CONCEIT
The small girl was at the table drawing, and her mother asked her what the picture was to be.
"God," replied the child simply.
"But you can't draw God," protested the mother, "because you have never seen Him; no one has ever seen Him and no one knows what He looks like."
The small girl licked her pencil and put in another touch. "They'll all know when I finish this," she said.
A young lady once asked Oscar Wilde to give her a list of the one hundred greatest books ever written.
"Impossible, my dear," replied Oscar; "I have only written five."
CONDUCT
_I Resolve_
To keep my health To do my work To live To see to it I grow and gain and give Never to look behind me for an hour To wait in weakness and to walk in power; But always fronting onward to the light Always and always facing toward the right Robbed, starved, defeated, fallen wide astray On with what strength I have Back to the Way.
--_Charlotte Perkins Stetson_.
_Envoy_
If I am happy, and you, And there are things to do, It seems to be the reason Of this world!
Be Noble! and the nobleness that lies In other men, sleeping but never dead, Will rise in majesty to meet thine own; Then wilt thou see it gleam in many eyes Then will pure light around thy path be shed And thou wilt nevermore be sad and lone.
--_Lowell_.
"To every man there openeth A Way and Ways, and a Way, And the High soul climbs the High Way And the Low soul gropes the Low, And in between on the misty flats, The rest drift to and fro.
But to every man there openeth A High Way, and a Low, And every man decideth The Way his soul shall go."
--_John Oxenham_.
Half the joy of life is in "letting go" every once in a while, and, if you let go twice every once in awhile, it seems that you have just that much more fun.
When days go wrong, remember they aren't self-starters.
I often think that anyone can face A crisis or a crushing tragedy With calm, exalted courage, but the place That needs the greatest strength and energy Is daily grind: to manage just to laugh At all the petty hazards of each day-- To smile, whilst sifting life's wheat from its chaff And strive to see just good along the way.
--_Helba Baker_.
_Promise Yourself_
To be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.
To talk health, happiness and prosperity to every person you meet.
To make all your friends feel that there is something in them.
To look on the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true.
To think only of the best, to work only for the best, and to expect only the best.
To be just as enthusiastic about success of others as you are about your own.
To forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future.
To wear a cheerful countenance at all times and to have a smile ready for every living creature you meet.
To give so much time to the improvement of yourself that you have no time to criticise others.
To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear, and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.
To think well of yourself and to proclaim this fact to the world--not in loud words, but in great deeds.
To live in the faith that the world is on your side so long as you are true to the best that is in you.
CONFESSIONS
_Open Confession is Good for the Soul_
Surgeon's instrument case lost in some saloon. Reward. Dr. H.E. Lebel.
1227 Hennepin.
A certain rector, just before the service, was called to the vestibule to meet a couple who wanted to be married. He explained that there wasn't time for the ceremony then. "But," said he, "if you will be seated I will give you an opportunity at the end of the service to come forward, and I will then perform the ceremony."
The couple agreed, and at the proper moment the clergyman said: "Will those who wish to be united in the holy bond of matrimony please come forward?"