Meagre were his looks,
Sharp misery had worn him to the bones;
And in his needy shop read more

Meagre were his looks,
Sharp misery had worn him to the bones;
And in his needy shop a tortoise hung,
An alligator stuffed, and other skins
Of ill-shaped fishes; and about his shelves
A beggarly account of boxes,
Green earthen pots, bladders, and musty seeds,
Remnants of packthread, and old cakes of roses
Were thinly scattered, to make up a show.

I have always held firmly to the thought that each one of us can do a little to bring some read more

I have always held firmly to the thought that each one of us can do a little to bring some portion of misery to an end.

It is seldom that the miserable of the world can help regarding their misery as a wrong inflicted by those read more

It is seldom that the miserable of the world can help regarding their misery as a wrong inflicted by those who are less miserable.

Sweet recreation barred, what doth ensue
But moody and dull melancholy,
Kinsman to a grim and comfortless read more

Sweet recreation barred, what doth ensue
But moody and dull melancholy,
Kinsman to a grim and comfortless despair,
And at her heels a huge infectious troop
Of pale distemperatures and foes to life?

There are a good many real miseries in life that we cannot help smiling at, but they are the smiles read more

There are a good many real miseries in life that we cannot help smiling at, but they are the smiles that make wrinkles and not dimples.

We ought never to scoff at the wretched, for who can be sure of
continued happiness?
[Fr., Il read more

We ought never to scoff at the wretched, for who can be sure of
continued happiness?
[Fr., Il ne se faut jamais moquer des miserables,
Car qui peut s'assurer d'etre toujours heureux?]

Any genuine philosophy leads to action and from action back again to wonder, to the enduring fact of mystery.

Any genuine philosophy leads to action and from action back again to wonder, to the enduring fact of mystery.

Whoever is spared personal pain must feel himself called to help in diminishing the pain of others. We must all read more

Whoever is spared personal pain must feel himself called to help in diminishing the pain of others. We must all carry our share of the misery which lies upon the world.

Threescore years and ten is enough; if a man can't suffer all the misery he wants in that time, he read more

Threescore years and ten is enough; if a man can't suffer all the misery he wants in that time, he must be numb.