The true aim of Occupations of Necessity is to provide us time, not for repose and inaction, as most moralists teach, but for Occupations of Choice. We call these our recreations, amusements, pastimes, favorite studies, hobbies, fads, if you please. In these lie the mainsprings of our felicity; and their character reveals pretty clearly the measure of our capacity for happiness, and the degree of our mastery of its theory. If we pass our leisure in cultivating delusions and pursuing inanities, our enjoyment is that of the insane and the idiotic, and arises not from the health, but from the disease or debility, of our minds. Yet how many men, skillful in securing the means of pleasure, are witless in the use of it! “Those are the best recreations,” says old Thomas Fuller, “which, besides refreshing, enable men to some other good ends.” His words, though they sound well, are only half-wise. To enjoy to the utmost any favorite pastime or study, it should be pursued for itself alone, and with no ulterior purpose or hope in view. “’Twere to cramp its use, to hook it to some useful end.” Pleasure is nobler than profit, enjoyment is higher than utility, whatever political economists or pulpit orators say to the contrary. I know some men who always explain their relaxations as a part of their serious lives; and others who, if detected in an act of benevolence, hasten to show that it was prompted by their self-interest; of the two, I admire the latter more. * * * * * Success is another name for Perseverance. When Newton was asked how he reached his great discovery, he replied, “By making it incessantly the subject of my thoughts.” * * * * * Happiness follows success, provided the latter is rightly achieved and received. * * * * * A contented spirit is merely one which pleases itself with little effort. Contentment differs from Happiness, as repose from recreation. * * * * * For most, it will be easier to learn to like what they have to do, than to find the chance of doing what they like. * * * * * To teach what they do not know, and to live by a trade that they do not understand, are feats that many are surprised that they cannot perform. * * * * * All paths seem rough to the bare feet of those who are used to wearing shoes. * * * * * Would you have pleasant yesterdays and welcome to-morrows, let to-day be busy and confident. * * * * * You may pound away with the hammer, but if you are not driving a nail, you will break instead of building. * * * * * Most divers bring up mud; but few, pearls. * * * * * The honey which we gather ourselves tastes the sweetest. * * * * *