THINGS THOUGHTFUL.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 16818, 22 August 1922, Page 3

THINGS THOUGHTFUL.

HAPPINESS, j If solid happiness we prize > Within our breast* this jewel lies. | And they are fools who roam, i The world has nothing to bestow ; j From our own selves our joys must flow. And that dear hut, our home. —Laconism. OPINION. It is in our power to have no opinion about a thing, and not to be disturbed in our soul concerning it; for things themselves have no natural power to form our judgments.—Marcus Aurelius. BE TRUE. Yet in opinions look not always bar k ; Your wake is nothing: mind the coming track. Leave what you’ve done for what you have to do, Don’t he li consistent.” but be simply true. —Oliver 'Wendell Holmes. Economic progress means the enrichment of & nation, not in material possessions only* but in the happiness which is more than money or goods credit. CHARACTER. A noble character does not come by birth or bv chance. Tt must be a matter of choice to,begin with. After that it is the product oi toil and struggle. The sculptor may in the rough stone the possibilty of the figure he wishes to bring forth, but be will never see it in reality if he wastes his years merely dreaming about it. It is easy enough to he be pleasant When life flows along like a song. But the man worth while is the man who can smile When everything goes dead wrong. QUESTIONS. Have you learned lessons only of those who admired von. and were tender with you. a ltd stood aside for yon? Have you not learned great lesson** from those who reject you. and brace themselves against you. or who treat you with contempt or dispute the passage with you?—Walt Whitman. The talent of success is nothing more than doing what you can do well, am! doing well whatever you do—without a thought of fame.—Longfellow. RELIGION. By religion I mean the power, whatever it be, which makes a man choos • what is hard rather than what is ea*y what is lofty and noble rather than what is mean and selfish; that put-., courage into timorous hearts, and glad ness into clouded spirits; that consoles men in grief, misfortune and disappointment; that makes them joyfullv accept a heavy burden ; that, in a word, uplifts men out of the dominion of material things and sets their feet in a purer and simpler religion. —A. C. Benson.

Education begins the gentleman, but reading, good company and reflection must finish him.—Locke. Quiet waiting often requires more courage than the most desperate ac tion. Troops awaiting the charge of the enemy And it eo. and many a soul i.» daily life knows' the severity of the test. We do not- what wo ought. What we ought not we do. And lean upon the thought That chance will bring us through. —Matthew Arnold. VARIED READING. Keep your view of men and thing* extensive, and depend upon it that a mixed knowledge is not a superficial one. As far as it goefc, the views that it gives are true: but he who reads deeply one class of writers only gets views which are almost sure to be perverted. and w bieh are not only narrow but false. Adjust your proposed amount of reading to your time and inclination —this is perfectly free to any man ; but whether the amount be large or small, let it be varied in its kind, and widely varied. If 1 have a con fident opinion on any one point connected with the improvement of tb ' hiimaud mind, it is on this'—Dr Arnold. SHINE! Men are convinced more quickly anil certainly by what they se c than by wjiat they hoar. It is not “ Let yom lips speak ” but “ Let your ligh* shine." The living spirit is not known and heard of all men. but known and read.—Malt hie D. Babcock. OUR LIFE. Thy mortal life is but a brittle vase. But as thee list with wine or tear- to fill For all the drops therein arc Ohs and Ahs Of jov or grief according to thv will. —Robert Bridge-. EDUCATION. Education lies all around us if our eyes ami minds are open. Many a lit** bewails its lack of opportunities while it is shutting its eyes to those that are offering on every side. Education i- a broad word, and neither bookshelves nor university walls hound it.