"TRIFLES"
[Sidenote: It is ours to climb and dare.--FREDERICK LAWRENCE KNOWLES.]
"Trifles make perfection, but perfection is no trifle." The saying is
old but the truth is ever new.
[Sidenote: Oh, sweet is life when youth is in the blood.--DENIS
MCCARTHY.]
It is the little things that count, day by day, in the forming of
character. The way in which we employ our moments finally becomes the
way in which we employ our years.
[Sidenote: Down in the busy thoroughfares are boys the world shall know
some day.--SAMUEL ELLSWORTH KISER.]
As a matter of course every boy will, if he can, do some big, beautiful
thing out there in the years to come. But it is a foregone conclusion
that every boy must do a vast number of little things before he shall
do the larger things. The "trifles" are always at hand waiting to be
done, day after day, year after year. And it is the way in which a boy
does these little things that gives him the standing he holds in the
estimation of those with whom he is intimately associated.
[Sidenote: To him who presses on, at each degree new visions
rise.--JULIA WARD HOWE.]
"As the twig is bent, the tree's inclined." A habit is easy to form
but hard to break. Yet the strongest of habits are formed just a little
at a time--a small strand is added each day until there is a mighty
cable that cannot be broken except by a mighty effort. If it is a good
habit, its strength makes it all the better! If it is a bad habit, its
strength makes it so much the worse.
[Sidenote: To doubt is failure, and to dare, success.--FREDERICK
LAWRENCE KNOWLES.]
[Sidenote: It's nothing against you to fall down flat, but to lie there
is disgrace.--EDMUND VANCE COOKE.]
Where is the boy who cannot see the fallacy in such illogical reasoning
as this: "Now, I will be careless while I am young so that I may be
careful when I am older. I will remain ignorant and poorly informed
while I am a boy, so that I may be wise when I am a man. I will bend
one way while I am a twig so that I shall incline in another direction
when I become a tree. I will do wrong things while my character is
being formed so that I may do right things when my habits become
fixed." All such reasoning is very, very foolish, isn't it? And yet
there are some illogical youths who deem it will be easy to have one
character and disposition as boys and quite a different one when they
come to be men. By some strange hocus-pocus they hope to be able to sow
a crop of "wild oats" and later on reap a harvest of good wheat. It
cannot be done.
[Sidenote: Do it right now and do it well.--JOHN TOWNSEND TROWBRIDGE.]
Any farmer's boy will tell you that "as ye sow, so shall ye reap." When
the farmer wishes to harvest wheat he does not sow oats. When he wishes
a crop of potatoes he does not plant gourds. He has learned that what
he plants in the spring he will harvest in the autumn. It is equally as
true of life. That which we sow in youth we reap in our maturer years.
We must not try to deceive nature and our own consciences. We shall get
back from the years what we give to the years.
[Sidenote: Condemn no creed! Dig deep beneath the sod and at the root
thou'lt find the truth of God.--ALICIA K. VAN BUREN.]
The boy who early gets into the habit of doing things right is pretty
sure to go on doing them so all his life, and without much effort on
his part. The will is strengthened by exercise in the same manner as
are the muscles. We learn to do easily that which we do often.
[Sidenote: It is adversity, not prosperity, which breeds men; as it
is the storm, and not the calm, which makes the mariner.--MELVIN L.
SEVERY.]
[Sidenote: The slow long way may be the best.--NATHAN HASKELL DOLE.]
[Sidenote: He who lifts his brother man in turn is lifted by him.--JOHN
TOWNSEND TROWBRIDGE.]
[Sidenote: As the twig is archetypal of the tree, so childhood builds
the ladder up which manhood climbs.--MELVIN L. SEVERY.]
The youth who says "No" to little temptations will, later on in life,
be perfectly able to say "No" to temptations of any size. And how many
a man's career has been made glorious simply because he learned, while
a youth, to say "No" whenever his moral conscience told him it was the
thing he should say! How true are the teachings of the wise moralist
who tells us: "A very little word is 'No.' It is composed of but two
letters and forms only one syllable. In meaning it is so definite
as to defy misunderstanding. Your lips find its articulation easy.
