Stepping stones to manhood

CHAPTER. PAGE. 1. BE NEAT. 15 2. BE POLITE. 23 3. BE TRUTHFUL. 33 4. BE CHOICE OF LANGUAGE. 45 5. BE AMBITIOUS. 55 6. BE INDUSTRIOUS. 67 7. BE STUDIOUS. 79 8. BE TEMPERATE. 93 9...

CHAPTER. PAGE. 11. BE DUTIFUL. 131 12. BE HONEST. 141 13. BE JUST. 151 14. BE KIND. 159 15. BE GENEROUS. 171 16. BE CAREFUL OF YOUR COMPANY. 181 17. BE CAUTIOUS OF BANEFUL AMUSE...

CHAPTER. PAGE. 21. BE A CHRISTIAN. 239 22. BE PRAYERFUL. 249 23. BE A BIBLE STUDENT. 261 24. BE A SABBATH OBSERVER. 275 25. BE A CHURCH MEMBER. 287 26. BE A WORKER FOR JESUS. 29...

You can make yourself look an inch taller by neat, well-fitting dress. You can actually make yourself taller by an erect, manly carriage. Slovenliness is contagious. It communic...

A high column was to be built. The workmen were engaged, and all went to work with a will. In laying a corner, one brick was set a trifle out of line. This was unnoticed, and as...

Character makes the man; character and politeness mark the perfect man. The first is the diamond in the rough; the second the cut stone. The former may attract the attention of...

William of Wickham, Bishop of Winchester, and founder of Winchester and of New College, Oxford, was so convinced of the value of manners that he had the phrase “Manners Make a M...

It is related of Cyrus, that when asked what was the first thing he learned, he replied, “To tell the truth.” Truthfulness is the foundation stone of character. Without it, a li...

While a vessel was crossing the English Channel, a gentleman stood near the helmsman. It was a calm pleasant evening, and no one expected a storm. The flapping of a sail as if t...

“Maintain your rank, vulgarity despise, To swear is neither brave, polite nor wise; You would not swear upon a bed of death; Reflect—your Maker now may stop your breath.” _Anony...

One of the most historic structures in the world was the Campanile, or the bell-tower of St. Mark’s Cathedral in Venice. Not long since it fell. One aged Lugui Vendrasco knew it...

“A poor Virginia cabin gave the seed; And from its dark and lowly door there came A peer of princes in the world’s acclaim, A master spirit for the nation’s need. Strong, silent...

Many a pen has been used against this inward passion, declaring it a “secret poison, a gallant madness and the mother of hypocrisy.” The great Wolsey cried, “I charge thee, flin...

Industry stimulates honesty,—honesty for its own sake, not because it is the best policy. Such sweetened by courtesy, seasons our attainments with a delightful relish and porten...

“The best thing I remember,” said Chauncey Depew to a company of young men in New York, “was my graduation from Yale. I made up my mind that day that I would lead a life of scho...

The boy who would be an intelligent and wise man needs to be studious. What may now seem irksome employment will prove a delight in after years. Through study he will not be a b...

The impression that study is only for those who attend school is decidedly wrong. If carried into practice it would prove disastrous to one’s success. There is no period in life...

In all the world there is not to be found an old man, who has been a total abstainer from intoxicating liquors through all his life, who regrets the rule he adopted and kept. Su...

One of the great curses, if not the greatest in our land, is intemperance. It is productive of murder, lawlessness and crime; the chief agency in the corruption of the ballot, l...

The influence of example is always a powerful one. With such wide-spread habits as those of tobacco smoking and chewing it is little wonder why so many boys indulge. They see on...

An old monk was once walking through a forest, with a scholar by his side. He suddenly stopped and pointed to four plants that were close at hand. The first was just beginning t...

A boy should carefully consider his natural bent or inclination, be it business or profession. In other words, take stock of himself and ascertain, if possible, for what he is a...

“All things come to him who waits,” is a pretty sentiment, but practical application hews the way. No great book was ever written at one sitting. Edward Gibbon was twenty years...

Disobedience to parents is one of the fruitful sources from which our Reform Schools are filled, and, afterward, as a result of which, many young men drift into our penitentiari...

In this second portion of our subject, we find that relationship broadens. Instead of dealing only with ourselves, we deal with others. Man is a social being, but is only worthy...

The best that a boy or man can do is to be honest. He will find honesty profitable; not only will it pay in a material way, but it will bring satisfaction with self, and will co...

“Honesty is the best policy” cannot be excelled as a moral maxim. As an aphorism it cannot be revoked. He who heeds it will avoid wrong, but he who disregards it will cease to d...

“Be just,” is a mandate from the Court of Conscience. The law of that forum is the “Golden Rule:” “All things whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, do ye even so unto...

Archbishop Abbot of Canterbury when preaching the funeral sermon of Lord Buckhurst, did not dwell on his merits as a statesman, or his genius as a poet, but upon his virtues as...

