EMERSON. Truthfulness JULY 7 "The cruellest lies are often told in silence. A man may have sat in a room for hours and not opened his teeth, and yet come out of that room a disloyal friend or a vile calumniator. And how many loves have perished because, from pride, or spite, or diffidence, or that unmanly shame which withholds a man from daring to betray emotion, a lover, at the critical point of the relation, has but hung his head and held his tongue? And, again, a lie may be told by a truth, or a truth conveyed through a lie. Truth to facts is not always truth to sentiment; and part of the truth, as often happens in answer to a question, may be the foulest calumny. A fact may be an exception; but the feeling is the law, and it is that which you must neither garble nor belie. The whole tenor of a conversation is a part of the meaning of each separate statement; the beginning and the end define and travesty the intermediate conversation. You never speak to God; you address a fellow-man, full of his own tempers: and to tell truth, rightly understood, is not to state the true facts, but to convey a true impression; truth in spirit, not truth to letter, is the true veracity." _Virginibus Puerisque_, R. L. STEVENSON. "Truth is violated by falsehood, and it may be equally outraged by silence." AMMAN. Gossip JULY 8 "Gossip is a beast of prey that does not wait for the death of the creature it devours." _Diana of the Crossways_, G. MEREDITH. "Give to a gracious message A host of tongues; but let ill tidings tell Themselves when they be felt." SHAKESPEARE. "Let evil words die as soon as they're spoken." GEORGE ELIOT. "If there is much art in speaking, there is no less in keeping silence. There is an eloquent silence; it serves to praise and to condemn: there is a scornful silence: and there is a respectful silence." LA ROCHEFOUCAULD. Back-biting JULY 9 "Hear as little as you possibly can to the prejudice of others; believe nothing of the kind unless you are forced to believe it; never circulate, nor approve of those who circulate, loose reports; moderate as far as you can the censure of others; always believe that if the other side were heard a very different account would be given of the matter." _Everyday Christian Life_, Dean FARRAR. "We must be as courteous to a man as we are to a picture, which we are willing to give the advantage of a good light." EMERSON.