Wiser Today

(From Thoughts On Various Subjects)
 A man should never be ashamed say he has been in the wrong, which but saying in other words that he is wiser today than he was yesterday.

 ALEXANDER POPE

happiness

To be deprived of the person we love is happiness in comparison to living with one we hate. -LaBruyere

My Idea Of A Man

You can't tell much about the grain
By looking at the bark;
And yet from Oregon to Maine,
From daylight until dark,
A lot of people judge a lot
By what you wear or what you've got.

A lot of folks who never tried
To see the sort of man inside.
The bark's perhaps a little rough,
With here and there a scar;
But that is never quite enough
To tell the man you are.

Because the bark is not the test;
It's underneath the bark and vest.
The bark's the unimportant part,
The thing that matters is the heart.

And that is why, you understand,
I'm just a little slow
To praise the clothes and manners grand
Until the man I know.

I want to know, not what you wear,
But how you get and how you share;
How much you help and what you do
To see the grain inside of you.

-F. H. Petty ¬

George Washington's words of wisdom

It is better to be alone than in bad company.
Think before you speak. In your apparel be modest.
Wherein you reprove another, be unblamable yourself.
 Let your heart feel for the afflictions and distresses of everyone.
 Be courteous to all, but intimate with few; true friendship is a plant of slow growth.

George Washington

the way to succeed

"Be up to date," says the Calendar.
 "Push," says the Button.
"Take Pains," said the Window.
"Never be led," warns the Pencil.
 "Make Light of Everything," says the Fire.
 "Be sharp in your dealings," says the Knife.
 "When you find a good thing, stick to it," advises the Glue.

what is a home

A London magazine recently asked its subscribers what a home is, and received over eight hundred answers. Out of these, six were selected as the best.

Here they are:
"Home--A world of strife shut out, a world of love shut in."
 "Home--A place where the small are great, and the great are small."
 "Home--The father's kingdom, the mother's world, and the child's paradise."
 "Home-- The place where we grumble the most and are treated the best."
 "Home-- The center of our affection, round' which our heart's best wishes twine."
 "Home-- The place where our stomachs get three square meals a day and our hearts, a thousand."

the wisdom of Victor Hugo

Fourty is the old age of youth, Fifty is the youth of old age

The Crime of Beign a Young Man

The atrocious crime of being a young man, which the honourable gentleman has, with such spirit and decency charged upon me, I shall neither attempt to palliate nor deny; but content myself with wishing that I may be one of those whose follies may cease with their youth, and not of those who continue ignorant in spite of age and experience.

 (From a speech, March 3, 1741, in reply to Walpole)

William Pitt

persistance

A small wedge and constant pounding will split the largest stone.