Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1890-01-02
CHOICE EXCERPTS.

noise.
CHOICE EXCERPTS.
SPEAK little and to the purpose, and
you will pass for somebody.
HEAR both sides and you will be clear;
hear but one and you will still be in the
dark.
Go halfway to meet man, and he
will go twice that distance with you
without a word.
THE thing which an active mind most
needs is a purpose and direction
worthy of its activity.
SLEEP is Deaths youngest brother,
and so like him that L never dare trust
him without my prayers.
IT is the character; it is genu
inc all the way through, and not wash
ed over the surface merely.
ONLY by slow and painful degrees
can we fight our way upward and break
loose from the clinging hold of self-love.
1t is in vain to regret a misfortune
when it is past retrieving; but few have
strength enough to practice this philos-
ophy.
HE is happy whose circumstances suit
his temper; but he is more excellent
who can suit his temper to his circum-
stances.
To have a clear and possible Ideal
Self, as our mental mirror, is a great
gain to most souls, and precious aid
to self-respect and right line of life.
"DoN'T shiver for last years snow" a
saying of Archbishop Whately's, is pc
culiarly applicable to those who make
themselves miserable over troubles that
are past.
CALMNEss is the most abundant orig
in of all that is keen and deep in the
movements of the mind. 1t is the es-
sence of Judgment, the author of pene-
tration, the substitute of invention.
THE family is the very core of all So
ciety, and those who do not learn its
lessons and taste its joys are but very
imperfectly prepared for the outer life
which they imagine to be so much
broader and fuller.
Do not begin to quarrel with the
world too soon; for, bad as it may be, it
is the best we have to live in here. If
railing would have made it better it
would have been reformed long ago.
The worst fault it has is want of charity.
JUST as well you might expect senti-
ments of justice from a gamester as look
for noble principles in the man whose
hopes and fears are all suspended on the
present moment, and who stakes his
whole happiness on the events of this
life.
PUT away presumption and pride. If
they assail thy heart, think of the be-
ginning and ending of life. Narrow,
indeed, are the cradle and the coffin; in
both we slumber alike helpless, to-day
terminating dust, tomorrow a crumb
ling germ.
WE may laugh or weep at the mad
ness of mankind; we have no right TO
villify them for our own sake or theirs.
Misanthropy is not the disgust of the
mind at human nature, but with itself;
for it is laying its own exaggerated vices
as blots at the door of Others.
SLANDERERs will sooner discover many
spots on the garments of others than
one on their own; but the cruel disposi-
ton they indulge generally produces its
own punishment by drawing the scruti-
nizing eyes of others upon themselves,
and exposing their many faults.
ALL to whom want is terrible, upon
whatever principle, ought to think them
selves obliged to learn the sage maxims
of our parsimonious ancestors, and at
tain the salutary art of contracting ex-
penses, for without economy none can
be rich, and with it few can be poor
TRUE generosity rises above the ordi-
nary rules of social conduct, and flows
with much too full stream to be COM
pretended within the precise marks of
formal precepts. 1t sanctifes every
passion, and adds grace to every
acquisition of the soul; and if it does not
necessarily include at least it reflects a
luster upon the whole circle of moral
and intellectual qualities.
THOSE who have just set out in pursuit
of truth are apt to think so much of
their first discoveries as to imagine that
anything further is hardly to be expect
ed; but if they proceed they find it is
with them as with travellers on an out
ward road; no new stage is to be reach
ed but by REIMBURSEMENT of the form
er; and that, from the beginning to the
end of the journey, they ought to take
Onward for their motto.
IT is no test of amiability to be good
natured in the few and rare moments of
serenity when all human troubles seem
to be subsidized. 1t is the man who.
when troubled himself, can preserve
calm and cheerful exterior to cheer
those around him; who, when oppressed
by cares, has yet an encouraging word
for his brother; who, when disappointed
himself, has yet the disposition to point
out to others the star of hope in their
horizon, who may be most confidently
described as really amiable man.