“We love them, and they know it; if we falter
With fingers numb,
Among the unused strings of love’s expression,
The notes are dumb;
We shrink within ourselves in voiceless sorrow,
Leaving the words unsaid,
And, side by side with those we love the dearest,
In silence on we tread.
“Thus on we tread, and thus each heart in silence
Its fate fulfills,
Waiting and hoping for the heavenly music
Beyond the distant hills.
The only difference of the love in heaven
From love on earth below.
Is—here we love and know not how to tell it,
And there we all shall know.”
An English writer has some good words about flattery. They are suggested by a character in a recent story. It is that of an old woman who was clever but very disagreeable. One of her friends said to her that she ought to be more gracious and to give amiability a trial in her life. She was conscience stricken and confused as she thought of herself. “I’m a beast of an old woman,” she said. “I can be agreeable if I choose; nobody more so.” “Then why no choose to be so?” it was suggested. So she tried the experiment and was greatly encouraged. Her amiability gave pleasure to her friends and she kept it up.
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