TIT-BITS.

Evening Post, Volume XLIII, Issue 143, 18 June 1892, Page 1 (Supplement)

TIT-BITS.

Many of us think our own character is just about right. " All the world/ said an old Quaker to his wife, " is queer except thee and me, and thee is a little queer." 1W my part, I shall take care, if I can, that my death discover nothing that ray life had not first and openly declared. — Montaigne. Many a man is rich without money. Thousands of men with nothing in tbeir pockets, and thousands without even a pocket, are rich. A man born with a good, Bound constitution, a good stomach, a good heart, and good limbs, a pretty good headpiece, is rich. Oood bones are better than gold, tough muscles than silver, and nerves that flash fire and carry energy to every function are better than houses and land, tt is better than a landed estate to have the right kind of a father and mother. Never pronounce anyone to be a wilful niggard until you have seen the contents of his purse. The distribution should be in accordance with the receipts. In seeking happiness we overlook content, which is always attainable ; while happiness, though sometimes in view, is uever within reach. The thief who finds no opportunity to steal considers himself an honest man. Nowadays we no longer laugh; we only smile, and our pleasures come very near ennui. — De Bernis. Thought is the firßt faculty of man — to express it is one of his desires ; to spread it, his dearest privilege. — Eaynal. It is to woman that the heart appeals when it needs consolation. The greatest of all pleasures is to give pleasure to "one we love. — Boufflers. The sting of reproach is the truth in it. The only rose without thorns is friendship. It is my custom every night, as soon as the lamp is out, to run over the words and actions of the past day, and let nothing escape me ; for why should I fear the sight of my errors when I can admonish and forgive myself ? What can be more reasonable than this daily review of a life which we cannot warrant for a moment ? The first breath we draw is only the first motion towards our last. There is a great variety in our lives, but all tends to the Bame issue. There is no antidote against a common calamity but virtue ; the foundation of true joy is in the conscience. — Seneca. He ought to be highly esteemed of men, by whom men are so highly esteemed that, to gratify a brutal vanity, he will deluge the earth with their blood. — Fenelon. Those who love .Nature (says a writer in one of the monthlies) can never be dull. They may have other temptations, but at least they will run no risk of being beguiled by ennui, idleness, or want of occupation " to buy the merry madness of an hour with the long penitence of after time." The love of Nature, again, helps us greatly to keep ourselves free from those mean and petty cares which interfere so much with calm and peace of mind ; it turns "every ordinary walk into a morning or evening sacrifice," and brightens life until it becomes almost like a fairy tale.