Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1910-12-15
LOVE LIGHTS THE WAY.


the wider the range of our hates, the mar
rover our lives.
Imagine a rose that would say to itself {:
81 cannot afford to give away all my
beauty and sweetness; must keep it for
myself. will keep my petals closed up
and withhold this fragrance"
And behold The moment the rose
tries to store up its treasures OF color and
fragrance, to withhold them from others,
they vanish The fragrance and colorS
do not exist in the unopened bud.
1t is only when the rose begins to open
itself, TO give out its sweetness, its love
to others, that its beauty and fragrance
develops.
So selfshneSs defeats its own ends.
He who refuses to give OF himself for
others, who closes the petals OF his char
ity and withholdS the fragrance of his
sympathy and love, finds that he loses
the very thing he tries to keep.
The fountS of his manhood dry up.
His finer nature becomes atrophied. He
grows deaf to the cries of help from his
fellowmen. Tears that never are shed
for others woes sour TO singing acids in
his own heart.
But the moment you open wider the
door OF your life and, like the rose, send
out without stint your fragrance and BEAU
ty Of character upon every paSSerby, you
let the sunshine into your own soul.
Sidney Smith said that it was his idea
of hell to hate somebody.
Malice, envy, hard thoughts OF any
sort poison first the heart in which they
originate They make brackiSh, un-
healthy pool where all sorts of noisome
mental conditions generate.
1t is beautiful belief that every kindly
act, word, thought or impulse continues
in its influence forever, frightening and
sweetening the world, and that every evil
deed or thought permanently destroys a
part of the sum total of human happiness.
Kindness involves denial. Sympathy
carries sacrifice. Affection or aid OF any
sort is to some degree costly.
But it costs far more to be rude, lima
tured and mean. Spite and iIInature are.
as DR.. Johnson said, "Among the most
expensive luxurleS of life" 1t costs i'm
measurably to give way to unreStrained
anger, to harbor spite and bad feeling.
"Getting even" is a hazardous under
taking. A APhiladelphia lawsuit originally
involving less than $50 has ended a long
course through the courts with costs ag-
gregatng over $4,000 The plaintiff got
the $50 sued for, but his lawyers bill was
81, 700. He is $l,640 to the bad, but he
has "got even," for the other fellow had
a lot more to pay.
Revenge is poor investment. ltpayS
small dividends and calls for big assess
mentS. Look at if nationally from any
standpoint and you must see that it poor
ly pays.
1t is all right to insist upon ones rights
to the limit. No man should tamely
submit to injustice. But justice comes
more readily when asked with smile
than when demanded with frown.
Obtuse, indeed, is he who has not
learned from his own experience and OBJ
servation that one little drop OF kindness
holds more of the real nectar OF life than
does a whole ocean Of spite.
Hate hurts the hater more than the
one hated.
You may search the whole world OF
philosophy through and find no truer
truth than this-that hate, pride, jealousy,
revenge, malice, and all the other evil
passions the heat is heir to work their
, first and worst injury TO their poSsesSor; ;
they corrode, render wretched and de-
stroy the heart in which they originate.
The one you hate and plot against may
not know or care. If he gives any
thought to your attitude 1t may be only TO
return your hatred. Is it worth while to
steep your soul in poison for no better
result than this
We must expend much of our life forces
on others Is it not better to eXpend
them in kindness that upliftS than in spite
that debaSeS q?
Is 1t wise to suk gloomily in the bogs
of spite, when step will take you out
into the genial sunshine of kindness a.?
Is it sensible to dwarf your soul in et-
forts to make some one recognize that
you are his enemy and can hurt him,
when you can ennoble yourself by the
less effort necessary to make him see that
YOU are his friend and Can help HIM?
What we give we get hack in kind. Is
it better to have the respect OF others
than their hatred
Yes, your own feeling is reflected back
TO you from others. If you give love,
you get love.
Love is one of the things the more OF
which you give the more you have.
Love was born twin anc cannot exist
without its counterpart.
The human heart, like the rose, only
as it opens to the sunshine generates
fragrance that sweetens ITS atmosphere.
1t is your own attItude-your own
thought-that attracts or repels others.
According as you love or hate, you sur
round yourself with an atmosphere OF in
viting sweetness or you hedge yourself
in thorns, with worms working where
roses should bloom.
People are lovely to you or hateful,
just as you love them or hate them. This
is not mere seeming, but actuality.
owe is the lipht i'm which we see and