He who begins right, and continues
blown away from the soul,
right, does not need to desire, and search
tribulation has completed its work,
for felicitous results; they are already at
and there is no more need for it;
hand; they follow as consequences; they
then abiding joy is realized.
are the certainties, the realities, of life.
The sole and supreme use of suffering
Sweet is the rest and deep is the bliss
is to purify, to burn out all that is useless
of him who has freed his heart from its
and impure. Suffering ceases for him
lusts and hatreds and dark desires.
who is pure. There could be no object
in burning gold after the dross had
Twelfth Evening
been removed.
You are the creator of your own shadows;
Fourteenth Morning
you desire, and then you grieve; renounce,
and then you shall rejoice.
In speaking of self-control, one is easily
misunderstood. It should not be associated
Of all the beautiful truths pertaining
with a destructive repression, but with a
to the soul, . . . none is more gladdening
constructive expression.
or fruitful of divine promise and confidence
than this-that man is the master of
A man is happy, wise and great in the
thought, the moulder of character, and
measure that he controls himself; he is
the maker and shaper of character,
wretched, foolish, and mean in the
environment, and destiny.
measure that he allows his animal nature
to dominate his thoughts and actions.
Thirteenth Morning
he who controls himself, controls his
As darkness is a passing shadow, and light
life, his circumstances, his destiny; and
is a substance that remains, so sorrow is
wherever he goes he carries his happiness
fleeting, but joy abides for ever. No true
with him as an abiding possession.
thing can pass away and become lost; no
Renunciation precedes regeneration.
false thing can remain and be preserved.
The permanent happiness which men
Sorrow is false, and it cannot live; joy is
seek in dissipation, excitement, and
true, and it cannot die. Joy may become
abandonment to unworthy pleasures,
hidden for a time, but it can always be
is found only in the life which reverses
recovered; sorrow may remain for a period,
all this-the life of self-control.
but it can be transcended and dispersed.
Do not think your sorrow will remain;
Fourteenth Evening
it will pass away like a cloud. Do not
Law, not confusion, is the dominating
believe that the torments of sin are ever
principle in the universe; justice, not
your portion; they will vanish like a
injustice is the soul and substance of life;
hideous nightmare. Awake! Arise! Be holy
and righteousness, not corruption, is the
and joyful.
moulding and moving force in the spiritual
government of the world. This being so,
Thirteenth Evening
man has but the right himself to find that
Tribulation lasts only so long as there
the universe is right.
When I am pure,
Sixteenth Morning
