March 14

“Life certainly may be, and ought to be, bright, interesting and happy; and, according to the Italian proverb, ‘If all cannot live on the piazza, everyone may yet feel the sun.’ If we do our best; if we do not magnify trifling troubles; if we resolutely look, I do not say at the bright side of things, but at things as they really are; if we avail ourselves of the manifold blessings which surround us, we cannot but feel how thankful we ought to be for the ‘scared trusts of health, strength and time,’ for the glorious inheritance of life. . . . Few of us, indeed, realise the wonderful privilege of living; the blessings we inherit; the glories and beauties of the universe, which is our own if we choose to have it so; the extent to which we can make ourselves what we wish to be; or the power we possess of securing peace, of triumphing over pain and sorrow.”

Sir JOHN LUBBOCK

“There are nettles everywhere,
But smooth green grasses are more common still;
The blue of heaven is larger than the cloud.”

ELIZABETH B. BROWNING