# Thoughts on Life/Monitions

Layout 2
MONITIONS.
MONITIONS.
1. Be vigilant! Each moment offers thee a possibility which may never exist for thee again.
2. Seek not to refresh thy soul in the shallow pool of the world's applause.
3. Dwell upon lofty things; let thy soul accustom itself to soaring; thus will it be prepared for its final flight.
4. Be thou the master, not the slave, of thy passions.
5. Let deceit knock in vain at the door of thy heart,—be thou ever open and true. An honorable nature hath little to conceal.
​6. Arrogate not to thyself those qualities which thou dost not possess: the world will soon find thee out for a pretender.
7. Fine actions are better than fine words. Put thy lofty-mindedness into practice.
8. Cease not to strive after a lofty ideal. Thou wilt fall far short of it, but the effort will be wholesome, and will lead thee up and on to better things.
9. If thy soul be sometimes in tears because of the possibilities which have escaped thee in life, take heed that no more are passing thee by while thou weepest.
10. If thy plot of endeavor in life be small, cultivate it well, and it will yield thee more abundantly than the larger field of thy neighbor who is less diligent than thou.
​11. Friend, I give thee counsel. Follow Truth: she will not mislead thee. Shun Doubt: she will undo thee.
12. Breathe thou this prayer to thyself cach day upon waking: Be thou noble, oh, my soul!
13. Ask thou this question of thyself each night upon retiring: What have I done this day that has been worthy of an immortal soul?
14. Thou art never alone, but ever in the presence of the King of Kings: see that thy conduct be suited to such divine companionship.
15. Let our failures be our mentors as well, admonishing us to greater vigilance for the future.
16. Disparage not the value of an hour; a good will, a loving heart, and willing hands will surmount almost in​surmountable difficulties within that short space of time.
17. Be thou ever a man among men, but a child before God.
18. Art thou a Christian? Think of it and rejoice over it every moment of thy life; but the longest life were too short for such thinking and such rejoicing.
19. Let thy spirit rule thy body, rather than thy body thy spirit.
20. Imitate no man be thy true self.
21. Climb slowly, clse, perchance, were thy fall great.
22. Crave only good: fear only evil.
23. Keep thy thoughts pure and thy life will be pure also; for thy life is the outcome of thy thoughts.
24. Clasp hands with freedom everywhere.
​25. Hast thou business to do? Be about it; time is fleeting, and night will be upon thee ere thou thinkest.
26. Though inaction be thy present portion, it may not always be thus with thee; so keep thyself in training for the race in which, it may be, thou wilt soon be called upon to take thy part.
27. Knowest thou what thy besetting sin is? See to it, then, that thou set out to conquer it.
28. All thou hast has been given thee. Thou art but a pensioner upon God's bounty. Let this thought keep thee ever in due humility.
29. Fail not to realize that in all the universe thou hast but God and thyself to depend upon.
30. Set thine earthly house in order, for thou knowest not how soon thou ​mayest be called to start upon the journey from which thou wilt never return.
31. By always remembering thine own imperfections before God, thou wilt be led to deal gently with the imperfections of others.
32. Espouse not thou the disputes of others; thou wilt find it an unprofitable business.
33. Harbor no malice, even though others may have injured thee. Re- member that thine affairs are in the hands of a just God.
34. Ye who have lost earth through sorrow and disappointment, take heed that ye lose not heaven also by bitterness and repining.
35. Another man's springs of action may differ widely from thine: look not, then, for the same rapidity of cur​rent in the separate rivers of your lives.
36. Guard well the house of thy soul; suffer not "envy, hatred, and malice" to mar the fair beauty of its walls.
37. Accept not another man's thinking. Think for thyself; for what else wore thy powers of reasoning given thee?
38. As a warrior seeks to know the weak places in his armor, that he may strengthen them for future service, so let us strive to find out and strengthen the assailable points in our characters. that we yield not to temptation in the daily warfare of our lives. We are warriors all!
39. Wrap thyself so closely in the robe of nobility that none may be able to snatch it from thee.
​40. Force not thy convictions upon another,—remember he hath his own, which are as dear to him as thine are to thee,—but have thy convictions all the same, and be thou ever ready to stand up for them when the occasion shall demand it.
