DIVINE WORD MISSIONARIES
Techny, Illinois



Let us sing a song of cheer

That will last throughout the year;

And your heart will fill with joy

Just as mine — God's little boy.



Up!
By

(Rev.) Bruno Hagspiel, S.V. D.

A

PRESCRIPTION

FOR

WEARY SOULS

DIVINE WORD MISSIONARIES

TECHNY, ILL



IMPRIMI POTEST

Carolus Michel, S.V.D.

Superior Prov.

NIHIL OBSTAT

Joannes J. Clifford, S.J.

Libr. Censor

IMPRIMATUR

Chicagiae, 111., die 19 m. Sept. 1942

+ Samuel A. Stritch, D.D.

Archiepps. Chic.

245,000 copies

All rights reserved by the author



V

When feeling "in the dumps," depressed,

discouraged, melancholy, and generally at odds

with the world about you, pick up this book

and dip into it entirely at random, making no

mental selection of any kind, but being ab-

solutely indifferent to which little medicinal

dose you are going to administer to your pas-

se soul. While the homeopathic curatives in-

closed in each pellet of wisdom are sure to

have an occasional astringent or acid flavor,

due to lack of sugar-coating, you may be sure

that the ultimate result will benefit your whole

system profoundly, eventuating in a final re-

covery from your temporary malady.

It is urged that the dose be repeated as

often as the patient feels the need for it.

THE AUTHOR, YOUR PHYSICIAN

This booklet "CHEER UP!" is the first of a

series of five, commonly known as the "SUN-

SHINE BOOKLETS" While "CHEER UPl" is

intended for people in every walk of life, the

succeeding four booklets, "BE OF GOOD

HEART/
1

"HAVE CONFIDENCE
"

"TAKE

COURAGE " and "LIFT UP YOUR HEARTS/'

have a special appeal for all those who desire

a more ascetic spiritual approach to the prob-

lem of discouragement and pessimism.

5



Cheer Up!

An optimist is one who sees an opportunity-

in every difficulty — a pessimist is one who
sees a difficulty in every opportunity. Which

are you?

A WORD ON DISCOURAGEMENT

Believe it or not, —
Once upon a time the devil decided to go

out of business. He offered his tools for sale

to whomever would pay the price.

On the night of the sale they were all at-

tractively displayed, a bad-looking lot. They

were Malice, Hatred, Envy, Jealousy, Sen-

suality, and Deceit, and all the other imple-

ments of evil. Each was marked with its price.

Apart from the rest lay a harmless-looking

wedge-shaped tool, much worn, yet priced

higher than any of the others. Someone asked

the devil what it was.

"That's discouragement," was the reply.

"Why do you have it priced so high?"

"Because," replied the devil, "it is more use-

ful to me than any of the others. I can pry

open and get inside a man's conscience with

that when I could not get near him with any

of the others, and when once inside I can

use him in whatever way suits me best. It is

so much worn because I use it with nearly

everybody, as very few people yet know it

belongs to me."

It hardly need be added that the devil's

price for discouragement was so high that

6



it was never sold. He still owns it and is still

using it. Beware of it!

*

Are you an optimist or a pessimist?

An optimist looks at an oyster and expects

a pearl.

A pessimist looks at the same oyster and

expects ptomaine poisoning.

DEFINITION FOR A DICTIONARY

OF GOOD CHEER

PESSIMIST: one who turns out the light to

see how dark it is.

THE OPTIMIST

We're always glad when he drops in —
the pilgrim with the cheerful grin, who won't

admit that grief and sin are in possession;

there are so many here below, who coax

their briny tears to flow, and talk forevermore

of woe, with no digression! The man who

takes the cheerful view has friends to burn,

and then a few; they like to hear his glad

halloo, and loud ki-yoodle; they like to hear

him blithely swear that things are right side

up with care; they like to hear upon the air,

his cock-a-doodle. The Long Felt Want he

amply fills; he is a tonic for the ills that can't

be reached with liver pills, or porous plasters;

he helps to make the desert bloom; he plants

the grouches in the tomb; he's here to dis-

sipate the gloom of life's disasters!

WALT MASON

7



The pessimist looked out at the street.

Raining again. It had been going on for

hours.

He held his head and moaned.

"Do you think it will ever stop raining?"

he asked.

The optimist smiled.

"It always has," he replied.

Face the sunshine.

You will find that the shadows always fall

behind you.

God helps those who help themselves.

But the optimist applies this knowledge

:

he believes that God will help him only if

he makes every effort to help himself.

4

"Twixt the optimist and the pessimist

the difference is droll;

The optimist sees the doughnut,

while the pessimist sees the hole.

DISCOURAGED?

On May 6, 1896, the first successful flight

of a heavier-than-air machine was made. Dr.

Stephen Langley was the inventor. Most people

and a vast number of scientists remained skep-

tical, especially since the first official plane

commissioned by the Government (in 1898)

from Dr. Langley met with an accident in

launching on December 8, 1903, and failed to

8



fly but fell into the Potomac River instead.

Langley, wounded by the scorn of scientists

and the neglect of the public, died of a broken

heart on February 27, 1906. Only a few days

after his unsuccessful attempt, on December

17, 1903, Wilbur Wright made the first flight

with the Wright airplane.

In 1914 the old Langley airplane was taken

from the Smithsonian Institution, and with Mr.

Curtiss in the pilot's seat, it was flown, SUC-

CESSFULLY, over Lake Keuka. If only Dr.

Langley had kept on trying longer. . . .

What indeed does not the word cheerful-

ness imply? It means a contented spirit; it

means a pure heart; it means a kind, loving

disposition; it means humility and charity; 5*

means a generous appreciation of others, and

a modest opinion of self.

THACKERAY

THE OPTIMIST’S CREED

Promise yourself —
to be so strong that nothing can disturb

your peace of mind;

to talk health, happiness and prosperity to

every person you meet;

to make all your friends feel that there is

something in them;

to look at the sunny side of everything and

make your optimism come true;

to think only of the best; to work only for

the best; and to expect only the best;

to be just as enthusiastic about the success

of others as you are about your own;

9



to forget the mistakes of the past and press

on to the greater achievements of the future;

to wear a cheerful countenance at all times

and give every living creature you meet a

smile;

to give so much time to improvement of

yourself that you have no time to criticize

others;

to be too large for worry, too noble for

anger, too strong for fear, and too happy to

permit the presence of trouble.

CHRISTIAN D. LARSON

TWO SIDES OF IT

At the time of the Johnstown flood. Hank

and Dave were neighbors.

Hank saw the waters rising and climbed out

on the roof and lit his pipe calmly.

Dave launched his boat and was about to

leave the house when he saw Hank on the

roof.

#

'How be yeh?" he cried.

Hank reflected a moment, removed the pipe

long enough i to spit, and replied: "Not bad,

considerin'/'

"All my fowls been washed away," groaned
Dave; "how about your'n?"

"Mine, too," said Hank; "but they wasn't

much and the ducks kin swim."

Dave took up his oars and started to pull

away.

"I see the water's up to your windows al-

ready," he warned as he left.

"Oh well," smiled Hank, as he nudged the

chimney on top of the roof more comfortably,

"them winders needed washing anyway."

10



THE TWO FROGS

Two frogs fell into a tub full of cream and

since they had not yet learned to swim they

both were in a miserable predicament.

The one frog was a pessimist — and what
else could be expected of a pessimist? He

blubbered around, lost heart. "Poor me!" he

whined, "I'm done for. Fm simply all through.

No use trying. I can never get out of this mess

of cream. Besides, I have to die anyway."

And he sank to the bottom and stayed there,

a very dead frog.

The second frog was just as frightened and

just as ignorant of swimming. But he was an

optimist.

"What," he cried, "— to die here? Nothing
doing! Let me out of here!" And he began

floundering around and puffing to and fro as

only a frog can — and lo and behold! to his
utter surprise the cream, churned about so

violently, turned to butter, and Frog No. 2

hopped out onto dry land — a very live frog.
%

WE DON’T WANT THEM!

Keep your troubles to yourself,

put them on an upper shelf;

far away as they may be,

where no eye but God
#

s can see.

Other people have their share

of affliction, pain and care;

11



why should you, though sorely tried,

burden them with yours beside?

Give of treasures you possess

loving care and tenderness,

cheerful smiles or sordid pelf,

but KEEP YOUR TROUBLES TO YOURSELF!

J. POLLARD

It pays to have an eye on the future, but

not too much so. . .

.

You can easily take such

good care of the future that you will find it

"ain't there" when you arrive.

People who look too far ahead for oppor-

tunities to solve their troubles remind me of

little Willie, who was invited to a birthday

of a pal.

The cake, candy, nuts, fruit, were all just

grand, and Willie did his share in putting

them where they would do the most good.

"Won't you have some more, Willie?" asked

the hostess smilingly.

"No, thank you," replied Willie, "I'm full."

He seemed well satisfied with himself.

"Well then," went on the lady, "put some

fruit and cookies in your pocket to eat on

the way home."

Again appeared that air of smiling satisfac-

tion.

"No, ma'am, thank you," replied Willie,

"they're full too."

Before harvest must come a storm of rain.

Before a tree takes root, the kernel must rot

to pieces to liberate the seed.

In the immortal words of Francis Thomp-

son:

12



"Nothing begins and nothing ends,

that is not paid with moan;

for we are born in other's pain

and perish in our own."

.

Aih optimist and a pessimist looked at some

roses.

"What a pity/' sighed the pessimist, "that

next to the roses are the thorns — and such
large and sharp thorns too!"

The optimist smiled quietly.

