If you were a bird and shut in a cage, Now what would you better do,-- Would you grieve your throat with a sorry note And mourn the whole day through; Or would you swing and chirp and sing, Though the world were warped with wrong, Till you filled one place with the perfect grace And gladness of your song?

If you were a man and shut in a world, Now what would you better do,-- On a gloomy day, when skies were gray, Would you be gloomy, too?

When crossed with care would you let despair Life's happy hope destroy, Or with a smile work on the while You found the path to joy?

[Ill.u.s.tration: FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE]

[Transcriber's Note: Sidenote quotations from the preceeding chapter are gathered in this section.]

Mirth is G.o.d's medicine; everybody ought to bathe in it.--Holmes.

The blue of heaven is larger than the cloud.--Elizabeth Barrett Browning.

A gay, serene spirit is the source of all that is n.o.ble and good.

--Schiller.

Your manners will depend very much on what you frequently think on; for the soul is as it were tinged with the color and complexion of thought.--Marcus Aurelius Antoninus.

Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of.--Benjamin Franklin.

Be yourself, but make yourself in everything as delightful as you can.--Margaret E. Sangster.

The tissue of the life to be we weave with colors all our own, and in the field of destiny we reap as we have sown.--Whittier.

What must of necessity be done you can always find out beyond question how to do.--Ruskin.

The doctrine of love, purity, and right living has, step by step, won its way into the hearts of mankind, and has filled the future with hope and promise.--William McKinley.

Since time is not a person we can overtake when he is past, let us honor him with mirth and cheerfulness of heart while he is pa.s.sing.

--Goethe.

Every wish is a prayer with G.o.d.--Elizabeth Barrett Browning.

Say not always what you know, but always know what you say.--Claudius.

Evil is wrought by want of thought, as well as want of heart.--Hood.

Our greatest glory consists not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.--Goldsmith.

So use present pleasures that thou spoilest not future ones.--Seneca.

A good manner springs from a good heart, and fine manners are the outcome of unselfish kindness.--Margaret E. Sangster.

Reading and study are in no sense education, unless they may contribute to this end of making us feel kindly towards all creatures.--Ruskin.

An hour in every day withdrawn from frivolous pursuits would, if properly employed, enable a person of ordinary capacity, to go far toward mastering a science.--Samuel Smiles.

To live with a high ideal is a successful life. It is not what one does, but what one tries to do, that makes the soul strong and fit for n.o.ble career.--E. P. Tenney.

He who loses money loses much; he who loses a friend loses more, but he who loses spirit loses all.--S. A. Nelson.

If you tell the truth, you have infinite power supporting you; but if not, you have infinite power against you.--Charles G. Gordon.

Great hearts alone understand how much glory there is in being good.

To be and keep so is not the gift of a happy nature alone, but it is strength and heroism.--Jules Michelet.

We live in deeds, not years; in thoughts, not breaths.--Bailey.

Remember that everybody's business in the social system is to be agreeable.--d.i.c.kens.

In the lexicon of youth there is no such word as fail.--Bulwer Lytton.

Be n.o.ble! and the n.o.bleness that lies in other men, sleeping, but never dead, will rise in majesty to meet thine own.--Lowell.

The cheerful live longest in years, and afterward in our regards.

--Bovee.

How sweet and gracious, even in common speech, is that fine sense which men call Courtesy!--James T. Fields.

Make each goal when reached, a starting point for further quest.

--Browning.

The world is so full of a number of things, I'm sure we should all be as happy as kings.--Robert Louis Stevenson.

G.o.d bless the good-natured, for they bless everybody else.--Beecher.

If you are acquainted with Happiness, introduce him to your neighbor.

--Phillips Brooks.

Nor love thy life, nor hate; but what thou liv'st, live well; how long or short, permit to heaven.--Milton.

The most wasted of all days is that on which one has not laughed.

--Chamfort.

It is impossible to be just if one is not generous.--Joseph Roux.

People glorify all sorts of bravery, except the bravery they might show on behalf of their nearest neighbors.--George Eliot.

How active springs the mind that leaves the load of yesterday behind.

--Pope.

One of the most charming things in girlhood is serenity.--Margaret E.

Sangster.

Every generous nature desires to make the earning of an honest living but a means to the higher end of adding to the sum total of human goodness and human happiness.--Frances E. Willard.

Attempt the end, and never stand in doubt; nothing's so hard but search will find it out.--Richard Lovelace.