any other place than a
veritable perdition.

There are bad men, vicious men, godless men, but they are not all so.
Do not believe that they are.

"There are loyal hearts, there are spirits brave;
There are souls that are good and true,
Then give the world the best you have
And the best will come back to you.

"Give love, and love to your heart will flow
And strength for your utmost need.
Give faith and a score of hearts will show
Their faith in your worldly deed.

"Give truth and truth will be paid in kind,
And honor will honor meet;
And a smile that is sweet is sure to find
A smile that is just as sweet.

"For life is the mirror of king and slave;
It's just what we are and do.
Then give the world the best you have
And the best will come back to you."

But if you frown at the world the world is going to frown at you, and
if you mistrust it, it will mistrust you. I used to stand as a boy on
the river bank on my father's farm and shout at the great rugged cliff
across the silver Buffalo River. If I spoke kindly to the grim old
cliff, its answer would be in the same kindly tone. If there was
harshness and menace in my voice, it came back the same way. And life
is a big echo. It speaks to us in the tone of our own voice. It gives
us the faith or the unbelief that we ourselves give.

And with faith in self gone and also faith in men, it is not to be
wondered at that Elijah requested for himself that he might die. But
though he made this request, it is not the real sentiment of his heart.
It is not the real Elijah speaking. A man ought never to make an
important decision when he is in the blues. He is not himself any more
than is a man under the influence of drink. Elijah is not himself
here. How do we know? He really doesn't mean what he is saying. How
do we know that?

Well, he is requesting for himself here that he, might die. Now, if he
was really in earnest about dying, Jezebel would have attended to that
for him without any prayer on his part, if he had just stayed round
Jezreel for a while. The truth of the matter is that the love of life
is strong in him. The truth of the matter also is that he still
believes somewhat in himself and in God and in men. He is just in the
blues now and is not saying what he really believes when he is at his
best.

When you get in the dumps and fret and fume and wish you were dead,
just stop right there and tell yourself