"Thank God for this wonder," said he, "that

He has so marvelously arranged everything in

nature that next to the thorns He has placed

the roses, the queens of all flowers."

When a man tells his troubles to another

he usually exaggerates them so they really

sound bad. After a while he believes them

himself . . . and then they ARE bad.

A man in charge of an aquarium divided a
small tank into two sections with some plate

glass, and in one section put small minnows,

and in the other a healthy black bass of the

vicious "small mouth" variety. For three days

the bass kept charging into the glass par-

tition to get at the minnows. At the end of

that time, he desisted from further efforts,

and surrendered to pessimism, melancholy

and a sore head.

The keeper then removed the partition and

the minnows of course swam all around the

bass. But he paid no attention to them.

HE WAS CONVINCED THAT BUSINESS
WAS BAD!

13



Death is the only thing that comes to the

man who waits. If you want success, work

for it. Don't wait for it.

It is not even wise (not to mention Chris-

tian) to be knocking all the time. Only a

woodpecker can engage in constant knocking

and get along all right. And he lives on

grubs and insects.

THE PESSIMIST

Nothing to do but work,

nothing to eat but food,

nothing to wear but clothes

to keep from going nude.

Nothing to breathe but air,

quick as a flash 'tis gone,

nowhere to fall but off,

nowhere to stand but on.

Nothing to sing but songs,

as well! alas! alack!

nowhere to go but out,

nowhere to come but back.

Nothing to see but sights,

nothing to quench but thirst,

nothing to have but what we've got,

thus through life we are cursed.

Nothing to strike but a gait,

everything moves that goes,

nothing at all but common sense

can ever withstand these woes.

"The past is death's — the future is thine
own," wrote ethereal Shelley.

14



What are handicaps but means of bettering

ourselves in the very sphere in which we are

apparently inferior?

Jimmy Archer of the Chicago Cubs became

one of the greatest baseball catchers in the

game BECAUSE of a serious accident in his

youth which gave him a crooked right arm.

A serious burn he received shriveled up the

tendons of the arm so that he could not throw

as well as others. By practicing a snap throw,

hour after hour, Jimmy hoped to straighten

out the crooked muscles. This served him

in good stead as a catcher, for from a squatting

position he could burn them down to second

base with the speed of a bullet and without

moving from behind the bat.

Ducornet, the famous French painter, was

without arms. His desire to be a painter was

so great that he taught himself to paint with

his toes — and succeeded marvelously. His
historical scenes and portraits fetch good

money today. He just would not let this

handicap keep him behind his fellowmen.

ICeep looking at the bright side of things.

The silver lining is there.

A baker left the gas turned on in his shop
one night and upon arriving in the morning

struck a match to light it.

The resulting explosion blew him clear to

the middle of the street.

A passerby rushed to his aid, picked him
up, asked solicitously: "Are you hurt?"

The baker paused in brushing himself off,

looked at his shop which was now burning

briskly, and chuckled, "Bless you, brother, no!

But I got out just in time, eh?"

15



If you are a real optimist you know no fear

or discouragement.

You would admire the spirit of the young

medical student who was asked by an old

friend what his plans were.

“Well, I'm planning to become a great sur-

geon." The friend looked doubtful.

"You know/' he objected, "the profession

is crowded already
"

The young man smiled confidently.

"I know," he said, "but now that I have

started in, those already in the profession will

just have to take their chances. That's all."

NEVER COMPLAIN!

"O my God, I will never complain." You
will get heaven by keeping this one resolution
— "Never to Complain." We are always rebel-
ling or inclined to rebel. Oh! how few are

the exceptions to this sweeping accusation.

We are all. of us inclined to rebel, and most
of us do rebel, and are perpetually rebelling.

We forget the little compact that God enters
into with all of us. It is this He says to each

one of us, "My child, walk on submissively

in the stormy path I have marked out for you

during your few years of trial here, and in

reward of your obedience to My will, I will
bestow on you an eternity of happiness." This

compact really exists; it has been made with

every one of us. How beautifully St. Paul

alludes to it. "For I reckon," he says, "that

the sufferings of the present time are not

worthy to be compared with the glory to

come that will be revealed in us" (Rom. 8, 18).

16



To survive you must struggle.

Scientists tell us the greatest fighting animal

of all time was the prehistoric saber-tooth

tiger which had swordlike teeth extending a

full foot from its jaw. It could kill without

difficulty any animal that ever appeared on

the face of the earth.

The most superb fighting machine Mother

Nature ever turned out died because it was

too good to live.

Keep within your limitations and you'll be

contented. Don't worry over the fact that

the next man seems to be getting further than

you. Perhaps he isn't and it is all just "front."

Remember J. K. Bang's funny little verse?

I love to watch the rooster crow.

He's like so many men I know

who brag and bluster, rant and shout,

.

and beat their manly chests without

the first damn thing to brag about.

On a train trip I once met a man who
seemed so soured on life that I was hard put

to it to console him. Remembering how St.

Ignatius danced a lively Spanish dance before

a gloomy novice to cure him of the "blues/'

I managed to swing the conversation around

to the point where I asked him the difference

between a pessimist and an optimist.

"I don't know/' h§ replied,

17



“It's quite simple/' I came back. "A pes-

simist looks at a bottle containing some liquid

and says: "Oh, golly, it's half empty"; but

the optimist smiles as he looks and he says:

"Glory be, it's half full."

Thanks be to God, the man laughed. A
sense of humor was still left him to help save

his soul. Always be on the lookout for the

whimsical things in life; the world

"is so full of a number of things,

I'm sure we should all be as happy as kings,"

as Robert Louis Stevenson put it. (PS. Don't

forget, he, too, suffered all his life from an

incurable malady.)

The Sage of Concord, Emerson, urges us:

"One topic is peremptorily forbidden to all

rational mortals; namely, distempers. If you

have not slept, if you have the headache, or

leprosy, or a thunderstroke, I beseech you

by all the angels to hold your peace and not

pollute the morning. Come into the azure

and love the day."

WORTH WHILE

'Tis easy enough to be pleasant

When life flows on like a song;

But the man worth while is one who will smile

when everything goes dead wrong;

For the test of the heart is trouble,

and it always comes with the years;

and the smile that is worth the praises of earth

is the smile that shines through tears.

18



It is easy enough to be prudent

when nothing tempts you to stray;

When without or within no voice of sin

is luring your soul away;

But it's only a negative virtue

until it is tried by fire;

And the life that is worth the honor of earth

is the one that resists desire.

By the cynic, the sad, the fallen,

who had no strength for the strife,

The world's highway is cumbered today;

They make up the sum of life.

But the virtue that conquers a passion

and sorrow that hides in a smile —
It is these that are worth the homage of earth

For we find them but once in a while.

ELLA WHEELER WILCOX

KEEP UP YOUR GRIT

Hang on! Cling on! No matter what they say.

Push on! Sing on! Things will come your

way.

Sitting down and whining never helps a bit;

Best way to get there is by keeping up your

grit.

Don't give up hoping when the ship goes

down;

Grab a spar or something and refuse to

drown;

Don't think you are dying just because you're

hit;

Smile in the face of danger and keep up your

grit.

19



Folks die too easy — they sort of fade away;
make a little error, and give up in dismay;

kind of man that
#

s needed is the man of ready

wit,

to laugh at pain and trouble and keep up his

grit.

LOUIS E. THAYER

The man who borrows trouble will never

lend smiles.

It ain't no use to grumble and complain,

It's just as cheap and easy to rejoice;

When God sorts out the weather and sends

rain, —
why, rain's my choice.

JAMES W. RILEY

Those who bring sunshine into the life of

others, cannot keep it from themselves.

J. M. BARRIE

Where you can't remove an obstacle, plow

around it.

LINCOLN

WORRY

What plows deep wrinkles in the face?

What robs of beauty and of grace?

What makes gray age come on apace?

'Tis worry.

What weighs us down with loads of care?

What wraps in gloom this earth so fair?

20



My birdling friend and I

Look upward to the sky,

And merrily we sing;

We know that God on high

With ever-watchful eye,

Guides us in everything.

21



What ends too oft in dark despair?

'Tis worry.

What chases kindly sleep away?

Makes labor bitter all the day?

And banishes each cheering ray?

Tis worry.

What paints the future dark and drear?

Makes phantom foes seem real and near?

and racks us with tormenting fear?

Tis worry.

What fills the mind with gloomy doubts?

What crowds our faith in heaven out?

What puts the soul to utter rout?

Tis worry.

Oh, why, then, should we anxious be?

Does God not care for you and me?

Just trust Him, and He'll set us free

from worry.

O. S. HOFFMAN
*

KEEP ON KEEPIN' ON

If the day looks kinder gloomy,

and your chances kinder slim,

and the situation's puzzlin',

and the prospect awful grim,

and perplexities keep a-pressin'

till all hope is nearly gone —
Just bristle up and grit your teeth

and keep on keepin' on.

Fumin' never wins a fight,

and frettin' never pays;

22



There ain't no good in broodin' in

those pessimistic ways;

smile just kinder cheerfully

when hope is nearly gone #

and bristle up and grit your teeth

and keep on keepin' on.

There ain't no use in growlin'

and grumblin' all the time,

when music's ringin' everywhere,

and everything's in rhyme;

lust keep on smilin' cheerfully

if hope is nearly gone,

and bristle up and grit your teeth

and keep on keepin' on.

ADVICE FROM A PRESIDENT

"Do not worry; eat three square meals a

day; say your prayers; be courteous to your

creditors; keep your digestion good; exercise;

go slow; and go easy. Maybe there are other

things that your special case requires to make

you happy, — but, my friend, these, I reckon,
will give you a good lift."

