But remember,
as we try,
Lighter
every test goes by;
Wading in,
the stream grows deep
Toward the
center’s downward sweep;
Backward
turn, each step ashore
Shallower
is than that before.
Ah, the
precious years we waste
Leveling
what we raised in haste:
Doing what
must be undone
Ere content
or love be won!
First, across
the gulf we cast
Kite-borne
threads, till lines are passed,
And habit
builds the bridge at last!
John Boyle O’Reilly.
* * * *
*
Memory Gem:
Habit is a cable. Every day we weave a thread,
until at last it is so strong we cannot break it.
* * * *
*
75
in ured’ ru’ di ments nine’ ti
eth ma tur’ er ac’ cu ra cy in ad vert’
ence an’ ec dotes e ner’ vate in cor’
po ra ted dig’ ni fied in junc’ tion
pre var i ca’ tion
Some of the most interesting anecdotes of the early
life of Washington were derived from his mother, a
dignified matron who, by the death of her husband,
while her children were young, became the sole conductress
of their education. To the inquiry, what course
she had pursued in rearing one so truly illustrious,
she replied, “Only to require obedience, diligence,
and truth.”
These simple rules, faithfully enforced, and incorporated
with the rudiments of character, had a powerful influence
over his future greatness.
He was early accustomed to accuracy in all his statements,
and to speak of his faults and omissions without prevarication
or disguise. Hence arose that noble openness
of soul, and contempt of deceit in others, which ever
distinguished him. Once, by an inadvertence of
his youth, considerable loss had been incurred, and
of such a nature as to interfere with the plans of
his mother. He came to her, frankly owning his
error, and she replied, while tears of affection moistened
her eyes, “I had rather it should be so, than
that my son should have been guilty of a falsehood.”
She was careful not to enervate him by luxury or weak
indulgence. He was inured to early rising, and
never permitted to be idle. Sometimes he engaged
in labors which the children of wealthy parents would
now account severe, and thus acquired firmness of
frame and a disregard of hardship.
The systematic employment of time, which from childhood
he had been taught, was of great service when the
weight of a nation’s concerns devolved upon
him. It was then observed by those who surrounded
him, that he was never known to be in a hurry, but
found time for the transaction of the smallest affairs
in the midst of the greatest and most conflicting
duties.
Such benefit did he derive from attention to the counsels
of his mother. His obedience to her commands,
when a child, was cheerful and strict; and as he approached
to maturer years, the expression of her slightest
wish was law.
