THINK for thyself-one good idea,
But known to be thine own,
Is better than a thousand gleaned
From fields by others sown.
It was a noble Roman,
In Rome's imperial day,
Who heard a coward croaker,
Before the Castle say:
"They're safe in such a fortress;
There is no way to shake it!"
"On-on," exclaimed the hero,
"I'll find a way, or make it!"
Is Fame your aspiration?
Her path is steep and high;
In vain he seeks her temple,
Content to gaze and sigh:
The shining throne is waiting,
But he alone can take it
Who says, with Roman firmness,
"I'll find a way, or make it!"
Is Learning your ambition?
There is no royal road;
Alike the peer and peasant
Must climb to her abode :
Who feels the thirst of knowledge,
In Helicon may slake it,
If he has still the Roman will
"To find a way, or make it!"
How sweet the charm of courtesy!
And gracious words how sweet!
No virtue of the soul can be
Without this grace complete.
Its fragrant breath befits the rose;
Such pleasure from politeness flows.
-John S. Van Cleve.
PONDER well, and know the right,
Onward then, with all thy might!
Haste not! years can ne'er atone
For one reckless action done.
BETTER to weave in the web of life
A bright and golden filling,
And to do God's will with a ready heart,
And hands that are prompt and willing,
Than to snap the delicate, minute threads
Of our curious lives asunder,
And then blame heaven for the tangled ends,
And sit, and grieve, and wonder.
LIVE truly, and thy life shall be
A great and noble creed.
WHEN falls the hour of evil chance-
And hours of evil chance will fall-
Strike, though with but a broken lance;
Strike, though you have no lance at all.
Shrink not, whate'er the odds may be;
Shrink not, however dark the hour;
The barest possibility
Of good deserves your utmost power.
If a man empties his purse into his head, no man can take it away from him. An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest.
IF you can not in the conflict
Prove yourself a soldier true;
If, where fire and smoke are thickest,
There's no work for you to do;
When the battle-field is silent,
You can go with careful tread,
You can bear away the wounded,
You can cover up the dead.
Do not then stand idly waiting
For some greater work to do!
Fortune is a lazy goddess;
She will never come to you.
Go and toil in any vineyard;
Do not fear to do or dare;
If you want a field of labor,
You can find it anywhere.
118 GRADED selections for memorizing.
In the lexicon of youth, which Fate reserves
For a bright manhood, there is no such word
As-fail.
-Edward Bulwer-Lytton: "Richelieu."
NAY, speak no ill, but lenient be
To others' failings as your own;
If you're the first a fault to see,
Be not the first to make it known;
For life is but a passing day,
No lip may tell how brief its span;
Then, oh! the little time we stay,
Let's speak of all the best we can.
COUNT that day lost whose low-descending sun
Views from thy hand no worthy action done.
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