Be Careful What You Look For February 17, 1952
It is true that we tend to find what we want to find. If it is trouble we are looking for, it is almost certain we shall find it. If we are looking for faults, we shall find faults. If it is flaws...
On Being Better… March 2, 1952
No doubt most of us are aware of things we should like to change in our lives, in the lives of others, and in the whole outlook of events; and often we are kept going by our faith and hope that...
Part-Way People March 9, 1952
If we were to make an inventory of the things that people start and prematurely stop, it would no doubt add up to an appallingly long list. There are so many once-promising projects that have been...
Balance… March 16, 1952
We often hear of people defeated by adverse physical factors, of failures caused by cruel climates, of storms that take their toll, and of all manner of material obstacles that cause failures among...
Of Things Not Seen March 23, 1952
In a sense we should never be content with what we know. But neither should we be cynical about what we don’t know. With a little knowledge, there is always the danger of assuming that what we...
Prescriptions… for Our Friends March 30, 1952
There are many important principles on which most of us can agree. There are many standards of conduct that most of us feel others should observe. But the point where we often part company is in...
The Question of Everlasting Life April 13, 1952
Constantly there comes before us the question of death, the question of the loss of those we love, the question of the reality of the resurrection and of everlasting life⎯and many other problems...
As We Want to Be Remembered April 27, 1952
As we remember our impressions of other people, we may well ask how we would want to be remembered. If we were posing for a portrait, we would likely take great pains to be at our best; and after...
As We Remember Mother May 11, 1952
There come before us the memories of mothers. Many mothers blessedly are with us, to whom we may turn our grateful attention, but many are unreachably far from us, and when they are gone, somehow we...
What "Everyone" Is Doing May 25, 1952
One of the persistent practices of children and of others also is to justify what they want to do by saying that “everyone” is doing it. Parents are familiar with these phrases:...
Closing Curtains and Commencements June 1, 1952
As each season closes to be followed by each successive season, we become aware that life is a series of scenes separated by closing curtains and commencements. Sometimes these commencements are...
Waiting in the Wings June 8, 1952
It sometimes seems that we are waiting for some better time to begin, for some tranquil time that doesn’t come, for some starting point that is superior to the present; and we often hesitate...
On Feeling Sorry for Ourselves June 15, 1952
A little less than a century ago Emerson offered this observation: “These times of ours are serious and full of calamity, but all times are essentially alike.” The statement may seem...
People--in a Personal Way June 22, 1952
We are sometimes disposed to look upon people and their problems impersonally. In a world of so many millions of men, other people—that is other than ourselves—tend to become population per square...
Sins of Omission July 6, 1952
Sometimes we hear someone defensively say, “I haven’t done anything”⎯which suggests a subject: Innocence isn’t always merely a matter of not doing anything. The privilege of...
On Being at Our Best July 13, 1952
The Triumph of Principles July 20, 1952
Hidden in Their Hearts July 27, 1952
Most of the men and women who move about us from day to day are carrying their share of trouble and disappointment and sorrow hidden within their hearts; and we, with unseeing eyes, often walk...
Young People--and Independence August 3, 1952
There are periods perhaps in the lives of most young people when they are impatient with counsel and precautions, when they wonder why they have to be responsible to parents, why they cannot have...
On Being Where We Ought to Be August 10, 1952
When we are supposed to be doing something we don’t do, often we have to argue with ourselves inside. A man has to give himself a reasonable reason for what he does or fails to do, and if the...