Moral Conduct

Golden Keys

4/30/2023

Picture of several shiny gold-colored keys laid on a dark wood-grain background.

Golden Keys

A bunch of golden keys is mine
     To make each day with gladness shine.
“Good morning,” is the golden key
     That unlocks every door for me.

When evening comes, “Good Night,” I say,
     And close the door of each glad day.
When at the table, “If You Please,”
     I take from off my bunch of keys.

When friends give anything to me,
     I’ll use the, “Thank You,” key,
“Excuse me,” “Beg your pardon, too,”
     When by mistake some harm I do,
Or, if unkindly harm I’ve given,
     With, “Forgive me,” I shall be forgiven.

On a golden ring these keys I’ll bind,
     This is its motto - “Be ye kind.”
I’ll often use each golden key,
     And then a child polite I’ll be.

Hearts, like doors, oft open with ease
     To very, very little keys,
And don’t forget that two are these:
      “I thank you, sir,” and, “If you please.”

by Author Unknown

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Old Bill . . . Ne’er-Do-Well

10/14/2022

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Picture of an ax with the blade thrust into a chopping block.

Old Bill . . . Ne’er-Do-Well

It was sixty years ago that Old Bill taught me a lesson I have never forgotten. I was unappreciative then. But now, although he has been gone for many years, I still need to acknowledge my debt, which I can repay now only with a heartfelt “Thank you.”

Old Bill was a ‘ne’er-do-well.’ He was the ax, hammer, and hatchet handle-maker for the farm community I lived in as a boy. His customers had no doubts about the quality of his handles, insisting they were superior to any factory-made ones. This loyalty, though, did not keep them from calling him a ‘ne’er-do-well.’

To these God-fearing people, clustered around the two churches in Pine Creek Township, a ‘ne’er-do-well’ was anyone who refused to live by the established ‘work ethic.’ To them, such a person was both a shame and a threat. It was not considered a shame to be poor and at times to need some help from a neighbor. Disgrace came to the whole community, though, when a person was able to work and support his family, but was too lazy to do so. If this were a man, he became a threat because of parents’ fears that their boys might be attracted to take up his shiftless ways.

So, it was natural that we boys were discouraged, if not exactly forbidden, from being seen with Old Bill. We all liked to go fishing with him, because he taught us where to find fish, and also a better way to bait a hook. Much as our parents enjoyed the fish we brought home, they were still skeptical about the wisdom of allowing us to go with him very often.

The ’work ethic’ we lived under expected a boy to become responsible for a few small chores by the time he was able to see over the third board in the pigpen fence. Gradually these chores were increased, leaving less and less time for play. By the time he became a young man of twenty-one, he was ready to take a summer job with a neighboring farmer. He would begin the first of March and work until after Thanksgiving Day, for thirty dollars a month plus board and room. After several years of this he usually married one of the neighborhood girls, and the two sets of parents would help them rent eighty acres and start farming for themselves. Yes, life in my boyhood community was well-programmed from the time of a person’s birth.

Old Bill - I never knew his real name - subscribed to very little of this. He had a wife, whom I cannot remember seeing, and several sons who left home as soon as they were able to get away. He, seemingly, had no ambition toward expanding his ax handle business. It was only now and then that he would take a job helping one of the farmers.

Bill was quite content to beg a hickory tree from my grandpa’s timber, every two or three years. This kept him in seasoned wood to make enough handles to supply those who depended on him for them. Business was never very brisk. I never figured out where the food and clothes came from.

At twelve, already somewhat rebellious toward this accepted pattern of life, I was sure I wanted to do something other than farm. It was possible that making ax handles might not be as hard as farming. This was the reason that I, willing to risk parental disapproval, slipped away one hot summer afternoon and went to Old Bill’s shop.

I walked in and announced, “I want to make an ax handle.”

“Hmm,” Old Bill looked me over and drawled, “I don’t rightly think ya kin. ’Tain’t easy, ya know. But I guess ya kin try, ef ya do a good job, an’ finish it.”

He placed a piece of hickory in the workbench vise, handed me a spokeshave, and told me to get started. I didn’t think it would be a very hard job. But after ten minutes of trying to smooth that hard piece of hickory, I was ready to quit. But I had failed to reckon with a side of Old Bill I had never seen before. He shooed me back to the workbench and gave me a lecture I still remember.

“Don’ ya ever, boy,” he began, “start a job ya ain’t plannin’ ter finish. Ya got to sweat over everything ya do. Don’t think yer pappy ain’t sweatin’ over ever’ load o’ hay and ever’ shock o’ oats or corn he sets up. Git back thar’ an’ get ter work!”

Well, I sweated over that ax handle for the longest six hours of my life. Both hands were blistered, and my legs were almost too tired to carry me home. If anyone had tried to put the handle I made into an ax, he would never have been able to hit twice in the same place.

