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...
The Little Things… September 15, 1957
Many years ago, as he was working in a London laboratory, Sir Alexander Fleming observed the retarding action of an unidentified mold on a colony of bacteria. It was a little thing that many might...
The Sum of the Little Things… September 22, 1957
There is much more to say concerning the little things of life: Men often learn to carry great loads, to carry great weight and worry with calmness and courage—yet lose their tempers at the little...
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...
The Deadlocks of Life October 6, 1957
We recall these words of William James: “The greatest discovery of my generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind.” This in a sense is...
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...
The Price of Learning October 20, 1957
Because of their love for us, or because of the spirit of sincere service, parents, and others also, do many things for us⎯and so often, so many of us find ourselves so much on the receiving side....
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...
On Accepting Reality November 10, 1957
The Go-Somewhere-Else Attitude November 17, 1957
For some purposes, all the people in the world could be put into two categories: those we know and those we don’t know. But regardless of whom we know or whom we don’t know, there is...
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,...
Repeat Performance December 1, 1957
There is a sentence currently quoted which says that “Everytime history repeats itself it does so at a higher price.” This would surely seem to be so, for with each repeat performance...
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...
The Search for the Superfluous December 29, 1957
A sentence from Seneca suggests a subject: It would be well if we could make “it clear to all men,” he said, “that the search for the superfluous means a great outlay of time, and...
Let the Years Unfold With Faith January 5, 1958
Often we wonder what unseen events are in the offing: Who of us will be here after a year from now? Who will leave this life; who will see sorrow and who will see success? How often we wish we could...
What We Now Know January 12, 1958
We often feel we want to see further into future. But also it is a fact that we are already know much more concerning the future than we sometimes seem to suppose. Emerson said that further...
The Curtain of the Future… January 19, 1958
Concerning foreknowledge of the future, Emerson said the Creator “. . . with grand politeness . . . draws down before us an impenetrable screen. . . .” Cicero said this on the...
The Best Tranquilizer… January 26, 1958
Somewhere we have this short incisive sentence: “The best tranquilizer is a clear conscience.” Some troubles come by accident or illness or misfortune (or from the faithlessness of...