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| | A letter, timely writ, is a rivet to the chain of affection; |
| And a letter, untimely delayed, is as rust to the solder. |
| 1 |
| | Confidence is conqueror of men; victorious both over them and in them; |
| The iron will of one stout heart shall make a thousand quail: |
| A feeble dwarf, dauntlessly resolved, will turn the tide of battle, |
| And rally to a nobler strife the giants that had fled. |
| 2 |
| | Error is a hardy plant; it flourisheth in every soil; |
| In the heart of the wise and good, alike with the wicked and foolish; |
| For there is no error so crooked, but it hath in it some lines of truth. |
| 3 |
| | Few and precious are the words which the lips of Wisdom utter. |
| To what shall their rarity be likened? What price shall count their worth? |
| Perfect and much to be desired, and giving joy with riches, |
| No lovely thing on earth can picture all their beauty. |
| 4 |
| | He that is ambitious for his son, should give him untried names, |
| For those have serv’d other men, haply may injure by their evils; |
| Or otherwise may hinder by their glories; therefore set him by himself, |
| To win for his individual name some clear praise. |
| 5 |
| | Never give up! it is wiser and better |
| Always to hope, than once to despair; |
| Fling off the load of Doubt’s cankering fetter, |
| And break the dark spell of tyrannical Care: |
| Never give up or the burden may sink you,— |
| Providence kindly has mingled the cup; |
| And in all trials and troubles, bethink you |
| The watchword of life must be,—never give up. |
| 6 |
| | O Death, what art thou? a Lawgiver that never altereth, |
| Fixing the consummating seal, whereby the deeds of life become established; |
| O Death, what art thou? a stern and silent usher, |
| Leading to the judgment for Eternity, after the trial scene of Time; |
| O Death, what art thou? an husbandman that reapeth always, |
| Out of season, as in season, with the sickle in his hand. |
| 7 |
| | Our cares are all To-day, our joys are all To-day; |
| And in one little word, our life, what is it but—To-day? |
| 8 |
| | Policy counselleth a gift, given wisely and in season; |
| And policy afterwards approveth it, for great is the influence of gifts. |
| 9 |
| | Ridicule is a weak weapon, when levelled at a strong mind; |
| But common men are cowards, and dread an empty laugh. |
| 10 |
| | Solitude delighteth well to feed on many thoughts; |
| There as thou sittest peaceful, communing with fancy, |
| The precious poetry of life shall gild its leaden cares; |
| There, as thou walkest by the sea beneath the gentle stars, |
| Many kindling seeds of good will sprout within thy soul; |
| Thou shalt weep in Solitude,—thou shalt pray in Solitude. |
| Thou shalt sing for joy of heart, and praise the grace of Solitude. |
| 11 |
| | The pen flowing in love, or dipped black in hate, |
| Or tipped with delicate courtesies, or harshly edged with censure, |
| Hath quickened more good than the sun, more evil than the sword, |
| More joy than woman’s smile, more woe than frowning fortune; |
| And shouldst thou ask my judgment of that which hath most profit in the world, |
| For answer take thou this, The prudent penning of a letter. |
| 12 |
| | There is a limit to enjoyment, though the sources of wealth be boundless, |
| And the choicest pleasures of life lie within the ring of moderation. |
| 13 |
| | To be accurate, write; to remember, write; to know thine own mind, write, |
| And a written prayer is a prayer of faith, special, sure, and to be answered. |
| 14 |
| | To-morrow is that lamp upon the marsh, which a traveller never reacheth; |
| To-morrow, the rainbow’s cup, coveted prize of ignorance; |
| To-morrow, the shifting anchorage, dangerous trust of manners; |
| To-morrow, the wrecker’s beacon, wily snare of the destroyer. |
| Reconcile conviction with delay, and To-morrow is a fatal lie; |
| Frighten resolutions into action, To-morrow is a wholesome truth. |
| 15 |
| | Travel is a ceaseless fount of surface education, |
