Precept and Practice – AUGUST 29 – Arguments

‘He is one of the few human beings I have known who will often in the heat of an argument see and straightway confess that he is in the wrong, instead of trying to shift his ground or use any other device of vanity,’

(…..said George Eliot)

Why is it people are so loth to admit they are in the wrong?   They deceive no one by ‘holding out,’ and yet it is apparently too much of a strain on their honesty, not to say decency, to admit frankly when they are in error.

There is no one but feels the refreshingness of a spirit staunch enough to be true in ‘word contests,’ yet few there are who are not willing to leave to others this ingenuousness.

(Eleanor Root)

No great man ever minds stooping.

(Ruskin)

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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