A PSALM OF LIFE At times this existence of ours seems to be meaningless; whether we have succeeded or whether we have failed appears to make little difference to us, and therefore effort seems scarcely worth while. But Longfellow tells us this view is all wrong. The past can take care of itself, and we need not even worry very much about the future; but if we are true to our own natures, we must be up and doing in the present. Time is short, and mastery in any field of human activity is so long a process that it forbids us to waste our moments. Yet we must learn also how to wait and endure. In short, we must not become slaves to either indifference or impatience, but must make it our business to play a man's part in life. TELLife is but an empty dream! ELL me not, in mournful numbers, For the soul is dead that slumbers, Life is real! Life is earnest! Not enjoyment, and not sorrow, Art is long, and Time is fleeting, And our hearts, though stout and brave, In the world's broad field of battle, Be not like dumb, driven cattle! Trust no Future, howe'er pleasant! Act, act in the living Present! Lives of great men all remind us Footprints, that perhaps another, Let us, then, be up and doing, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. A CREED Men may seem sundered from each other; but the soul that each possesses, and the destiny common to all, invest them with a basic brotherhood. HERE is a destiny that makes us brothers: None goes his way alone: All that we send into the lives of others I care not what his temples or his creeds, That into his fateful heap of days and deeds From "Lincoln, and Other Poems," Edwin Markham. BATTLE CRY We should win if we can. But in any case we should prove our manhood by fighting. MOR ORE than half beaten, but fearless, Lifting my fists, I implore Thee, What though I live with the winners Strong is my foe-he advances! See the proud banners and lances! Give me no pity, nor spare me; Red is the mist about me; Grant that the woman who bore me Permission of the Author. From "The Quest" (collected lyrics), John G. Neihardt. THE HAPPY HEART One of our objects in life should be to find happiness, contentment. The means of happiness are surprisingly simple. We need not be rich or high-placed or powerful in order to be content. In fact the lowly are often the best satisfied. Izaak Walton lived the simple life and thanked God that there were so many things in the world of which he had no need. ART thou poor, yet hast thou golden slumbers? O sweet content! Art thou rich, yet is thy mind perplexed? Dost thou laugh to see how fools are vexed Then hey nonny nonny, hey nonny nonny! Canst drink the waters of the crispéd spring? Swimm'st thou in wealth, yet sink'st in thine own tears? Then he that patiently want's burden bears Then hey nonny nonny, hey nonny nonny! Thomas Dekker. IF YOU CAN'T GO OVER OR UNDER, GO ROUND Often the straight road to the thing we desire is blocked. We should not then weakly give over our purpose, but should set about attaining it by some indirect method. A politician knows that one way of getting a man's vote is to please the man's wife, and that one way of pleasing the wife is to kiss her baby. BABY mole got to feeling big, A BABY got to And wanted to show how he could dig; He sat on his haunches, began to pout; A traveler came to a stream one day, If you come to a place that you can't get through, Is to find a way round the impassable wall, |