| But its wisdom will be simply superficial, if thou add not thoughts to things. |
| 16 |
| | True wisdom, laboring to expound, heareth others readily; |
| False wisdom, sturdy to deny, closeth up her mind to argument. |
| 17 |
| A babe in a house is a well-spring of pleasure, a messenger of peace and love, a resting-place for innocence on earth, a link between angels and men. | 18 |
| A good book is the best of friends,—the same to-day and forever. | 19 |
| A link between angels and men. | 20 |
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| A man looketh on his little one as a being of better hope; in himself ambition is dead, but it hath a resurrection in his son. | 21 |
| A spark is a molecule of matter, yet may it kindle the world; vast is the mighty ocean, but drops have made it vast. Despise not thou small things, either for evil or for good; for a look may work thy ruin, or a word create thy wealth. | 22 |
| Affect not to despise beauty, no one is freed from its dominion; but regard is not a pearl of price, it is fleeting as the bow in the clouds. | 23 |
| Alike to the slave and his oppressor cometh night with sweet refreshment, and half of the life of the most wretched is gladdened by the soothings of sleep. | 24 |
| Anger is a noble infirmity, the generous failing of the just, the one degree that riseth above zeal, asserting the prerogative of virtue. | 25 |
| As frost to the bud, and blight to the blossom, even such is self-interest to friendship; for confidence cannot dwell where selfishness is porter at the gate. | 26 |
| As thou directest the power, harm or advantage will follow, and the torrent that swept the valley may be led to turn a mill. | 27 |
| Be understood in thy teaching, and instruct to the measure of capacity; precepts and rules are repulsive to a child, but happy illustration winneth him. | 28 |
| Betray mean terror of ridicule, thou shalt find fools enough to mock thee; but answer thou their language with contempt, and the scoffers will lick thy feet. | 29 |
| Better is the wrong with sincerity, rather than the right with falsehood. | 30 |
| Deep is the sea, and deep is hell, but pride mineth deeper; it is coiled as a poisonous worm about the foundations of the soul. | 31 |
| Economy, the poor man’s mint. | 32 |
| Every green herb, from the lotus to the darnel, is rich with delicate aids to help incurious man. | 33 |
| Extravagance is the rich man’s pitfall. | 34 |
| Faith may rise into miracles of might, as some few wise men have shown; faith may sink into credulities of weakness, as the mass of fools have witnessed. | 35 |
| God, from a beautiful necessity, is love. | 36 |
| Happiness is a roadside flower growing on the highways of usefulness; plucked, it shall wither in thy hand; passed by, it is fragrance to thy spirit. Trample the thyme beneath thy feet; be useful, be happy. | 37 |
| Hate furroweth the brow, and a man may frown till he hateth. | 38 |
| He who commits a wrong will himself inevitably see the writing on the wall, though the world may not count him guilty. | 39 |
| How beautiful is modesty! It winneth upon all beholders; but a word or a glance may destroy the pure love that should have been for thee. | 40 |
| Humility mainly becometh the converse of man with his Maker. | 41 |
| I have sped by land and sea, and mingled with much people, but never yet could find a spot unsunned by human kindness. | 42 |
| If wealth come, beware of him, the smooth, false friend! There is treachery in his proffered hand; his tongue is eloquent to tempt; lust of many harms is lurking in his eye; he hath a hollow heart; use him cautiously. | 43 |
| Imagination is not thought, neither is fancy reflection; thought paceth like a hoary sage, but imagination hath wings as an eagle. | 44 |
| Invention is activity of mind, as fire is air in motion; a sharpening of the spiritual sight, to discern hidden aptitudes. | 45 |
| It is the cringer to his equal that is chiefly seen bold to his God. | 46 |
| Know thyself, thy evil as thy good, and flattery shall not harm thee; yea, her speech shall be a warning, a humbling, and a guide. For wherein thou lackest most, there chiefly will the sycophant commend thee. | 47 |
