A Little Latitude… March 10, 1957
There come before us some further facets of the question as to how far can a person safely depart from a principle: How far can he go and still get back when he wants to? At what age is character so...
A Living Gratitude November 24, 1957
It is sobering, or should be, to each and all of us to consider how much of the hours and effort of others has gone into the making of all of us: the time others have taken to feed us, to teach us,...
A Step at a Time June 30, 1957
A Turning to Friends and Family August 4, 1957
Sometimes we may become weary of the sameness of our surroundings and feel that we should like to get away from familiar people and places. But often this is only for a brief time. Often the best...
Assurance in Uncertainty October 27, 1957
The momentous events of these days come too swiftly to absorb, with the ever-threatening areas of eruption, and the impact of man’s launching out into unknown orbits. And to the tensions of...
Be Not Long Away From Home November 3, 1957
In the wandering adventures of the Odyssey, there appears this yearning, heartfelt plea: “Be not long away from home.” And Thomas Jefferson wrote this in a letter: “Abstracted from...
Better Than Any Later Hour December 8, 1957
We all live with some uncertainties; we all at times fear failure; we all worry about many things that haven’t happened; and we all have regrets about some things that have happened. There is...
Blessed Mothers--and Sweet Memories May 12, 1957
Songs my mother taught me, In the day long vanish’d, Seldom from her eyelids Were the teardrops banish’d. Now I teach my children Each melodious measure, Oft the teardrops flowing, Oft...
Books Are Like Men's Souls… March 31, 1957
“There are two kinds of books,” said Thomas Carlyle, “good books and bad books…I am not so sure that you are unacquainted, …with this plain fact; but I may remind you that it is...
Education--and the Price We Pay June 2, 1957
Who pays for our education is a question that well could be considered. (And a corollary question, “Who benefits by it?”) Both are a matter of proper concern, with mounting costs to...
Freedom and Conformity (New) September 29, 1957
How much does conformity come into conflict with freedom? How much freedom do we have if we must live according to law? This is a question that young people often wrestle with, even from the...
Friendship--and Trust and Confidence August 18, 1957
We all have to trust others in many matters. We are neither qualified nor able to do all things always for ourselves. We trust other men, because we must. We trust the men who service mechanical...
If Loneliness Were Everlasting April 21, 1957
No doubt all of us, at times, have experienced a sense of loneliness. But⎯”What if loneliness were everlasting?” Familiar, and frequently quoted, but ever wonderful, are these words said...
Marriage--Duty--and the Ideal of Enduring June 23, 1957
We have many times been taught⎯or should have been⎯a profound lesson of life: that every ending is but a beginning. In considering the makings of a marriage, earnestly we could wish that all of...
May I Have a Minute of Your Time? September 8, 1957
History is long. The great sweep of time and eternity is long—endlessly long—but the moral life of each of us is not. And whether we live short lives, or long, the years move swiftly—from the freer...
Never Make Life Smaller July 21, 1957
We have talked before of the fact that there is no way of endangering ourselves, or doing what we shouldn’t do, without its having its effect on others. Parents and children, brothers and...
Of Sameness and Simplicity July 7, 1957
Often we tell ourselves what we will do tomorrow. But as to today, it comes and goes so swiftly⎯so swiftly that we sometimes wonder if we’re doing much of anything that is solid and...
On Accepting Reality November 10, 1957
On Acquiring Memories October 13, 1957
Cicero’s remarkable essay on old age has in it as much of wisdom for youth as for those who are older: “…the harvest of old age,” he said, “is … the memory and...
On Our Own… July 14, 1957
We once heard a father and his son discussing a situation in which there was some risk⎯not moral risk, but physical risk. The father, as fathers often are, was eager to go ahead. And finally the son...