I left the community right after high school and entered the state university. Later I went into retail business. During many tense and sweaty times, I again saw Old Bill’s ax handle shop, and a twelve-year-old boy with blistered hands, and tears in his eyes, laboring over a piece of hickory. This picture was always enough to send me back to face going uphill, and in no small measure helped to bring such success as I achieved.

by Fred J. Miller: as published in “Sunshine Magazine” (September 1973), Volume L, Number 9, pages 8 through 10

Frederick John ‘Fred’ Miller was born on 19 January 1901 in Polo, Ogle County, Illinois, United States of America. He was married to Blanche Ione Snell on 24 June 1927. Mr. Miller was at various times a farmer, a carpenter, a house painter, a grocery clerk, a meat cutter, and a grocery store owner. After selling his grocery store in 1958, he spent 14 years as a Christian pastor of the Church of the Brethren in Hartford City, Indiana. In 1972, he and his wife moved to the Timbercrest Retirement Home, where he took up woodcarving as a pastime. Frederick John ‘Fred’ Miller passed on at 88 years of age on 9 February 1989 in North Manchester, Wabash County, Indiana, United States of America and rests in Servia, Wabash County, Indiana, United States of America.

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The Golden Rule

4/4/2022

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Picture of a child with outstretched hand holding a bouquet of flowers.

The Golden Rule

Speak a kind word when you can;
     Kind words cost but little.
This is far the better plan;
     Human hearts are brittle.

Life is all too short for strife;
     Peace and love are golden,
For they serve to lengthen life,
     So say sages olden!

Let us lend a helping hand
     To each weary brother;
Are we not a pilgrim band,
     Bound to one another?

Our reward shall greater be
     When we get to heaven,
If to duty faithfully
   We have daily striven!

Life to us is like a school
     Where our good behavior
Should be as ‘the Golden Rule’
     Taught us by our Savior -

‘Do to others as you would
     That they should do to you';
Then shall we be truly good,
     And life’s regrets be few!

by John Imrie

John James Imrie was born on 28 May 1846 in Glasgow, Glasgow, Scotland. He moved to Canada in 1871. He became a poet, a printer, and a publisher. He was married to Elizabeth McJanet. John James Imrie passed on at 56 years of age on 10 November 1902 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

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The Ten Cannots

9/7/2021

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Picture of a wilderness area with a small lake surrounded by green leafy trees, green leafy bushes, green grass, and a blue sky with fluffy white clouds above.

The Ten Cannots

1. You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.

2. You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.

3. You cannot help little men by tearing down big men.

4. You cannot lift the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer.

5. You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.

6. You cannot establish sound security on borrowed money.

7. You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.

8. You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than you earn.

9. You cannot build character and courage by destroying men’s initiative and independence.

10. And you cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they can and should do for themselves.

by William J. H. Boetcker: “The Ten Cannots” (1916); type of work: decalogue in pamphlet form

William John Henry Boetcker was born on 17 July 1873 in Altona, Hamburg, Germany. At 18 years of age, he emigrated to the United States of America, where he eventually became a Presbyterian minister with the title Reverend, and an influential public speaker. William John Henry Boetcker passed on at 88 years of age on 12 March 1962 in Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States of America.

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Code of Honor

8/2/2021

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Photograph of Chuck Norris by United States Military Staff Sergeant Tony Foster.

Code of Honor

The Chuck Norris System (formerly known as ‘Chun Kuk Do’ meaning ‘Universal Way’) is a school of Martial Arts. The art includes a code of honor and rules to live by, derived from Mr. Norris’ personal code.

I will develop myself to the maximum of my potential in all ways.

I will forget the mistakes of the past and press on to greater achievements.

I will continually work at developing love, happiness, and loyalty in my family.

I will look for the good in all people and make them feel worthwhile.

If I have nothing good to say about a person, I will say nothing.

I will always be as enthusiastic about the success of others as I am about my own.

I will maintain an attitude of open-mindedness.

I will maintain respect for those in authority and demonstrate this respect at all times.

I will always remain loyal to my God, my country, my family, and my friends.

I will remain highly goal-oriented throughout my life because that positive attitude helps my family, my country, and myself.

by Chuck Norris

Carlos Ray ‘Chuck’ Norris was born on 10 March 1940. He became an American Martial Artist and has been 6-times World Black Belt Karate Champion and an actor. After serving in the United States Air Force, he began his rise to fame as a Martial Artist and founded his own Martial Arts school, called Chun Kuk Do. Mr. Norris has appeared in several action films.

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My Creed

5/6/2021

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My Creed

This is my creed: To do some good,
     To bear my ills without complaining,
To press on as a brave man should
     For honors that are worth the gaining;
To seek no profits where I may,
     By winning them, bring grief to others;
To do some service day by day
     In helping on my toiling brothers.

This is my creed: To close my eyes
     To little faults of those around me;
To strive to be when each day dies
     Some better than the morning found me;
To ask for no unearned applause,
     To cross no river until I reach it;
To see the merit of the cause
     Before I follow those who preach it.