| Knowledge is leagued with the universe, and findeth a friend in all things; but ignorance is everywhere a stranger, unwelcome; ill at ease and out of place. | 48 |
| Lay not the plummet to the line; religion hath no landmarks; no human keenness can discern the subtle shades of faith. | 49 |
| Let the misanthrope shun men and abjure; the most are rather lovable than hateful. | 50 |
| Lies can destroy, but not create. | 51 |
| Love is the weapon which Omnipotence reserved to conquer rebel man when all the rest had failed. Reason he parries; fear he answers blow for blow; future interest he meets with present pleasure; but love, that sun against whose melting beams the winter cannot stand—that soft subliming slumber which wrestles down the giant, there is not one human being in a million, nor a thousand men in all earth’s huge quintillion, whose clay heart is hardened against love. | 52 |
| Love looketh from the eye, and kindleth love by looking. | 53 |
| Love with life is heaven; and life, unloving, hell. | 54 |
| Many a beggar at the crossway, or gray-haired shepherd on the plain, hath more of the end of all wealth than hundreds who multiply the means. | 55 |
| Many in hot pursuit have hasted to the goal of wealth, but have lost, as they ran, those apples of gold, the mind and the power to enjoy it. | 56 |
| Men scanning the surface count the wicked happy; they see not the frightful dreams that crowd a bad man’s pillow. | 57 |
| Nature is the chart of God, mapping out all His attributes. | 58 |
| None is poor but the mean in mind, the timorous, the weak, and unbelieving; none is wealthy but the affluent in soul, who is satisfied and floweth over. | 59 |
| O Death, what are thou? nurse of dreamless slumbers freshening the fevered flesh to a wakefulness eternal. | 60 |
| O man, little hast thou learnt of truth in things most true, and how therefore shall thy blindness wot of truth in things most fallen? | 61 |
| Pain addeth zest unto pleasure, and teacheth the luxury of health. | 62 |
| Power is seldom innocent, and envy is the yokefellow of eminence. | 63 |
| Rashly, nor ofttimes truly, doth man pass judgment on his brother; for he seeth not the springs of the heart, nor heareth the reasons of the mind. | 64 |
| Reflection is a flower of the mind, giving out wholesome fragrance; but revery is the same flower, when rank and running to seed. | 65 |
| Search out the wisdom of nature, there is depth in all her doings; she seemeth prodigal of power, yet her rules are the maxims of frugality. | 66 |
| Speech is reason’s brother, and a kingly prerogative of man. | 67 |
| Speech is the golden harvest that followeth the flowering of thought. | 68 |
| Spurn not a seeming error, but dig below its surface for the truth. | 69 |
| Take the good with the evil, for ye all are the pensioners of God, and none may choose or refuse the cup His wisdom mixeth. | 70 |
| The glorious burst of winged words! | 71 |
| The mines of knowledge are oft laid bare through the forked hazel wand of chance. | 72 |
| The most wretched have yet hope. | 73 |
| The pen has shaken nations. | 74 |
| The seeds of first instructions are dropp’d into the deepest furrows. | 75 |
| There is a joy in sorrow which none but a mourner can know. | 76 |
| To despond is to be ungrateful beforehand. Be not looking for evil. Often thou drainest the gall of fear while evil is passing by thy dwelling. | 77 |
| Trifles lighter than straws are levers in the building up of character. | 78 |
| Verily, O man, with truth for thy theme, eloquence shall throne thee with archangels. | 79 |
| Verily, there is nothing so true that the damps of error hath not warp’d it. | 80 |
| Wealth hath never given happiness, but often hastened misery; enough hath never caused misery but often quickened happiness. | 81 |
| When thou choosest a wife, think not only of thyself, but of those God may give thee of her, that they reproach thee not for their being. | 82 |
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