Precept and Practice – JUNE 20 – The Unexpected

When we say ‘It is the unexpected that happens,’ we are apt to apply the remark to unfortunate occurrences, but it is just as true in regard to those happy incidents that brighten the days and give the spirit a new uplift and outlook.   We say that no one can forecast what awaits us in the future, because so many undeterminate factors enter into the problem.

And for that very reason we get in the way of imagining that the days are going to bring us fresh disappointments or bereavements, but as a matter of experience that is by no means always the case.   We have often found that better fortune was in store for us than we dreamed of, and that when things looked darkest with us we were just upon the point of turning a corner beyond which was radiant brightness.

A larger part of our troubles than we often think can be traced to the habit of not allowing for the blessings that may be hidden from us in the coming day.   If, often it does not arrive, neither by any means does the anticipated evil always come.   If you are going to make your present happiness depend on incalculable elements, you might as well be happy as miserable.

If you are bound to consume yourself with worry, you had better confine the subject of it to those you know something about.

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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