This is my creed: To try to shun
     The sloughs in which the foolish wallow;
To lead where I may be the one
     Whom weaker men should choose to follow.
To keep my standards always high,
     To find my task and always do it:
This is my creed - I wish that I
     Could learn to shape my action to it.

by S. E. Kiser

Samuel Ellsworth Kiser, also known as S. E. Kiser, was born on 2 February 1862 in Shippenville, Pennsylvania, United States of America. He was married to Mildred M. Palmer in Cleveland, Ohio, where he also started his career as a newspaperman. He became a writer, an editor, and a poet. From 1900 to 1914, he was an editorial and special writer for the Chicago “Record-Herald,” the paper in which his regular column “Whimwhams and Sentiment” appeared (‘whimwhams’ meaning ‘oddities’). He made regular written contributions to “Harper’s Magazine” and was the author of the children’s storybook, “The Happy Duck-Lucks” (1911). Much of his writing and poetry was either whimsical or inspirational in nature. He designed and built the world’s first wastebasket basketball hoop. Samuel Ellsworth Kiser passed on at 79 years of age on 30 January 1942 in Cleveland, Ohio, United States of America.

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Drop a Pebble in the Water

2/24/2021

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Drop a Pebble in the Water

Drop a pebble in the water: just a splash, and it is gone;
     But there’s half-a-hundred ripples circling on and on and on,
Spreading, spreading from the center, flowing on out to the sea.
     And there is no way of telling where the end is going to be.

Drop a pebble in the water: in a minute you forget,
     But there’s little waves a-flowing, and there’s ripples circling yet,
And those little waves a-flowing to a great big wave have grown;
     You’ve disturbed a mighty river just by dropping in a stone.

Drop an unkind word, or careless: in a minute it is gone;
     But there’s half-a-hundred ripples circling on and on and on.
They keep spreading, spreading, spreading from the center as they go,
     And there is no way to stop them, once you’ve started them to flow.

Drop an unkind word, or careless: in a minute you forget;
     But there’s little waves a-flowing, and there’s ripples circling yet,
And perhaps in some sad heart a mighty wave of tears you’ve stirred,
     And disturbed a life was happy ere you dropped that unkind word.

Drop a word of cheer and kindness: just a flash and it is gone;
     But there’s half-a-hundred ripples circling on and on and on,
Bearing hope and joy and comfort on each splashing, dashing wave
     Till you wouldn’t believe the volume of the one kind word you gave.

Drop a word of cheer and kindness: in a minute you forget;
     But there’s gladness still a-swelling, and there’s joy a-circling yet,
And you’ve rolled a wave of comfort whose sweet music can be heard
     Over miles and miles of water just by dropping one kind word.

by James W. Foley: as published in the bulletin (1911) of the Market Street Church of Christ in Athens, Alabama, United States of America

James William Foley was born on 4 February 1874 in Saint Louis, Missouri, United States of America. He became a newspaperman and a poet, and was a Poet Laureate of North Dakota. He wrote the poem, “Drop a Pebble in the Water,” for his two adolescent sons. James William Foley passed on at 65 years of age on 19 May 1939 in Los Angeles, California, United States of America.

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Watch Your Thoughts

1/15/2021

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Watch Your Thoughts

Watch your thoughts,
     for they become your words.
Watch your words,
     for they become your actions.
Watch your actions,
     for they become your habits.
Watch your habits,
     for they become your character.
Watch your character,
     for it becomes your destiny.

by Author Unknown

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Myself

3/14/2020

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Myself

I have to live with myself, and so
     I want to be fit for myself to know;
I want to be able as days go by
     Always to look myself straight in the eye;

I don’t want to stand with the setting sun
     And hate myself for the things I’ve done.
I don’t want to keep on a closet shelf
     A lot of secrets about myself,

And fool myself as I come and go
     Into thinking that nobody else will know
The kind of a man I really am;
     I don’t want to dress myself up in sham.

I want to go out with my head erect,
     I want to deserve all men’s respect;
But here in the struggle for fame and pelf,
     I want to be able to like myself.

I don’t want to think as I come and go
     That I’m bluster and bluff and empty show.
I never can hide myself from me,
     I see what others may never see,

I know what others may never know,
     I never can fool myself - and so,
Whatever happens, I want to be
     Self-respecting and conscience free.

by Edgar A. Guest

Edgar Albert ‘Eddie’ Guest was born on 20 August 1881 in Birmingham, England. He immigrated with his family to the United States of America in 1891. From his first published work in the “Detroit Free Press” until his passing in 1959, he penned some 11,000 poems that were syndicated in 300 newspapers and collected into more than twenty books. Mr. Guest is reputed to have had a new poem published in a newspaper every day for more than thirty years. He became known as ‘The People’s Poet,’ writing poems that were of a sentimental and optimistic nature. Edgar Albert ‘Eddie’ Guest passed on at 77 years of age on 5 August 1959 in Detroit, Michigan, United States of America.

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Gossiping and Gossipers

3/12/2020

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“It isn’t what they say about you, it’s what they whisper.” -Errol Flynn (1909 - 1959)

Knock, knock.
Who’s there?
Lena.
Lena, who?
Lena little closer, I want to tell you something.

