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Speaker 1: Silentness. Be still. The crown of life is silentness. Give

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thou a quiet hour to each long day. Too much

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of time we spend in profitless and foolish talk. Too

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little do we say, if thou wouldst gather words that

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shall avail learning a wisdom worthy to express, leave for

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a while thy chat and empty tale. Study the golden

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speech of silentness, a l salmon. Be still, my soul,

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rest Awhile from the feverish activities in which you lose yourself.

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Be not afraid to be left alone with yourself for

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one short hour. Ernest Crossley. In the words of a

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wise man, there is great power, but his silence is

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more powerful. Still. The greatest men teach us most effectively

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when they are purposely silent. The silent attitude of the

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great Man, noted perhaps by one or two of his disciples, only,

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is recorded and preserved through the ages, while the obtrusive

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words of the merely clever talker, heard perhaps by thousands

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and at once popularized, are neglected and forgotten in at

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most a few generations. The silence of Jesus, when asked

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by Pilate, what is truth? Is the impressive, the awful

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silence of profound wisdom. It is pregnant with humility and reproof,

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and perpetually rebukes that shallowness, that illustrating the truth that

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fools step in where angels fear to tread, would, in

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terms of triteness, parcel out the universe, or think to

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utter the be all and the end all of the

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mystery of things. In some textual formula or theological platitude,

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when plied with questions about Brahma God by the argumentative Brahmins,

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Buddha remains silent. He taught them better than they knew.

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And if by his silence he failed to satisfy the foolish,

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he thereby profoundly instructed the wise. Why all this ceaseless

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talk about God, with its accompaniment of intolerance, Let men

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practice some measure of kindliness and good will, and thereby

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acquaint themselves with the simple rudiments of wisdom. Why all

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this speculative argument about the nature of God. Let us

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first understand somewhat of ourselves. There is no greater mark

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of folly and moral immaturity than a reverence. In presumption,

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no greater manifestations of wisdom and moral maturity than reverence

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and humility. Loutsa in his own life exemplified his teaching

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that the wise man teaches without words. Disciples were attracted

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to him by the power which ever accompanies a wise reserve,

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living in comparatively obscurity and silence, not courting the ear

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of men, and never going out to teach, men sought

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him out and learned of his wisdom. The silent acts

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of the great ones are beacons to the wise, illuminating

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their pathway with no uncertain radiance. For he who would

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attain to virtue and wisdom must learn not only when

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to speak in what to say, but also when to

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remain silent and what not to say. The right control

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of the tongue is the beginning of wisdom. The right

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control of the mind is a consummation of wisdom. By

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curbing his tongue, a man gains possession of his mind,

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And to have complete possession of one's mind is to

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be the master of silence. The fool babbles, gossips, argues,

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and bandy's words. He glories in the fact that he

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has had the last word and has silenced his opponent.

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He exults in his own folly, is ever on the

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defensive and wastes his energies and unprofitable channels. He is

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like a gardener who continues to dig and plant in

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unproductive soil. The wise man avoids idle words, gossip, vain argument,

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and self defense. He is content to appear defeated, rejoices

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when he is defeated, knowing that having found and removed

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another error in himself, he has thereby become wiser. Blest

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is he who does not strive for the last word backward.

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I see in my own days where I sweated through

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fog with linguists and contenders. I have no mockings or arguments.

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I witness and wait. Silence under provocation is the mark

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of a cultured and sympathetic soul. The thoughtless and unkind

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are stirred by every slight provocation, and will lose their

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mental balance by even the appearance of a personal encroachment.

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The self possession of Jesus is not a miracle. It

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is the flower of culture, the diadem of which when

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we read of Jesus that he answered never a word,

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and of Buddha that he remains silent, we get a

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glimpse of the vast power of silence, of the silent

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majesty of true greatness. The silent man is the powerful man.

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Every mechanic knows that before a force can be utilized

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and definitely directed, it must be conserved and stored. And

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the wise man is a spiritual mechanic who conserves the

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energies of his mind, holds them in masterful obeyance, ready

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at any moment to direct them with effective purpose to

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the accomplishment of some necessary work. The true strength is

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in silentness. It is well said that the dog that

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barks does not bite. The grim and rarely broken silence

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of the bulldog is the necessary adjunct to that powerfully

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concentrated and effectual action for which the animal is known

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and feared. This, of course, is a lower form of silentness,

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but the principle is the same. The boaster fails, his

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mind is diverted from the main purpose, and his energies

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are frittered away upon self glorification. His forces are divided

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between his task and the reward to himself, the greater

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portion going to feed the lust of the reward. He

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is like an unskillful general who loses the battle through

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dividing his forces instead of concentrating them upon a point

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or he is like a careless engineer who leaves open

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the waste valve of his engine and allows the steam

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to run down. The modest, silent, earnest man succeeds, freed

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from vanity and avoiding the dissipation of self glorification. All

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his powers are concentrated upon the successful performance of his task.

