It has been truly said that we judge our neighbors severely by the breach of Be resolutely and faithfully what you are, be humbly what you aspire to be.—Thoreau. written or traditional laws, and choose our society, and even our friends, by the touchstone of courtesy. It is not an uncommon occurrence for a girl or a boy to win an advantageous position in life, not by superior mental or physical endowments but by a graciousness of manners that have smoothed for them the ways that lead to success.
For some quite unwarranted reason If people only knew their own brothers and sisters, the Kingdom of Heaven would not be far off.—George MacDonald. society seems to have taken the position that we have a right to expect more from our girls than from our boys in the matter of good manners. This, however, is not the view held by those who know the true meaning of good breeding. The The shadows of our own desires stand between us and our better angel.—Dickens. demand that every boy shall be a gentleman is as firm and binding as is that which says that every girl must be a gentle woman and a thorough lady.
Every girl knows what is expected of her. Her parents, brothers, sisters, If every day we can feel, if only for a moment, the realization of being our best selves, you may be sure that we are succeeding.—Bliss Carman. teachers, society and the world intend that she shall be good and gentle and gracious. They will be satisfied with nothing short of all that and it will be well for every girl to learn early in life to pursue only the paths that will lead into ways wherein these qualities of person and character may be found. So here and now it is timely to ask of the readers of these lines—
WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO?
What are you going to do, girls,
With the years that are hurrying on?
Do you mean to begin life’s purpose to win
In the freshness and strength of the dawn?
The builders who build in the morning,If you know how to spend less than you get, you have the philosopher’s stone.—Benjamin Franklin.
At even may joyfully rest,
Their victories won, as they watch the glad sun
Sink down in the beautiful west.
What are you going to do, girls,
With time as it ceaselessly flows?
Are you molding a heart that will pleasures impart
As perfume exhales from the rose?
Let all that is purest and grandest
In duty’s fair wreath be entwined;
There is no other grace can illumine the face
Like the charm of a beautiful mind.
He only is advancing in life, whose heart is getting softer, whose blood warmer, whose brain quicker, whose spirit is entering into living peace.—Ruskin. A student of the subject of ethics must understand that the true spirit of good manners is very closely allied to that of good morals. It has been pointed out that no stronger proof of this assertion is required than the fact that the Messiah himself, in his great moral teachings, so frequently touches upon the The fine art of living, indeed, is to draw from each person his best.—Lilian Whiting. subject of manners. He teaches that modesty is the true spirit of good behavior, and openly rebukes the forward manner of His followers in taking the upper seats at the banquet and the highest seats in the synagogues.