A. LINCOLN

Look around you once. Lift up your head

to the stars. Marvel at the wonders God has

spread around you: the Milky Way at night,
the blue skies at day, the sun and the flowers,

the picturesque panorama of this brave earth.

Keep a mental pair of rose-colored glasses,

and use them when the outlook seems dismal

and befogged. It is our vision which makes

23



the picture, but the picture itself, as are all the

good things of God's making, is compact only

of lovely things. Remember Stevenson's im-

mortal lines?

"Two men looked out from prison bars;

The one saw mud; the other stars."

HAVE NO VAIN REGRETS

Of all sad words

of tongue or pen

the saddesf are these:

IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN.

Let's add this thought

unto this verse:

IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN
A GREAT DEAL WORSE.

The darkening streets about me lie,

the shame, the frets, the squalid jars;

But swallows' wings go flashing by,

and in the puddles there are stars.

F. LANGBRIDGE

Charles Lamb used to read the old English

dramatists looking eagerly for anything comic

or whimsical — while right in his own home
he had a terrible tragedy living, as it were,

with him: his insane sister. Yet he asserted:

"A laugh is worth a hundred groans in any

market."

Blessed is he who can laugh, for he shall

have company.

24



Farmer Jones was a real optimist.

He started work one morning with the hired

hand.

"Well, Jake/' he said, "here we have forty

rows to hoe."

Jake took a hoe, spit on his hands and

looked rather glum. Forty rows were a power-

ful lot to hoe.

Farmer Jones decided Jake had the wrong

view of things.

"Now, Jake, when we get these two rows

hoed, and eighteen more, the piece'll be half

done."

Talking about hoeing reminds me of Spur-

geon's sage remark: "Impatient people water

their miseries and hoe up their comforts."

Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing,

wind braces up, snow is exhilarating; there is

really no such thing as bad weather, only

different kinds of good weather.

RUSKIN

Disappointment — His appointment
— Change one letter, then I see
that the thwarting of my purpose
is God's better choice for me.

The White Knight (in "Alice in Wonder-

land") who carried a mousetrap with him for

fear he might be bothered with mice on his

travels, has his counterpart in many of us.

25



Don't let the genie of worry out of the bottle;

unlike Sinbad, you may not be able to get

him back in again.

Have you ever awakened with a start sweat-

ing with terror or fright over some impend-

ing calamity or fear or worry . . . and try as

you might have found yourself unable to re-

member one tittle or jot of the incubus that

scared you out of sleep? Aren't most of our

waking hours beset with worries which we

would do better forgetting just as quickly?

The famous preacher Beecher exhorted his

audience once to have a high regard for

work, as a solvent for worry. "Work is healthy!

you can hardly put more on a man than he

can bear. But worry is rust upon the blade.

It is not movement that destroys the machin-

ery, but friction."

And in Harper s Magazine I recall having

read last year about a detailed study into the

reasons why people grow old and die. And

apart from disease over which we have little

control, I gleaned the general summation that

the heart-trouble which causes millions of

deaths annually is provoked chiefly by worry

over matters which never repay the time

wasted on them, and which breed a race of

brooders prone to disease and death.

Not for nothing have men such as Mohan-

das Gandhi (known better as Mahatma

Gandhi) or Jawarhalal Nehru — both the
leaders of India — achieved such mastery of
their fellow men. Their poise and freedom

from useless care, whether in jail or travel-

ing about the country almost ceaselessly

(Nehru journeyed 100,000 miles over India

26



in a little over a year, which is SOME travel-

ing in India, where the railroads are few, and

primitive methods obtain), their calm and

placid acceptance of whatever comes enables

them to lead full lives, crowded and busy,

but devoid of all the frenzied agitation that

characterizes our own businessmen or other

leaders.

Have you ever noticed that the men who

really amount to something are the ones who

have learned how to take things in their

stride — and "take it easy"? They might be
busy and have myriads of affairs waiting on

their attention, but they somehow emanate an

effortless manner in handling their affairs.

Lincoln, President Roosevelt, Edison, Ford,

typical Americans all, yet all of them stamped

with that indefinable ability to get things done

without worrying about them to the extent

they are deeply affected in their next task.

Be one who never turned his back, but

marched breast forward;

never doubted clouds would break;

never dreamed, though right were worsted,

wrong would triumph;

held we fall to rise, are baffled to fight better,
sleep to wake.

BROWNING

Optimism is the faith that leads to achieve-

ment. Nothing can be done without hope.

HELEN KELLER

Be matter of fact: first get to the bridge,

then cross it.

27



And meantime, don't worry whether you

get to the bridge or not.

Are you almost discouraged with life, little

man?

I will tell you a wonderful trick

That will bring you contentment, if anything

can —
Do something for somebody quick.

When the outlook is not good, try the up-

look.

What does your anxiety do? It does not

empty tomorrow of its sorrow; but oh! it does

empty today of its strength.

IAN MACLAREN

THE OPTIMIST

The optimist's a cheerful man.

He always wears a smile

That beams from out his kindly face,

and sweetens all his toils.

He knows not anything of blues,

He never once complains.

He's happy when the sun doth shine.

He's happy when it rains.

The optimist's a hopeful man.

He's not the easy prey

of dull, despondent, gloomy moods

That drive all hope away.

He's full of faith and courage too,

28



Fear dwells not in his breast,

Serene, he waits the coming days,

and tries to do his best.

The optimist's a helpful man,

Man's burdens he would bear;

Believing that God put us here

each other's loads to share;

He's full of human sympathy,

shows kindness where he can;

No wonder everybody loves

the optimistic man.

O. S. HOFFMAN

LEANING AND LIFTING

There are two kinds of people on earth today,

Just two kinds of people, no more, I say;

Not the saint and the sinner, for 'tis well

understood.

The good are half bad and the bad are half

good;

Not the rich and the poor, for to count a man's

wealth

You must first know the state of his conscience

and health;

Not the humble and proud, for in life's little

span

Who puts on vain airs is not counted a man;
Not the happy and sad, for the swift flying

years

Bring each man his laughter and each man

his tears.

No! the two kinds of people on earth I mean

Are the people who lift and the people who

lean.

29



Wherever you go you will find the world's

masses

Are always divided in just these two classes.

And oddly enough you will find too, I wean,

There is only one lifter to twenty who lean.

In which class are you? Are you easing the

load

Of overtaxed lifters who toil down the road?

Or are you a leaner who lets others bear

Your portion of labor and worry and care?

ELLA WHEELER WILCOX

An optimist, however light, who is still

game to take hold and lift, is more helpful

than the most powerful pessimist who has let

go.

EDWARD S. MARTIN

You are stricken to earth? Well, what of that?

Come up with a smiling face!

It's nothing against you to fall down flat.

But to lie there — that's disgrace.
The harder you're thrown, the higher you

bounce!

Be proud of your blackened eye!

It isn't the fact that you're beaten that counts.

It's how did you fight — and why?
EDMUND V. COOKE

Dante's exile produced the immortal "Divina

Commedia."

Wilde wrote his best book only after a

harrowing session in prison.

30



Cervantes spent years of physical pain, iso-

lation in prison, and then drudged through

more years as a tax-collector for King Philip

of Spain, before he emerged with the inim-

itable book on the "Knight of the Sorrowful

Countenance," Don Quixote.

It is not the work, but the worry,

That makes the world grow old;

That numbers the years of its children.

Ere half their story is told;

That weakens their faith in heaven

And the wisdom of God's great plan;

Ah! 'tis not the work, but the worry,

That breaks the heart of man.

Die when I may, I want it said of me by

those who know me best, that I always

plucked a thistle and planted a flower where

I thought a flower would grow.

LINCOLN

Josh Billings' spelling was terrible, but his

sense was solid stuff. Let's remember (and

put in practice) what he said about "laffing":

"Anatomikally konsidered, laffing iz the sen-

sation ov pheeling good all over, and show-

ing it principally in one spot.

"Morally konsidered, it iz the next best

thing tew the ten commandments. . .

.

"Theoretikally konsidered, it kan outargy

all the logik in existence. . . .

"Pyroteknikally konsidered, it is the fire-

works of the soul. . . .

31



"If a man kan't laff there iz sum mistake

made in putting him together, and if he wont

laff he wants az mutch keeping away from az

a bear-trap when it iz sot.

"Genuinely laffing iz the vent ov the soul,

the nostrils of the heart, and iz just az neces-

sary for health and happiness az spring water

iz for a trout.

"Laff every good chance yu kan git, but

don't laff unless yu feel like it, for there ain't

nothing in this world more harty than a good

honest laff, nor nothing more hollow than a

hartless one."

"God gives us our faces; we give ourselves

our expressions," wrote witty John Ayscough.

In other words, a "sourpuss" is made, not

born.

Two buckets met at the well.

One of them looked morose.

"What's the trouble?" asked the second

bucket sympathetically.

"Oh!" replied the first, gloomy bucket, "I

get so weary of being dragged to this well.

No matter how full I am, I always come back

here empty."

The second bucket laughed.

"How curious!" it chuckled, "why! I always

come here empty and go away full. I'm sure

if you started to think that way, you would

feel much more cheerful."

In Ibsen's play "An Enemy of the People"

Dr. Stockman is abandoned by his employers,

32



friends, acquaintances, but startles them all by

declaring staunchly: "The strongest man in

the world is myself" . . . and when questioned,

he explains: "The strongest man in the world

is he who stands most alone."

Without question we conjure up most of

our own evils, and forebodings and perplexi-

ties exist is our imaginations which do not

have any substantial home in reality.

