 |
On the Roayl Path of Life or,
Aims and Aids to Success and Happiiness
1877 |
On Character
from
On
The Royal Path of Life or,
Aims and Aids to Success and Happiness
Thomas Louis Haines, A.M., Levi W. Yaggy, M.S., authors
Sold
by Subscription Only
Chicago:
Western Publishing House
Dickerson
Bros., Detroit, Mich.
T.K.
Mills & Co., Cedar Rapids, Iowa
1877
Entered
according to Act of Congress, in the year 1876, by L.W. Yaggy and T.L. Haines,
in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D.C.
Italic notations have been added by Mary Katherine May preceding the paragraph where explanation may be necessary or enhance the authors' text.
Book Preface
The
subject matter of this book, Success and Happiness, has been the consideration
of every eminent pen, from the days of Solomon to the present. To say anything strictly new would be
impossible; nor would we presume that our knowledge and experience would be as
valuable as the maxims of the wise and sublime truths which have become a part
of the standard literature. The best,
therefore, that anyone can expect to do is to recombine the experience of the
past, and compile such thoughts and extracts as have chimed in with the
testimony of earnest and aspiring minds, and offer them in a novel and
fascinating form. In the words of the
poet:
“We
have gathered posies from other men’s flowers,
Nothing
but the thread that binds them is ours.”
In
life there is a Royal Path. Alas! that
so many not being urged to seek life’s prizes, fail to find them. It is hoped that this book shall be a
counselor to those who have become indifferent to life’s purposes; a comfort to
those who have long traveled on this Royal Path; and if it shall serve to
awaken the slumbering genius within the youth, stimulate and impel them to noble
thoughts and actions, and lead them on to honor, success and happiness, the
authors will consider themselves amply repaid for their labor.
Chicago,
May 1, 1876.
On Character
There
is a structure which everybody is building, young and old, each one for himself. It is called character, and every act of life is a stone. If day by day we be careful to build our
lives with pure, noble, upright deed, at the end will stand a fair temple,
honored by God and man. But, as one leak
will sink a ship, and one flaw break a chain, so one mean, dishonorable,
untruthful act or word will forever leave its impress and work its influence on
our characters. Then, let the several
deeds unite to form a day, and one by one the days grow into noble years, and
the years, as they slowly pass, will raise at last a beautiful edifice,
enduring forever to our praise.
There
are as many master workmen in you as there are separate faculties; and there
are as many blows struck as there are separate acts of emotion of
volition. Every single day these myriad
forces are building, building, building.
Here is a great structure going up, point by point, story by story,
although you are not conscious of it. It
is a building of character. It is a
building that must stand, and the word of inspiration warns you to take heed
how you build it; to see to it that you have a foundation that shall endure; to
make sure that you are building on it, not for the hour in which you live, but
for that hour of revelation, when you shall be seen just as you are.
licentiousness: lacking moral restraint, ignoring accepted rules or standards
aggregate: the whole amount, constituting or amounting to a whole
Proverbs 8:11 KJV: For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it.
Our
minds are given us, but our characters we make.
Our mental powers must be cultivated.
The full measure of all the powers necessary to make a man are no more a
character than a handful of seeds is an orchard of fruits. Plant the seeds and tend them well, and they
will make an orchard. Cultivate the
powers and harmonize them well, and they will make a noble character. The germ is not the tree, the acorn is not
the oak, neither is the mind a character.
God gives the mind; man makes the character. The mind is the garden, the character is the
fruit; the mind is the white page; the character is the writing we put on
it. The mind is the metallic plate; the
character is our engraving thereon. The
mind is the shop, the counting room; the character is our profits on the
trade. Large profits are made from quick
sales and small percentage. So great
characters are made by many little acts and efforts. A dollar is composed of a thousand mills; so
is a character of a thousand thoughts and acts.
The secret thoughts never expressed, the inward indulgences in an
imaginary wrong, the lie never told for want of courage, the licentiousness
never indulged in from fear of public rebuke, the irreverence of the heart, are
just as effectual in staining the character as though the world knew all about
them. A subtle thing is a character; and
a constant work is its formation.
