“It is a common saying,” said Samuel Smiles, “that ‘Manners make the man;’ and there is a second, that ‘Mind makes the man;’ but truer than either is a...
There is nothing new to be said on this subject, but something very old, something essential to peace, to all satisfactory relationships of life — and that is respect, appreciation and consideration...
This six-word sentence from Shakespeare suggests a deeply searching subject: “His own opinion was his law.”1 This brings us to the question of freedom and restraint, of law and who is...
From Ivor Griffith comes a short, strong sentence that says much and suggests much more: “Character,” he said, “is a victory, not a gift.” Often we pamper our weaknesses,...
Decisions are often a struggle for all of us, with so much to do, so much to overcome, so much to decide. Sometimes our stubbornness enters in, sometimes our pride, sometimes our appetites,...
This from a song that is sung is one of the most important lessons of life: “Nothing comes from nothing. Nothing ever could.”1 All the world, and all of us must face the fact that...
The Parable of the Talents is more than a parable, it is a law of life that shapes a person to the size and capacity that he sets for himself by his willingness or unwillingness to use the gifts and...
“Happiness is a habit,” said Elbert Hubbard, “cultivate it.” Margaret Lee Runbeck used this same thought. She was trying to tell another mother what to teach a son who would...
Here are some thoughts from David Starr Jordan on health and habits and cleanliness and competence, recalled for their forthright frankness: “The finest piece of mechanism in all the...
There are some fine distinctions to be found in the now immortal phrase, “Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Life is an eternal fact; liberty, an inalienable right. But with...
The eminent and respected educator, David Starr Jordan, wrote and said much on learning, on loyalty, on personal effectiveness and the values of life: “. . . well-meaning men are making . . ....
By the time a child is twelve, we are told, he would have spent approximately fifty-two thousand hours in his home, besides time for sleep. This is a startling fact on the influence of environment,...
All things need watching, working at, caring for, and marriage is no exception. Marriage is not something to be indifferently treated or abused, or something that simply takes care of itself....
“All persons who have thought deeply, studied earnestly . . . know this,” said Mrs. Burton Chance. “There is help that comes . . . which freshens us, stimulates us, and gives us...
The differences that sometimes come between husbands and wives, that pull people who should keep closer, is a subject of serious concern. Another side of this subject pertains to parents and...
Of man and his mind, Henry Giles said: “Man is greater than a world⎯than systems of worlds; there is more mystery in the union of soul with the body, than in the creation of a...
From a dramatic play we cite two sentences spoken between two people who found themselves drawn far apart, hardly aware that they had done so until the distance between them was wide and deep....
With days and months so swiftly moving, with life so short, so little time, so much to do, it seems sad that we should spend so much time in tedium and trivia and insignificant pursuits, when our...