Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1890-04-24
CHOICE EXCERPTS.

ChO1CE EACEhI1S.
THE man who is fully in love with
himself has no rivals.
THE very nearest approach to domes
tic felicity on earth is the mutual culti-
vation of an absolute unselfShneSs.
STUPIDITY is to the mind what clum-
siness is to the body. 1t exhibits just the
same fatal power of mischief in its own
way.
He that cannot forgive others breaks
the bridge over which he must pass him
self, for every man has need to be for
given.
HAPPINESS is a state of constant oc-
cupation upon some desirable object,
with continual sense of progress to-
ward its attainment.
FRIvoLITY, under whatever form it
appears, takes from attention its strength
from thought its originality, and from
feeling its earnsstness.
CIVIL, be thou my goOdr' is not the
right kind of invocation in love or in
aught else; and the person loved beyond
reason wearies of it all. 1t is too much
for mental digestion.
EVERY victor largely proves his char
acter by his demeanor toward the van
quished. If he is truly noble, he will
use his power, whatever it may be, to
lift, not to crush, the less fortunate.
SIMPLY to show dislike or displeasure
at the lack of anything desirable is not
the way to supply that lack; and to give
cold looks and hard words to the un-
sympathetic will never fill their souls
with that sweet and tender spirit.
AMONG the "rights" an individual may
claim of society, room for the develop
ment of the individuality stands fore
most. The worst slavery is that with
which conventionality shackles the soul,
sitting its voices, thrOttling its life.
FORCE is of no use to make or pre-
serve friends. Excite them by your civ
ilities, and show them that you desire
nothing more than their happiness;
Oblige with all your soul that friend
who has made present of his own.
THE shallowest understanding, the
rudest hand, is more than equal to the
task of pulling down and destroying.
Folly and rage can ruin more in half an
hour than wisdom, deliberation and
forecast can build up in many years.
IT is not the least advantage of friend
ship that by communicating our thoughts
to another we render them distinct to
ourselves and reduce the subjects of our
sorrow and anxiety to their just magni-
tude for our own individual contempla-
tion.
ARTIFICIAL politeness and simulated
good breeding are the f1imsiest mask
that can be assumed; and no one not
entirely devoid of judgment and tact
would attempt to substitute them for
true courtesy inspired by sentiments of
respect and consideration.
JUST as the symmetrical exercise of
all the muscles produces the attractive
grace of motion in the human form, so
the harmonious exercise of all the facul-
ties will produce a beautiful strength
and grace of character that cannot
fail to be appreciated and diffused.
CoNCEIT is unpopular, and yet in
rough world it is something of a virtue
too. It is an outer skin to a man, and
shields too naked nerves. Happy in his
FOOLS paradise, the conceited man lives
in charity with his neighbors, is not on
the watch for Sights and offences, is not
ever angling after praise; and he is the
pleasanter neighbor on that account.
WE must needs trust where we love-
We must needs trust as we ourselves
are trustworthy. The light and tickle
and false and suspicious must live ac-
cording to to their own rules; but the
men and women who are trustworthy
will ever trust-for we see the world
through our own glasses, and the evils
we are not conscious of in ourselves we
do not generally credit to others.
AS FAST as any new duty is revealed
to man, or any great need of humani-
ty appeals to his heart, or any truth or
principle requires his ASSISTANCE, an obli-
cation is at once created which he can
by no means repudiate or reason away.
1t stands there, either to welcome him
to higher life in its fulfillment than he
has ever known before or to reproach
him for neglectlng its rightful claims.
"Unless above himself he can erect him
self, how poor thing is mani"
ONE of the most unfortunate things
that can happen in the life of child is
to be exposed to the injustice which
arises from favoritism, and yet it is per-
haps one of the most common. The
nurses, the teachers in school, even pa
rents themselves are constantly likely
to be led away by the natural fondness
which some children are so much more
apt to excite than others, or by the less
excusable motives of prejudice or of in
terest. Perfect fairness in the treatment