Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-11-05

of cowboy philosophy that lends Itself
to picturesque illustration, as for instance
a cowboy engraving the motto on a
board fence with bullets from his re-
volver
Equally as effective are many of the
audacious substitutions of the ingenious
motto-maker, the travesty on the inscrip-
ton from an old tombstone
Life is no jest, and all things show it;
l thought so once, and now l know it
being an example of this tendency to
paraphrase and distort, and when ap-
piled to it's modern use, reads:
Marriage is no joke, and all things show it.
l thought so once, and now l know it.
President Roosevelt has unconsciously
contributed to the house motto, his
words on Strife " standing for the
earnestness and energy of the man him
self while also representing the most
frequently quoted of his many worthy
sayings. He says:
The law of worthy life is fundamentally the
law of strife. 1t is only through labor, painful
effort by grim energy and resolute courage
that we move on to better things.
The same in point of popularity are
the lines from his instructions "To the
Boys of America
Of course what we have a right to expect
from the American boy is that he shall turn
out to be a good American man. Now, the
chances are strong that he won't be much of
a man unless he is a good deal of boy. He
must not be coward a weakling, a bully,
a shirk or a prig. He must work hard and
play hard. He must be cean-rninded and
clean-lived, and able to hold his own under
all circumstances and against all corners. 1t
is only on these conditions that he will grow
into the kind of man of whom America can
really be proud. In life as in a football game
the principle to follow is: Hit the line hard
don't foul and don't shirk but hit the line
hard.
Among the inscriptions to cynics and
others, forming significant gifts, the
following are apropos
All you who mean to lead a happy life, first
learn to rule, and then to have a wife.
Again, under the title of "a Timely
Hint" are the words:
If men were men, and women women,
And men less women, and women less men,
1t would by far be better then
For all of us poor mortals
A translation from the German, going
a step farther in the slandering of woman,
says:
Two men are supremacy happy. the one who
is blind and cannot see woman, and the one
who is deaf and cannot hear her.
A consensus of opinion among dealers
in house mottos ascribes the palm of
popularity to Robert Louis Stevenson,
his Morning and Evening Prayers 3"
claiming first place among the numerous
extracts from his works. The former is
The day returns and brings us the petty
round of irritating concerns and duties. Help
us to play the man, help us to perform them
with laughter and kind faces, let cheerfulness
abound with industry. Give us to go blithelv
on our business all the day, bring us to our
resting beds weary and content and undis-
honored; and grant us in the end the gift of
sleep.
The following is the Evening Prayer y:
We beseech Thee, Lord, to behold us with
favor. Be patient still; suffer us awhile
longer to endure, and, if it may be, help us
to do better. Bless to us our extraordinary
mercies. Be with our friends; be with our
IL. r