“If you hear that someone is speaking ill of you, instead of trying to defend yourself, you should say: ‘He obviously does not know me very well, since there are so many other faults he could have mentioned.’” -Epictetus (C.E. 55 - C.E. 135): “The Enchiridion” (about C.E. 135)

“I used to hate being gossiped about. But now when I hear people talking about me, I console myself with what my mother once told me: ‘Birds peck at the best fruit’.” -Author Unknown

“Life would be a perpetual flea hunt if a man were obliged to run down all the innuendoes, inveracities, insinuations, and misrepresentations which are uttered against him.” -Henry Ward Beecher (1813 - 1887)

“Anyone can find the dirt in someone. Be the one that finds the gold.” -Author Unknown: attributed but not substantiated to “The Bible,” ‘Proverbs,’ chapter 11, verse 27

“If you are going to talk about someone else, talk about their virtues and good qualities. Didn’t Mary look great in that dress today? That is a great color on her. Wasn’t that a great meal she cooked? That is the way to have a positive conversation.” -Author Unknown

“Gossip travels fast and can wreck lives. I’m not driving that vehicle.” -Susan Gale

“I want to be around people who do things. I don’t want to be around people anymore who judge or talk about what people do. I want to be around people who dream, and support, and do things.” -Amy Poehler (born 1971)

“A life filled with silly social drama and gossip indicates that a person is disconnected from purpose and lacking meaningful goals. People on a path of purpose don’t have time for drama.” -Brendon Burchard (born 1977): “The Charge” (2012)

Polly: What tongue can wag and yet never utters a word of gossip?
Anna: The tongue of a shoe.

Riddle: What’s the difference between a gossip and a mirror?
Solution: One speaks without reflecting, and the other reflects without speaking.

“A man is likely to mind his own business when it is worth minding. When it is not, he takes his mind off his own meaningless affairs by minding other people’s business.” -Eric Hoffer (1902 - 1983): “The True Believer” (1951), Section 10

“The rumor grows as it goes.” [English translation]
“Fama crescit eundo.” [original Latin]
-Vergil (Publius Vergilius Maro, also known as Virgil)

A ‘quidnunc’ (pronounced kwid-nuhngk) is a person who is eager to know the latest news and gossip. The word is derived from the Latin phrase ‘Quid nunc?’ meaning ‘What now?’ Another name for a chronically nosy person is ‘busybody.’

“Rest satisfied with doing well, and leave others to talk of you as they please.” -Pythagoras (about 570 B.C.E. - about 495 B.C.E.): as attributed in Tryon Edwards (under pseudonym Everard Berkeley): “The World’s Laconics, Or, The Best Thoughts of the Best Authors” (1853), page 71; ‘laconics’ meaning ‘in few words’

Gossip

There is so much good in the worst of us,
And so much bad in the best of us,
That it hardly becomes any of us
To talk about the rest of us.

by Edward Wallis Hoch (1849 - 1925)

“If people speak ill of you, live so that no one will believe them.” -Plato (about 427 B.C.E. - about 347 B.C.E.)

A truth that’s told with bad intent
Beats all the lies you can invent.
-William Blake (1757 - 1827): “Auguries of Innocence” (1803); type of work: poem

“If evil be said of thee, and if it be true, correct thyself; if it be a lie, laugh at it.” -Epictetus (C.E. 55 - C.E. 135)

“I resolve to speak ill of no man whatever, not even in a matter of truth; but rather by some means excuse the faults I hear charged upon others, and upon proper occasions speak all the good I know of everybody.” -Ben Franklin (Benjamin ‘Ben’ Franklin (1706 - 1790))

“A guy or gal can’t keep people from having a bad opinion of him or her, but he or she can keep them from being right about it.” -Author Unknown

“Whoever gossips to you will gossip about you.” -Author Unknown: Spanish proverb

“Of what does not concern you say nothing, good or bad.” -Author Unknown:
Italian proverb

“The tongue is a small thing, but what enormous damage it can do.” -Author Unknown: as quoted in “The Bible” (TLB), ‘James,’ chapter 3, verse 5

Who Am I?

I am more deadly than the screaming shells from the howitzer.
I win without killing.
I tear down homes, break hearts, and wreck lives.
I travel on the wings of the wind.
No innocence is strong enough to intimidate me, no purity pure enough to daunt me.
I have no regard for truth, no respect for justice, no mercy for the defenseless.
My victims are as numerous as the sands of the sea, and often as innocent.
I never forget and never forgive.
My name is . . . gossip.

by Morgan Blake (William Morgan ‘Morgan’ Blake (1889 - 1953))

“People with narrow minds usually have broad tongues.” -Author Unknown

“Everybody’s business is nobody’s business.” -Thomas Babington Macaulay (1800 - 1859)

“It’s a pity, but owing to the pull of gravity, it takes less energy to open the mouth than to close it.” -Author Unknown

“Do not mind anything that anyone tells you about anyone else. Judge everyone and everything for yourself.” -Henry James (Henry James, Junior (1843 - 1916))

