THINGS THOUGHTFUL.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 11507, 1 October 1915, Page 5

THINGS THOUGHTFUL.

STRENGTH AND DESTINY. Dos any is stronger than we are, and there is •'nothing tor it but to submit slently. Our destiny is really nothing more than our character; our character but the result of our active and passive being, the suru, the combination of all our capacities and gifts. NATURE'S SIMPLICITY. . Nature work's with such simple means! A little more or a little less of this or tiift, and behold the difference! At one temperature water Is solid, at another it is fluid, at another it is a visible vapour, at a still higher it is an invisible vapour that burns like a flame. All possible shades of colour lurk in a colourless ray of light. A little more or a little less heat makes all the difference between a nebula and a sun, and between a sun and a planet. At one degree of heat the elements are d ssocatecl: at a lower degree they are united. At one point in the scale of temperatures life appears; at another it disappears. With heat enough tho earth would melt like a snowball in a furnace; with still more it would become a vapour and float away like a cloud.—John Burroughs. FRIENDSHIP. When we were idlers with the loitering rills The need of human love we little noted ; Our love was Nature; and thv? fren^c that floated On the white mist, and dwelt upon the hills. To sweet accord .subdued our wayward wills; One soul was ours, one mind, one heart, devoted. That, wise]}' doting. asked not why it v doted. And ours the unknown joy, which knowing kills. But now 1 Jind how dear thou wert to rue! That man is more thau half of Nature's treasure, Of that fair beauty which no eye can see, Of that sweet music which no ear can measure: And now the streams may sing for other's pleasure. The hills slc-p on in their eternity. —Hartley Coleridge (1849). THE THINGS THAT REMAIN. The things that are passing and not permanent are the terrible the horrid, repulsive, and dreaded things. Head the l'st —tears, death, sorrow, crying, pam, and. iifthcr on, tnc curse. The bad things and the fearful things aro to pass and perish. Ihe &oc<l and beautiful things aro to remain. Death is to pass, liie is to abide. Sorrow is to pass, joy is to remain.—Charles Brown. GLADNESS. The glad new- h- greater than the gloom in' this lit'*". None can solve the problem of human sufiermg, but there are countless tilings, to be enjoyed and many reasons why '.re should rejoice. This* is not a vale of tears that we Jive in, but a vale ci -sunslime. Optimism, stout-hearted fahh i:>. the goodness of things and the gladrosa o! Hie, morning into immortality, tlk.se are the things we must not forget.--llyland Knight. HAPPY THEY. Oh, happy they who but belong To the uncounted throng, Who need not ftrive to keep the pace In stern Amb'tion's race, Nor ever feel their wishes roam Beyond the precincts of their home. Oh, happy they who need not bo A'ert for destiny ; Who need not with their flag unfurled Always confront tho world. Nor know not in their quiet life Thy pangs of stern ambition's strife. HAPPINESS. There was no word more often on Christ's lips than " blessed,'' and it ?.s recognised by Him as a distinct end in life. The end {for this life, to secure the happiness of others. Holiness, of course, is a greater word, but we cannot produce' 1 that in others. What i« put in our power is happiness, and lor that each man is his brother's keeper.— Henry Drummond. REACHINcTsUCCESS. The father of Balzac doubted the ability of his son to achieve success in the realm of literature, so he said to him. " Do you know that in literature a man must be either it. king or a beggar?" Very well, ' replied the boyT " I will be a king." His parents left him to struggle with his fate in H garret. His conflict with hunger, hnrdth'p, and poverty was something terr he, but in ten years he was ai 1-ing.in the rea.m of literature and a sovereign among men cf letters.—l lie _ Rev ifam.es H. Gordon, D-D. (" Hie "Young Man and His Problems.'')