February 6

“Not for a soul like thine the calm
Of selfish ease and joys of sense;
But duty, more than crown or palm,
Its own exceeding recompense.

Go up and on! thy day well done,
Its morning promise well fulfilled,
Arise to triumphs yet unwon,
To holier tasks that God has willed.”

WHITTIER

“Rightness expresses of actions what straightness does of lines, and there can no more be two kinds of right actions than of straight lines.”

H. SPENCER

February 5

“Our thoughts, good or bad, are not in our command, but every one of us has at all hours duties to do, and these he can do negligently, like a slave, or faithfully, like a true servant. ‘Do the duty that is nearest thee’ – that first, and that well; all the rest will disclose themselves with increasing clearness, and make their successive demand. Were your duties never so small, I advise you, set yourself with double and treble energy and punctuality to do them, hour after hour, day after day.”

CARLYLE

“Every duty, even the least duty, involves the whole principle of obedience. And little duties make the will dutiful, that is, supple and prompt to obey. Little obediences lead into great. The daily round of duty is full of probation and of discipline; it trains the will, heart, and conscience. We need not to be prophets or apostles. The commonest life may be full of perfection. The duties of home are a discipline for the ministries of heaven.”

H. E. MANNING

February 4

“You are seeking your own will. You are seeking some good other than the law you are bound to obey. But how will you find good? It is not a thing of choice; it is a river that flows from the foot of the Invisible Throne, and flows by the path of obedience. I say, again, man cannot choose his duties. You may choose to forsake your duties, and choose not to have the sorrow they bring. But you will go forth; and what will you find? Sorrow without duty – bitter herbs, and no bread with them.”

GEORGE ELIOT [Pen-name of Mary Ann Evans]

“The performance of a duty is never a useless office, though we may not see the consequences or they may be quite different from what we expected or calculated on.”

Mrs. GASKELL

“He who is false to present duty breaks a thread in the loom, and will find the flaw when he may have forgotten its cause.”

February 3

“No day is commonplace if we had only eyes to see its splendour. There is no duty that comes to our hand but brings to us the possibility of kingly service. . . . There is nothing possible to a human soul greater than simple faithfulness.”

“Stern Lawgiver! Yet thou dost wear
The Godhead’s most benignant grace;
Now know we anything so fair
As is the smile upon thy face;
Flowers laugh before thee on their beds;
And fragrance in thy footing treads;
Thou dost preserve the stars from wrong;
And the most ancient heavens, through Thee, are fresh and strong.

“To humbler functions, awful Power!
I call thee; I myself commend
Unto thy guidance from this hour;
Oh, let my weakness have an end!
Give unto me, made lowly wise,
The spirit of self-sacrifice
The confidence of reason give;
And in the light of truth thy Bondsman let me live!”

WORDSWORTH

February 2

“So nigh is grandeur to our dust,
So near is God to man,
When duty whispers low, ‘Thou must,’
The soul replies, ‘I can.’”

EMERSON

“Keep true, never be ashamed of doing right; decide on what you think is right, and stick to it.”

GEORGE ELIOT [pen-name of Mary Ann Evans]

“I never saw in any man such fearlessness in the path of duty. The one question with him was, ‘Is it right?’ No dread of consequences, and consequences often bitterly felt by him, and wounding his sensitive nature, ever prevented him from doing that to which conscience prompted. His sense of right amounted to chivalry.”

From The life of Professor Forbes