41. Condemn not another for yielding to a temptation to which thou hast not been exposed thyself.
42. Seek to know the bent of thy mind, and pursue it.
43. Let thine endeavor sleep when thou sleepest; take it up with the dawn.
44. Set about thine affairs; they will never accomplish themselves.
45. Rate not thyself above error; thou art but mortal, and liable to err like the rest of thy kind.
46. Enthusiasm is a fine thing for ​thee to have, but see thou hast it in a good cause, else were the pain and error great.
47. Respect thou the silence of another soul; it may be intent upon the eternal harmonies.
48. Let the pure flame of thy life's lamp give light unto those who wander in darkness.
49. Deem no toil too great which will ultimately bring thee success.
50. Pray thou be kept ever faithful to the sacred trusts which have been given thee in life.
51. Art thou a follower of Christ? Be thou ever mindful of it, lest men should say that Christ were not sufficient to deliver thee from the evil.
52. Have patience with humanity; it is hard pressed.
53. Beware of habits; once formed, ​they will hold thee with a grasp of iron.
54. Each day cometh to thee spotless and fair; whatever it be at night thou wilt have made it.
55. Pray thou mayest never be a stumbling-block to any other soul.
56. Be thou ever prompt to see and to acknowledge merit in others.
57. As a barren tree doth cumber the ground, so doth an idle, aimless existence intrude itself upon the happiness of others, sapping their strength and their usefulness, and appropriating to its own unworthiness much of the pleasant field of daily life. Cumber not the ground!
58. Hold up thy head; let thy body be as upright as thy soul.
59. Make it one of the unalterable rules of thy life never to have anything ​thou canst not afford; for such having is dishonorable, and will not fail to bring thee bitterness in the end.
60. Dwell not in the shadow of a sin, but rather let its warning light direct thy steps worthily for the future.
61. Let not failure break thine heart, neither let success exalt thee over-much.
62. Learn to accept defeat bravely, but success timidly. Well-endured defeat will not fail to strengthen thee for new endeavor, while ill-sustained success will but weaken thee for future conquests.
63. Let thy soul's attitude be prayerful. Thou hast ever need to pray.
64. Endeavor to direct thy mind into wholesome channels of thought.
65. Men either do or do not im​prove upon acquaintance. Be thou one who doth.
66. In the usual order of things, depart not thou from thy kind. Disregarded nature will surely cause thee to shed bitter tears.
67. Since thou art powerless to change the inevitable, cease to repine at it.
68. Let not Fashion over-rule thee; she is but a senseless tyrant.
69. Expect but little of thy fellows; then wilt thou not be disappointed at receiving nothing.
70. Compel the respect of those who would demean thee.
71. A large proportion of the difficulties in life are the result of misunderstanding in one form or other. See, then, that things are well understood before thou come to have bitter words ​with thy friend; such words leave a scar behind which time cannot efface.—and the dearer the lips uttering them, the more ineffaceable the scar.
72. Earth's joys are soon past; let us make the most of them while they are ours.
73. Do good because it is right, without any expectation of gratitude in return.
74. Hath God called thee unto "the holy estate of matrimony?" See that thou glorify Him therein.
75. Wouldst thou succeed with the matter thou hast in hand? Give it thine attention; divided attention balks success.
76. Fail not to fulfil thy part of a contract; then wilt thou have the satisfaction of upright-doing, though thy project may have miscarried.
​77. Speak no word thou wilt ever live to regret having uttered.
78. Disappoint not the heart of a child, whose sorrow thereat may be greater than man thinketh.
79. Let not thy powers fall into disuse thy life needs and demands their fullest activity.
80. Remember the sorrowful in thy prayers. Full many a heart is breaking as thou kneelest.
81. Let thy work be of the best, though thou accomplish but little.
82. Think well before choosing thy life's companion, as of an act likely to prove, in a great measure, cither the making or the undoing of thee and thy future.
83. Live up to thy convictions; there are few brave enough to do it.
84. Having nothing favorable to say ​of another, it were well for thee to lock the door of thy lips, and to throw away the key of speech altogether.
85. Though others may cause thee pain, see thou cause pain to none.
86. Oh, the pathos of wrecked lives! Do thou spare the world the sad spectacle of another such in thine own.
87. Fret not thyself at being unable to make others conform to thine own particular view of things. Do thy best and what thou believest to be right; set a good example to those thon wouldst influence, and be happy in a sense of duty performed to the best of thy knowledge; but repine not that others continue to see things in another light than the one thou deemest best.
​88. Cultivate cheerfulness; it is a plant that will well repay thee for thy care in fostering it.
89. Do right; there is no hope or happiness or safety or salvation in anything else.