“You can tell more about a person by what he says about others than you can by what others say about him.” -Leo Aikman (James Leo ‘Leo’ Aikman (1908 - 1978))

“Never take pleasure in the misfortune of others.” -Author Unknown

“People will question all the good things they hear about you, but believe all the bad without a second thought.” -Author Unknown

“I hate to spread rumors - but what else can one do with them?” -Amanda Lear (born 1939)

“All truths are not to be told.” -George Herbert (1593 - 1633): “Jacula Prudentum” (“Outlandish Proverbs”) (1651)

“Gossip: A person who will never tell a lie if the truth will do more damage.” -Author Unknown

“To speak ill of others is a dishonest way of praising ourselves; let us be above such transparent egotism. If you can’t say good and encouraging things, say nothing. Nothing is often a good thing to do, and always a clever thing to say.” -Will Durant (William James ‘Will’ Durant (1885 - 1981)) and Ariel Durant (1898 - 1981): “We Have a Right to Be Happy Today” (7 June 1958), commencement address at the Webb School of Claremont, California, United States of America

“We probably wouldn’t worry about what people think of us if we could know how seldom they do.” -Olin Miller (1918 - 2002)

“If people talk behind your back, it only means you are two steps ahead.” -Author Unknown

“If you haven’t got anything nice to say about anybody, come sit next to me.” -Alice Roosevelt Longworth (Alice Lee Roosevelt Longworth (1884 - 1980))

“Make somebody happy today. Mind your own business.” -Ann Landers (pseudonym of Esther Pauline ‘Eppie’ Lederer (1918 - 2002))

“It is one of my sources of happiness never to desire a knowledge of other people’s business.” -Dolley Madison (Dolley Payne Todd Madison (1768 - 1849))

Gossip: A person with a keen sense of rumor.

The flying Rumors gather’d as they roll’d,
Scarce any Tale was sooner heard than told;
And all who told it, added something new,
And all who heard it, made Enlargements too,
In ev’ry Ear it spread, on ev’ry Tongue it grew.
-Alexander Pope (1688 - 1744)

“Empty vessels make the most sound.” -Author Unknown

What does the Bible say about gossip? “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” -Author Unknown: “The Bible” (English Standard Version), ‘Exodus,’ chapter 20, verse 16

“A lot of problems in the world would disappear if we talked to each other instead of about each other.” -Author Unknown

“A rumor without a leg to stand on will get around some other way.” -John Tudor

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UnSaying My Words

Once there were two boys that were very good friends. They explored, fished, and hunted together. They were both great athletes and well-liked by all in their village.

In their village, there was also a young girl that they both began to like, and they competed to be noticed by her. One of the boys, out of jealousy, told the girl that the other boy had done something very bad which would disgrace him and his family. This was completely untrue.

Afterwards, the boy felt ashamed of what he had done. He told the girl that he had lied and he apologized to his friend for what he had said.

But, as he walked around the village, he could hear others repeating the false words he had spoken about his friend. Very troubled by this, he went to a wise elderly man for advice.

“How can I undo this terrible thing I have done?” he asked. The wise man told him, “Shoot three ducks and three geese. Pull off all their feathers and put them in a leather bag. Bring the bag and the birds to me.” The boy did this. He gave the birds to the wise man and the wise man said, “Now, take the bag of feathers to the top of a high mountain, open it, and shake out all the feathers. Then return here.”

The boy climbed the mountain, released all the feathers into the wind, and returned to the wise man.

The wise man said, “Now, go back up the mountain and pick up every single feather you released and put them back in your bag.” The boy replied, “But, that is not possible. The feathers have blown far away. I can never recover all of them.”

The wise man said, “So it is with your words.”

Think about the impact of your words before you say them. You cannot take back something you have said.

by Author Unknown

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“Gossip needn’t be false to be evil - there’s a lot of truth that shouldn’t be passed around.” -Frank A. Clark (Frank Atherton Clark (1911 - 1991))

“Ignore those people who are always talking behind your back - that’s where they belong, behind your back.” -Author Unknown

“Gossip is always a personal confession either of malice or imbecility; it is a low, frivolous, and too often a dirty business. - There are neighborhoods where it rages like a pest; churches are split in pieces by it, and neighbors made enemies for life. - Let the young avoid or cure it while they may.” -Josiah Gilbert Holland (1819 - 1881)

“People who have little to do are excessive talkers.” -Author Unknown

Oh, the things that she said,
To a person or two,
Until all of the town
Knew the dirt that she knew.
-Author Unknown

“Nobody raises his own reputation by lowering that of others.” -Author Unknown

“The best apology against false accusers is silence and sufferance, and honest deeds set against dishonest words.” -John Milton (1608 - 1674): “An Apology for Smectymnuus” (1642)

“Busy people are never busybodies.” -Ethel Watts Mumford (1876 - 1940)

“Drive away and never endure Tale-bearers: Whoever entertains thee with the Faults of others, designs to serve thee in the same Kind.” -Thomas Fuller (1654 - 1734): “Introductio ad prudentiam” (1727), Part II, number 2057

“Today’s gossip is tomorrow’s headline.” -Walter Winchell (1897 - 1972)

“For such is the weakness of human nature, alas, that evil is often more readily believed and spoken of another than good. But perfect men do not easily believe every tale that is told them, for they know that man’s nature is prone to evil, and his words to deception.” -Thomas à Kempis (about 1379 - 1471): “The Imitation of Christ” (about 1420), Book 1, chapter 4, ‘On Prudence in Action’

“We cannot control the evil tongues of others; but a good life enables us to disregard them.” -Cato the Elder (Marcus Porcius Cato (233 B.C.E. - 148 B.C.E.))