Diminutive in size, evident in import, easy of utterance, frequent in
use, and necessary in ordinary speech, it seems one of the simplest and
most harmless of all words. Yet there are those to whom it is almost
a terror. Its sound makes them afraid. They would expurgate it from
their vocabulary if they could. The little monosyllable sticks in their
throat. Their pliable and easy temper inclines them to conformity,
and frequently works their bane. Assailed by the solicitations of
pleasure they are sure to yield, for at once and resolutely they will
not repeat 'No!' Plied with the intoxicating cup they seldom overcome,
for their facile nature refuses to express itself in 'No!' Encountering
temptation in the hard and duteous path they are likely to falter and
fall, for they have not the boldness to speak out the decided negative
'No!' Amid the mists of time, and involved in the labyrinthine mazes
of error, they are liable to forget eternal verities and join in the
ribald jest, for they have not been accustomed to utter an emphatic
'No!' All the noble souls and heroes of history have held themselves
ready, whenever it was demanded, to say 'No!' The poet said 'No!' to
the sloth and indolence which was consuming his precious hours, and
wove for himself in heavenly song a garland of immortality."
[Sidenote: All that we send into the lives of others comes back into
our own.--EDWIN MARKHAM.]
[Sidenote: The greatest, strongest, most skilled is he who knows how to
wait, and wait patiently.--CHARLES THE NINTH.]
"No" might seem to be but a mere trifle of a word yet the boy who
learns to say it on every right occasion has already conquered many of
the foes that are likely to beset him along life's pathway. Every boy
should cultivate his will until it is strong enough for him to depend
upon it at all times. With the proper amount of will he is sure to have
sufficient "won't" to resist all the temptations that wrong may offer
him.
[Sidenote: The man in whom others believe is a power, but if he
believes in himself he is doubly powerful.--WILLIS GEORGE EMERSON.]
In developing a strength that enables him to say "No!" to wrong things
a boy becomes strong enough to say "Yes!" to right things. His "I
won't!" with which he meets wrong suggestions engenders his "I will!"
toward the wholesome and commendable undertakings in which he should
be interested.
[Sidenote: One forgives everything in him who forgives himself
nothing.--CHINESE.]
When a boy has learned to say, and to feel the strength that is in the
words, "I will!" he ceases to make use of the words, "I wish," for his
will is sufficient to make his wish a living reality. And what a world
of difference there is between the involved meanings of the words,
"I WISH" AND "I WILL"
[Sidenote: Not in rewards, but in the strength to strive, the blessing
lies.--JOHN TOWNSEND TROWBRIDGE.]
"I Wish" and "I Will," so my grandmother says,
Were two little boys in the long, long ago,
And "I Wish" used to sigh while "I Will" used to try
For the things he desired, at least that's what my
Grandma tells me, and she ought to know.
"I Wish" was so weak, so my grandmother says,
That he longed to have someone to help him about,
And while he'd stand still and look up at the hill
And sigh to be there to go coasting, "I Will"
Would glide past him with many a shout.
[Sidenote: It makes considerable difference whether a man talks bigger
than he is, or is bigger than he talks.--PATRICK FLYNN.]
They grew to be men, so my grandmother says,
And all that "I Wish" ever did was to dream--
To dream, and to sigh that life's hill was so high,
While "I Will" went to work and soon learned, if we try,
Hills are never so steep as they seem.
"I Wish" lived in want, so my grandmother says,
But "I Will" had enough and a portion to spare:
Whatever he thought was worth winning he sought
With an earnest and patient endeavor that brought
Of blessings a bountiful share.
[Sidenote: No man doth safely rule but he that hath learned gladly to
obey.--THOMAS À KEMPIS.]
And whenever my grandma hears any one "wish,"
A method she seeks, in his mind to instill,
For increasing his joys, and she straightway employs
The lesson she learned from the two little boys
Whose names were "I Wish" and "I Will."
[Sidenote: By varied discipline man slowly learns his part in what the
Master Mind has planned.--NATHAN HASKELL DOLE.]
"Trifles" are the beginnings of things which finally develop into all
that is worth while.
The acorn is a trifle, yet within it is hidden an oak tree, and a whole
forest of oak trees. The tiny little brooklet is only a trifle yet it
flows on and on till it becomes a mighty river.
