JANUARY 13 "Occasion is the father of most that is good in us. As you have seen the awkward fingers and clumsy tools of a prisoner cut and fashion the most delicate little pieces of carved work; or achieve the most prodigious underground labours, and cut through walls of masonry, and saw iron bars and fetters; 'tis misfortune that awakens ingenuity, or fortitude or endurance, in hearts where these qualities had never come to life but for the circumstance which gave them a being." _Esmond_, W. M. THACKERAY. "It always remains true that if we had been greater, circumstances would have been less strong against us." G. ELIOT. "A consideration of petty circumstances is the tomb of great things." VOLTAIRE. The Ifs of Life JANUARY 14 "If it were--_if_ it might be--_if_ it could be--_if_ it had been. One portion of mankind go through life always regretting, always whining, always imagining. _As_ it is--this is the way in which the other class of people look at the conditions in which they find themselves. I venture to say that if one should count the _ifs_ and the _ases_ in the conversation of his acquaintances, he would find the more able and important persons among them--statesmen, generals, men of business--among the _ases_, and the majority of conspicuous failures among the _ifs_." _Over the Teacups_, O. W. HOLMES. "It is sad, indeed, to see how man wastes his opportunities. How many could be made happy, with the blessings which are recklessly wasted or thrown away! Happiness is a condition of Mind, not a result of circumstances; and, in the words of Dugald Stewart, the great secret of happiness is to accommodate ourselves to things external, rather than to struggle to accommodate external things to ourselves. Hume wisely said that a happy disposition was better than an estate of £10,000 a year. Try to realise all the blessings you have, and you will find perhaps that they are more than you suppose. Many a blessing has been recognised too late." Lord AVEBURY. "The pleasure of life is according to the man that lives it, and not according to the work or the place." EMERSON. Harmony JANUARY 15 "... Have good will To all that lives, letting unkindness die And greed and wrath; so that your lives be made Like soft airs passing by. ... Govern the lips As they were palace-doors, the King within; Tranquil and fair and courteous be all words Which from that presence win. ... Let each act Assoil a fault or help a merit grow: Like threads of silver seen through crystal beads Let love through good deeds show." _The Light of Asia_, E. ARNOLD.