This is MFOL! . . . where everything old is new again . . . except old gossip . . . which never should have been told in the first place . . .

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Likes and Dislikes

12/8/2019

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Likes and Dislikes

I had a little talk today -
     An argument with Dan and Ike:
First Dan, he said ’twas not his way
     To do the things he didn’t like.

And Ike, he said that Dan was wrong;
     That only cowards dodged and hid.
Because it made him brave and strong,
     The things he didn’t like, he did!

But then I showed to Ike and Dan
     An easy way between the two:
I always try, as best I can,
     To like the things I have to do.

by Arthur Guiterman: as published in “Youth’s Companion”

Arthur Guiterman born on 20 November 1871 in Vienna, Austria to American parents. He became an American writer and poet, as well as an editor of the “Woman’s Home Companion” and the “Literary Digest” magazines. Arthur Guiterman passed on at 71 years of age on 11 January 1943 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America.

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Speak the Truth

4/14/2019

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Speak the Truth

Be the matter what it may,
     Always speak the truth;
Whether work or whether play,
     Always speak the truth.
Never from this rule depart,
     Grave it deeply on your heart;
Written ’tis in Virtue’s chart:
     Always speak the truth.

There’s a charm in verity -
     Always speak the truth;
There is meanness in a lie -
     Always speak the truth.
He is but a coward slave
     Who, a present pain to waive,
Stoops to falsehood: then be brave,
     Always speak the truth.

Falsehood seldom stands alone -
     Always speak the truth;
One begets another one -
     Always speak the truth.
Falsehood all the soul degrades,
     ’Tis a sin from which proceed
Greater sins and darker deeds;
     Always speak the truth.

When you’re wrong the folly own;
     Always speak the truth:
Here’s a victory to be won;
     Always speak the truth.
He who speaks with lying-tongue
     Adds to wrong a greater wrong:
Then with courage true and strong
     Always - speak the truth.

by Author Unknown

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The Wreckers

1/15/2019

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The Wreckers

I watched them tearing a building down,
     A gang of men in a busy town.
With a ho-heave-ho and lusty yell,
     They swung a beam and a sidewall fell.

I asked the foreman, “Are these men skilled,
     As the men you’d hire if you had to build?”
He gave me a laugh and said, “No indeed!
     Just common labor is all I need.”

“I can easily wreck in a day or two
     What builders have taken a year to do.”
And I thought to myself as I went my way,
     Which of these two roles have I tried to play?

Am I a builder who works with care,
     Measuring life by the rule and square?
Or am I a wrecker who walks the town,
     Content with the labor of tearing down?

by Edgar A. Guest

Edgar Albert ‘Eddie’ Guest was born on 20 August 1881 in Birmingham, England. He immigrated with his family to America in 1891. From his first published work in the “Detroit Free Press” until his death in 1959, he penned some 11,000 poems that were syndicated in 300 newspapers and collected in more than twenty books. Mr. Guest is reputed to have had a new poem published in a newspaper every day for more than thirty years. He became known as ‘The People’s Poet,’ writing poems that were of a sentimental and optimistic nature. Edgar Albert ‘Eddie’ Guest passed on at 77 years of age on 5 August 1959 in Detroit, Michigan, United States of America.

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The Spoken Word - “Pass It On!”

1/13/2019

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The Spoken Word - “Pass It On!”

Life’s true treasures are those we can share with
others without ever reducing our own supply.
Traits like kindness, courage, and happiness
have no expiration dates. They can be
transferred from life to life and shared from
generation to generation, with each new
reflection further brightening the world.

Among the most ennobling aspects of the human
family is our ability to share what we feel and to
teach what we know. By sharing the things that
have enriched our lives, we make the world a
better place. Through explanation and example,
we can increase our own joy by offering it to
others. As one expressed it: “Have you had a
kindness shown? Pass it on!”

The inherent powers of kindness, courage, and
happiness lie in their ability to reproduce
themselves when shared. Even the simplest acts
of generosity and goodness may be amplified by
grateful human hearts until they reach eternity. In
ever-widening ripples - like those that silently
spread after a rock is thrown into still pond - the
influence of doing good to a single individual
may expand in every direction.