[Sidenote: It is a ridiculous thing for a man not to fly from his own
badness, which indeed is possible, but to fly from other men's badness,
which is impossible.--MARCUS AURELIUS.]
The first rude little pencil sketch made by the child that has an
inborn love of drawing is but a trifle, yet it may be the beginning of
an art career that shall brighten the whole world.
[Sidenote: Yet with steadfast courage that rather would die than turn
back.--NATHAN HASKELL DOLE.]
The first few lines written by the embryo poet constitute but a trifle,
yet with a word of encouragement it may sometime be followed by songs
that shall make all mankind happier and better.
[Sidenote: One thing we must never forget, namely: that the infinitely
most important work for us is the humane education of the millions who
are soon to come on the stage of action.--GEORGE T. ANGELL.]
[Sidenote: In every sincere and earnest man's heart God has placed a
little niche where the poetic, the spectacular, and the legendary hold
full sway.--WILLIS GEORGE EMERSON.]
It was just a trifling incident that developed one of the greatest
vocalists the world has ever known. We are told that Jenny Lind, at the
beginning of her life, was a poor, neglected little girl, homely and
uncouth, living in a single room of a tumble-down house in a narrow
street at Stockholm. When the humble woman who had her in charge went
out to her daily labor, she was accustomed to lock Jenny in with her
sole companion, a cat. One day the little girl, who was always singing
to herself like a canary-bird, "because," as she said, "the song was
in her and must come out," sat with her dumb companion at the window
warbling her sweet child-like notes. She was overheard by a passing
lady, who paused and listened, struck by the trill and clearness of the
untutored notes. She made careful inquiry about the child and became
the patroness of the little Jenny who was at once supplied with a
music-teacher. She loved the art of song, and having a true genius for
it she made rapid progress, surprising both patroness and teachers, and
presently, became the world's "Queen of Song."
[Sidenote: The generous heart should scorn a pleasure which gives
others pain.--ANONYMOUS.]
[Sidenote: Neither education nor riches can take the place of
character, yet we can all get as much character as we want.--PATRICK
FLYNN.]
[Sidenote: A teacher who can arouse a feeling for one single good
action, for one single good poem, accomplishes more than he who fills
our memory with rows on rows of natural objects, classified with name
and form.--GOETHE.]
How trifling was the incident that brought about, by a happy accident,
the development of the genius which slept in the soul of the sculptor
Canova! A superb banquet was being prepared in the palace of the
Falieri family in Venice. The tables were already arranged, when it
was discovered that a crowning ornament of some sort was required
to complete the general effect of the banqueting board. Canova's
grandfather, who brought him up, was a stone-cutter, often hewing out
stone ornaments for architects; and as he lived close at hand, he
was hastily consulted by the steward of the Falieris. Canova chanced
to go with his grandfather to view the tables, and overheard the
conversation. Though but a child his quick eye and ready genius at
once suggested a suitable design for the apex of the principal dishes.
"Give me a plate of cold butter," said the boy; and seating himself at
a side table he rapidly moulded a lion of proper proportions, and so
true to nature in its pose and detail as to astonish all present. It
was put in place and proved to be the most striking ornamental feature
of the feast. When the guests, on being seated, discovered the lion,
they exclaimed aloud with admiration, and demanded to see at once the
person who could perform such a miracle impromptu. Canova was brought
before them, and his boyish person only heightened their wonder. From
that hour the head of the opulent Falieri family became his kind,
appreciative, liberal patron. Canova was placed under the care of the
best sculptors of Venice and Rome and became a grand master of his art.
[Sidenote: A good conscience expects to be treated with perfect
confidence.--VICTOR HUGO.]
[Sidenote: Build new domes of thought in your mind, and presently you
will find that instead of your finding the eternal life, the eternal
life has found you.--JENKIN LLOYD JONES.]
But it may be truthfully said that every boy does not possess some
latent genius, waiting to be discovered by some one who will foster and
develop it. Then there is all the more need of making the very most
of the small talents one may possess. One need not be a Canova, or a
Shakespeare, in order that he may become something worth while to those
with whom he dwells in close association.
