Part 6

There are sorrows which time alone can cure
By what light we find appertaining to Eternity.
When we deliberately close one eyelid, we do not destroy the 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.


It is the sculptor who hews the hardest stone,
The writer who uses the most permanent ink,
And the philosopher the most simple truths,
Who rides the tempests and survives the dark ages of time...


As we think and act, so are we.
Our thoughts leave an indelible mark upon our features,
While our actions leave monuments
In the graveyards of the memories of others.


An intelligent man fears an ignorant man
Because of that ignorant man's ignorance.
An ignorant man fears an intelligent man
Because of that knowledge the intelligent man possesses is unknown to the ignorant.
The suspicions of the ignorant create fear that weakens.
The intelligent man is aware of that weakness,
So is strengthened.


Which plant or bulb in the human garden
Do you water and cultivate most?
What blossoms are most pleasing to you?
Cultivate all,
Until each blooms
To your own satisfaction;
And then you will KNOW
What constitutes your creation.


If you assume the adoption of a child, be sure that you do your duty as a parent, and it may be a better child to you than your own, and even teach you how to be a good father or mother.


Obey the simple things of life
And the big things will not overthrow you.
Choose the correct grains of sand,
And the house of bricks will not crumble.
Likewise with an army.


We have been given just so much energy, like money, to spend as we will, or throw away.
What shall we do with it?


To believe in a God
Is the most perfect principle
To attain perfection.
To imitate a God,
The quickest way to attain that which we seek.
For it is the wish itself
Clothed in reality
Which but strives to manifest itself
Through Faith,
In its own individuality.


I believe that some men
Have been made leaders
And have been given great missions to perform
For Humanity.
And it is far better to give to the man
One pound of sugar
So that he may be better able
To carry out the great work
Than to give to hundreds and thousands
Human beings,
One grain each,
And have all lost.


We are all too close to our labor and acquaintances
To see truthfully as things really are.
Just widen the space and see for yourself.


If your education does not give you contentment, happiness, confidence, and success,
You have been cheated.
And that by yourself.


Life and history repeat themselves constantly.
Go count your cycles, that you may improve, and profit by mistakes.


A fool, on meeting a Philosopher
Will, with arrogance say,
"There goes a fool."
But the Philosopher smiles sorrowfully,
With pity, and answers with humility:
"Thou hast said it."


There is a first seemingly, insignificant step
Unseen,
Unknown;
Which leads to Heaven or Hell.
It is at the point,
Where temptation has no string,
Where life and death are synonymous.
It is at the point
Where we may turn future tears
Into future smiles.
It is at the point
Beyond which we are conditioned.
Beyond which, – as we say,
We are in the hands of "Fate".


He who is wise but humble invites love and respect where a fool has contempt and invites it.


The real wise man has sought all he knows from within himself; the intellectual man from others.


Man loses sight
Of that stupendous law of Progress.
He thinks Progress will not go on,
Without his egotistical activity;
And is startled into realization
Only when he sees himself engulfed
And strangled by the achievements
Of the younger generation,
Which ever settle about Old Age.


Measure your sanity
By how long your imagination
Can remain within the walls
Of common sense and reason.


He who will not be hungry
Cannot enjoy an appetite.
He who does not love
Cannot receive.
The only way to receive is to give.
He who gives, cleanses himself.
He who only takes, decays.
An empty room contains
The most fresh air.
A vacant nest has fulfilled
The purpose of Nature.
He who would be successful and happy
Let him do the labor he can do best,
And in his own way.
His individuality will place him
In his own sphere.
For we are all labeled, classified, ordained.
Or there would be no beginning,
Nor end,
Nor birth, nor death, in this life.
We all represent the symbol of time.
If you would gain knowledge
And be wise,
Learn from the tongues of babes and fools.
Instead of your wise men,
Who may know the sun's eclipses
Years in advance;
The distance of the stars,
And the name of every insect;
And who, in themselves are not happy,
And do not know love's companionship.
A child will teach you your needs.
A fool, what to avoid.


It is easier to prevent a bruise than to heal one. Easier to prevent and control habits by education, than to cure them.


If you will remember the following it may solve some of your problems:

Does not today's food feed tomorrow's ambition?
Then why do you insist upon adding adulteration and flavors
To strangle your own special make of bread,
So that the owner of your borrowed flavor but claims his own,
As well as yours, to his credit.
Feed tomorrow's thought with your ambitions and ideals of yesterday;
For those ideals are just what you are,
And may become what you long for most.
They are your choice of food when hungry, if you only know it.
Man's taste has been so abused, his desires so misshaped,
That he orders a big meal which is served too soon, or too late,
His unnatural desires having so much sway that there is no coordination in his entire system
Then he bemoans his fate until Nature slows him down by force.
Be normal in all things;
For the deeper you sink in the ground the more labor,
And the less you find but materialism.
The higher you fly, the more mysterious clouds of spiritual fanaticism.
Still, both may produce a supermind.
But the happiest of the three is he who insists on walking on the surface of the earth,
With feet among the flowers, heart and head overlooking beauty and happiness.