By passing on the best that we know and the
best that we are, we are changing the
world - sometimes even during our daily
routines. A new mother gently rocks her baby to
sleep with a lullaby she learned from her
grandmother. In snarled traffic a patient driver
allows someone to merge, and that car’s grateful
driver extends the same courtesy to others.
Members of a family extend the same warm
welcome they received when they moved into
the neighborhood to the next new arrivals.

Each day we have the chance to blaze trails of
character and compassion that our families can
follow. Each day we can share our happiness
with friends and offer kindness to strangers. And
each day we can be courageous and patient in
enduring our trials. Ultimately, what we pass on
to others will outlive us.

We become architects of eternity when we live
the present moment well, using unselfish hands
to share lasting values and to create timeless
memories. Some of life’s most enduring and
inspiring gifts will forever bless the lives of others
if we will simply remember to pass them on.

by Lloyd D. Newell (1 March 1998)

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The Way to Be Happy

1/11/2019

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The Way to Be Happy

How pleasant it is at the end of the day,
     No follies to have to repent,
But reflect on the past and be able to say,
     My time has been properly spent!

When I’ve done all my business with patience and care,
     And been good, and obliging, and kind,
I lie on my pillow and sleep away there,
     With a happy and peaceable mind.

Instead of all this, if it must be confest,
     That I careless and idle have been,
I lie down as usual, and go to my rest,
     But feel discontented within.

Then as I dislike all the trouble I’ve had,
     In future I’ll try to prevent it,
For I never am naughty without being sad,
     Or good - without being contented.

by Ann Taylor and Jane Taylor

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The Boy Who Never Told a Lie

1/10/2019

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The Boy Who Never Told a Lie

Once there was a little boy,
     With curly-cut hair and pleasant eye
A boy who always told the truth,
     And never, never told a lie.

And when he trotted off to school,
     The children all about would cry,
“There goes the curly-headed boy -
     The boy that never tells a lie.”

And everybody loved him so,
     Because he always told the truth,
That every day, as he grew up,
     ’Twas said, “There goes the honest youth.”

And when the people that stood near
     Would turn to ask the reason why,
The answer would be always this:
     “Because he never tells a lie.”

by Author Unknown

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Things Worth While

12/27/2018

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Things Worth While

Don’t ask, “Has the world been a friend to me?”
     But, “Have I to the world been true?”
’Tis not what you get, but what you give
     That makes life worth while to you.

’Tis the kind word said to the little child
     As you wiped its tears away
And the smile you brought to some careworn face
     That really lights up your day.

’Tis the hand you clasp with an honest grasp
     That gives you a hearty thrill,
’Tis the good you pour into other lives
     That comes back your own to fill.

’Tis the dregs you drain from another’s cup
     That makes your own seem sweet
And the hours you give to your fellow men
     That make your own life complete.

’Tis the burdens you help another bear
     That make your own seem light,
’Tis the danger seen for another’s feet
     That shows you the path to right.

’Tis the good you do each passing day
     With a heart that’s sincere and true,
For through giving the world your very best
     Its best will return to you.

by Author Unknown

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If We Only Understood

12/22/2018

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If We Only Understood

There is need of kinder treatment
   to be given by us all,
There is need that we remember
   when someone may ere and fall.
That within the hidden motive
   lies the ill, or lies the good,
We would treat each kinder
   if we only understood.

If we knew the cares of others,
   knew their heartaches, knew the strain,
Under which they may be living,
   knew their losses, knew their pain.
We would treat each kinder,
   I am sure that each one could,
We would treat each other kinder,
   if we only understood.

by Author Unknown

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Suppose!

12/1/2018

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Suppose!

Suppose, my little lady,
     Your doll should break her head,
Could you make it whole by crying
     Till your eyes and nose are red?
And wouldn’t it be pleasanter
   To treat it as a joke,
And say you’re glad ’twas Dolly’s,
     And not your head that broke?

Suppose you’re dressed for walking,
    And the rain comes pouring down,
Will it clear off any sooner
    Because you scold and frown?
And wouldn’t it be nicer
    For you to smile than pout,
And so make sunshine in the house
    When there is none without?

Suppose your task, my little man,
    Is very hard to get,
Will it make it any easier
     For you to sit and fret?
And wouldn’t it be wiser
     Than waiting, like a dunce,
To go to work in earnest
   And learn the thing at once?

Suppose that some boys have a horse,
     And some a coach and pair,
Will it tire you less while walking
    To say, “It isn’t fair?”
And wouldn’t it be nobler
     To keep your temper sweet,
And in your heart be thankful
     You can walk upon your feet?

And suppose the world don’t please you,
   Nor the way some people do,
Do you think the whole creation
     Will be altered just for you?
And isn’t it, my boy or girl,
     The wisest, bravest plan,
Whatever comes, or doesn’t come,
   To do the best you can?

by Phoebe Cary

Phoebe Cary was born on 4 September 1824 in Mount Healthy, Ohio, United States of America. She became a poet and a newspaper editor. She was a younger sister of the poet Alice Cary (1820 - 1871). Phoebe Cary passed on at 47 years of age on 31 July 1871 in Newport, Rhode Island, United States of America.

