Lessons in Life; A Series of Familiar EssaysHolland, J. G. (Josiah Gilbert)
Philosophy
Lessons in Life; A Series of Familiar Essays
Holland, J. G. (Josiah Gilbert)
Conduct of life
"Say, what is honor? 'Tis the finest sense
Of justice which the human mind can frame,
Intent each lurking frailty to disclaim,
And guard the way of life from all offense,
Suffered or done." WORDSWORTH.
"A child of God had rather ten thousand times suffer for Christ,
than that Christ should suffer by Him."--JOHN MASON.
"For mankind are one in spirit, and an instinct bears along
Round the earth's electric circle the swift flash of right or
wrong;
Whether conscious or unconscious, yet humanity's vast frame
Through its ocean-sounded fibres feels the gush of joy or
shame;--
In the gain or loss of one race, all the rest have equal claim."
LOWELL.
One of the most reliable supports of that which is best in man is
faith in other men. In truth, I believe that no man can lose his
faith in men and women, and remain as good a man as he was before
the loss. Better evidence that a man is rotten in some portion of
his character, or rotten clean through his character, cannot be
found than real, or pretended, loss of faith in his fellows. When
a young man tells me that he has no doubt that certain persons,
publicly reputed to be good, take sly drinks in their own closets,
and descend into grosser indulgences when in strange places; that
the best men are hypocrites; that there is no such thing as
womanly virtue; and that appetite and selfishness outweigh
everywhere principle and manly honor, I know that, ninety-nine
times in one hundred, he finds a reason in his own heart and life
for his declarations. I know that he simply wishes to maintain a
certain degree of self-respect, and that he finds no way to do
this save by bringing everybody around him down to his own level.
A man who has lost his virtue, and is still suffering under the
blows of conscience, is very both to believe that there is any
virtue in the world.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account