Part 31 (1/2)
”Do little things now,” says a Persian proverb; ”so shall big things co to be done” God will take care of the great things if we do not neglect the little ones
”Words are things,” says Byron, ”and a sht, produces that which ive these books for the founding of a college in this colony;” such were the words of ten e of Branford a few miles east of New Haven Each of the worthy fathers deposited a few books upon the table around which they were sitting; such was the founding of Yale College
”He that has a spirit of detail,” says Webster, ”will do better in life than ured beyond hie is rains of information, little observations picked up from everywhere
For a thousand years Asia monopolized the secret of silk culture, and at Ro the sixth century, at the request of Justinian, two Persian s fros were hatched by er held the monopoly of the silk business
In conificent arnificant seemed the visionary expedition of Columbus, about to start in three srand as was the triumph of Ferdinand, it now seems hardly worthy of mention in comparison with the wonderful achieveator
Only one hundred and ninety-two Athenians perished in the battle of Marathon, but Europe was saved from a host which is said to have drunk rivers dry, and to have shaken the solid earth as they marched
Great men are noted for their attention to trifles Goethe once asked aan interviehile he went to an adjoining rooarth would er-nails upon the streets Indeed, to a truly great s
”The eye of the understanding is like the eye of the sense; for as you h sreat axioh small and contegest to the keen observer the solution of ed to amuse children led to the discovery of the kaleidoscope Goodyear discovered how to vulcanize rubber by forgetting, until it beca a compound which he had before considered worthless Confined in the house by typhoid fever, Helreat econoht a microscope which led him into the field of science where he becaested to Sir Isambard Brunei the idea of a tunnel under the Thames at London Tracks of extinct anih Miller on and on until he becaist of his ti sturdily along, and asked hie Kemp, who became so enthusiastic in his study of sculpture that he walked fifty et the kindness of Sir Walter, and, when the latter died, threw his soul into the design of the h to the memory of the author of ”Waverley”
A poor boy applied for a situation at a bank in Paris, but was refused
As he left the door, he picked up a pin The bank president saw this, called the boy back, and gave hireatest banker of Paris,--Laffitte
It was the turning point in Theodore Parker's life when he picked up a stone to throw at a turtle So within him said, ”Don't do it,”
and he didn't He went home and asked his ht him the purpose of that inward uide It is said that David Hu society to take the side of infidelity Voltaire could not erase from his mind the ie of five The ”Arabian Nights” aroused the genius of Coleridge A Massachusetts soldier in the Civil War observed a bird hulling rice, and shot it; taking its bill for amachine which has revolutionized the rice business A war between France and England, costing rew out of a quarrel as to which of two vessels should first be served ater The quarrel of two Indian boys over a grasshopper led to the ”Grasshopper War”
George IV of England fell in a fit, and a village apothecary bled hi reat honor and profit
Many a noble shi+p has stranded because of one defective ti Guard the weak point
No object the eye ever beheld, no sound however slight caught by the ear, or anything once passing the turnstile of any of the senses, is ever let go The eye is a perpetual ca away in the brain for future use every face, every tree, every plant, flower, hill, strea which coraph in our natures which catches, however thoughtless and transient, every syllable we utter, and registers forever the slightest enunciation, and renders it immortal These notes may appear a thousand years hence, reproduced in our descendants, in all their beautiful or terrible detail
All the ages that have been are rounded up into the small space we call ”To-day” Every life spans all that precedes it To-day is a book which contains everything that has transpired in the world up to the present led with the dust for centuries still live in their destinies through the laws of heredity
Nothing has ever been lost All the infinitesimals of the past are amassed into the present
The first acorn had wrapped up in it all the oak forests on the globe
”Least of all seeds, greatest of all harvests,” seereat laws of nature All life co sreat a world below as the telescope above All of nature's laws govern the sle drop of water is a th of a chain lies in its weakest link, however large and strong all the otherspoints, while we are sensitive and neglectful of our weaknesses
Yet it is our greatest weakness which th A soldier who escapes the bullets of a thousand battles may die from the scratch of a pin, and s and the storms of ocean only to founder in a smooth sea from holes made by tiny insects Drop by drop is instilled into the mind the poison which blasts many a precious life
How often do we hear people say, ”Oh, it's only ten minutes, or twenty ,” or use other expressions of a like effect? Why, it is just in these little spare bits of time, these odd moments, which ained their education, written their books, and reat when a great soul sees them_ The noble or heroic act of one man has sometimes elevated a nation Many an honorable career has resulted frorasp of a friendly hand