Whenever a brave, kind word needs to be said, say it; whenever a brave, kind act needs to be done, do it. Always feed the song birds, but spare their nests; sprinkle ashes in ic...

The story is related of a king who had a boy in whom he took great delight. He gave him beautiful rooms to live in, with rich pictures and books, and servants to wait on him whe...

One of the noblest traits which a boy can cultivate in his relations with his fellows is that of generosity. He is a mean fellow who is always thinking and planning for himself...

During one of his wars Napoleon captured two British sailors and confined them in a prison in central France. The men escaped and made their way to Boulogne on the sea coast, wi...

Avoid as if struck with leprosy, anyone who is profane, who smokes, who is untruthful, who is unmindful of the rights and feelings of others, and do not forget that strong drink...

There is a well established rule, by which one is judged by the company he keeps. No word of explanation need be given, for the companions he selects and in whose circle he move...

My boy and my son, I advise you not to touch a card. Don’t learn the game or watch one. One of my companions fell dead in a gambling house by a pistol shot from his own gun. His...

It is related that during the reign of the bluff King Hal, there lived a knight named Sir John Giffard, of Chillington, who possessed a beautiful leopard. One day the animal esc...

In the heart of every boy is a “Chamber of Imagery.” Practically speaking, this is Memory’s storehouse, the “Commissary Department of thought,” “the Hall of Entertainment.” Bad...

It is only about four hundred years since the first book was issued from the press. Between 1450 and 1455 Gutenberg, the inventor of the printing press, succeeded in publishing...

It has often been said that, if a man conceives the idea of becoming eminent in learning, and cannot toil through the million little drudgeries necessary to carry him on, his le...

To be successful a boy needs, as Arthur Helps said, “an almost ignominious love of detail.” To dream is not sufficient, he must learn to do, and in doing pay special attention t...

Patriotism is the first and best of the civic virtues. It involves more than any of the rest. It involves country, race, nation, kindred, institutions, associations, fellowships...

For centuries nations have employed patriotic songs to inspire courage and love of country. France has long sung her “Marseillaise,” Norway the “Song of the Battle Axe,” England...

What is it to be a Christian? It is to be born again. What is it to be born again? The New Testament gives the answer. He that “believeth that Jesus is the Son of God is born of...

Having fairly embarked on the voyage which ceases not till the port of eternity is reached, it is an exhibition of good seamanship to take one’s bearings. By the log is estimate...

When I was a youth, I loved to climb Arthur’s Seat early in the morning, for the purpose of breathing the air borne to our inland home from out the mighty seas; and so it is wel...

A noble characteristic of any boy is love for prayer. Too many consider common amusements more important than going to some chamber or church to commune with the loving Saviour....

2. _They will make a boy wise_: “From a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.”—2 Tim...

Never was there an age with so many books as the present; books to amuse and instruct, books of fact and fiction, but the greatest and grandest is the Bible. “It has,” as Locke...

“We are apt to think,” said Henry S. Baker, “that a rest of twelve hours, with a sleep of about eight fully recuperates us after a day of hard work at physical or mental labor o...

A gentleman who had great respect for the Sabbath was going to church. He was a peculiar man, and would sometimes do and say singular things. On his way he met a stranger drivin...

When once thy foot enters the church, beware, God is more there than thou; for thou art there Only by His permission. Then beware; And make thyself all reverence and fear. —_Her...

There are in the United States about seven hundred different kinds of lodges, chapters and orders, but not one of them can take the place of the church, or do the work this inst...

The manifold relations that a boy sustains to society forces him to labor in many spheres, and each has its special compensation, but the noblest and best rewarded service is fo...

The poet Virgil was said to have cast an enchantment on one of the public gates of Naples. All who passed the sculptured, smiling face on one side prospered, but those who passe...

My family and I were in Copenhagen one Fourth of July, so we hung our American flag out of the window of the hotel. Up came the United States consul, saying: “I knew there must...

In city courtrooms there is a certain stand known as the “witness stand,” from which individuals give evidence for or against the accused whose trial is pending. Sometimes the e...

Love! what things are wrapped up in this word. Joy is love exulting. Peace is love in repose. Long suffering is love untiring. Gentleness is love enduring. Temperance is love in...

It is related of the Apostle John that when old and feeble he was borne by his disciples to the House of God, where, spreading his hands, he addressed the people again and again...

Hope leads from goal to goal, And opens still, and opens on the soul; Till lengthen’d on to faith, and unconfin’d, It pours the bliss that fills up all the mind. —_Pope._

Life properly belongs to the hopeful. It has been said that a pessimist is one who has the choice of two evils and takes them both. A discouraged man is defeated before he begin...

Be faithful to yourself. See to it that you repent of sin, that you forsake it, that you go to Christ the great sin-bearer, that you get a new heart, that you live a holy life.

Life may be compared to this book in two respects. First, it has a beginning, second, an end. It must not be measured, however, by the number of years one lives as we would numb...