Whether it be good or bad, it has been long in its growth, and is the
aggregate of millions of little mental acts.
A good character is a precious thing, above rubies, gold crowns, or
kingdoms, and the work of making it is the noblest labor on earth.
Character
is formed by a course of actions, and not actions by character. A person can have no character before he has
had actions. Though an action be ever so
glorious in itself, it ought not to pass for great, if it be not the effect of
wisdom and good design. Great actions
carry their glory with them as the ruby wears its colors. Whatever be your condition or calling in
life, keep in view the whole of your existence.
Act not for the little span of time allotted you in the world, but act
for eternity.
aught: anything at all
Characters
formed by circumstances are much like machine poetry. They will do for the sport of mirth, and the
torment of the senses of the beautiful.
But they are horrible things. It
makes angels weep to look at them. They
are the picture of old chaos, a mass of confusion. A thousand winds have blown together the
materials of which they are made. They
usually lack order, harmony, consistency, and beauty, the very elements and
essentials of a good character. They are
those aimless nuisances that live for nothing, and mold, and become putrid,
about the sewers of the world. If aught
on earth is despicable, it is these porous masses of conglomerated filth and
scum that float on the surface of society, driven or attracted by every speck
of circumstance about them. One stout
soul, with a resolute determination to make its own character, after the
pattern of its own high wrought ideal, that, Jackson-like, takes the
responsibility of being what suits its well -formed judgment, is of more real
significance than an army of them. It
will stand against them, and defy their power.
High Standard of Life, High Standard of Living: refers to the moral standard to which a person sets his or her bar for living and does not refer to wealth.
Every
man is bound to aim at the possession of a good character, as one of the
highest objects of his life. The very
effort to secure it by worthy means will furnish him with a motive for
exertion; and his idea of manhood, in proportion as it is elevated, will steady
and animate his motive. It is well to
have a high standard of life, even though we may not be able altogether to
realize it. “The youth,” says Disraeli,
“who does not soar is destined, perhaps, to grovel.” He who has a high standard of living and
thinking will certainly do better than he who has none at all. We would have young men, as they start in
life, regard character as a capital, much surer to yield full returns than any
other capital, unaffected by panics and failures, fruitful when all other
investments lie dormant, having as certain promise in the present life as in
that which is to come. Character is like
stock in trade; the more of it a man possesses, the greater his facilities for
adding to it. Character is power, is
influence: it make friends, creates funds, draws patronage and support, and
opens a sure and easy way to wealth, honor and happiness.
Trifles: little attentions, mere nothings
Trifles
discover a character more than actions of importance. In regard to the former, a person is off his
guard, and thinks it not material to use disguise. It is no imperfect hint toward the discovery
of a man’s character to say he looks as though you might be certain of finding
a pin upon his sleeve. Truthfulness is a
cornerstone in character, and if it is not firmly laid in youth, there will be
ever after a weak spot in the foundation.
desideratum: something wanted or needed
Sum
it up then as we will, character is the great desideratum of human life. This truth, sublime in its simplicity and
powerful in its beauty, is the highest lesson of religion, the first that youth
should learn, the last that age should forget.
sensualism: dedicated to sensual appetites, i.e. material and physical desires
The
value of character is the standard of human progress. The individual, the community, the nation
tells its standing, its advancement, its worth, its true wealth and glory in
the eye of God by its estimation of character.
That man or nation who or which lightly esteems character, is low,
groveling, and barbarous. Wherever
character is made a secondary object, sensualism and crime prevail. He who would prostitute character to
reputation is base. He who lives for
anything less than character is mean. He
who enters upon any study, pursuit, amusement, pleasure, habit or course of life,
without considering its effect upon his character, is not a trusty or an honest
man. He whose modes of thought, states of
feeling, everyday acts, common language, and whole outward life, are not
directed by a wise reference to their influence upon his character, is a man
always to be watched. Just as a man
prizes his character, so is he. This is the true standard of a man.
