FRIENDSHIP.
Love Him, and keep Him for thy Friend, who, when all go away, will not forsake thee, nor suffer thee to perish at the last.
—Thomas A'Kempis.
714
True friendship is one of the greatest blessings upon earth; it makes the cares and anxieties of life sit easy; provides us with a partner in every affliction to alleviate the burthen, and is a sure resort against every accident and difficulty that can happen.
715
True friendship is like sound health; the value of it is seldom known until it is lost.
—Colton.
716
Those who speak always and those who never speak, are equally unfit for friendship.
717
He who never gives advice, and he who never takes it are alike unworthy of friendship.
718
He who is worthy of friendship at all will remember in his prosperity those who were his friends in his adversity.
719
Value the friendship of him who stands by you in a storm; swarms of insects will surround you in the sunshine.
720
No matter how poor and mean a man is, his friendship is worth more than his hate.
721
Good fruit never comes from a bad tree.
—Portuguese.
722
There is nothing like fun, is there? I haven't any myself, but I do like it in others.
—Haliburton.
723
Groping for the Door.—O door, so close, yet so far off!
—Miss Mulock.
724
If you would have your name chime melodiously in the ears of future days, cultivate faith, and not doubt, giving unto every man credit for the good he does, and never attribute base motives to beautiful acts.
—Unknown.
725
Future:—The future does not come from before to meet us, but comes streaming up from behind over our heads.
—Rahel.
726
Future—to be met without Fear:—Look not mournfully into the past,—it comes not back again; wisely improve the present,—it is thine; go forth to meet the shadowy future without fear, and with a manly heart.
—Longfellow.