OOD MEN. "Good men are human suns! They brighten and warm whenever they pass. Fools count them mad, till death wrenches open their foolish eyes they are not often sung by poets when they die; but the hearts they heal and their own, are their rich reward on earth; and their place is high in heaven." Good men are the stars, the planets of the age wherein they live, and illustrate the times. God did never let them be wanting in this world; as Abel, for an example of innocency; Enoch, of purity; Noah, of trust in God's mercies; Abraham, of faith; and so on of the rest. Ben Jonson. GOD'S BLESSING. If there be one thing on earth which is truly admirable, it is to see God's wisdom, blessing an inferiority of natural powers, when they have been honestly, truly, and zealously cultivated. Dr. Arnold. All places that the eye of heaven visits, Shakespeare. GOODNESS. Goodness is generous and decisive; it is largeness of mind and sweetness of temper― balsam in the blood, and justice sublimated to a richer spirit. Jeremy Collier. If a man has a right to be proud of anything, 'tis a good action, done as it ought to be, without any cold suggestions of interest lurking at the bottom of it. Sterne. How indestructibly the good grows, and propagates itself, even among the weedy entanglements of evil! Carlyle. We may as well expect that God should make us rich without industry, as make us good without our endeavours. Shelley. When our soul shall leave this dwelling, The glory of one fair and virtuous action Is above all the scutcheons on our tomb, Or silken banners over us. Shirley. GOD. No man that owns the existence of an infinite Spirit, can doubt the possibility of a finite spirit, that is, such a thing as is immaterial, and does not contain any principle of corruption. Archbishop Tillotson. Should a man live under ground, and there converse with arts and mechanism, and should afterwards be brought into the open day, and see the several glories of heaven and earth, he would immediately pronounce them to be the works of such a Being as we define God to be. Aristotle. Whatever perfection is found in any creature, it is primarily and originally, it is perfectly, and in the highest degree, in God. Whichcote. GENIUS. The three things that enrich Genius, are contentment of mind, the cherishing of good thoughts, and exercising the memory. Southey. Genius is the natural geographer of the supersensible regions, and draws their map; and by acquainting us with new fields of activity, cools our affection for the old. These are at once accepted as the reality, of which the world we have conversed with is the show. Emerson. Genius unexerted is no more genius than a bushel of acorns in a forest of oaks. Beecher. GOOD NATURE It is seldom that the kindnesses of a goodnatured man are appreciated; for many people are so ill-natured as to think he cannot help it. Shelley. GIFTS. Win her with gifts, if she respect not words; More than quick words, do move a woman's mind. Shakespeare. GLORY. Glory is like a circle in the water, Till, by broad spreading, it disperse to nought. Shakespeare. Everything has its use: life, to teach us contempt of death; and death, the contempt of life. Glory, which among all things between, stands eminently the principal object, although it has been considered by some philosophers as mere vanity and deception, moves those great intellects which nothing else could have stirred, and places them where they can best and most advantageously shame the commonwealth. Landor. GOLD. 'Tis gold Which buys admittance; oft it doth; yea, and makes Diana's rangers false themselves, yield up Their deer to the stand of the stealer; and 'tis gold Which makes the true man kill'd, and saves the thief; May, sometime, hand both thief and true man; what Can it not do, and undo? Shakespeare. If money go before, all ways do lie open. Shakespeare. Men have a touch-stone whereby to try gold; but gold is the touch-stone whereby to try men. Fuller. GRIEF. Everyone can master a grief but he that has Shakespeare. |