glory of Friend joy depends not in numbers. Have but one real Friend — and it is enough! The one that will not refuse to understand you, or protect you, but that through the solid and harsh hour of test, will gladly be the other half of the fight with you.
He is your Friend who brings out of you the best of which you are capable.
You and your Friend plan no Parades. You are as you are. The sincerity of Service leads you on — makes each day as certain of Success as though it had already been completed and handed to you. If you are in doubt as to what you ought to be in the world, set yourself to the task of making of yourself a great Friend. Remembering that —
A lifetime is all too short in which to be a Friend and get Friends.
Play
To you who early learn the value of Play applied to your life, and to you who learn just when to apply it, there is opened a road, both wide and short into the town of Peace, Power and Plenty.
Play.
Play stretches the Muscles, rests and soothes the Nerves, stirs the Blood and Clears the Brain. Play Stays the Hand of Age and transplants Youth all along through the advancing Years.
Play.
Play lifts the Burdens from people’s shoulders — Smoothes out the Wrinkles from their Faces and starts Smiles and Joy anew.
Play.
Play is a Strangler of Worry, an Enemy of Ill-Health and a mighty Force in the Creating of Clean, Strong Thinking. Play is Insurance against Failure.
Play.
Play at outdoor Sports. Play at your Books. Play with your “kiddies” if you have them, and with other people’s “kiddies” if you have none yourself. Play before you start your day and Play at its Close. And occasionally “skip” a day that you may also Play.
Play.
Play hard when you do Play. But never Play when you Work and never Work when you Play. Neither make Play out of Work nor Work out of Play.
Your Mother
The sweetest word in the Language of Languages is that of — Mother. There is in each letter of this word a wealth of music so Divine — there are vibrating chords of Love so Angelic — that the whole world often pays Homage to Mothers whom it honors.
Nancy Hanks — the Mother of Lincoln; Frances Willard and Jane Addams — Mothers to the Motherless; Queen Victoria — the Mother of a Nation of Mothers.
You — whoever you are — your greatest Asset is your Mother. You — bankrupt, discouraged, failure-riddled, hope-wasted, heart-wrenched, self-estranged — there remains still a Day, glorious in Sunsets for you if you will but get back again, in Thought, or Heart, or Person — to your Mother.
The most wonderful Event in the History of the World was when the first Woman became — a Mother. Human Life has become a beautiful thing because the world has had its Mothers.
The greatest Characters in every community are the Mothers. The greatest community is that which honors its Mothers most. The greatest men in any community are those who render the highest tribute to Motherhood.
No one ever has Surpassed or ever will Surpass the achievement of a Woman when she becomes a Mother.
When did you last write to your Mother? If she has gone from you, how often do you think of her? Do you realize that all you are or ever hope to be, started back into the years when your Mother, her whole being pulsating with Pride, held you tight, and with eyes lustered and watered with Love, watched your very Breath, and kept pace, over the hours, with your faintest Heart Throbs? Think of how, all through those days she wrapped you in her Unselfishness and her Sacrifices.
The measure of your Success will be the degree of Honor you pay to your Mother and to Motherhood.
How many indelicate stories would you tell if your Mother could always be present? How many mean and unjust affairs would you bring to pass if you had the eyes of your Mother looking on? Never mind about the “Apron Strings.” There always comes a time when there are no “Apron Strings” to be tied to. And then you will long for them to come back.
If ever Failure begins to press; if ever Friends begin to fade away; if ever the grand figure of your Will shall begin to bow its Power — do this — think of your Mother and live up to her ideals of you.
Kiss your Mother as you go into the fight of this day. And at its close fill her furrowed forehead with your Smiles. Ease her Cares. Write to her though business go to Smash. Go and see her often though it takes you across the Globe. Let her Living Presence keep you Courageous. And if she has gone from you let her Memory Guide and Inspire you as once you Guided and Inspired her Faith.
Salt
Stir up your Salt.
For Salt — translated into terms of moral use — is the stuff that seasons and balances one’s work — keeps it from swaying into mediocrity, commonness and nothingness — it’s Grit, Courage, Back-bone, refined to the crystal degree. That’s Salt!
Stir up your Salt.
A man without Salt in his system is about as active a thing as a watch without works. Neither one goes.
Stir up your Salt.
The blood and body of a man is saturated with Salt. When a man’s Salt runs out the man runs out.
Stir up your Salt.
Salt is the thing that savors Mankind.
Stir up your Salt.
You are worth your Salt if you have worth to add to your Salt. Salt has no value alone. Salt is a partner ingredient. It’s a complement to what you already have to mix with it.
Stir up your Salt.
Salt is at once the commonest and rarest thing in all the world. It’s nowhere — yet almost everywhere. But it’s yours to take and use. Salt in your work is evenness of Effort, solidness of Purpose and assuredness of Faith in Results — Hope for better things — Courage for bigger tasks. As you work through the minutes and the hours, keep it firmly in mind that Success must needs have its share of Salt.
Stir up your Salt.
Habit
Habit is a fixed series of acts. Do a thing once and Tracks are marked. Do a thing twice and a Route is mapped. Do a thing thrice and a Path is blazed.
Do the Right thing over and over again.
From the unconscious wink of the eye to the smooth, unnoticed movements of a million worlds, the law of Habit relentlessly rules its course. All life is but a set of Habits.
Do the Right thing over and over again.
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