"Refrain your tongue from back-biting; for there is no word so secret that shall go for nought, and the mouth that belieth, slayeth the soul." WISDOM i. 2. Gossip JULY 10 "When people run about to disseminate some scrap of news which they alone possess, the result is not usually beneficial either to character or to mind." _Pastor Pastorum_, HENRY LATHAM. "Slander meets with no regard from noble minds, Only the base believe what the base only utter." "No word, once spoken, returneth Even if uttered unwillingly-- Shall God excuse our rashness? That which is done, that abides." CHARLES KINGSLEY. Egotism July 11 "Above all things, let us avoid speaking too often about ourselves, and referring to our own experiences. Nothing is more disagreeable than a man who is constantly quoting himself." LA ROCHEFOUCAULD. "The pest of society is egotists." EMERSON. "Avoid the personal view, the small view, the critical and fault-finding view. Run away from gossip as from a pestilence, and keep in your soul great ideals and ideals to solace your solitude. They will drive out petty worries, conceits and thoughts of carking care." ADA C. SWEET. Conversation JULY 12 "The etiquette of conversation consists as much in listening politely as in talking agreeably." H. A. "The reason why so few persons are agreeable in conversation is that every one thinks more about what he shall say than about what others are saying, and because one cannot well be a good listener when one is eager to speak." LA ROCHEFOUCAULD. "I am an enemy to long explanations; they deceive either the maker or the hearer, generally both." GOETHE. Conversation JULY 13