.. Darwin could work only half
an hour at a time; yet in many diligent half-hours he laid anew the
foundations of philosophy.... Green, the historian, tells us that the
world is moved along, not only by the mighty shoves of its heroes, but
also by the aggregate of the tiny pushes of each honest worker."

In the same spirit the great French savant, Emile Zola, penned these
words: "Let each one accept his task, a task which should fill his
life. It may be very humble; it will not be the less useful. Never
mind what it is, so long as it exists and keeps you erect! When you
have regulated it, without excess--just the quantity you are able to
accomplish each day--it will cause you to live in health and in joy."

Some wise observer has said that one of the chief aims of life should
be to learn how to grow old gracefully. This knowledge is deemed by
many to be a great secret and a most valuable one. Yet it can hardly
be called a secret since every girl and boy as well as every person of
maturer years must know that it is but the working out of the laws of
cause and effect. When character-building is begun on the right lines
and those lines are followed to the end the result is as certain as it
is beautiful. When we see a grandmother whose life has been lived on
the happy plane of pure thoughts and kind deeds we ought not to wonder
that her old age is as exquisite as was the perfect bloom of her
youth. We need not marvel how it has come about that her life has been
a long and happy one. Here is the "secret:"

She knew how to forget disagreeable things.

She kept her nerves well in hand and inflicted them on no one.

She mastered the art of saying pleasant things.

She did not expect too much from her friends.

She made whatever work came to her congenial.

She retained her faith in others and did not believe all the world
wicked and unkind.

She relieved the miserable and sympathized with the sorrowful.

She never forgot that kind words and a smile cost nothing, but are
priceless treasures to the discouraged.

She did unto others as she would be done by, and now that old age has
come to her, and there is a halo of white hair about her brow, she is
loved and considered. This is the "secret" of a long life and a happy
one.

Fortunate is the girl who is permitted to dwell within the living
presence of such a matron and to be directed by her into the paths of
usefulness and sunshine. And thrice fortunate is every girl