The man of independent mind, A prince can mak a belted knight, Their dignities, and a' that, The pith o' sense, and pride o' worth, Then let us pray that come it may, It's coming yet, for a' that, That man to man the warld o'er Shall brothers be for a' that. Robert Burns. LIFE AND DEATH LIFE! I know not what thou art, But know that thou and I must part; And when, or how, or where we met I own to me a secret yet. Life! We've been long together, Through pleasant and through cloudy weather; 'Tis hard to part when friends are dear; Perhaps will cost a sigh, a tear; Then steal away, give little warning, Choose thine own time; Say not "Good Night"-but in some brighter clime, Bid me "Good Morning!" Anna Barbauld. LIFE AND DEATH Many a man would die for wife and children, for faith, for country. But would he live for them? That, often, is the more heroic course and the more sensible. A rich man was hiring a driver for his carriage. He asked each applicant how close he could drive to a precipice without toppling over. "One foot," "Six inches," "Three inches," ran the replies. But an Irishman declared, "Faith, and I'd keep as far away from the place as I could." "Consider yourself employed," was the rich man's comment. So he died for his faith. That is fine— More than most of us do. But stay, can you add to that line In death he bore witness at last It is easy to die. Men have died But to live: every day to live out While his friends met his conduct with doubt, Was it thus that he plodded ahead, Then we'll talk of the life that he led- Ernest H. Crosby. From "Swords and Ploughshares," Funk & Wagnalls Co. ON BEING READY At nightfall after bloody Antietam Lee's army, outnumbered and exhausted, lay with the Potomac at its back. So serious was the situation that all the subordinate officers advised retreat. But Lee, though too maimed to attack, would not leave the field save of his own volition. "If McClellan wants a battle," he declared, "he can have it." McClellan hesitated, and through the whole of the next day kept his great army idle. The effect upon the morale of the two forces, and the two governments, can be imagined. Τ HE man who is there with the wallop and punch, May well be around when the trouble begins, But you seldom will find he is in it; For they let him alone when they know he is there To pick out the one who is shrinking and soft The one who is fixed for whatever they start They pass him along for the next shot in sight When he knows he can win with a kick or a brick Permission of the Author. From "The Sportlight." I Grantland Rice. TWO AT A FIRESIDE BUILT a chimney for a comrade old, I did the service not for hope or hire- Edwin Markham. From "The Man with the Hoe, and Other Poems," TO-DAY We often lose the happiness of to-day by brooding over the sorrows of yesterday or fearing the troubles of to-morrow. This is exceedingly foolish. There is always some pleasure at hand; seize it, and at no time will you be without pleasure. You cannot change the past, but your spirit at this moment will in some measure shape your future. Live life, therefore, in the present tense; do not miss the joys of to-day. URE, this world is full of trouble SURE I ain't said it ain't. Lord! I've had enough, an' double, Rain an' storm have come to fret me, Thorns an' brambles have beset me Ain't it fine to-day? What's the use of always weepin', What's the use of always keepin' It's to-day that I am livin', Yesterday a cloud of sorrow It may rain again to-morrow, Permission of Douglas Malloch. THE ARROW AND THE SONG We can calculate with fair accuracy the number of miles an automobile will go in an hour. We can gauge pretty closely the amount of merchandise a given sum of money will buy. But a good deed or a kind impulse is not measurable. Their influence works in devious way and lives on when perhaps we can see them no more. I SHOT an arrow into the air, It fell to earth, I knew not where; I breathed a song into the air, Long, long afterward, in an oak THE INNER LIGHT "Thrice is he armed that hath his quarrel just, says Shakespeare. But not only does a clear conscience give power; it also gives light. With it we could sit at the center of the earth and yet enjoy the sunshine. Without it we live in a rayless prison. HE E that has light within his own clear breast John Milton. |