Gard'ner, for telling me these news of woe,
Pray God the plants thou graft'st may never grow.

Gard'ner, for telling me these news of woe,
Pray God the plants thou graft'st may never grow.

In a narrow circle the mind contracts.
Man grows with his expanded needs.
[Ger., Im engen Kreis read more

In a narrow circle the mind contracts.
Man grows with his expanded needs.
[Ger., Im engen Kreis verengert sich der Sinn.
Es wachst der Mensch mit seinen grossern Zwecken.]

It is not growing like a tree
In bulk, doth make man better be;
Or standing long read more

It is not growing like a tree
In bulk, doth make man better be;
Or standing long an oak, three hundred year,
To fall a log at last, dry, bald, and sere:
A lily of a day
Is fairer far in May,
Although it falls and die that night--
It was the plant and flower of Light.

A lover of Jesus and of the truth . . . can lift himself above
himself in spirit.
read more

A lover of Jesus and of the truth . . . can lift himself above
himself in spirit.
[Lat., Amator Jesu et veritatis . . . potest se . . . elevare
supra seipsum in spiritu.]

We grow because we struggle, we learn and overcome.

We grow because we struggle, we learn and overcome.

And so all growth that is not towards God
Is growing to decay.

And so all growth that is not towards God
Is growing to decay.

Treading beneath their feet all visible things,
As steps that upwards to their Father's throne
Lead gradual.

Treading beneath their feet all visible things,
As steps that upwards to their Father's throne
Lead gradual.

We find comfort among those who agree with us-- growth among those who don't.

We find comfort among those who agree with us-- growth among those who don't.

Nor deem the irrevocable Past,
As wholly wasted, wholly vain,
If, rising on its wrecks, at last
read more

Nor deem the irrevocable Past,
As wholly wasted, wholly vain,
If, rising on its wrecks, at last
To something nobler we attain.