A pilgrim met the Plague going to Bagdad.
"What are you going to do there?" asked

the pilgrim.

"I'm going to slay 5000 people," boasted

the Plague, with a hideous leer.

The pilgrim shuddered and changed his

plans. However, sometime later he encoun-

tered a refugee from the stricken city and

learned that not 5000 but 50,000 people had

died in Bagdad.

And soon after that he met the Plague

again, traveling to another city.

"You lied," accused the pilgrim. "You said

you were going to slay only 5000 people."

"My friend," explained the Plague as pleas-

antly as it could, "I did kill only 5000, and

the rest of the 50,000 died from fright."

The next time you are winding up your

clock think of Emerson's way of computing

time.

"Do not say: another hour of life is gon$ —
but I HAVE LIVED AN HOUR,"

33



Our doubts are traitors and make us lose

the good we oft might win by fearing to at-

tempt.

SHAKESPEARE

From remote India comes this Hindu prov-

erb to assist you in bearing your trials —
"Help your brother's boat across the river,

And lo! thy own has reached the shore."

Do not worry if you stumble — a worm is
the only creature that can't fall down.

,

Every day we hear of skin restorers and

beauty packs and mud baths designed to re-

vivify the fading charm of women's faces.

Shall we tell you a little secret?

There is no greater restorer and freshener

of your looks than an unfailing cheerfulness.

An old lady I know has the skin of a baby,

and her recipe is: laugh as often as you can,

and when you can't, smile.

If you have the right viewpoint, your bur-

dens will appear light.

A little Scotch girl was accosted by a pass-
ing fellow traveler who was aghast at the

size of the lad she was carrying, who was al-

most as big as she was.

"Isn't that boy much too heavy for you to

carry?" he asked anxiously.

"Oh no," she returned confidently; "he's na

heavy . . . he's ma brither/'

34
"



Add this to the Beatitudes i

Blessed are the joy-makers.

Longfellow wrote some of the simplest yet

most significant poetry of America.

American optimism can go no further than

his lines starting:

"There's always morning somewhere."

Out of the mouths of innocents comes wis-

dom.

A little tot said to me one day:
"I'm so full of happiness that I just couldn't

be any happier unless I could grow."

You can be sure God was very close to

that tiny bit of humanity.

Fate served me meanly, but I looked at her

and laughed.

That none might know how bitter was the

cup I quaffed;

Along came loy and paused beside me where

I sat,

saying, "I came to see what you were laugh-

ing at."

Time and again people called on Lincoln,

individually and in groups, on private and

public business, during the dark days of the

Civil War.

And time and again they went away as-

tounded at the man who was able, in spite

of all the horror and confusion raging through-

35



out the land, to sit and repeat to them hu-

morous stories or brief witticisms. Some

visitors were even disgusted at the Chief

Executive who could waste time on such

trivialities.

But Lincoln's jests and quaint stories were

safety valves by which he kept control of his

inner serenity in hours when a lesser man

would have been driven desperate.

It pays to have a sense of humor and to

cultivate it so it pays you dividends.

Even staid Dr. Samuel Johnson advised:

"A man should spend part of his time with

the laughers." And he was a man afflicted

throughout life with an inveterate melancholy.

NEVER SAY DIE!

Never say die! Let some one else pro-

nounce those words over you.

Jay Cooke was penniless at 52. He had

been a millionaire many times over, but at

that time of his life he might well have suc-

cumbed to the ordeal facing him. Three thou-

sand creditors had to be paid. He paid them

all, and in the process of working to liquidate

that debt, he built another fortune.

He is companioned in misfortune by Sir

Walter Scott, whose romances thrilled Europe

generations ago. Late in life, the great Scots

writer found himself overburdened with debts

incurred through the publishing firm he had

sponsored. Strictly speaking, the debts could

have been shifted to another man, but Scott

began writing novels all over again and saw

most of the obligations wiped off the books

before death took him.

36



It is not enough to begin your work. Or

your business. Or your studying. Or your

enterprise no matter what it may be.

You must carry on . .
.
you must keep mud-

dling through When seeing slack workers

I am often reminded of the story I heard from

the superintendent of a "nut factory” — a
home for the insane.

One of the inmates decided he was going

to write the best adventure story ever penned.

Three days later he called the keeper and

showed him the manuscript.

The keeper obligingly took it and started

to read out loud: "General Jackson leaped

upon his faithful horse and shouted, 'Giddyap,

giddyap, giddyap, giddyap' . .
."

and so on

for hole reams.

"What
#

s this?" said the keeper bewildered.

"Why, it's nothing but pages of giddyap."

"Ah," said the inmate cunningly, "can I

help it if the horse won't move?"

"Give me your beliefs," said Goethe — "I
have doubts enough of my own." Help peo-
ple, don't hinder them.

To climb up a ladder you must be willing

to make efforts. And to get to the top you

must keep confidence. After years of strug-

gling, Benjamin Disraeli, descended from

Jewish parentage, managed to get elected to

the House of Commons in England.

Finally the day arose when he was to de-

liver his maiden speech.

37



He set himself to the task with great flour-

ishes and gestures.

The House roared with laugher and ridi-

culed him so that he never finished that

speech.

He sat down.

But before he did, he paused and said, "I

will sit down now, but the time will come

when you shall hear me."

And the time did come.

He ascended the ladder slowly but with

confidence until the day dawned when he

was a peer of the realm and the Prime Min-

ister of all England, acclaimed for his states-

manship.

If you

cannot

get

what you like —
why not try

to like

what you get?

Why worry over what has not happened?
The Chinese are really clever people in

the art of living. They know the answers.

They have a proverb: "To what purpose

should a person throw himself into the water

before the boat is wrecked?"

Mrs. Smith met Mrs. Jones after an interval

of several weeks.

Mrs. Smith thought Mrs. Jones looked thin-

ner than she had last time. "Are you taking

38



treatments or dieting, Mrs. Jones?” she asked

politely.

Mrs. Jones, throwing up her hands, said:

"Oh, no! That's only because of the trouble

I have with my new maid."

"Why don't you fire her?"

"I'm going to," replied Mrs. Jones, "just as

soon as she worries me down to 140 pounds.

I'm going to order her out of my house."
This is the only instance, in all honesty,

which I can recall of worry actually benefit-

ing anyone.

Traveling in the Southland I met a Negro

who was perpetually smiling.

"How old are you?" I asked.

"By years, sah," he grinned, "I'se 25. By

all the fun I'se had, I'se 100."

How old are you?

The old Greek poet Pindar was wise in

worth-while things.

Wrote he:

"Care to our coffin adds a nail, no doubt,

and every grin, so merry, draws one out."

What would we do without humorists?

J. K. Bangs has a good word for us:

"Don't worry, friend, because it's midnight;

there's really nothing in it.

The sun is only out of sight,

and he'll be back with lots of light

in just a minute."

When we use the word merry, just what

do we mean? The word comes from the old

39



Saxon, and was in imitation of the sound

caused by the choking or strangling of an

animal when seized by the throat by another

animal. We still refer to the worrying of
sheep by dogs; the seizing by the throat with

the teeth; killing or badly injuring by re-

peated biting, shaking, tearing, etc. The

word now means to tease, to trouble, to harass

without killing, to annoy with care or im-

portunity or anxiety. In brief, it is undue

care, needless anxiety, unnecessary brooding,

fretting thought.

Worry kills more people than work, be-

cause more people look for worry and work

away at that.

A generation ago the lightning-rod agents
made fortunes with their wares. They so

preyed on people's fears that nobody felt safe

unless he rigged up a lightning rod on his

house. Today folks don't pay much attention

to lightning rods. Aren't they wiser?

CANTANKEROUS

is a good American word.

Otherwise you could use any of these sub-

stitutes; sour, crabby, grumpy, testy. . .

.

Personally I think "cantankerous" hits the

mark, smack in the middle.

Dyspepsia, lost love, insomnia, the high cost

of living, a stubbed toe — anything and
everything will set off a cantankerous cuss

like a match to gunpowder. He is just yeam-

40



A THOUGHT FOR TODAY

A mule can't pull

while kicking.

This fact I merely mention.

And he can
f

t kick

while pulling,

which is my chief contention.

41



ing to explode in any direction — even the
weather will serve. As Mark Twain said:

"Everyone talks about the weather, but no-

body does anything about it.
v

But your can-

tankerous individual creates the impression

something ought to be done, and that it is a

crying shame something isn't done.

Let's have a little general examination at

this point: HAVE YOU EVER JOINED THE

CRABBY ORDER OF CANTANKEROUS CUS-

SES?

Nature laughs. Everything in nature that

is pleasant is honored with smiling or laugh-

ing adjectives: poets vie with one another in

choosing words, such as happy, smiling,

joyous, bright, merry, rippling, glad — add a
few onto the list yourself and you will agree

with me.

Only man, with his pride, does not laugh

naturally. He must be startled into it. He

pays money to go to theaters and have clowns

cajole him into laughing. He makes a rite

of laughing, at set times; he reserves his

after-office hours for fun and frolic. Not that

we ought to giggle our way through a day of

work. Not much work would be done, I fear.

But a steady joviality is good for the soul.

And for whatever work you are doing, too.

If men had less pride and more willingness

to laugh, they would not need so many hos-

pitals. Doctors now agree that certain stomach

ulcers are caused by nothing but worry

Laugh! it's healthful — and it's natural.

42



Whenever I travel in the Southland, I am

instinctively reminded of watermelons, that

special delicacy of Negro palates.

And watermelons remind me of the best

definition of worry I ever encountered.

