j SENTENCE
SERMONS :
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REMARKABLE REMARKS GATHERED FOR BUSY READERS
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The fool wishes for all he sees, be lieves all he hears, tells all he knows, spends all he has. Men are seldom as wise as they look, but they are often as foolish as they look. Animals, when once they have gained our affections never lose them— they cannot talk. ^ The penalty of walking among apes is an occasional cocoa-nut shot at your head. Physical strength is measured by what one dkn carry; spiritual, by what one can bear. Temporal blessings make us joy in life; spiritual blessings make us joy also in death. The ambition of all wordlings is summed up in one word; to have a large tomb in exchange for a small life. The devil is always ready to prescribe the cut of your coat, but he is always ready, to leave you to pay the tailor’s bill. The pleasures of the world are like the leaves of the tree; shelter only in summer and even then only in fair weather. yufiimiiii!iiHiiiniiiiiniitiiHiiiiiiHiiiiiiiiiiHiiiimniHiiiifiiiiiiiiiuiiiHiuniinnHuiiiiniliuiuMiiuiiliinD!g HOW SHALL I KNOW WHAT IS RIGHT? | T OHN Wesley’s mother once wrote 1 § I to him when he was in college. | [ J “Would you judge of the lawful- | | ness of a pleasure, take this rule: 1 I Whatever weakens your reason, im- j i pairs the tenderness of your con- | 1 science, obscures your sense of God, | I or takes away the relish of spiritual | | things; whatever increases the au- i | thority of your body over your - § mind, that thing is sin.’’ 1
The healing herbs are generally the bitter herbs. The great blessing of real ills is their speedily curing us of imaginary ills. In misery the weak seek relief in la mentation, the strong in action, the wise in hopeful resignation, the saintly in adoring submission. People are never too poor but often too rich to be happy. The poor are accountable only for themselves. The rich are accountable also for the poor. Even the small soul can love in re turn, but only the great soul hates not in return, Love is the one talent within reach of all. Love sees what is good in a friend; charity sees it also in the enemy. Half of what we hear is seldom so; the other half is not exactly so. He who dwells with pleasure on the faults of others only shows forth his own. There is a lesson in the sun. Its light and heat are to be enjoyed by all. Its spots are to be looked at by the few. The weaknesses of others, if dwelt upon, become ours. Two things we are safe in not believ ing: half the good said of us and nearly all the ill spoken of others. By nature men are sinners; by grace saints; by inclination, they are both. Saints abstain from sin for lack of de sire; the sinner only from lack of oc casion. That they are sinners, few are willing to deny; that they are sinning few are willing to admit. Into sin man is born; into righteous ness he must be brought.
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