If We Miss the Spring…   November 23, 1958

“The course of life is… run but in one way, and only once.”1 This was said of youth as it moves into old age, but it has its application in other ways also. People sometimes punish...

Old Age: The Harvest of the Years of Youth   November 30, 1958

A subject so greatly significant as old age is not soon exhausted — and we would add at this hour some further thoughts on this theme: “We grow old naturally,” said one physician,...

The Harvest of Health   December 7, 1958

In recent observations we have arrived at an awareness that old age is the harvest of the years of youth; that each part of life is as natural as all others, and all make a complete picture. And one...

A Soul in Right Health…   December 14, 1958

“The preservation of health is a duty.”1 In other words, there is — on all of us — an obligation to keep free from contaminating and injurious substances and habits and influences that...

The Nearness of Nineteen Centuries   December 21, 1958

We seem sometimes to consider people and events of the far past as something quite apart from the present. But they are nearer to us than we sometimes suppose. If we have lived twenty-five years, a...

Nothing That Has an End Is Long…   December 28, 1958

It was recorded of a certain ancient king that he lived a hundred and twenty years, and that he reigned for eighty years — longer than most men live. And then the recorder of this chronology quickly...

The Choice of Every Hour   January 4, 1959

One of the easiest answers to anything we don’t want to do, is to say we don’t have time. Sometimes this is true. Sometimes it isn’t. It is deeply and desperately true that we...

Concerning Inner Resources…   January 11, 1959

Because so much is done for so many of us, both by men and machines, because we have become accustomed to so much service, the use of hands and feet, and even of minds, has, in many instances, been...

Out of the Best Books…   January 18, 1959

Today we should like to turn to rich rewards of reading — not reading merely for the purpose of passing time, but for the purpose of discovering truth, of discovering what thoughtful men think....

Reading--and Character and Wisdom   January 25, 1959

Seldom in life do we find ourselves living or working under ideal conditions. There are delays and distractions. There are times of waiting — waiting for people, for appointments — waiting for many...

The Total Hours of Time…   February 1, 1959

In a writing of half a century or so ago, Arnold Bennett said: “Philosophers have explained space. They have not explained time. It is the inexplicable raw material of everything. With it, all...

The Torment of Intentions…   February 8, 1959

We have talked before of beginning to be what we want to be, and of the uneasy feelings that linger inside ourselves when we leave what we should have done not only undone, but also unstarted. We...

Whoso Neglects Learning in His Youth…   February 15, 1959

In some thoughtful lines on life, Samuel Johnson said: “Reflect that life, life every other blessing, derives its value from its use alone.”1 Last week we spoke somewhat of the uses of...

If Washington Were Here…   February 22, 1959

Our problems seem very different in some ways from those that Washington faced at Valley Forge, but the principles that pertain to people basically, are constant. And if George Washington were here...

What Will It Do to the Man?   March 1, 1959

Whenever policies or products or principles, or actions or attitudes were under consideration, a certain thoughtful observer often asked this challenging, this compelling question: “What will...

Your Name Is Safe in Our Home   March 8, 1959

“Your name is safe in our home.”1 Do we speak as well of our friends when they are absent as when they are with us? It would sometimes seem hazardous to be absent from some kinds of...

The Weediness of Words   March 15, 1959

Sometimes we little seem to realize how much of hurt there is in irresponsible utterance, and how much of time is used in triviality of talk. On this subject Sir John Lubbock said: “One is...

The Unfulfilled Future   March 29, 1959

People… Principles… and Popularity   April 5, 1959

In a moving and most meaningful utterance, the Master of mankind thus prayed for those whom the Lord God had given him: “I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that...

Never Make Life Smaller   April 12, 1959

Decisions can be exceedingly difficult, and in one sense, there are no unimportant decisions, for even small decisions often indicate character and judgement. Any expression of preference may...