Character and Conduct – 26 November – Cheerfulness

‘TIS a Dutch proverb that ‘paint costs nothing’ such are its preserving qualities in damp climates.   Well sunshine costs less, yet is finer pigment.   And so of cheerfulness, or a good temper, the more it is spent, the more of it remains.

EMERSON

MIRTH is like a flash of lightning that breaks through a gloom of clouds and glitters for a moment.   Cheerfulness keeps up a kind of daylight in the mind and fills it with a steady and perpetual serenity.

ADDISON

ALWAYS laugh when you can; it is a cheap medicine.   Merriment is a philosophy not well understood.   It is the sunny side of existence.

BYRON

FORTUNE will call at the smiling gate.

Japanese Proverb

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These quotes are from ‘Character and Conduct’ A selection of helpful thoughts from various authors arranged for daily reading.

Collected by Constance M Whishaw and first published in 1905 as a follow up to her volume of Daily Readings for members of the Being and Doing Guild who asked for an additional volume

In her preface Whishaw writes:

‘This collection of noble thoughts expressed by men and women of past and present ages who have endeavoured to leave the world a little better than they found it.’

It is my hope in publishing them here readers may be inspired to imitate the example of the authors.