THE PLEASURES OF LIFE. (A personal letter, — to you.) 
Dear Floral Friends, 
So many friendly letters come from our customers which I am unable to answer, 
that for many years I have written one letter for all and placed it thus in our catalog. 
I try to discuss topics of common interest and worth an exchange of ideas. 
Pleasure and happiness are primary motives for all human endeavor. According to 
a revered American document, the pursuit of happiness is an inalienable right. Whatever 
we work for, our ultimate aim is happiness. My deductions will be entirely impersonal. 
I am presenting ideas, not myself or my habits. 
Pleasure and happiness are not exact synonyms. Perhaps pleasure is a more temporary 
feeling and happiness a more continued state. But the synonymy is close. 
Another American tradition is expressed on all our coins. “In God We Trust.” 
Making others happy is a good second step. If one has wealth or other means of adding 
to the happiness of others, let us remember, it is more blessed to give than to receive. 
If we haven’t money to give, we can give service or goods at right prices. 
We hear much praise for elegance, gracious living, fine foods, houses, furniture, 
leisure. These things are not always good and they do not make us happy of themselves. 
Juvenal, the Roman satirist who lived in the first century A.D., denounced the lax 
and luxurious living of the Romans in many bitter diatribes. His “Mens sana in corpore 
sano,’ (A healthy mind in a healthy body) is still a good maxim. We cannot deny that 
luxury, excesses, idleness and easy living weaken both mind and body. They lead to 
loss of health, a short life and they fail to make us happy. If we have the means, this 
does not mean that we should not have a comfortable and artistic home and surroundings. 
They are enjoyable when relaxing from toil. 
I will recommend more highly, activity and self restraint. The old adage, “use it 
or lose it, is eternally true. Legs were made for walking. If you do not walk you finally 
become unable to walk. Unused muscles finally become useless. All body organs need 
activity. The mind is in equal need of it. Use it or lose it. A keen mind adds to our 
resources for pleasure. A senile mind is seldom a necessary characteristic of old age. One 
can always learn, at any age and can always improve. It requires a good mind to manage 
an old body. 
Many who retire from work do not retire from the full dietary that work requires. 
Often they become too fat and their lives are shortened. Slowing down may have been 
proper but keeping the furnace of our energy machine full without using all the energy, 
leads to a storage problem for the excess and often the person becomes fat and life is 
shortened. The functions of the body and mind must be used or lost. 
The well being of our body depends upon the mind and the will that manages both. 
We must give this our attention and adopt a regime that will keep the mind active, 
disciplined, efficient and logical. Reading maketh a full man, therefore read much. 
Magazines, newspapers and good books. In youth to maturity we should have learned 
to distinguish between the true and the false, the good and the evil. This ability may 
be increased thruout life. 
Walking and gardening are the best exercises. Hobbies are recommended by all 
medical authorities. I know of no hobby that is more fitted to man’s primitive instincts 
than gardening—out doors, in the house and greenhouse. All hobbies that involve our 
creative ability are useful, yet growing plants tops all. It involves skill, good judgment 
and ability to learn. We must learn not to blame the bulbs, the seeds or the plants for 
our failure. An alibi is an easy way to escape responsibility but one does not learn that 
way. We learn painfully sometimes but it is impressive. Poor stock can be the cause but 
much more often it is poor handling. Even a poor plant can be made vigorous. 
We have made research for the most interesting and beautiful plants. Study carefully 
our lists of African Violets, Gloxinias, Achimenes and other Gesneriads; the famous 
Blood Lilies, Amaryllis, Crinums, Clivias and other Amaryllids; the Gloriosa, Anthuriums, 
Marantas and all that we list. 
Our culture advice is based on long experience. Much that is read in newspapers 
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