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[Newspaper clipping]
I REMEMBER.
Loneliness is indeed one of the things
that fairly shrinks the heart. And yet,
even out of loneliness may come great
things. And in loneliness the soul may
rise to heights of power it might not in
any other way.
It is at times of loneliness that mem-
ory plays such a heroic part.
I sat by the bed once of a very noble
and unselfish man whose body was
racked by pain. And yet for hours he
cheerfully recited from memory lengthy
parts from the plays of Shakespeare,
and his eyes glistened with the pleasure
and comfort which it brought to him.
It is a common thing for me to throw
into these talks quotations which I re-
member from my boyhood, and every
time I recall one I am thrilled all new
again.
The things you remember are like
pictures which beautify a room. People
who remember nothing of worth are like
those who live in houses with no pic-
tures upon the walls.
Memory keeps bringing back youth,
beauty, delightful companionships, the
love of a long departed mother or father
or friend.
Memory washes out the mind and
often gives it new understanding.
There are sunsets that come to me
over and over again, great stretches of
mountains with caps of white and deep
valleys with winding rivers and incom-
parable foliage, high reaching gorges
and quiet plains with grazing stock,
flower gardens with delicate odors,
rippling waters softly singing under a
June sky.
I listen when someone says to me, "I
remember," for I am at once interested.
I know that I shall hear something that
has given pleasure and happiness.
It is a wonderful habit to form- the
memorizing of specially inspiring
thoughts. You store wealth in your
mind every day that you add to this
habit.
And one of the greatest things to re-
member is the good in people. Especi-
ally in those with whom you come in
daily contact and who grow near and
dear to you along the way.
-George Matthew Adams.