Aphorisms For The Year (1894)

The Aphorisms Appeared Originally In The Century. Of The Brief Paragraphs And Verses Some Are Printed Here For The First Time; But The Greater Part Are Extracts From My Longer Work Which Has Appeared In The Century St. Nicholas Wide Awake Harper'S Magazine Harper'S Weekly Harper'S Bazar The Mcclure Syndicate The Cosmopolitan The Overland Monthly Lippincott'S Magazine Worthington'S Magazine And In The Ring Of Amethyst And From Palm To Glacier. January 1. Remember That The Whim Of To-Day Is The Impulse Of To-Morrow The Wish Of Next Week The Effort Of Next Month The Good Or Bad Taste Of Next Year The Habit Of Your Old Age And The Instinct Of Your Descendants. 2. Learn To Accept Happiness With A Reverent Surprise And Grace; Unhappiness With A Recognition Of The Inevitable And Resignation To The Facts Of Fate. 3. Realism Is Not Meant To Dispute The Right Of Way With The Ideal But With The False. 4. Make My Days Happy Love; Yet I Entreat Make Not Each Happier Than The Last For Me; Lest Heaven Itself Should Dawn For Me Complete In Joy Not The Surprise I Dreamed ’T Would Be; But Simply As The Natural And Sweet Continuance Of Days Spent Here With Thee.