Chapter L: Larcom

The situation that has not its duty, its ideal, was never yet occupied by man. Yes, here, in this poor, miserable, hampered, despicable Actual, wherein thou even now standest, here or nowhere is thy Ideal: work it out therefrom; and working, believe, live, be free. Fool! the Ideal is in thyself, the impediment too is in thyself: thy condition is but the stuff thou art to shape that same Ideal out of: what matters whether such stuff be of this sort or that, so the form thou givest it be heroic, be poetic. O thou that pinest in the imprisonment of the Actual, and criest bitterly to the gods for a kingdom wherein to rule and create, know this of a truth: the thing thou seekest is already with thee, "here or nowhere," couldst thou only see!

T. CARLYLE.

October 2

_I am purposed that my mouth shall not transgress_.--PS. xvii. 3.

_In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin: but he that refraineth his lips is wise_.--PROV. x. 19.

Prune thou thy words; the thoughts control
That o'er thee swell and throng;
They will condense within thy soul,
And change to purpose strong.

J. H. NEWMAN.

Few men suspect how much mere talk fritters away spiritual energy,--that which should be spent in action, spends itself in words. Hence he who restrains that love of talk, lays up a fund of spiritual strength.

F. W. ROBERTSON.

Do not flatter yourself that your thoughts are under due control, your desires properly regulated, or your dispositions subject as they should be to Christian principle, if your intercourse with others consists mainly of frivolous gossip, impertinent anecdotes, speculations on the character and affairs of your neighbors, the repetition of former conversations, or a discussion of the current petty scandal of society; much less, if you allow yourself in careless exaggeration on all these points, and that grievous inattention to exact truth, which is apt to attend the statements of those whose conversation is made up of these materials.

H. WARE, JR.

October 3

_Judge not, that ye be not judged_.--MATT. vii. 1.

_Why beboldest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but perceivest not the beam that is in thine own eye_?--LUKE vi. 41.

Judge not; the workings of his brain
And of his heart thou canst not see;
What looks to thy dim eyes a stain,
In God's pure light may only be
A scar, brought from some well-won field,
Where thou wouldst only faint and yield.

ADELAIDE A. PROCTER.

When you behold an aspect for whose constant gloom and frown you cannot account, whose unvarying cloud exasperates you by its apparent causelessness, be sure that there is a canker somewhere, and a canker not the less deeply corroding because concealed.

CHARLOTTE BRONTE.

While we are coldly discussing a man's career, sneering at his mistakes, blaming his rashness, and labelling his opinions--"Evangelical and narrow," or "Latitudinarian and Pantheistic," or "Anglican and supercilious"--that man, in his solitude, is perhaps shedding hot tears because his sacrifice is a hard one, because strength and patience are failing him to speak the difficult word, and do the difficult deed.

GEORGE ELIOT.

October 4

_Be strong, and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest_.--JOSH. i. 9.

By Thine unerring Spirit led,
We shall not in the desert stray;
We shall not full direction need,
Nor miss our providential way;
As far from danger as from fear,
While love, almighty love, is near.

CHARLES WESLEY.

Watch your way then, as a cautious traveller; and don't be gazing at that mountain or river in the distance, and saying, "How shall I ever get over them?" but keep to the present _little inch_ that is before you, and accomplish _that_ in the little moment that belongs to it. The mountain and the river can only be passed in the same way; and, when you come to them, you will come to the light and strength that belong to them.