Laura A. Knott

“ It is clear that having everything in the world to make one happy does not always bring happiness, and the reason is that there is no real well-being without consciousness of well-being. If one were heir to vast riches, yet lived and died without knowing of his wealth, it would have been just the same as to have had no wealth. To have youth, health, love, and opportunity, and not to know that one is blest by and through these great gifts, is, perhaps, not greatly different from having none of them. So we see the importance of being fully awake to the blessings we have. ”

“ THE PROGRESS OF WOMAN Of all the wonders which the history of civilization presents to us, especially during the past century, by far the most remarkable is the progress of woman. Just as we teach the story of political and religious freedom to the rising generation, in order that the blessings of civil and religious liberty may be more fully prized and guarded, so all girls and women should be taught something of the long, arduous struggle which women have had in order to reach the position which they now occupy in the most enlightened parts of the earth. ”

“ There is no greater service we can render our fellow men than to increase their faith in themselves and in their own powers. To be a faith-inspirer is a privilege we should all earnestly covet. We all know people from whose presence we come away feeling that all things are possible. They encourage us, they stimulate us, they compel us to believe in ourselves. This rare and precious power belongs only to those whose lives are fed from deep spiritual sources. To be a faith-inspirer one’s own attitude toward life must be right; one must be in tune with one’s self. ”

“ Find something to do, somewhere, and throw your whole self into your work. It need not be work that is paid for with money, but something to occupy your time and thoughts you must have. You need to feel that by your endeavors you are adding to the world’s welfare. Look forward to getting a large share of your happiness in service and you will not be disappointed. Work is a panacea for most of the ills of life. When a great sorrow comes, how shall one endure it unless one has work to do?
Another deep source of happiness is the carrying of responsibility. ”

“ If I should give away everything I have to those whose need is greater than mine, and live in a hovel, only a few out of the vast number of the needy would be benefited and I should be unfitted to accomplish the work in life which I am in duty bound to accomplish. What shall we say, however, of those who all through life are consumers and not producers, who add nothing to the world, but continually take from it? What further shall we say, if, in addition to being a non-producer, one is wasteful of that which has been produced by others, using it for self-indulgence and selfish pleasure? ”

“ I myself never get over a strange sense of exhilaration as I realize that another volume of the book of life has closed and that I am just opening a new one. Never do I cease to be strangely moved by the thought of the great opportunity that is mine, the opportunity to retrieve the mistakes of the past. Never do I fail to be grateful for the privilege of leaving behind me all the blunders and failures of former years and of beginning life anew.
The student who goes back to the school where other years have been spent finds much that is different. ”

“ I mean that a friendship is harmful when one of the friends is a parasite, receiving everything and contributing nothing. Self-respect demands that each shall give as well as receive.
In his essay on “Friendship,” Emerson says no truer word than this: “Your friend is he who makes you do what you can.” One must not be a fault-finder or a thorn in the flesh of one’s friends, yet friendship has no more sacred duty than to point out faults by showing the better way. “He who truly loves is irreconcilable to faults in one whom he loves; they blur the vision which always lies in his soul.” ”

“ No real friendship can exist without loyalty on both sides. It is the place of a friend to look after the interests of her friend as if they were her own. Much inspiration may be gained from studying the great friendships of history, such as that of David and Jonathan, of Ruth and Naomi, or of Tennyson and Hallam. Does your friendship in comparison with any one of these seem insignificant, even puerile? Then use the greatest friendship of which you know as a touchstone by which to test your own. For a real friend to speak an unkind word about an absent friend is unthinkable. ”

“ Do you wonder whether your friend loves you enough or whether you cannot love her more? Do you never imagine yourself slighted or neglected or misunderstood? If you can answer these questions as they ought to be answered, you are on the way to a perfect friendship. Phillips Brooks, who was famous for his friendships, wrote, “Surely there is no more beautiful sight to see in all this world than the growth of two friends’ natures, who, as they grow old together, are always fathoming with newer needs deeper depths of each other’s life and opening richer views of one another’s helpfulness.” ”

“ You owe your friend, first of all, integrity of character and sincerity in all your dealings. With your friend you can be yourself, your real self. Any pretense, any deceit, any concealment of vital things will create a barrier that nothing can ever break down. You may or you may not admit your friend to the inmost recesses of your heart, but so far as you do admit her, there must be straightforward honesty. Integrity includes not only our dealings with our friends, it affects all our relations with others. ”

“ Who ever heard of a church that had workers enough? Wherever there is a city, town, or village, there is work to be done in the direction of civic betterment.
Is your life restricted by certain responsibilities not of your own choosing, yet from which you cannot honorably escape—nay, would not escape? Do you long for freedom, for the power to carve out your own destiny in your own way? How swiftly you would move forward if you could tread the path of your own choosing! Do not think that you are unusual in this longing. It is difficult to be reconciled to the limitations placed upon us. ”

“ Friends who do not perform this office, each for the other, as often as the opportunity arises, have missed much of the blessedness of true friendship!
Those who love know that love is not blind. Love has the truest sight. If you want to know what a person really is, do not ask one who hates him, but one who loves him. Yet love may blind itself. To shut your eyes to the faults of your friend is not the way to lessen those faults. To stand between her and the penalty which her deeds have justly brought upon her is to deprive her of one of the most important means of growth. ”

“ One who has mastered the fine art of living has had real success, whether or not the world ever hears of him. Do not think that the success of one’s life is to be measured by the amount of pleasure in it. Some are fortunate all the days of their lives, with good health, sufficient means, and kind friends. Others have trouble after trouble heaped upon them, poverty, ill-health, and grief. We are likely, if we are not discerning, to think that one has failed of success when he has only been roughly buffeted by fate. We have to know the soul to know whether or not one has been a success. ”