... to be human is to be on the defensive, somewhere, somehow. Corra May Harris More Quotes by Corra May Harris More Quotes From Corra May Harris sanity, in my opinion, is an achievement. I have seen very few well-balanced people in my life who were not dunces. Corra May Harris achievement opinion people The deadly monotony of Christian country life where there are no beggars to feed, no drunkards to credit, which are among the moral duties of Christians in cities, leads as naturally to the outvent of what Methodists call "revivals" as did the backslidings of the people in those days. Corra May Harris cities christian country Once you grow accustomed to being famous, you do not realize it, but you are never quite your humble, honest self. No matter how tightly you keep the lid on, there is some watered stock of vanity inside. You are always in danger of the thing's coming off and of giving yourself an air or two. No man or woman was ever so distinguished that this exhibition did not make him ridiculous, especially to those of meaner minds. Corra May Harris humble air men As I have grown older I am more and more convinced that I have not grown up, that my powers have not come to me, not my real wisdom to do and achieve the right thoughts. I lack some dear grace. I cannot seem to steady down and get the single eye. There is a curriculum in living in which I have not studied. This may be happiness. I want to know it; I should feel better prepared for immortality. I do not wish to arrive fagged at last and a bit slipshod in the spirit, as if I had a hard time all my mortal life. It is not complimentary to God. Corra May Harris feel-better eye real one trouble with all the churches is that they have too many incurable saints in them, men and women who pray too much and do too little, who cannot forget their own selfish salvation enough to look after other people's without feeling their own spiritual pulse all the time they are doing it. Of late I've sometimes suspected that it is nearly as debilitating to stay in the church all the time as it would be to stay in a hospital all the time. Corra May Harris selfish spiritual men I believe if we can wait long enough that every honorable sorrow will become a kind of joy. Corra May Harris joy long believe I have long suspected that the power of speech is not a power at all, but a mere form of hysteria from which the living that really know the truth never suffer because they do not fear life or death as we do and can afford to be calm and silent. The frailest flower that blooms knows that it will rise from the dead in the next season's sun, breathe, feel again the dew and rain. Therefore these little ones make no such tragedy as we do of death. Corra May Harris hysteria flower rain Invitations to speak upon public occasions are among my most grievous embarrassments. Why is it inferred that one is or can be a public speaker because she has written a book? Writing is a very private business. I do not know any other occupation which requires so much privacy unless it is a life of prayer or a life of crime. Corra May Harris prayer writing book war is a ferocious form of insanity. Nothing can justify it. Corra May Harris form war insanity It is easier to give all your goods to feed the poor, or not to have any goods - only your virtues, to boast of - than it is to judge the rich with charity. Corra May Harris charity judging giving Words are dangerous things. Corra May Harris dangerous-things dangerous Mere words will not do. They must convey the color, charm, and pulse of life. They must have a private twinkle of wit in them that makes a good-natured noise like laughter through the keyhole of the reader's mind. Corra May Harris laughter color mind Maybe I shall never achieve happiness, but one thing I have had - the terrible wisdom of love. Corra May Harris one-thing achieve terrible I remember being very smart, which is a form of stupidity. I try not to remember it, but it occurs to me that I may have felt intellectual. I entertained views too noble or too bitter to be true. I must have done some soul-stretching of my mental neck. Corra May Harris smart stupidity views I was not too stupid to learn, but too smart. Some instinct must have warned me that a woman accomplished in the domestic arts is frequently enslaved by them. Corra May Harris instinct stupid art No one has yet had the courage to memorialize his wealth on his tombstone. A dollar mark would not look well there. Corra May Harris dollars tombstone inspirational So long as a man attends to his business the public does not count his drinks. When he fails they notice if he takes even a glass of root beer. Corra May Harris business beer men This is the wonderful thing about the pure in heart--they do see God. Corra May Harris pure heart wonderful Nothing fans me into such a state of peaceful mental somnambulance as the intellectual antics of a person who displays his learning, not from vanity always, but frequently because it is all he has got; no real sense, no wisdom of his own, merely much good stuff he has learned from other sources. He spreads it like a garment as any other decent person would to hide the thinness of his shanks. Corra May Harris vanity peaceful real Not everything you hear about yourself can be considered good publicity. And if you have delicate sensibilities, the currycomb of public imagination frequently rubs your vanities the wrong way. Corra May Harris vanity imagination way