It seems there was an Irishman who bought

a watermelon — and, strange as it seems, he
had never seen or heard of a watermelon be-

fore. Nor had his wife. When he lugged the

green melon into the house, she looked at it

in perplexity.

"What shall I do with it?" she inquired.

"Why," he scratched his head, "it's green,

so I suppose you must bile it a bit."

And "bile" it they did.

Still it looked tough.

"Bile it some more," instructed the husband.

His wife did so. And some more. And

more. After a while the husband came into

the kitchen and lifted the lid off the pot.

"Let's see what it looks like," he said. He

peered into the vessel. "Glory be," he

shouted,
"

'tis a big nothing."

Be contented with your lot. You'll find it

does not pay to worry too far in advance of

your troubles.

A contractor was talking once with one of
his men.

"Mike," he said, "did you tell me once
you have a brother who is a bishop?"

"Yes, sor, I did that."

"And you're a hod carrier. Well, things

of this life are not divided equally, are they,

Mike?"

"Indade, sor, and they are not," said Mike

43



as he shouldered his hod and started up the

ladder. "Poor brother. He couldn't do this

to save his loife, sor."

It pays to be philosophical like old Mose

and be able to laugh it off.

"How come you broke off your engage-

ment with Miss Jackson, Mose?" asked a

friend.

"Well," said Mose, "in the fust place, she

had buck teeth, and she didn't have no money,

and she nagged like de debbil; and secondly,

she wouldn't have me; and thirdly, she went

off wid another niggah. So I tuk de advice

of my friends and jes' dropped her."

The frontier between Burma and the rest

of British India is not determined by regular

markers.

The officials of the Indian Civil Service have

a unique way of telling when they have

reached Burmese territory.

"You are in Burma," runs their rule — of —
thumb — "when you see the natives smile."
What a commentary this is on their neigh-

bors — and how glad people must be to get
out of that country into the carefree Burmese

land!

A grim face and a sour disposition are
frauds. They are substitutes for thinking.

The man with cheer in his heart and courage

in his soul and joy on his face will go farther

and do better than any peddler of sadness.

44



On the heights there is always sunshine.

The best and finest work in the world is al-

ways accompanied by a certain joy.

Socrates joked in his death cell.

When Kepler discovered the famous laws

that bear his name, he capered and laughed

like a little child.

When the ancient Greek in his bathtub dis-

covered the law of specific gravity, he was

so recklessly happy he ran out into the

streets, naked, crying “Eureka!
1
' — "I have

discovered it!"

Abe Lincoln enjoyed funny stories and

while considered by small minds as a buffoon

he relished a quiet chuckle in the midst of

his tremendous affairs.

FRIENDLY OBSTACLES

For every hill I've had to climb.

For every stone that bruised my feet,
For all the blood and sweat and grime,

For blinding storms and burning heat.

My heart sings but a grateful song —
These were the things that made me strong!

%

For all the heartaches and the tears,

For all the anguish and the pain.

For gloomy days and fruitless years.

And for the hopes that lived in vain,

I do give thanks; for now I know

These were the things that helped me grow!

'Tis not the softer things of life

Which stimulate man's will to strive.

But bleak adversity and strife

45



Do most to keep man's will alive.

O'er rose-strewn paths the weaklings creep,

But brave hearts dare to climb the steep!

L. E. THAYER

Cicero said: "It is a great misfortune not

to have experienced trials" . . . and he knew.

Purely from a philosophic viewpoint, did

he not benefit by studying the riddle of suf-

fering from first hand?

Would he have been able to frame those

abstract considerings and ponderings which

rank him as a philosopher among ancients and

moderns alike?

Suffering is a teacher.

An ennobler.

A clue to the road that leads to God.
Don't throw that clue away.

We all crave happiness.
Even the suicide yearns for happiness, for

relief . . . and plunges to ruin to get it.

Happiness is relative. A miser hoards gold;
a wastrel throws it away . . . and both are

happy.

The secret lies within your own heart. "If'

a man is unhappy," said the Greek sage

Epicetus, "this must be his own fault ... for

God made all men to be happy."

When a mosquito hums bloodthirstily in

your ear on some drowsy summer evening,

you think for a moment that a Stuka dive-

bomber is about to annihilate you. Then with

46



your sense of proportion firmly entrenched

you recall your tiny enemy's size and with a

casual brush of the hand—he is gone forever.
Look through a microscope, and you will

recoil in horror at the gargantuan mastodons

crawling about within a foot of your face.

They were wee gnats under glass. . . .

Don't magnify your troubles beyond their

natural size. You will find they are small

enough, and even smaller than you think.

Prophets are seldom with honor in their

own country.

There is a reason.

From time immemorial, men have learned

that when another man stands up in the mar-

ketplace and starts predicting plagues and

bankruptcies, ruin and havoc, famines and

floods, revolution from within and war from

without — the chances are that his liver is out
of order. Or else he LIKES to borrow trouble.

We get plenty of such talk during election
time. The classic instance I can recall is

when Hoover asserted bitterly that if he was

not elected grass would grow in the streets.

To date I have not seen anyone using a

lawnmower on our pavements.

When you borrow trouble, you are going
to be obliged to pay interest on the note.

Among the horrors of the recent world
war is the incendiary bomb, which, contain-

ing the thermite, is dropped from airplanes

and burns fiercely when it lands.

47



A picture of London not long ago showed
a poor old newsvender woman wretchedly-

dressed standing near her "pitch" where one

of these bombs was blazing away in full

vigor. What was the old woman doing? Well,

it was winter, and she was a practical person.

She was warming her hands at the fire.

Try that one on your "worry-bone" next

time something bothers you . . . see if there is

not an actual advantage to be derived from

it instead of just misery.

Re-reading the story of Helen Keller the

other day, I recognized the truth of her own

statement: "Our worst foes are not belligerent

circumstances, but wavering spirits."

A lady once showed Ruskin a costly hand-
kerchief on which had fallen a large blot of

ink.

"What a shame," she moaned," — it is ab-
solutely good for nothing now. It is totally

spoiled.

Ruskin said nothing but asked to borrow

the handkerchief for a day.

The next day he handed it to her without

a word, and the lady delightedly saw that

using the blot as a starting point, the great

art critic had designed an intriguing pattern

on that corner of the handkerchief.

The handkerchief was actually worth more

than it had been before the blot had dis-

figured it.

48



Aren't there many lives like that handker-

chief? . .

.

Every time I see those words, "the triumph

of failure," I cannot but think of the great

Cardinal Newman whom they fit so well.

His effort to found a National University in

Ireland failed.

He actually started a new translation of the

Bible, which was sadly needed by the English

Church, when obstacles arose and Cardinal

Wiseman yielded to the protests against the

proposal. Again Newman had failed.

He accepted the editorship of the Ramblez

only to have a Bishop denounce one of his

articles to Rome as heretical. There was even

some talk of summoning the great Oratorian

to Rome for discipline. After two months as

editor, Newman resigned. Another failure.

He fought valiantly to have the Congrega-

tion pro Propaganda Fide in Rome permit him

to open an Oratory in Oxford, his intellectual

home. Although Bishop Ullathorne backed

him, Cardinal Manning fought against the

plan; and on the other hand, his former col-

leagues in Oxford itself roused opposition.

Propaganda expressly directed that the pro-

posal be vetoed; and Cardinal Reisach, sent

to gather information on the question, delib-

erately avoided Newman.

One after the other, his high hopes were

mocked, his purposes sneered at, his failures

elaborated until it seemed nothing he under-

took would ever come true. For almost thirty

years he labored under suspicions from friend

and foe alike. Not until the conferring of the

49



Cardinalate on him in 1879 did the clouds

begin to vanish.

The esteem and prestige enjoyed by the

Cardinal in his remaining years added to the

serenity and calm of the evening of his life

to a degree that few men of high degree have

experienced. Truly he could write in 1884 #

".
. . for myself, now, at the end of a long life,

I say from a full heart that God has never

failed me, never disappointed me, has ever

turned evil into good for me."

In Newman, failure proved to be the great-

est of successes. In his own inimitable words:

"It is the rule of God's providence that we

should succeed by failure."

I read the story some place of a little girl

who lived in a dank dark back-alley in the

slums of London who nevertheless won first

prize in a flower contest.

The judges asked how her flower had man-

aged to survive in such a cheerless spot.

She explained her "secret"; a little ray of

sunlight came into the alley and as soon as

it appeared she put her flower pot right in

its path and as it moved she moved the

flower so that it had sunlight all day.

What a lesson for us!

Laughter is worth money in any market.

Vanderbilt invited the celebrated mimic Co-

quelin to his yacht, lying in the Bosporus, for

a private recital. The famous monologist de-

livered three of his special numbers. Soon

50



after, he reecived this memorandum from the

millionaire:

"You have brought tears to our eyes and

laughter to our hearts. Since all philosophers

are agreed that laughing is preferable to

weeping, your account with us stands thus:

"FOR TEARS, six times $600

"FOR LAUGHTER, twelve times .. $2400

$3000

"Kindly acknowledge receipt of enclosed

check."

Whatever you do, don't burden your mem-

ory with remembrance of things past which

have annoyed or which may disturb your

peace of mind.

Whenever I pass a menagerie, I think of

the story of the man who sued a friend for

libel two years after the event.

"What happened?" inquired the judge.

"Your honor," replied the plaintiff, "this man

called me a hippopotamus."

"But that was two years ago, according to

this record," replied the judge.

"That's true," said the man doggedly, "but

it was only yesterday that for the first time

I saw a hippopotamus."

Did you ever stop to reflect how often

pride magnifies the wrongs done us, which

make us so cast down?

