"My mind to me a kingdom is," applies alike to the
peasant as to the monarch. The one may be in his heart a king, as
the other may be a slave. Life is for the most part but the
mirror of our own individual selves. Our mind gives to all
situations, to all fortunes, high or low, their real characters.
To the good, the world is good; to the bad, it is bad. If our
views of life be elevated--if we regard it as a sphere of useful
effort, of high living and high thinking, of working for others'
good as well as our own--it will be joyful, hopeful, and blessed.
If, on the contrary, we regard it merely as affording
opportunities for self-seeking, pleasure, and aggrandisement, it
will be full of toil, anxiety, and disappointment.
There is much in life that, while in this state, we can never
comprehend. There is, indeed, a great deal of mystery in life--
much that we see "as in a glass darkly." But though we may not
apprehend the full meaning of the discipline of trial through
which the best have to pass, we must have faith in the
completeness of the design of which our little individual
lives form a part.
We have each to do our duty in that sphere of life in which we
have been placed. Duty alone is true; there is no true action but
in its accomplishment. Duty is the end and aim of the highest
life; the truest pleasure of all is that derived from the
consciousness of its fulfilment.
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