Ontario Teachers' Manuals: Literature Part 36

No work which G.o.d sets a man to do--no work to which G.o.d has specially adapted a man's powers--can properly be called either menial or mean.--CARLYLE

Truth, crushed to earth, shall rise again; Th' eternal years of G.o.d are hers; But Error, wounded, writhes in pain, And dies among his wors.h.i.+ppers.

--BRYANT

To thine own self be true; And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou can'st not then be false to any man.

--SHAKESPEARE

No life Can be pure in its purpose or strong in its strife And all life not be purer and stronger thereby.

--LYTTON

Knowledge and wisdom far from being one, have ofttimes no connection. Knowledge is proud that he has learned so much; wisdom is humble that he knows no more.--COWPER

Wish not to taste what doth not to thee fall; Do well thyself, before thou striv'st to lead, And truth shall thee deliver without dread.

--GEOFFREY CHAUCER

Oh, many a shaft, at random sent, Finds mark the archer little meant!

And many a word at random spoken, May soothe, or wound, a heart that's broken.

--SIR W. SCOTT

Govern the lips as they were palace doors, the king within. Tranquil and fair and courteous be all words which from that presence win.

--EDWIN ARNOLD

Whene'er a n.o.ble deed is wrought, Whene'er is spoken a n.o.ble thought, Our hearts, in glad surprise, To higher levels rise.

--LONGFELLOW

Love thyself last; cherish those hearts that hate thee; Corruption wins not more than honesty.

Still in thy right hand carry gentle peace, To silence envious tongues; be just, and fear not.

--SHAKESPEARE

Not by the power of commerce, art, or pen, Shall our great Empire stand, nor has it stood, But by the n.o.ble deeds of n.o.ble men-- Heroic lives and heroes' outpoured blood.

--F. G. SCOTT

Take up the white man's burden-- In patience to abide, To veil the threat of terror And check the show of pride; By open speech and simple, An hundred times made plain, To seek another's profit And work another's gain.

--KIPLING

Love thou thy land, with love far-brought From out the storied Past, and used Within the Present, but transfused Thro' future time by power of thought.

--TENNYSON

For as long as conquest holds the earth, Or commerce sweeps the sea, By orient jungle or western plain Will the Saxon spirit be; And whatever the people that dwell beneath, Or whatever the alien tongue, Over the freedom and peace of the world Is the flag of England flung.

--W. W. CAMPBELL

Of old sat Freedom on the heights, The thunders breaking at her feet; Above her shook the starry lights; She heard the torrents meet.

Her open eyes desire the truth.

The wisdom of a thousand years Is in them. May perpetual youth Keep dry their light from tears.

--TENNYSON

If I have faltered more or less In my great task of happiness; If I have moved among my race And shown no glorious morning face; If beams from happy, human eyes Have moved me not; if morning skies, Books, and my food, and summer rain Knocked on my sullen heart in vain-- Lord, Thy most pointed pleasure take, And stab my spirit broad awake.

--R. L. STEVENSON

A good book is the precious life-blood of a master-spirit, embalmed and treasured up on purpose to a life beyond life.--MILTON

The book which makes a man think the most is the book which strikes the deepest root in his memory and understanding.

Men at some time are masters of their fates: The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, But in ourselves, that we are underlings.

--SHAKESPEARE

No book is worth anything which is not worth _much_; nor is it serviceable until it has been read and re-read, and loved, and loved again; and marked, so that you can refer to the pa.s.sages you want in it, as a soldier can seize the weapon he needs in an armoury, or a housewife bring the spice she needs from her store. Bread of flour is good; but there is bread, sweet as honey, if we would eat it, in a good book.--RUSKIN

Goodness moves in a larger sphere than justice.

The obligations of law and equity reach only to mankind, but kindness and beneficence should be extended to creatures of every species.--PLUTARCH

My heart leaps up when I behold A rainbow in the sky; So was it when my life began, So is it now I am a man, So be it when I shall grow old, Or let me die.

The child is father of the man; And I could wish my days to be Bound each to each by natural piety.

--WORDSWORTH

Be but yourself, be pure, be true, And prompt in duty; heed the deep Low voice of conscience; through the ill And discord round about you, keep Your faith in human nature still.

--ELIZABETH WHITTIER

Four things a man must learn to do If he would make his record true; To think, without confusion, clearly; To love his fellow-men sincerely: To act from honest motives purely; To trust in G.o.d and Heaven securely.

--HENRY VAN d.y.k.e

Give thy thoughts no tongue, Nor any unproportioned thought his act.

Be thou familiar, but by no means vulgar; The friends thou hast, and their adoption tried, Grapple them to thy soul with hooks of steel.