You are ready to condemn the man who has made a mistake –
Is it because you envy,
But dare not make the same mistake
For want of an opportunity?
If not, where is your charity and tolerance, pity, and pride
For being stronger?


A fool can ask a question that a wise man cannot answer.
And if he could, the fool would not understand it.


The strong arm of the sculptor brings into existence the artist's greatest inspiration in the hardest marble.
His master-piece may then be lasting, and remembered and loved by future generations...
Do you not think it is a law that he who is most valued must be visited by tragedies, tests of endurance, humiliation and sorrow?


Where is your quest?
Do you intend to rush heedlessly over numerous paths and by-paths, or will you remain in your own Soul poised and well-balanced?
You may have a light buggy in which you are going to ride around the world.
Are you not going to sit in the exact center of that buggy, realizing that the four wheels will carry you safely back home?
If you were to sit above one of the wheels only, it surely would be worn out before the other three.
And your mission would not be fulfilled.
Your quest would be in vain.
Common sense is in using every faculty of the brain.
Not riding to a judgment on one wheel...
Remain in the center of your Soul, where there is an answer to your quest.


It is not enough to possess power;
It is more essential
To know how to use it.
Do not envy one
Who displays it unwisely,
For he soon
Will be dispossessed of it,
As with one
Who possesses wealth unguarded.


A heart of gold has its many temptations –
More so than the heart of stone.


THERE ONCE WAS A MAN
Who was born in the depths of the valley of Nothingness.
He beheld the wonderful Sun in the heavens
That seemed to give life to all living things.
He made himself a vehicle, with a strong pair of tugs.
He loaded it with provisions and started up a mountain to be nearer this life-giving thing.
But the climb was difficult – a continuous pull on the tugs.
Every once in a while he came across the mistakes of others
Who like him endeavored to reach the top, but would slip and spill their load.
They would implore him to help them, in exchange for some of their goods.
And in the doing of this charity, his muscles became hard as steel;
Until at last he had reached the top, to behold the splendor at his feet.
But as he turned about, he was astonished
To behold a deep valley at his feet and a great mountain before him.
For he had but reached the top of a little foothill, called his mortal life.
Still he remained for a time, bathing himself in the glory of his achievements
Until at last the sun went down.
Then the greatest Ambition was born – to climb the real mountain.
Still, how could he descend into the valley, and ascend the next?
For he realized that this side of the foothill mountain was as smooth as glass,
Where no one could ascend; nor once descended, could one stop his flight,
Because this was the valley of death.
Here his physical strength did him naught.
Still, realizing that the great load he had pulled up to the top would be capitalized with his momentum,
He prepared to descend.
By the help of his own deeds, and with the swiftness of light was carried down through oblivion.
And by the momentum was carried up to the great Mountain of
Compensation,
To the exact height of the foothill he had just left.
And there he stood, firm under foot,
And his passage paid for by his deeds and wisdom thus far adopted
And now he possessed a continued want, which is the greatest blessing on earth.
It is the pull of the compass, a definite fact,
The direct road to that place where intense activity become calm and peaceful.


Nature gives birth to nothing to which it does not give sustenance to exist,
And protection for a given time,
Of which to make use according to the understanding created by experience.
The human body is the fertile ground
In which the roots of the soul make themselves known,
And as with the little colored flag of the plant, the blossom,
Introducing an individuality, and the coming of the fruit –
So it is with men and women.


What is pain
If not but a faithful voice of warning
Of disobedience to the laws of Nature
Under which we exist?


A cruel man uses anger
To avenge his cowardly blindness.
Bear in mind that often, if you don't do,
You can't.


Have you ever observed
How the needle of a phonograph travels,
Touching every point of the record?
Why don't you do likewise,
With the opportunities of your territory,
Which is your record?
Why just keep in one depression,
Repeating over and over yesterday's activity,
Leaving out all the rest of your life's songs;
Then complain of its briefness,
Until someone else begins where you left off,
Only to place the flowers on your coffin
Because of songs unsung?
Wake up and sing them now.
Adjust the needle out of the same rut habit
And let the world know that God makes no mistake,
But that it is man only, who forgets
That which masters try to remind him of.
Is it not true ?


One must concentrate upon his purpose,
Be it what it may,
Or make his mind receptive to inspiration upon a chosen subject only,
Or he may receive thoughts not essential, but detrimental to his development.


Grief and calamity are two of the finest whips
To bring us joy and success.

 

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