than His, that He went about doing good? How quickly would that
kingdom of heaven come if this were the program of every life!

Let but a man do his duty towards this shining ideal, let him but be
lifted up, carried along in the mighty enthusiasm it ought to engender,
and his own soul, his own development, his character perfection will
take care of itself. No man ever did any great work without becoming
greater himself, and greatness never was found in any other way. This
is an unvarying law. Service is the secret of culture.

The pious hypochondriac is sure to be a sickly soul. The best thing
you can do for your soul is to forget that you have one, just as the
healthy man forgets he has a heart or liver. The self-forgetting
service is the secret of happiness, of full finding of self. Freedom
in self-giving brings fullness in living.

In the right life the hour of prayer, the quiet thought, the search for
abstract truth, may all have their place; but it is only the place that
the wise workman gives to his meals. He does not live for these
things; they are but ministrants to his work. He uses everything that
will make him a better workman; but not because he sees the workman as
his end. He forgets himself in the perfection of that he seeks to
make. The saving of the soul, the culture of the self, as an end is
shame and suicide; as a means to service it is life and peace and
perfection.



THE SATISFACTION OF SERVICE