[Sidenote: There is no power on earth that can enslave a man who
is mentally free; no power that can free a man who is mentally
enslaved.--PATRICK FLYNN.]
Every nook and corner of the world is waiting for the fine characters
that are to make it a pleasant place in which to dwell. Blest is that
household, however humble, in which there are bright, manly, truthful,
kind-hearted boys, ever ready to make the hours brighter, and the home
dearer, by their tender thoughtfulness of those about them.
[Sidenote: He who is plenteously provided from within, needs but little
from without.--GOETHE.]
Are you going to win the admiration of the world, by and by?
[Sidenote: Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the
year. No man has learned anything rightly, until he knows that every
day is Doomsday.--EMERSON.]
Have you already won the admiration of that little, all-important world
that now lies just about you? Does the mother, or father, or sister,
or brother, who knows you best, hold you in the highest esteem? If you
do not win the love of those who know you so well, how can you hope to
be loved by the world which can never come into such close and tender
relations with you?
[Sidenote: Do not sing with a too exact correctness. Put in
personality.--WILLIAM TOMLINS.]
Do not wait for some big event out there in the years to come. Begin
just here and now, by seizing upon the "trifles" that lie all about
you. The great wall of solid masonry is not put into place all at once;
it is laid patiently and carefully, brick by brick. So manhood must
be built a "trifle" at a time until a character is established that
temptation cannot totter to the earth.
[Sidenote: Tyranny is always weakness.--JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL.]
[Sidenote: If we see rightly and mean rightly, we shall get on, though
the hand may stagger a little; but if we mean wrongly, or mean nothing,
it does not matter how firm the hand is.--RUSKIN.]
And every boy ought to thank his lucky stars that he does not have to
wait for some special occasion to offer itself before he can begin to
develop the traits that shall waken the warmest regard of those about
him, and bring to his own sense of well-doing the reward born of all
virtue. This very day there are many "trifles" strewn in his pathway.
If he shall make the most of them, larger opportunities will be
vouchsafed him. The one important consideration is whether he is ready
to begin to build at the present moment, and to utilize the splendid
"trifles" all about him, or will procrastinate till such time as he can
by some great sweep of action, establish his reputation all at once and
full-born. If he has decided on the latter course he should be moved
to give the most earnest and serious consideration to the startling
differences that exist between
"NOW" AND "WAITAWHILE"
[Sidenote: It is better to hold back a truth than to speak it
ungraciously.--ST. FRANCIS DE SALES.]
Little Jimmie "Waitawhile" and little Johnnie "Now"
Grew up in homes just side by side; and that, you see, is how
I came to know them both so well, for almost every day
I used to watch them in their work and also in their play.
[Sidenote: It is ever true that he who does nothing for others, does
nothing for himself.--GEORGE SAND.]
Little Jimmie "Waitawhile" was bright and steady, too,
But never ready to perform what he was asked to do;
"Wait just a minute," he would say, "I'll do it pretty soon,"
And tasks he should have done at morn were never done at noon.
He put off studying until his boyhood days were gone;
He put off getting him a home till age came stealing on;
He put off everything, and so his life was not a joy,
And all because he waited "just a minute" when a boy.
[Sidenote: The artist who can realize his ideal has missed the true
gain of art, as "a man's reach should exceed his grasp, or what's
heaven for?"--EDWARD DOWDEN.]
But little Johnnie "Now" would say, when he had work to do,
"There's no time like the present time," and gaily put it through.
And when his time for play arrived he so enjoyed the fun!
His mind was not distressed with thoughts of duties left undone.
[Sidenote: Keep but ever looking, whether with the body's eye or the
mind's and you will soon find something to look on.--BROWNING.]
In boyhood he was studious and laid him out a plan
Of action to be followed when he grew to be a man;
And life was as he willed it, all because he'd not allow
His tasks to be neglected, but would always do them "now."
[Sidenote: Great hearts alone understand how much glory there is in
being good. To be and keep so is not the gift of a happy nature alone,
but it is strength and heroism.--JULES MICHELET.]
And so in every neighborhood are scores of growing boys
Who, by and by, must work with tools when they have done with toys.
And you know one of them, I guess, because I see you smile;
And is he little Johnnie "Now" or Jimmie "Waitawhile"?