When over the fair fame of friend or foe The shadow of disgrace shall fall; instead Of words to blame, or reproof of thus and so, Let something good be said.
Forget not that no fellow-being yet May fall so low but love may lift his head; Even the cheek of shame with tears is wet If something good be said.
The right Christian mind will ... find its own image wherever it exists; it will seek for what it loves, and draw out of all dens and caves, and it will believe in its being, often when it cannot see it; and so it will lie lovingly over the faults and rough places of the human heart, as the snow from heaven does over the hard, and black, and broken mountain rocks.
To him that is ready to faint kindness should be showed from his friend.
Lord God, grant that after years of climbing I may not find the mist in my soul has dulled the vision of thy glory. Keep me from the habit of looking for faults, and missing the virtues in others. Forbid that I should be so occupied in taking measure of other lives that I neglect to measure my own. Amen.
Zachary Taylor, Virginia, twelfth President United States, born 1784.
Get the truth once uttered, and 'tis like A star newborn that drops into its place, And which, once circling in its placid round, Not all the tumult of the earth can shake.
If you would be well spoken of, learn to speak well of others. And when you have learned to speak well of them, endeavor likewise to do well to them; and reap the fruit of being well spoken of by them.
He that slandereth not with his tongue, Nor doeth evil to his friend, Nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbor; He that doeth these things shall never be moved.
Lord God, I bless thee for the lives of men and women who are willing to be led by the truth, and who are worthy to follow thee. I pray that thou wilt make me truthful, and keep me steadfast, that none may go astray by the uncertainty of my way. Amen.
Not as the conqueror comes, They, the true-hearted, came; Not with the roll of the stirring drums, And the trumpet songs of fame:
Amidst the storm they sang, And the stars heard and the sea; And the sounding aisles of the dim woods rang To the anthem of the free.
Ay, call it holy ground, The soil where first they trod; They have left unstained what there they found-- Freedom to worship God.