Affronts, rebukes, neglects, disparagements

— were they really planned or did they just
happen, without premeditation on the part of

the one causing them? Perhaps he or she is

51



entirely unconscious of the insult or injury we

fancy was aimed at us.

Why worry about it # then?
When Rothschild was visiting a painter in

his studio, the friend decided the wealthy

banker's face would fit into the canvas he

was painting, and he asked him to model for

him. Rothschild did so — anything for a
friend! The corner of the canvas called for

a beggar to be painted in. So Rothschild sat

on a stool with a dirty old cloth thrown over

his fine apparel. A young art student hap-
pened into the room, and thinking the model

was a genuine beggar, slipped up to him and

without a word put a small coin in his hand. . .

.

Wouldn't Rothschild have been a fool to be

angry at this seeming affront to himself, the

richest man^in Europe?

ONE USE FOR WAR

During World War II, now happily over,

many curious angles on human behavior

have come to light.

The N. Y. Survey Graphic reports this item:

"One of the strangest twists of the war is

that London's psychiatrists are sitting in their

offices with nothing to do. London's neurotics,

estimated at seven percent of the population,

have something else to think about now."

How many people there must be in the

world who plague themselves daily and con-

stantly with worries "which ain't" — wouldn't
it be a real blessing for them to have a real

problem or ache to occupy their tangled

nerves? How about you, for instance, begin-

52



ning today to refuse to be bothered or agitated

by anything unless it fairly forces itself upon

your concern? Let worry chase you; do not

chase worry.

GIVE ME LAUGHTER TODAY

Give me laughter today

For the battles I fight.

And let hidden away

Be the weapons of might.

Give me sunshine and cheer

And the grip of a friend.

And I
#

ve nothing to fear

From today to — the end.

Give me gladness and joy

As I struggle along

With the zest of a boy

And the snatch of a song:

Let me throw off the chains

And from fetters be free;

Only laughter remains

For the days still to be.

Give me laughter inspired

By the sting of defeat;

Though I'm wearied and tired.

Let me never retreat.

Give me laughter and hope

And the will to forge on.

As through darkness I grope

To a sun-blazoned dawn.

Give me laughter today —
Nothing else do I ask;

53



Laughter drives care away.

Laughter lightens the task.

Tis my load-lifting creed
For the frown-laden fray:

For the strength that I need,

Give me laughter today!
c. p. McDonald

When President Roosevelt was inaugurated

he spoke over the radio and with his very

first words poured fresh courage into the

hearts of all Americans.

He enunciated the simplest of truths, but

few of us had stopped to reflect on it before

he reminded us.

He said: "We have nothing to fear but

FEAR." Like all wise doctors, he knew that

fear is a disease that can be cured. And he

assured us, his patients, that we had to cure

ourselves -— no one else could. And we did.

Strangely enough, whenever I hear of an

annual celebration of Civil War veterans, I

think of the beloved priest-poet of those days.

Father Abram Ryan.

And I shall never forget his lines:

"Life is a burden — bear it;
Life is a duty — dare it;
Life is a thorn crown — wear it."

A witty physician years ago diagnosed the
case of a colleague to me as "Americanitis."

Briefly, it is the essential nature of our

American people to force their manifest des-

tiny on to its culmination, whether they are

the Boones and Carsons of their day piercing

54





relentlessly the wilderness, or whether they

are businessmen who drive to completion one

merger after another, with business as the

Alpha and Omega of their existence.

Eventually such a ceaseless drive (carica-

tured by Sinclair Lewis in many novels) re

suits in total expenditure of the nervous re-

serves of energy and the individual is a bun-

dle of nerves and does not do any task with

proper forethought or deliberation. In the

anxiety for action, he loses sight of all thought

processes. Then he begins to pile regrets and

cares over misjudgments, mistakes, failures,

and the man starts to develop other ailments.

More people have died from sheer worry than

from battles.

SMILE A WHILE

Smile a while,

and while you smile,

another smiles,

and soon there's miles

and miles of smiles,

and life's worth while,

because you smile!

Our business in this world is not to suc-

ceed, but to continue to fail, in good spirits.

R. L. STEVENSON

How many of us fret and worry about

money! You can't take it with you — not
one shroud has a pocket — but we all stew
and sweat over the almighty dollar.

56



I like to recall to myself the story told of

Travers, the close friend of William Vander-

bilt, who was asked by an acquaintance how

much money Vanderbilt had left when he

died.

Traves replied, tersely: "He left it all."

WHAT! NO SHADOWS!

Thomas Dreier, the columnist, records this

story: A Boston busines man named H. B.
Neal is an enthusiastic amateur photographer.

He was giving a talk to some young people

and took out some enlargements of his out-

door photos. One set of prints were what

the camera recorded: the second set had the

highlights touched out; the third set were the

photographs without shadows.

Let Mr. Neal finish the story himself:

"They admired the straight prints. And

those without the highlights weren't so bad.

But when you took out the shadows, the pic-

tures were just nothing at all. You can't have

life as we know it v/ithout shadows. If there

were no struggles cr griefs or the shadowy

side of life, what a bunch of wishy-washy peo-

ple we'd be!"

The movement in German literature which

produced the descriptive word: "Welt-

schmerz" — world pessimism — can be seen,
when analyzed, to be a direct negation of God

Himself.

lust try once to list the beauties of nature.

Gather a compendium of the brave and

57



noble things you yourself have witnessed and

heard of.

Think of episodes in the history of man

which make you feel better, and make you

realize everyone must have a soul.

Think of the inexplicable forces in nature,

history, the progress of mankind which cen-

turies later are seen to fit into a plan ... a

God-made plan.

It must become apparent to you that there

is a plan, that there is a plan for the Universe

of which you are a part, that therefore you

fit into that plan also. Hence pessimism,

denying that anything of which you disap-

prove can be worth while, is the refusal to

agree with that plan (of which you know

very little or indeed nothing at all), and thus

you are refusing to pursue your role in the

plan of God, made before time began. Think

it over: you are a very small atom to make

such a daring gesture.

TO GET AWAY FROM IT ALL

It has been truly said that all the stories

worth while in the world are but stories of

escape. It seems to be the only thing that

interests us.

The "Arabian Nights' Entertainments," the

books of the early Aryans, the Chinese plays,

the sagas of the Norsemen, the children's

"Mother Goose Rhymes" of blessed memory

— such juveniles as "Robinson Crusoe," and
"Treasure Island," and such mature works as

Casanova's "Escape from the Leads," and cer-

tain of Shakespeare's plays all indicate this

58



longing filtered down to us through literature

of every age and clime.

Any method which secures for us the

blessed sensation of release is to be encour-

aged, if thereby the oppression of the Genie

of Dejection is removed.

And what strange ways some people have

taken to ease themselves of the humors flood-

ing their system!

Burton, author of the "Anatomy of Melan-

choly," when most depressed, used to go

down to the Thames River and listen to the

bargemen squabble . . . and this was enough

to set him laughing so violently he had to

hold his sides.

Richard Jeffries, far from his beloved coun-

tryside in the heart of London, was wont to

steal into the British Museum or the National

Gallery for just one glance at the peerless

statuary brought from far Grecian shores . .

.

"and I became myself."

Ruskin, curiously enough, made the British

Museum his rendezvous, also, to look, how-

ever, at — penguins! "the only comfort in
life" ... he called them.

Music's hypnotic rhythms have consistently

been one of man's standbys in escape pat-

terns. How many artistic souls have found in
the wistful strains of a lyric or the valiant

arias of an opera the stimulation their soul

demanded!

In busy cities all over the country I have

time and again stopped in for brief visits to

unfamiliar churches, often at the noon hour,

and found working people all around me,

seated, kneeling, walking up and down the

Stations of the Cross — positively the most
59



soothing and restful places in any city are

its churches, and the common people know

this instinctively.

It is not enough to have a good idea — you
must stick to it until it proves to be one.

Then, like Columbus, you may find a New

World; like Rhodes, you may chart whole

vast reaches of Africa; like Marco Polo, you

will show a profit on your adventure.

A good idea usually works if you do. Be-
tween inspiration and perspiration is the dif-

ference between failure and success. So don't

whine, but win.

Like the colored preacher, define persever-

ance in this way: "It means: first, to take

hold; secondly, to hold on; thirdly and lastly,

nebber to let go."

The famous preacher Henry Ward Beecher

used to startle his audience at revival meet-

ings by asking blandly if they took exercise

and if their bowels moved regularly, calling

this "Clinical Theology," as he claimed it

helped him distinguish in his penitents be-

tween dyspepsia and piety.

Have you been exercising lately?

Perhaps that moodiness is just poor health

. . . faulty conditioning of your motor.

The greatest heroes that I know are those

that are afraid to go — but go.

It doesn't matter a stitch

Whether I'm poor or rich!

60



Physicists tell us that there is a saturation

point — for instance, a sponge can hold just
so much water and no more. Put one more

drop of water into the sponge and another

drop will form and separate itself from the

sponge. The sponge has reached its satura-

tion point.

In pleasure and pain alike there is such a

critical moment also.

There comes a moment of tedium in every

pleasure which must be survived lest the

pleasure perish.

First comes the fear of death — followed
by the joy of battle; first comes the shock of

the icy water, then the cheery glow that

floods the bather; first comes the moment of

abnegation, then the ecstasy of martyrdom.

This "instant of potential surrender," as Ches-

terton calls it, is what gives life its piquancy,

as salt makes a dish palatable.

Do not therefore allow yourself to linger

on the gross and displeasing moment which

accost you in life: else the further acquaint-

ance of life itself will be for you an endless

misery.

