Both swords and guns are strong, no doubt,
And so are tongue and pen,
And so are sheaves of good bank notes,
To sway the souls of men.
But guns and swords and piles of gold,
Though mighty in their sphere,
Are sometimes feebler than a smile,
And poorer than a tear.
--Charles Mackay.
Enough to know that, through the winter's frost
And summer's heat, no seed of truth is lost,
And every duty pays at last its cost.
--John Greenleaf Whittier.
A kindly act is a kernel sown
That will grow to a goodly tree,
Shedding its fruit when time is flown
Down the gulf of Eternity.
--John Boyle O'Reilly.
The kindly word unspoken is a sin--
A sin that wraps itself in purest guise,
And tells the heart that, doubting, looks within,
That, not in speech, but thought, the virtue lies.
--John Boyle O'Reilly.