It's nothing against you to fall down flat,
But to lie there, that's disgrace.

“I

- Anon.

BELIEVE in reflex action," replied her aunt; "I believe that when a person feels morose and moody, by putting on a brave smile and adopting a cheerful tone of voice her mood will actually change to match the expression; and in the same way persistence in doing small kindnesses will transform the coldest of us into women glowing with helpfulness and good cheer."

LET us lay aside every weight, and the sin which

doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. St. Paul.

MAKING up one's mind, even if it can

only

be to meet what comes courageously, is the -A. S. Hardy.

secret of "taking heart."

COURAGE consists not in hazarding without

fear, but being resolutely minded in a just cause. The brave man is not he who feels no fear, for that were stupid and irrational, but he

whose noble soul subdues its fear, and bravely dares the danger nature shrinks from.

IT

TAKE the instant way; . . .

For emulation hath a thousand sons, That one by one pursue. If you give way, Or hedge aside from the direct forthright, Like to an enter'd tide, they all rush by, And leave you hindmost.

-Shakespeare.

T is the man who goes straight to his goal, obstacle or no obstacle, that commands our respect, gets our confidence and gets to the front. He is the man who is sought in an emergency, not the man who is afraid of obstacles, who magnifies difficulties. Orison Swett Marden.

THE temper of the mind in which we meet the hundred and one tiny circumstances of every hour determines our happiness or unhappiness far more than does the detail of what those circumstances are. We cannot choose the circumstances, but we can choose the temper.

-Lucy H. M. Soulsby.

WHAT is your motive in life? Every life

finds its chief inspiration somewhere. Perhaps it is to succeed? But what do you mean by success? Is it to gather together dollar after dollar; to stand in a conspicuous place in the social circle; to achieve some great result in invention, in commercial life, in art, in letters, in politics, in the professions; to indulge in the pleasure of the world life; or is it to so live, that by the unhindered utterance of the highest instincts and impulses of the heart, you shall make some permanent contribution toward the uplifting of men? The interpretation of life depends altogether upon the motive that inspires it.

-Stephen J. Herben.

THE history of a man is his character.

Goethe.

I ALMOST think that if I were asked to indicate

–

the worst curse of life, because the most frequent, I should reply - Desultoriness. What is it to be desultory? It includes procrastination, irresolution, lack of aim. . . The life that conquers is the life that moves with a steady resolution and persistence toward a predetermined goal. The

men who succeed are those who have thoroughly learned the immense importance of plan in life, and the tragic brevity of time. "Never be unemployed, and never be triflingly employed," was one of John Wesley's wise rules for his helpers. He himself was a model of method. Wesley had his plan of life, which he carried out with a tireless industry, and he never had a desultory hour.

WHEN about to start in life, it is well that a

young man should begin at the beginning and occupy the most subordinate positions. He will be introduced to the broom, and spend the first hour of his business life sweeping out the office. I was a sweeper myself; and who do you suppose were my fellow-sweepers ? David McCargo, now superintendent of the Allegheny Valley railroad, and Robert Pitcairn, superintendent of the Pennsylvania railroad.

Begin at the beginning, but aim high. I would not give a fig for the young man who does not already see himself the partner or the head of some important firm. The thorough man of business knows that only by years of patient, unremitting attention to affairs can he earn his reward, which

is the result, not of chance, but of well-devised means for the attainment of ends.

- Andrew Carnegie.

ALL the doors that lead inward to the secret

place of the Most High are doors outwardout of self-out of smallness out of wrong.

George Macdonald.

MANHOOD begins when we have in any way made truce with necessity; but begins joyfully and hopefully only when we have reconciled ourselves to necessity. -Thomas Carlyle.

WE

E are to know that we are never without a pilot. When we know not how to steer, and dare not hoist a sail, we can drift. The current knows the way though we do not.

The

ship of heaven guides itself and will not accept a

WHEN one wills anything persistently, un

consciously he has gained concentration of purpose. All his thoughts tend toward the subject. for which he is striving. It is almost impossible for a person having one aim in life and a strong will to fail to bring that about. Without con