A certain doctor we know was very con-
scientious to his profession. At the time I

discovered the fact I tell, he was undergo-

ing great hardships and griefs in his private

life, and found it difficult indeed to maintain

the smiling demeanor which people come to

expect in a doctor. Yet several times I met

him across the bed of some sick person in

my pastoral care, and he was always pleasant
and cheery and when we left the sickbed, the

atmosphere around it radiated optimism —

61



the '"get-well" spirit every doctor looks for.

My curiosity got the better of my tact and
one day outside a sickroom I asked him point-

blank for the secret of his ability to thrust off

his cares when tending the sick.

"Well, Father/' he said, "a doctor infected

with a disease should of course never attend

a patient bothered with some other complaint.

Before I go into the sickroom I remind my-

self that I may very easily infect my patient
with the germs of worry and pessimism which

I am probably carrying around, so — for the
time being I leave my germs outside his sick-
room."

William Lyon Phelps writes in his AUTO-

BIOGRAPHY:

"I have no doubt that my ardent religious
faith is largely responsible for the happiness

that I have found in mere living; but it is not

wholly responsible. G. K. Chesterton was

profoundly religious, and Arnold Bennett was

certainly not. Yet it would be difficult to say

which of these two men lived with more gusto,

Arnold Bennett's attitude toward life was a

chronic wonder, amazement, delight, the in-

numerable gadget of modern existence pleased

him prodigiously. And Mr. Chesterton used

to say that he hoped he would never be too

old to stare at everything; and that the most

important emotion to preserve in maturity was

the enjoyment of enjoyment

It was Cordova who in the critical moment

of the battle that decided Spanish fortunes

once for all in South America rallied his men

62



and sent them onward against the enemy with

these words: “Arms — as you please; Step
— forward, as of conquerors!”
What a slogan for all of us!

Here is something to “perk you up.“

A young man who had both legs crushed

in an accident got himself a job which re-

quired a good deal of walking.

People commented on it.

“Well/' he explained, “I couldn't find any-

thing at a desk, and besides, WHAT ARE
CRUTCHES FOR?"

Take a mirror.

Look into it.

Let the muscles of your face go slack.

That is a frown.

Make a little effort.

That is a smile. . .

.

It takes a little work to make the muscles

twist around and produce the grimace we call

a smile.

A smile is worth a million dollars and
doesn't cost a cent.

Try the mirror trick once in a while.

The little effort is worth it.

Of course, there are times when it seems

just silly to continue wearing a grin or look-

ing at life gaily.

Then it is good to remember poor sick

Stevenson's exhortation: “Every heart that has

beat strongly and cheerfully has left a hope-

63



ful impulse behind it in the world and bet-

tered the tradition of mankind."

You just can
#

t live a normal life and expect

every part of it to be a success.

If you do, yours is not a normal life.

If it is not normal . . . what causes the ab-

normality? Find out and remove it.

Howells said truly that "the trouble with

success is that it is apt to leave life behind or

apart." Are you having too much success?

You just cannot have too much failure . .

.

it may seem so now; but when your success

comes, it will be all the more gratifying.

The lad who climbs his father's apple tree

arduously to get an apple appreciates it more

than the lad who has one handed to him on

a plate at dinner.

THE CHINESE ARE CHEERFUL

A cheerful race our yellow brethren. Look
for the soul of a nation in its proverbs.

Here is a Chinese proverb:

"The legs of a stork are long; the legs of

a duck are short. Why worry about it?"

In Eden we all were children. God re-

members. "Happy as a child" is still the best

way we can describe complete bliss.

As we grow better, we meet better people.

64



Grow old along with me!

The best is yet to be.

The last of life for which the first was made:

Our times are in His hand

Who saith: "A whole I planned.

Youth shows but half; trust God; see all, nor

be afraid."

BROWNING

lust to prove to ourselves that determination

to succeed let us perform this self-imposed

task

:

Try stuffing toothpaste back into a tube.

WHY WORRY?

There are only two reasons for worry.

You succeed or you do not succeed.

If you succeed — fine!
If not, there are two possibilities.

Your health is good or bad.

If good — great!
If not, there are two possibilities.

You will get well or you will die.

If you get well — why worry?
If you are about to die, there are two possi-

bilities.

You will go to heaven or to hell.

If you go to heaven —1 what more do you
want?

If you go to hell — you will be so busy shak-
ing hands with and greeting old friends

who were as pessimistic as you were in

your life that you will forget to worry

at all.

65



THANK GOD FOR A HANDICAP

I came across a little story some time ago

which is too good to keep.

An editor was admiring the splendid bril-

liant colors of a certain illustrator. You have

seen this particular artist's work in magazines,

more than once, if you are a reader of even

a few magazines.

The art editor loked over the shoulder of

his confrere, discussed the latest picture, men-

tioned casually "our color-blind friend." The

editor was stunned. He could not believe the

artist was color-blind.

"Oh yes," explained the art editor, "he

hires a man to mix his paint. His mixer tells

him which paint is red, blue, yellow — of
course the artist can see that dark blue is

darker than light blue and so on . . . but other-

wise he would just as easily use dark red as

dark blue when he wants contrast."

The editor persisted: "Yet he has made

such a great reputation as a colorist?"

"Not only that," replied the art editor, "but

we pay him twice what we pay others, just

because he handles color so beautifully."

No question of it — the people who really
excel in a certain field very often have reached

their eminence just because of the handicaps

with which they started out.

Demosthenes stuttered. He filled his mouth

with pebbles and walked the seashore shout-

ing at the waves until in spite of his handicap

he became Greece's most famous orator.

To England, Nelson is still the greatest hero

of all for his marine victories. He was the

best and most valiant strategist England ever

had in its Navy. Yet he never conquered the

66



seasickness which assailed him the first time

he took to the water and kept recurring all

his life whenever he boarded a ship.

What grander symphonies were ever writ-

ten than Beethoven's . . * and yet the master

of melody was deaf and towards the end of

his life could not even hear his own immortal

notes.

Clarence Chamberlin, the aviator who flew

the Atlantic, could never pass the standard

test for depth perception (which enables fly-

ers to know how far they are from the ground

when landing). In his case officials waived

regular requirements, since he could never

qualify for a flying license. They knew

Chamberlin as one of the safest flyers in the

game, able to set a plane down on the ground

— as "gently as if he were landing on egg-
shells."

Glenn Cunningham, who hung up new rec-

ords for the mile in running, had both legs

so badly burned he was expected never to

be able to walk again. . . . His handicap

proved a blessing.

Study your handicaps: it may be a real

boon. From it you rise "on stepping stones

of your dead selves to higher things."

ABOUT WEARY WILLIE

Years ago there was a comic strip about

Weary Willie, the tramp that would gladly go

out of his way to avoid work.

Science today has determined that Weary

Willie may have had his weariness caused by
poisons in his body or by anemia or lack of

67



enough vitamins, proteins, minerals, or slow

circulation, or — and here is where we ought
to sit up and take notice — BY HIS STATE
OF MIND.

We all know how being bored makes us
yawn and feel very tired. People not inter-

ested in their tasks, or those troubled by fears

or anxieties, or without zeal for a definite goal

very often find themselves fatigued and

blame it on their lack of fitness for the work.

If they would allow fun, excitement, competi-

tion to enter into their lives, fatigue would

very often be banished.

Before taking examinations, for instance,

who has not felt that worn-out droopy reac-

tion, as though we had already struggled

through a whole war . . . and yet we have not

even started to do any thinking about the

questions?

Personally I do not smoke. But I recom-

mend nonetheless heartily the following ad-

vice:

"When people all around are making faces,

and all the world's ajangle and ajar,

I meditate on interstellar spaces, —
and smoke a mild segar."

A friend of mine tells me that the concen-
tration needed to blow a series of unbroken

smoke rings usually banishes all but the most

pressing difficulties from his mind within a

few minutes. If the problem still is there,

then he admits to himself it must be a major

problem — or else he has not control of his
digestion. A materialistic viewpoint? Well
— isn't it better than growing gray hairs on
68



your head before your time?" Besides, "hap-

piness is reflective like the light of heaven,"

according to Washington Irving, and it does

one more good to see a man blowing rings

than to watch him blow steam. By this I do

not mean to encourage the spectacle of women

smoking, especially in public — one of the
displeasing results of the modern freedom of

manners.

If we only read the record of men who

have gone before us, how much wisdom we

can have just for the taking!

Silvio Pellico was an Italian imprisoned for

political reasons who wrote a book called "My

Prisons."

Through the hardest kinds of experience he

discovered how to maneuver his way through

life, no matter where he was situated.

Neurotics, please pay attention!

Here is his advice: "Govern the imagina-

tion; and we shall be well wherever we hap-

pen to be placed. A day is soon over; and
if at night we can retire to rest without actual

pain and hunger, it matters little whether it

be within the walls of a prison or of the kind

of building which is called a palace." Then

he adds: "Sound reasoning; but how are we

to contrive so to govern the imagination?"

Well, that is your individual problem. Tend

to it, today.

TO BE OR NOT TO BE

Suicide goes far back in civilization. It

goes back even to primitive people, and even

to the beasts. It has even been asserted by

69



competent observers that rattlesnakes when

mortally wounded will turn on their own

bqdies and strike the poisonous fangs in

deeply.

Lets look at some facts about suicide.

Of every 1,000 infants born in the U. S. A.

ten males and three females will eventually

take their own lives.

Of these half will be among persons 45

years of age and over.

Each advancing period of life shows an in-

crease in suicide tendency.

Age, weariness, disillusion, helplessness,

loss of emotional outlets ... all these explain

the desire of self-annihilation, which you

have already seen is chiefly a masculine re-

action.

