What's Past Is Prologue January 4, 1953
There is a comforting line from Shakespeare which in one short sentence has much to suggest: “What’s past is prologue.” It is a plea for hope, for new beginnings, for not brooding...
Why Should We Work? January 11, 1953
There is in most of us at times a tendency not to do anything that is difficult to do, not to perform any unpleasant service or engage in any inconvenient activity. The tendency is often more...
The Liability of Loose Threats January 18, 1953
Sometimes someone is heard to say what he will do to someone else if! And in that “if” a threat is uttered or implied. Threats may seem necessary under some circumstances, but all of us...
The Pursuit of Pleasant Pastimes January 25, 1953
Often we complain about being busy, and certainly at times we are too busy sometimes at essential things and sometimes at nonessential things. And because we are so busy, we may sometimes wish for...
Marking Time… February 1, 1953
There are many circumstances and situations in which we may feel that we are marking time or worse wasting time. There are times when we are waiting for people and appointments when we feel cheated...
Occasions for Confidence February 8, 1953
As concerning young people, parents are sometimes heard to say: “I don’t know what more I can do. I have given them everything anyone could ask.” (But sometimes it seems that we...
Why Leave It So Late? February 15, 1953
On a certain journey not long ago some travelers encountered one of those untamed onslaughts of the elements which man, despite all his previous preparations, is never quite prepared for. It became...
How Much May We Expect of Men? February 22, 1953
Some Psychosomatic Medicine March 1, 1953
We sometimes use formidable words to express simple ideas. Consider, for example, the word psychosomatic. While its common use may be relatively recent, its essential idea of the effect of mind over...
Little Brass Nails… March 8, 1953
Perhaps all of us pursue some things which, after we acquire them, seem somewhat shallow or shoddy or at least unessential. And then we wonder why we wished for them so much and worked for them so...
Men in the Making… March 15, 1953
As we see a new home, finished and landscaped and lovely, we may partly forget the process by which it was brought into being. There was dirt to be dug; and rough materials to be shaped and put in...
Freedom and Force March 22, 1953
There is no more basic question in life than the question of freedom and force. No doubt it was a foremost question before the world was. If there is to be order, the must be law. But with freedom...
Impersonal People March 29, 1953
In the normal course of living there are many pleasantries that pass from person to person. There is also much social veneer and much perfunctory impersonal politeness. For example, we may more or...
Always -- and Forever April 5, 1953
The longer we live the more aware we are of the shortness of this life we live, and the more aware we are of a sense of loss and of loneliness as those whom we have loved and lived among leave us...
If We Were to Die on a Definite Date… April 12, 1953
In making decisions or in meeting emergencies, it is sometimes significant to see what a man is most concerned to save. In case of fire, for example, it is interesting to observe what each man...
Prescription for the Heavyhearted… April 19, 1953
Sometimes we suffer the symptoms of diseases we don’t have. And sometimes we suffer the symptoms of unhappiness for insufficient reasons. Often unhappiness comes from overemphasizing the...
Balance and Specialization April 26, 1953
The Tower of Pisa has been famous for centuries because it has stood so long while leaning some sixteen feet off center. In this it is an exception for most towers that have leaned that far have...
Balance--and Bias May 3, 1953
On this question of balance: Almost anyone, if he will let himself, can bring himself to seeing only one side of a subject the side he wants to see. Debaters, for example, may at first approach a...
About Mothers… May 10, 1953
One could search and ponder long without finding anything new to say concerning mothers. But need there be anything new—but only some things that should again be said. Appreciation, praise, and love...
The Time of Your Life May 17, 1953
As young people face the future, no doubt there are some who suppose (and some who sometimes say) that they would rather have been born at some other time, that they would rather have lived in some...