Part 3

There are sorrows which time alone can cure
By what light we find appertaining to Eternity.
When we deliberately lose one eyelid, we do not destroy light,
But only shut it from our own view:
That light which but reflects itself, lends its truth,
Brings out the soul of that which it touches.
So keep your eyes open.
At best they see but dimly.

The last stroke of the bell
Tells the time.
The others tell only part of the truth.

Live right and you will act right.
Act right, and you will have to think right.

Things are only beautiful when you are in tune with them
If you are not, then tune yourself in.
It may be your fault.

To improve the future,
Review the past.
Our sorrows are receipts for debts paid.
Our good deeds are negotiable checks.

The see-saw of life must be kept balanced,
For such is the law.
But ever upon the end that is high up
Will I throw my weight
For the sake of your Soul.

If you have lifted high
And dragged down the clouds from
Where they belong,
And walk the earth, half-dazed
In a spiritual mist,
While the good feet of your body
Dangle helpless, –
Do not think me cruel
If I demand red blood where red blood is needed.
And if I tell you
That well-prepared food, and care of the body,
Are as important for the Soul
As are thoughts of God.

It is the value you place on your interest for tomorrow that gives birth and strength to your hopes and verifies your faith, and leaves no grounds for fear, apprehension or sorrow.

Who is wrong when a man is accused of a wrong that he sincerely believes was right, and is then called a liar because it was a lie to another, but not so to him who honestly believed it to be the truth? Are they not both to blame for not understanding each other?

In the name of Charity and Love,
Give your surplus profits in your youth,
So they may be returned to you
In your old age
As necessities.

If you would be safe from
Superstition and spiritual fanaticism
Remain near the shore
Of the stream of life,
Where reason may direct you.
When in the water,
Not to go beyond your depth,
Not to drift upon the running stream,
And to hold you,
When upon the shore,
From wandering out into the desert.

Man is tested only by his faith to endure.

In human experience,
Perhaps the most precious time lost,
The greatest tortures,
The most tears shed,
The greatest cruelties,
Wars and bloodshed,
Have been endured and committed
In the name of a man-shaped God
And (what irony!) called Love.

Humanity has shaped and clothed Him.
Which is as impossible as for a new-born Babe
To support its father by its understanding.

Why? When? And where?
An understanding mind knows that God exists.
Whether we are in His likeness,
Or will be in centuries to come,
Or perhaps at the close of our perfection,
Or never, –
It does not matter.
The great problem that has been,
Is, and ever will be before us,
Is to learn, not what to love, –
But how?

No one will deny facts, unless he has a subtle purpose to use opportunities for selfish purposes. Truth is self-evident and needs no support. It supports itself. And if the pillars of a structure are lies, it will but collapse. Still, the spirit of true support is ever present, so that a new permanent structure shall rise from the ashes and dust of falsehood. There are ever present health germs to continue life, even among death germs. That is the law of adjustment, compensation and growth, the manifestation of life.

All that matters most to man is back of his eyes, and there he flounders in the dark, thinking he thinks a thought, but unaware of the origin of that thought, or of its fruits; "Imagining" things without the slightest conception of the power and mechanism that he is using.

Do you ever hear or enjoy birds singing?
If not, your judgment is lopsided.
Even your art is deformed,
Or you may be stone deaf.
If the latter, your eyes should hear their song;
For even in a "Depression",
Nature sings her song of praise,
Except man, its master, who learns to forget.

I believe it is best to carry a little good timber, and only a few first-class tools – having them always ready at hand – than to carry many tools and much timber to hew and shape.

Accept from the store of knowledge only that which you actually need in life's battle, and no more, or you will be too heavily weighted

It is not the knowledge that is acquired that matters. It is how it is used.

All life is a labor
Until we love to labor,
And then it is play.

He who is humble with simplicity has a right to it only when he has the primitive strength to convince;
Because a coward may be humble, through fear;
A fool, simple through ignorance.
But it requires strength to burn dynamite slowly.

Never defend a fault but prune the evil plant.
To admit it is to pull it up by the roots.
And if you do, you will have enough strength of character
To profit by it.

Do not let your thoughts run idle.
Try to keep them in a channel to clothe them so they may live within themselves and bear fruit.

Do not be so egotistical as to think
That God has neglected to pick
Some one to fill your place
When you leave this earth,
No matter what your responsibilities
Or what throne you have sat upon.

The good you have done can no more be destroyed
Than an atom annihilated.
You might release power into a new form
But you cannot destroy it
Just because you cannot see it after its transformation.
It is still in existence
As well as our unkind deeds.

Why fight or dispute when there is nothing to fight about?
For the truth still remains, regardless of the outcome.
And truth defends itself.
And the man who fights, loses – even if he wins.

He who lives by the sword
Must not expect mercy when it is shattered.
But he who gives mercy
Need never ask it.

He who carries the atmosphere of nobility about him,
Heals the multitudes merely by his presence.
He frees – never enslaves.
Will-power repels.
He who uses will-power to enslave others
Finds himself enslaved.
The greatest and noblest quality is kindness
Kindness to all living things.

Life is an individual unfoldment
Which necessitates the constant observance
Of our thoughts, words, deeds.
No other one is so much concerned with them,
As ourselves.
Food that is health-giving to one,
Often brings disease to another.
There are no general set of rules – man made --
For the evolution of mind, soul and body
For all men.

Each must learn to know his own particular force
Of character.
Polarize it,
To time, condition, and locality.
Then can there be no difficulty
In building the Temple.

A man who has the truth
Needs no waste of words to express it.
But he who has no understanding
Must adopt the subterfuge of words
To hold attention, for results expected
That never arrive.

Did you paint your picture of life with regret and failure?
You did this with the best brush and paint you had?
Why not forget your mistake,
And see how easy it is to find a better brush,
And more permanent, slow-drying oil,
So you may correct mistakes,
Or change the color before it hardens
As you did the last picture over night, because you thought you might lose the scenery?

If you don't appreciate fine weather as much as you condemn bad weather; if you don't praise good as much as you criticize bad, you are lopsided in your judgment and convict yourself accordingly.

Remember a full stomach today will not satisfy you tomorrow.
This morning's opinions will change by tonight.
Expect your compensation in all you do,
Or your journey will be in vain.

All things here are momentary.
You must catch them on the fly as they pass by.
Tomorrow is unborn.
Today is yours.
Yesterday, the skeleton of your efforts made.

No man need envy another.
Nature has so constructed its laws
That each man may create and live in a world of his own;
And as with the stars of heaven,
Need injure none by contact, though living in one mansion.

If all things go wrong do just a little analyzing and find out what you are thinking with.
See if it is the same material with which you thought when all seemed so bright and happy.

It is not what you think you can do that is convincing,
It is what you already have done, that entitles you to live in the ranks of the Immortals.

It is not always the brave
Who can exhibit a lot of scars.
Even a careless fool can do that.
But brave men and women have scars deep and livid,
Unseen, deep within their hearts,
And still carry a smile of understanding
With that great character that lives long
After they have passed on.

There are many such people all around you,
Revealed only when catastrophe hovers,
And when real charity and mercy are most in demand,
Then Washingtons and Lincolns are born.

Try to make it difficult to attain what you want
And not only will you be more appreciative and happy,
But permanently contented with your efforts
To just keep warm and comfortable, while others
Are burning up with success or freezing with failure.

When your longings are acute,
You either have something
To give away
Or, something to be filled.
You are either overfed,
Or starving.
You may be rich, yet poor.
Or poor, but wealthy.
Or a poor rich man.

 

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