Precept & Practice – MAY 21 – Small Courtesies

We do not always perceive that even the writing of a note of congratulation, the fabrication of something intended as an offering of affection, our necessary intercourse with characters which have no congeniality with our own, or hours apparently trifled away in the domestic circle, may be made by us the performance of a most sacred and blessed work;  even the carrying out, after our feeble measure, of the design of God for the increase of happiness.

Sarah W. Stephen

It is often necessary and kind rather to write letters that amount to nothing than not to write at all

Goethe

The end of life is not a thought, but an action – to educate our own hearts by deeds of Love, and to be the instrument of blessing to our brother men.

The Reverend F. W. Robertson

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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