Precept & Practice – JANUARY 12 – Greatly Begin
Greatly begin! though thou have time
But for a line, be that sublime,—
Not failure, but low aim is crime.
J. R. Lowell
By all means begin your folio; even if the doctor does not give you a year, even if he hesitates about a month, make one brave push and see what can be accomplished in a week. It is not only in finished undertakings that we ought to honour useful labour. A spirit goes out of the man who means execution, which outlives the most untimely ending. All who have meant good work with their whole hearts have done good work, although they may die before they have the time to sign it.
R. L. Stevenson
It is better to busy one’s-self about the smallest thing in the world than to treat a half-hour as worthless.
Goethe
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From the Introduction to Precept and Practice
The kindly welcome given to my other little books, ‘Being and Doing’ and ‘Character and Conduct,’ must be my excuse for adding another collection of extracts to the number now in circulation.
The quotations are gathered from the books of many earnest thinkers, and deal with Life in all its length and breadth, with ourselves, our characters, our plain unvarnished faults and weaknesses, our often untoward circumstances, and with all that drags us down;- with our purposes, our religion, our love and friendships, and with all that uplifts us;- with our relation to others, our influence and responsibilities, and finally with those stages of our journey which bring us to the Road’s Last Turn and to the Silent Land.
CONSTANCE M. WHISHAW
Suffolk Vicar 
Ah, what a splendid summons to action—like being handed a quill by Stevenson himself while Goethe taps his pocket watch with a knowing smile. I half imagine Lowell whispering, “Greatly begin… or at least doodle ambitiously!” Such a gathering of literary sages! It feels like they’re all perched in a celestial tea room, nudging us toward glory one wise nudge at a time.
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