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Law Versus Moral Values

11/30/2018

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Law Versus Moral Values

A civilized society’s first line of defense is not the law, police and courts, but customs, traditions and moral values. Behavioral norms, mostly transmitted by example, word of mouth, and religious teachings, represent a body of wisdom distilled over the ages through experience and trial and error.

Policemen and laws can never replace customs, traditions, and moral values as a means for regulating human behavior. At best, the police and criminal justice system are the last desperate line of defense for a civilized society. Our increased reliance on laws to regulate behavior is a measure of how uncivilized we’ve become.

by Walter E. Williams, professor of economics at George Mason University

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Who Am I?

11/29/2018

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Who Am I?

I am seldom considered, though I do more to influence everything about you than virtually any one thing in your life. I often control the time you get up in the morning, the time you go to sleep, what you eat and drink and the very thought that runs through your head. I can make you either happy or sad, loving or hateful, cheerful or remorseful, congenial or spiteful and in doing so, control the very capacity that you have for success.

No, you don’t often think of me - instead you blame the problem I create on the shortcoming of others, or the state of the economy, or your family or a million other reasons. Often at times unable to find anyone else to blame you look for shortcomings within yourself on which to lay the blame.

When my impact on your life fully is considered in your every thought and action, when you are mindful of my awesome power, when you nurture and groom me for positive use in your life, I can become more contagious than the most prolific disease ever witnessed by man. My influence will spread to every person you come in contact with.

Groomed and nurtured in a positive manner there will be no person or obstacle that can stand in the way of my success or fail to be impacted for the better.

Who am I? I Am Your Attitude.

by Author Unknown

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Politeness

11/24/2018

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Politeness

Good little boys should never say
     “I will,” and “Give me these”;
O, no! that never is the way,
     But “Mother, if you please.”

And “If you please,” to Sister Ann
     Good boys to say are ready;
And, “Yes, sir,” to a Gentleman,
     And, “Yes, ma’am,” to a Lady.

by Elizabeth Turner

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The Thirteen Virtues of Benjamin Franklin

11/23/2018

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The Thirteen Virtues of Benjamin Franklin

At 20 years of age, in 1726, Benjamin Franklin devised a list of 13 virtues to keep for as long as possible, in an attempt to, “live without committing any fault at any time.” He then focused on one virtue each week and kept notes on his progress. His list follows.

Temperance. Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation.

Silence. Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation.

Order. Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time.

Resolution. Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.

Frugality. Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; that is, waste nothing.

Industry. Lose no time; be always employed in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions.

Sincerity. Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly, and, if you speak, speak accordingly.

Justice. Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty.

Moderation. Avoid extremes; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve.

Cleanliness. Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, clothes, or habitation.

Chastity. Rarely use venery but for health or offspring; never to dullness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another’s peace or reputation.

Tranquility. Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable.

Humility. Imitate Jesus and Socrates.

by Benjamin Franklin: “The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin” (French edition (1789), English edition (1793))

Benjamin ‘Ben’ Franklin was born on 7 January 1706 in Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America. He became a writer, a printer, a publisher, a satirist, a political theorist, a politician, a postmaster, a scientist, an inventor, and a diplomat. He was the American ambassador to France, inventor of bifocal eyeglasses (1780), publisher of Poor Richard’s Almanack (1732 - 1757), and an American Revolutionary War era statesman. He is included among the founders of the United States of America. Benjamin ‘Ben’ Franklin passed on at 84 years of age on 17 April 1790.

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One Hundred Per Cent

11/22/2018

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One Hundred Per Cent

“I should like to be rich,” said young Tom, with a sigh;
     “There are so many things I am aching to buy!
Oh, would I had money, and would it were lent,
     To good steady payers, at fifteen per cent!”

Now it chanced a wise man, just in passing, had heard
     Tom’s sighs and repining, each covetous word;
So he took the young fellow astride of his knee,
     And taught him to grow just as rich as could be.

And this way ’twas done. Every once in a while
     Tom would lend to some neighbor - a sunshiny smile;
And every time, for the smile he had lent,
     Tom got two in return. That’s one hundred per cent!

Bright greetings, warm kisses, kind deeds on the sly,
     All bring him an interest equally high;
And before many days I am bold to declare,
     You will find that young Tom is a true millionaire.

by Author Unknown

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Boys Wanted

11/6/2018

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Boys Wanted

Boys of spirit, boys of will,
     Boys of muscle, brain, and power,
Fit to cope with anything,
     These are wanted every hour.

Not the weak and whining drones,
     Who all troubles magnify;
Not the watchword of, “I can’t,”
     But the nobler one, “I’ll try.”

Do whate’er you have to do
     With a true and earnest zeal;
Bend your sinews to the task,
     “Put your shoulders to the wheel.”

Though your duty may be hard,
     Look not on it as an ill;
If it be an honest task,
     Do it with an honest will.

In the workshop, on the farm,
     At the desk, where’er you be,
From your future efforts, boys,
     Comes a nation’s destiny.

by Author Unknown

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