TIT-BITS.

Evening Post, Volume XL, Issue 63, 13 September 1890, Page 1 (Supplement)

TIT- BITS.

A cheerful disposition is a gem of great prico, and proceeds from the storehouse of the heart within. Unlike other gems, which are useless except to the possessor, it sheds its beams on all around it, imparting i warmth, light, and life to all within the sphere of its influence. The man who feels certain that he will not succeed is seldom mistaken. The half-sister of suspicion is jealousy, and envy is its mother-in-law. No work is despicable because it is mean. Nature and wisdom always say the same. The safest undertakings are always the best. In the coldest fiint there is hot fire. The lowest ebb is the turn of the tick Tp be proud of learning is the greatest ignorance. They are never alone that are accompanied by noble thoughts. We think nothing so much like malice as the wit of others, and nothing so much like wit as our own malice. Spleen has pointed more epigrams than wit. Genius is irrepressible, arid not easily daunted because it lacks appreciation. It is continually astonishing: the world with fresh exploits; and there is little fear that its progress will be stayed by obstacles of any sort. Still, it could be wished that the recognition and the commendation of every effort to benefit mankind were more general and henrty than they are. Were sympathy pruned of its rpdundtmt. branches, and its vital sap directed into proper channels, its fruit would contribute far more effectively than it now does for the healing of the nations, and the law of kindnesss would be much better fulfilled. He who can at all times sacrifice pleasure to duty approaches sublimity. Sensationalism in literature is closely connected "with sensuality in society. You may wish to get a wife without a failing ; but what if the lady, after you find her, happens to be in want of a husband of the same character ? To watch the corn grow and the blossoms set; to draw hard breath over the ploughshare; to read, to think, to love, to pray — these are the things which make men happy. WISDOM, POWER, AND RICHES'. Who is wise? She who learns from everyone. Who is powerful? She who governs her passions. Who is rich ? She that is content." Every man instinctively feels that while tenderness of feeling and susceptibility to generous emotions are accidents of temperament, goodness is an achievement of the will and a quality of the life. A wife writes to other married pairs — Preserve sacredly the privacies of your house, your married state, and your heart. With God's help build your own quiet world, not allowing your dearest friend to be the confidant of aught that concerns your domestic peace. The idea which some people entertain of earning idleness — that is, of working far too hard in one narrow groove for a series of years that they may have the delight of working no more for the rest of their lives — is absolutely confuted by all experience. It has been tried repeatedly, with the same result. The sudden change from too close and monotonous work to none at all is invariably disastrous, and many lives have been rendered unhappy and shortened in consoquence. The bow that is always bent loses its spring; and the mind will not continue to do much unless it sometimes does nothing. There should be as little merit in loving a woman for her beauty as in loving a man for his prosperity ; both being equally subject to change. To go through a daily modicum of physical exercise is distinctly more helpful to the permanent welfare of the body than any mere holiday outburst of muscular and nervous energy, though it occur under the happiest local conditions. Money will feed gluttony, flatter pride, indulge voluptuousness, and gratify sensuality ; but, unless it be an engine in the hands of wisdom, it will never produce any real joy. Duty is a thing that is due, and must be paid by every man who would avoid present discredit and eventual moral insolvency. It is an obligation — a debt — which can only be discharged by voluntary effort and resolute action in the affairs of life. Women have no greater enemies than women. All orators are dumb when beauty ploadoth. He dips not who gives his life to learning. Lof ty heights must be ascended by winding paths. To be poor without murmuring is difficult; to be rich without being proud is easy. — Confucius Happiness is to the heart what sunlight is to the body, and he who shuts out either is an enemy to society. Wo never do evil so thoroughly and heartily as when led to it by an honest, but perverted because mistaken, conscience. It is impossible that an ill-natured man can have a public spirit; for how should he love 10,000 men who never loved one ? Competency is a sort of financial horizon which recedes as we advance. The word always signifies a little more than we possess.