THINGS THOUGHTFUL

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 79, 8 January 1944, Page 6

THINGS THOUGHTFUL

TO EXCEL IN CONVERSATION The surest way to excel in conversation is to listen much, speak little, and say nothing that you may be sorry for.—La Rochefoucauld. A CHINESE PROVERB Deal with tne faults of others as gently as with your own. FLEETING HOPES Miserable are those blind, untutored people, who lean their hopes upon those things which Time as fleetly bears away.—Petrarch. HE WHO IS FREE He who is free lives as he wishes to live, who is neither subject to compulsion nor to hindrance, nor to force; whose movements to action are not impeded. . . . and who does not fall into that which he would avoid. —Epictetus. A LIMITLESS OPPORTUNITY All free and daring souls have before them a well-nigh limitless opportunity for endeavour of every kind.—Theodore Roosevelt. EVIL COM*MUNICATIONS Be not deceived, evil communications corrupt good manners. —St. Paul. SECRET GLADNESS The cheerfulness of heart which springs up in us from the survey of Nature’s works, is an admirable preparation for gratitude. The mind has gone a great way towards praise .and thanksgiving that is filled with such a secret gladness; a grateful reflection in the Supreme Cause who produces it, sanctifies the soul, and gives it its proper value. —J. Addison. GOOD FORTUNE AND BAD But fortune, good or ill, as I take it, does not change men and women —it but develops their character. —Thackeray. SPEAKING AGREEABLY To speak agreeably to him with whom we deal is more than to speak in good words or in good order. —-Lord Chesterfield. FRIENDSHIP. As the sun is in the firmament, so is friendship in the world, a most divine and heavenly band. —R. Burton. INNOCENCE To be innocent is nature’s wisdom. —Coleridge. LIFE IS SWEET There’s night and day, brother, both sweet things; sun, moon and stars, brother, all sweet things. Life is very sweet, brother. —George Borrow. BEYOND OUR JUDGMENT Who are we to measure the chances and opportunities, the means of doing, or even judging, right and wrong, awarded to men? —Thackeray. RUMOUR Rumour is a pipe Blown by surmises, jealousies, conjectures, And of so easy and so plain a stop That the blunt monster with uncounted heads, The still-discordant, wavering multitude, Can play upon it!—Shakespeare. A WISE MAN You read of but one wise man, and all that he knew was that he knew nothing.—Congreve. NO COMPLAINTS Murmur at nothing. If your ills are irreparable it is ungrateful, if remedyless it is vain.—Colton. DIRECTNESS—RESOLUTION If a man is going to succeed, you will generally find that he sets to with directness as well as resolution. —W. Besant. HARVEST TIME Now shall you reap and gather, store and stack Your hay, your corn, your barley, and your hops In close succession, being less concerned With calendar and farmers’ almanac Than with good timely weather, setting fair Over the parcelled fields from copse to copse. Good summer sun, that dries the waggon track, Ripens the grasses, tans the swollen awn, And puts contented faces everywhere.—V. Sackville-West. PEACE AND HEALTH Give me the wealth of peace and health, With all their happy train. —Tannahill. THE REVERSE SIDE No pain, no palm; no thorns, no throne; no gall, no glory; no cross, no crown.—William Penn. SELF-LOVE Self-love is a principle of action. —I. Disraeli. MUSIC AND POETRY Musick is the exaltation of poetry. Both of them may excel apart, but surely they are most excellent When they are joyn’d, because nothing is then wanting to either of their proportions; for thus they appear like wit and beauty in the same person. —Purcell. THE EFFECT OF GOLD ON THE HEART Gold adulterates one thing only—the heart.—Marguerite de Valois. THE KINGDOM OF PEACE By pure manners and love of justice, prepare for yourself a place in the blessed kingdom of Peace. •—Fenelon. CONTENTMENT MEANS HAPPINESS Too happy to be poor . . . Content is helpmate to the day’s employ.—John Clare. HOME And where we love is home; Home that our feet may leave but not our hearts; The chain may lengthen but it never parts.—Holmes. THE BETTER THING It is better to suffer wrong than to do it, and happier to be sometimes cheated than not to trust.—Johnson. LAUGHTER AND GOOD HUMOUR There is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good humour. FOR ETERNITY Of this we are certified, that we Are shaped here for eternity. —Coventry Patmore. TRUE WISDOM True wisdom consists not, in seeing what is immediately before our eyes, but m foreseeing what is to come. —Terence. LOVE OF EXAGGERATION The noblest thing is often spoiled by a love of exaggeration.—Moliere. UNDILUTED SYMPATHY Sympathy without, relief is like mustard without beef.—Anon.