250 LITEEAEY VALUES 



Blessed is the man who has some congenial work, 

 some occupation in which he can put his heart, and 

 which affords a complete outlet to all the forces 

 there are in him. 



A man does not want much time to think about 

 himself. Too much thought of the past and its 

 shadows overwhelms ; too much thought of the pre- 

 sent dissipates ; too much thought of the future un- 

 settles. I find that if a horse stands too much in 

 the stable, with too little work, he gets the crib-bite. 

 Too little work makes a kind of windsuoker of a 

 man. 



I recently had a letter from a friend who, from 

 having rented his farm for a number of years, had had 

 too much leisure. In this letter he writes how well 

 and happy he has been during the season ; he has 

 enjoyed existence, — the gods have smiled upon him 

 and he has found life worth living. Then he told 

 me, not by way of explanation, but as a matter 

 of news, that his head man had been disabled two 

 months before, and the care of the farm had de- 

 volved upon himself ; more than that, he was reno- 

 vating a place he had recently bought, remodeling 

 the house, shaping the grounds, etc. Then I knew 

 why he had been so unusually well and happy. He 

 had had something to do into which he could throw 

 himself, and it had set all the currents of his being 

 going again. 



About the same time I had a letter from another 

 farmer friend who told me how busy he was, — so 

 many things pressing that there was need of his 



