Character and Conduct Part 32

"Be calm in arguing: for fierceness makes Error a fault, and truth discourtesy."

GEORGE HERBERT.

"To speak wisely may not always be easy, but not to speak ill requires only silence."

Argument

JULY 16

"Prejudice is opinion without judgment."

"When a positive Man hath once begun to dispute anything, his Mind is barred up against all Light and better Information. Opposition provokes him, though there be never so good Ground for it, and he seems to be afraid of nothing more, than lest he should be convinced of the Truth."

LA ROCHEFOUCAULD.

"In proportion as we love truth more and victory less, we shall become anxious to know what it is which leads our opponents to think as they do. We shall begin to suspect that the pertinacity of belief exhibited by them must result from a perception of something we have not perceived. And we shall aim to supplement the portion of truth we have found with the portion found by them."

HERBERT SPENCER.

An Open Mind

JULY 17

"He often thought that Dr. Arnold's maxim of being prepared each morning to consider everything an open question a good working rule. Not that one should readily change one's opinions, but should always have an open mind, never a closed one, on any question outside exact knowledge."

"He that never changed any of his opinions, never corrected any of his mistakes; and he who was never wise enough to find out any mistakes in himself, will not be charitable enough to excuse what he reckons mistakes in others."

WHICHCOTE.

"Narrow-mindedness is a cause of self-sufficiency. We are slow to believe what is beyond the scope of our vision."

LA ROCHEFOUCAULD.

Tolerance

JULY 18

"Nothing, in our Lord's wisdom, strikes me more than His moderation with regard to error. What seems false to one man's mind may be true to that of another."

_Pastor Pastorum_, HENRY LATHAM.

"A genuine universal tolerance is most surely attained, if we do not quarrel with the peculiar characteristics of individual men and races, but only hold fast to the conviction, that what is truly excellent is distinguished by its belonging to all mankind."

GOETHE _to_ CARLYLE.

"New ideas want a little time to grow into shape: we know how easily a man is startled into shutting his mind against novelty when it is suddenly presented."

_Pastor Pastorum_, HENRY LATHAM.

Right Use of Speech

JULY 19

"There is no better way, I believe, in which to test the reality of our culture than by the self-discipline it teaches us to use in talk; and it may be that the chief service we can render, the chief outcome that G.o.d looks for from our higher education, is that in our homes, in the society around us, we should set a higher example of the right use of speech; the right tone and temper and reticence in conversation; the abhorrence of idle words. Neither let us think that this ever will be easy to us. We must not be affected or pedantic, we must not be always setting other people right; but we must be careful; we must keep our wishes and pa.s.sions from colouring our view of things; we must take great pains to enter into the minds and feelings of others, to understand how things look to them, and we must remember that, whatever pains we take in that regard, the result is still sure to be imperfect; we must rule our moods, our likes and dislikes, with a firm hand; we must distrust our general impressions till we have frankly, faithfully examined them; we must resist the desire to say clever or surprising things; we must be resolute not to overstate our case; we must let nothing pa.s.s our lips that charity would check; we must be always ready to confess our ignorance, and to be silent.--Yes, it is a hard and long task; but it is for a high end, and in a n.o.ble service. It is that we may be able to help others; to possess our souls in days of confusion and vehemence and controversy; to grow in the rare grace of judgment; to be such that people may trust us, whether they agree with us or not. It is that we may somewhat detach ourselves from the stream of talk, and learn to listen for the voice of G.o.d, and to commit our ways to Him."

_Studies in the Christian Character_, Bishop PAGET.

Thoughts

JULY 20

"If we are not responsible for the thoughts that pa.s.s our doors, we are at least responsible for those we admit and entertain."

CHARLES B. NEWCOMB.

"The pleasantest things in the world are pleasant thoughts, and the great art in life is to have as many of them as possible."

BOVeE.

"We lose vigour through thinking continually the same set of thoughts.

New thought is new life."

PRENTICE MULFORD.

Culture

JULY 21

"Culture is not an accident of birth, although our surroundings advance or r.e.t.a.r.d it; it is always a matter of individual education."

HAMILTON W. MABIE.

"The secret of culture is to learn that a few great points steadily reappear, alike in the poverty of the obscurest farm, and in the miscellany of metropolitan life, and that these few are alone to be regarded:--the escape from all false ties; courage to be what we are; and the love of what is simple and beautiful,--these, and the wish to serve, to add somewhat to the well-being of men."

EMERSON.

"The highest we can attain to is not knowledge, but sympathy with intelligence."