tics,
for it has no fits of excitement; which needs no ascetic restraints, for
it is strong enough to use God's gifts without abusing them; the
character, in a word, which is truly temperate, not in drink and food
merely, but in all desires, thoughts, and actions.

_Essays_. 1873.

A Present Veil. November 25.

What is there in this world worth having without religion? Do you not
feel that true religion, even in its most imperfect stage, is not merely
an escape from hell after death but the only _real state_ for a man--the
only position to live in in this world--the only frame of mind which will
give anything like happiness here. I cannot help feeling at moments--if
there were _no Christ_, everything, even the very flowers and insects,
and every beautiful object, would be hell _now_--dark, blank, hopeless.

_MS. Letter_. 1843.

Cowardice. November 26.

There is but one thing which you have to fear in earth or heaven--being
untrue to your better selves, and therefore untrue to God. If you will
not do the thing you know to be right, and say the thing you know to be
true, then indeed you are weak. You are a coward; you desert God.

_True Words for Brave Men_.

Blind Faith. November 27.

In Him--"The Father"--I can trust, in spite of the horrible things I see
happen, in spite of the fact that my own prayers are not answered. I
believe that He makes all things work together for the good of the human
race, and of me among the rest, as long as I obey His will. I believe He
will answer my prayer, not according to the letter, but according to the
spirit of it; that if I desire good, I shall find good, though not _the_
good I longed for.

_MS. Letter_. 1862.

Small and Great. November 28.

Begin with small things--you cannot enter into the presence of another
human being without finding there more to do than you or I or any soul
will ever learn to do perfectly before we die. Let us be content to do
little if God sets us little tasks. It is but pride and self-will which
says, "Give me something huge to fight and I shall enjoy that--but why
make me sweep the dust?"

_Letters and Memories_. 1854.

True and False. November 29.

We must remember that dissatisfaction at existing evil (the feeling of
all young and ardent minds), the struggle to escape from the
"circumstance" of the evil world, has a carnal counterfeit--the love of
novelty, and self-will, and self-conceit