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Even while the other man is talking about his powers,

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he is already about his work, and so much nearer

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than the other to its completion. It is a law

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everywhere and always that energy distributed is subject unto energy conserved.

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The noisy and boasting Charles will ever be thrown by

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the quiet and modest Orlando. It is a law universally

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applicable that quietness is strength. The business man who succeeds

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never talks about his plans, methods, and affairs, and should

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he turn giddy by success, begin to do this, he

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will then commence to fail. The man of great moral

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influence never talks about himself and his spiritual victories, for

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should he do so, in that moment, his moral power

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and influence would be gone, and like Samson, he would

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be shorn of his strength. Success worldly or spiritual is

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the willing servant of strong, steady, silent, unflinching purpose. The

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most powerful disintegrating forces make no noise. The greatly overcoming

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mind works silently. If you would be strong, useful, and

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self reliant, learn the value and power of silentness. Do

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not talk about yourself. The world instinctively knows that the

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vain talker is weak and empty, and so it leaves

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him to his own vanity. Do not talk about what

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you are going to do, but do it, and let

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your finished work speak for itself. Do not waste your

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forces in criticizing and disparaging the work of others, but

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set about to do your own work thoroughly and well.

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The worst work, with earnestness and sweetness behind it, is

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altogether better than barking at others. While you are disparaging

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the work of others, you are neglecting your own. If

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others are doing badly, help and instruct them by doing

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better yourself. Neither abuse others nor account their abuse of

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any weight. When attacked, remains silent. In this way, you

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will conquer yourself, and will, without the use of words,

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teach others. But the true silence is not merely a

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silent tongue. It is a silent mind. To merely hold

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one's tongue, and yet to carry about a disturbed and

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rankling mind is no remedy for weakness, and no source

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of power. Silentness. To be powerful must envelop the whole mind,

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must permeate every chamber of the heart. It must be

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the silence of peace. To this broad, deep, abiding, silentness,

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a man attains only in the measure that he conquers himself.

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While passions, temptations, and sorrows disturb the holier, profounder depths

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of silence are yet to be sounded. Too smart under

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the words and actions of others means that you are

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yet weak, uncontrolled, and unpurified. So richer heart of the

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disturbing influences of vanity and pride and selfishness, that no

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petty spite can reach you, No slam or abuse disturb

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your serene repose. As the storm wages ineffectually against a

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well built house, while its occupant sits composed and happy

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by his fireside within, so no evil can disturb or

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harm him who is well fortified with wisdom, self governed,

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and silent, he remains at peace within. To this great silence,

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the self conquered man attains envy and calumny, and hate

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and pain, and that unrests which men miscall delight, can

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touch him not nor torture him. Again, there is no

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commoner air amongst men than that of supposing that nothing

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can be accomplished without much talking and much noise. The busy,

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shallow talker regards the quiet thinker or silent doer as

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a man wasted. He thinks silentness means doing nothing, and

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that hurrying, bustling, and ceaseless talking means doing much. He

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also can bound's popularity with power. But the thinker and

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doer is the real effectual worker. His work is at

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the root and core and substance of things, and as

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nature silently, yet with hidden and wondrous alchemy, transmutes the

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rude elements of earth and air into tender leaves, beautiful flowers,

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delectable fruits, yes, into a myriad form of beauty. Even

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so does the silent, purposeful worker transform the ways of

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men and the face of the world by the might

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and magic of his silently directed energy. He wastes no

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time and force in tinkering with the ever changing and

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artificial surface of things, but goes to the living, vital

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center and works therefrom and thereon and in due season,

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perhaps when his perishable form is withdrawn from the world,

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the fruits of his obscure but imperishable labors come forth

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to gladden the world. But the words of the talker perish.

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The world reaps no harvest from the sowing of sound.

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He who conserves his mental forces also conserves his physical forces.

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The strongly, quiet, calm man lives to a greater age

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and in possession of better health than the hurrying, noisy man.

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Quiet subdued mental harmony is conducive to physical harmony and health.

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The followers of George Fox are to day the healthiest,

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longest lived, and most successful portion of the British community.

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And they live quiet, unostentatious, purposeful lives, avoiding all worldly

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excitements and unnecessary words. They are silent people, all their

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meetings being conducted on the principle that silence is power.

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Silentness is powerful because it is the outcome of self conquest.

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And the more successfully a man governs himself, the more

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silent he becomes. As he succeeds in living to to

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a purpose and not to the pleasure of self. He

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withdraws himself from the outer discords of the world and

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reaches to the inward music of peace. And when he

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speaks there is purpose and power behind his words, and

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when he maintains silence, there is an equal or even

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greater power therein. He does not utter that which is

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followed by pain and tears, does not do that which

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is productive of sorrow and remorse, but saying and doing

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those things only which are ripe with thoughtfulness. His conscience

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is quiet, in all his days are blessed.