Posts by Paul R. Blake (Page 11)

Humility does not mean that you think less of yourself. It means that you think of yourself less. When you are right, you can afford to keep your temper. When you are wrong, you can’t afford to lose it. If we could trace our ancestors back far enough, we would learn that all servants come from princes and all princes come from servants. (Seneca) To solve the equation of human relationships, we need to do the math: add love, subtract…

Habit starts out as a thread. As new threads are added, it becomes a rope we cannot break. Ability is a poor man’s wealth. To teach is to learn twice. Grief often can be fully experienced alone, but to get the full value of joy, one must share it with another. Kind hearts are the garden, kind thoughts are the roots, kind words are the blossoms, kind deeds are the fruits. Men often hear only what they already understand. (Goethe)…

Money is the husk of many things, but it is not the kernel. It brings food, but not appetite; medicine, but not health; acquaintances, but not friends; days of joy, but not peace and happiness. (Henrik Ibsen) Too many people spend money they haven’t earned to buy things they don’t need to impress people they don’t like. He who burns bridges had better be a good swimmer. Tact is the art of making a point without making an enemy. I…

A lot of people don’t have much to say, and that’s ok; but, the trouble with some of them is that you have to listen a long time to find that out. It is better to deserve honor and not receive it than to receive honor and not deserve it. Don’t point a finger; lend a hand. Sweat is the cologne of accomplishment. The more you say, the less others remember. Giving until it hurts is not necessarily a measure…

You cannot get rid of a bad temper by losing it. On may lose the good things of this life against his will; but, if he loses the eternal blessings, he does so with his own consent. If you want to make peace, don’t talk with your friends, talk with your enemies. If you look for truth, you may find comfort in the end; if you look for comfort, you will find neither comfort nor truth. The trouble with today’s politics…

Working Together The power of a waterfall is nothing but a lot of drips working together. Snowflakes are one of nature’s most fragile things, but just look at what they can do when they stick together. The mightiest rivers lost their force when split up into several streams. If everyone swept in front of his house, the whole town would be clean. If you must publish someone’s faults, publish your own. God is the only one in a position to…

The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of a low price is forgotten. We are not at our best when perched upon the summit; we are climbers, at our best when the way is steep. One of the nice things about many of our problems is that most of them do not exist except in our imagination. Exercise daily; walk with the Lord. Nothing ruins the truth more than stretching it. Give Satan and inch and he will…