Now, significant is this fact that apart from

business reversals, the very highest rates of

suicide occur among people of high social

and business standing, of intellectual or pro-

fessional pre-eminence ... all of whom labor

under nervous pressure.

If you are sick or depressed or discouraged

and feel that you want to join the ranks of

those who have decided 'not to be," reflect

for just one moment that you most probably

are one of a class that has more of the good

things of life than other less fortunate breth-

ren. Then start adding up all the things

really worth while, and balance them against

the things that nauseate and discourage you.

Don't be afraid to pray for strength to main-

tain yourself in the struggle of life.

And you will find yourself wondering what

ever made you think of suicide.

70



Keep smiling!

O

71



PAIN IS A BLESSING

Don't laugh! I mean that. Pain tells us

where there is a weak link in the armor of

life. When we have a sharp headache or

shooting pain in the leg or back, or a bad

toothache, it is just pain that tells us some-

thing is wrong with our body at that vital

point.

When a baby is born it cannot speak for

many months. But it is hungry: so it yells.

That is its way of signaling what is wrong.

Nerve cells cannot speak — but they can
yell: and we call that pain. Listen to them.

Many a time they would save you from fur-

ther agony and suffering if you would but

heed their "yell." By studying the type of

pain, the doctor can tell you what is wrong.

Admit it now: isn't pain a blessing?

ARE YOU A WINDMILL?

"I feel jest like that windmill there,"

says Hiram Grum, my neighbor,
"existin' on a daily fare

of dull and barren labor,

jest gittin' blowed around and around,

till j'ints and bearin's show wear,

a-stickin' to the same old ground,

and never gettin' nowhere!"

"Well, now," I tell him, "it depends

on how a feller views it.

Whatever way the weather trends,

yon windmill aims to use it;

it gits a heap of pumpin' done,

when comes a blow to race it.

72



because it don't turn tail an' run,

but stands right up to face it!"

W. B. FRANCE

Don't be afraid to go ahead, and keep your

spirits up even though the rest of the world

seems to frown on your enterprise, and is

bent on making you depressed.

"God and one constitute a majority," said

Lincoln, surely one of America's worst-used

presidents.

The old English ballads were fresh with the

spirit of a young and courageous nation:

"Said John, Fight on, my merry men all,
I am a little hurt but am not slain;

I will lie me down for to bleed a while,

and then I'll rise and fight with you again."

Johnny Armstrong, the hero of this song,

might easily be a model for all of us.

"Fight on again." . .

.

A PRAYER

This quaint prayer hangs outside the door of the

refectory of the Cathedral of Chester, England

Give me a good digestion, Lord,
And something to digest:

Give me a healthy body. Lord,
With sense to keep it at its best.

Give me a healthy mind, good Lord,
To keep the good and pure in sight,

Which, seeing sin, is not appalled.

But finds a way to set it right.

73



Give me a mind that is not bored.

That does not whimper, whine, or sigh;

Don't let me worry overmuch

About the fussy thing called "I
."

Give me a sense of humor. Lord,

Give me the grace to see a joke,

To get some pleasure out of life

And pass it on to other folk.

^

This world that we're a-livin' in

is mighty hard to beat;

with every rose you get a thorn,

but ain't the roses sweet?

FRANK STANTON

&

Keep trying, keep striving for new bound-

aries, keep going even if the road is rough.

Looking around at banquet tables which I

have attended, often by prosperous people,

I have frequently mused on E. F. Benson's

dictum "God help those who have attained."

Their spiritual boredom and weariness and

general lack of cheerfulness is written in their

faces.

A booklet of 72 pages containing the diary
of a young girl was published less than a

year ago by the Co-Missionary Apostolate,

Techny, 111. It is entitled "The Red Rose of

Suffering." In that short space over 100,000

copies have been distributed. The booklet

costs 10c. The Co-Missionary Apostolate it-

self, numbering over 100,000 members re-

cruited from all over the world, has found in

74



this authentic document from the pen of a

model sufferer for Christ a real inspiration.

Thousands of people are flocking to join the

Apostolate; there are no dues and no fees,

the only purpose being to adopt a missionary

priest in a far land to offer up the daily trials

and troubles that afflict all of us' for the priest.

The priest in turn remembers his "victim

souls" in his own prayers, though these people

remain personally unknown to him.

The perusal of the letters streaming in every

day from these thousands of generous souls

drives home with irresistible force the lesson

that to get, one must give, that to be getting

the most out of life, one must put the maxi-

mum amount into it. So many of these devout
people assure us that they are happy and

contented with their day's work and worries,

whereas before they simply could barely en-

dure the thought of facing another day. They

are happy and cheerful now because they

have found a reason for their existence in a

concrete way; the things that pricked and

irked them formerly now have a place in the

narrow orbit of their lives. It is especially

remarkable how the shut-ins, invalids, cripples,

blind, and others similarly afflicted have dis-

covered this to be their real apostolate in

life. It is ardently hoped that more and more

people will "catch on" to the real meaning

of their otherwise apparently meaningless

life. . . . Give to God, and He will repay you

abundantly in just those spiritual things which

you lack, yet are perhaps unaware of ... a

smiling spirit, a cheerful personality, a radiant

soul.

75



ONE MORE ROUND

James J. Corbett was asked what was the

greatest one thing about fighting or boxing.

His reply is a classic.

"Fight one more round. When your feet

are so tired that you have to shuffle back to

the ring, fight one more round. When your

arms are so tired that you can hardly lift your

hands to come on guard, fight one more round.

When your nose is bleeding and your eyes

are black and you are so tired that you wish

your opponent would crack you one on the

jaw and put you to sleep, fight one more

round — remembering that the man who
always fights one more round is never

whipped."

They were fighters. The Lords of Bruges

were warriors in times when men fought foi

very existence. The record of their wars is

still to be seen in their castle in the lovely

town of Bruges. Over the portal is a knight

carved in relief, and underneath run the

words: PLUS EST EN VOUS. This is, "There

is MORE in YOU."

You can sense at once how such words

would be a war cry and rallying shout in the

midst of a battle. A chieftain telling his men
there was MORE in them would be sure to
rouse that extra something which wins battles.

It must have sounded like a tocsin many a

time in medieval Europe, on many a battle-

field.

It must have cleared away all doubts as to

who the final victor would be, it must have

won many a struggle.

76



Up and at your task, it said.

Hammer away — you have the extra
strength to do it.

Give an extra blow — your arm has the
power.

Keep trying, and perhaps you really have

MORE than the other fellow, or there may be
more push than the trouble before you can

withstand . . . and you will be victor.

A wise old owl lived in an oak —
The more he heard, the less he spoke;

The less he spoke, the more he heard;

Why can't we be like that old bird?

THE LADDER OF SUCCESS

100%—I did

90%—I will
80%—I can
70%—I think I can
60%—I might try
50%—I suppose I should
40%—What is it?
30%—I wish I could
20%—I don't know
10%—I can't

. . . 0%

—

I won't

The other day I dropped in for a visit with

a doctor friend, and in his office I spied the

following placard regarding Honest Abe.

"How about having a copy of that some-
time?" I asked the doctor.

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"Sure thing/' he replied. "It is good, isn't

it?"

The doctor's secretary copied it out and

the next morning the mailman delivered the

doctor's inspiring placard to me.

Here it is

:

LINCOLN’S FAILURES

When Abraham Lincoln was a young man,

he ran for the legislature in Illinois, and was

badly swamped.

He next entered business, failed, and spent

17 years of his life paying up the debts of

a worthless partner.

He fell in love with a beautiful young

woman to whom he became engaged — then
she died.

Entering politics he ran for Congress and

was badly defeated.

He then tried to get an appointment to the

United States Land Office but failed.

He became a candidate for the United States

Senate and was badly defeated.

In 1856 he became a candidate for the vice-

presidency and was again defeated.

In 1858 he was defeated by Douglas.

But in the face of all this defeat and failure

h© eventually achieved the highest success

attainable in life, and undying fame to the

end of time.

DO YOU HAVE A PROBLEM?

Face it.

Make a decision.

Forget about it.

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In traveling through France I saw an in-

scription in old French under a cathedral

clock: "Listen! the hour has passed and We

are on our way to better things."

A DAILY “DO” FOR YOU

"He has not learned the lesson of life, who

does not every day surmount a fear," wrote

the Sage of Concord, Emerson.

How about making some money for your-

self? i,r *:•

Says Johnson: "The habit of looking on

the best side of every event is worth more

than one thousand pounds per year."

Start piling up that kind of currency right

now!

A DIALOGUE

PESSIMIST: "What a world! Why, if I

tried. I'm sure I could make a much better

world myself."

OPTIMIST (cheerily): "Fine! let's go and

do it!"

Of all the troubles

great and small,

the greatest are those

that don't happen at all.

Take the Little Flower's motto for your own:

"I forget the past, I don't worry about the

future, I live only for the present."

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FOR ALL YEAR ROUND

we know of no saner and more religious ad-

vice to give a man than this utterance quoted

from the Christmas Broadcast of the King of

England in 1939:

"I said to the man who stood at the gate

of the year: 'Give me a light that I may tread

safely into the unknown/ And he replied,

'Go out into the darkness and put your hand

into the hand of God. That shall be to you

better than light and safer than a known

way.'

"

May that Almighty Hand guide and uphold

us all.

With the apostle let me exhort you, "Re-

joice in the Lord; rejoice always!"

FINIS

As you come to the end of this booklet de-

signed to drive from you all worriment and

care, we cannot but hope, with all our heart,

that to have finished this brochure has meant

for you also to have ended with undue dis-

couragement, depression and pessimism.

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