The Project Gutenberg EBook of Letters to a Daughter and A Little Sermon
to School Girls, by Helen Ekin Starrett

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Title: Letters to a Daughter and A Little Sermon to School Girls

Author: Helen Ekin Starrett

Release Date: March 20, 2005 [EBook #15419]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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LETTERS TO A DAUGHTER
AND
A LITTLE SERMON TO SCHOOL-GIRLS.

BY
HELEN EKIN STARRETT,

Author of "The Future of Educated Women," etc.

CHICAGO:
JANSEN, McCLURG, & COMPANY.
1886.

COPYRIGHT,
BY JANSEN, MCCLURG, & CO.
A.D. 1885.

CONTENTS.

LETTER I. BEHAVIOR AND MANNERS 5
LETTER II. SELF-CONTROL AND SELF-CULTURE 16
LETTER III. AIMS IN LIFE 27
LETTER IV. PERSONAL HABITS 35
LETTER V. SOCIETY--CONVERSATION 46
LETTER VI. ASSOCIATES AND FRIENDS 59
LETTER VII. TACT--UNOBTRUSIVENESS 71
LETTER VIII. WHO ARE THE CULTIVATED? 81
LETTER IX. RELIGIOUS CULTURE AND DUTY 88

A LITTLE SERMON TO SCHOOL-GIRLS 101

LETTERS TO A DAUGHTER.

LETTER I.

BEHAVIOR AND MANNERS.

_My Dear Daughter:_--One of the greatest blessings I could wish for you,
as you pass out from the guardianship of home into life with its duties
and trials, is that you should possess the power of winning love and
friends. With this power, the poor girl is rich; without it, the richest
girl is poor. In the main, this power of winning friends and love
depends upon two things: behavior and manners. Between these there is an
important distinction, but one is the outgrowth of the other. The root
of good manners is good behavior. Consider with me for a little what
each implies.

Behavior is a revealer of real character. It has especially to do with
the more serious duties and relations of life. Its greatest importance
is in the home. How well do I remember a visit, made in my youth, to a
school friend whom I had learned to admire greatly for her superior
int