Study skills

Students should learn study -skills and then only they can shine in their leaning. The following are some of the study skills

                    1. Listening
                    2.Speaking
                    3. Reading
                    4. Writing
Apart from these, the students should learn to motivate themselves and manage   their time. Note- making and memorizing are also important.

Rock of Truth

There is a power lying hidden in man, by the use of which he can rise

to higher and better things.

There is in man a greater Self, that transcends the finite self of

the sense-man, even as the mountain towers above the plain.

Help men and women to bring their

inward powers of mind and spirit into expression, wisely and in

harmony with universal law; to build up character, and to find within

themselves that wondrous Self, which is their real self, and which,

when found, reveals to them that they are literally

There is no way whereby the discipline of life can be avoided. There

is no means by which fate can be "tricked," nor cunning device by

which the great cosmic plan can be evaded. Each life must meet its

own troubles and difficulties: each soul must pass through its deep

waters, every heart must encounter sorrow and grief. But none need

be overwhelmed in the great conflicts of life, for one who has learned

the great secret of his identity with the Universal life and Power,

dwells in an impregnable city, built upon and into the ,Rock of Truth

against which the storms of life beat in vain.

Henry Thomas Hamblin

Success and achivement

Success and achivement will not drop ready made from heaven into your lap. All

who succeed are gluttons for work, toiling whilst others play and

sleep. All teaching to the contrary is erroneous. To think that

success is going to come to you when it is unmerited, simply because

you make use of "affirmations" or employ mental "treatments," is folly

of the first water. On the other hand, to use the inner forces in

an occult way, so as to compel material things or "success,"

so-called, in any shape or form, to come to you, is black magic. One

who stoops to such practices becomes a black magician, earning for

himself a terrible retribution. There is only one way to succeed in

the affairs of life, and that is by raising oneself to greater

usefulness and service. By doing things better than they have been

done before, by bearing greater responsibility, you serve humanity

better, and therefore merit success. "It is more blessed to give than

to receive," said the Master, and this is true even in the practical

and material affairs of life. First, you must give better and more

valuable service: in other words, deserve and merit before you expect

to see it materialize. You must sow before you can reap: you must

become too big for your present position before you are capable of

occupying a larger one. You must grow and expand in every possible

way, and as you grow so will your success increase. Outward success

is only a reflection, so to speak, of what you really are, and a

result of greater and more valuable service to humanity. It requires

great effort and determination to get out of the rut, but so long

as your ambition is not ignoble or selfish, there will be found within

you power sufficient for all your needs.

To win success, either in the hurly-burly of life, or the more

difficult path of spiritual progress, demands imagination, vision,

courage, faith, determination, persistence, perseverance, hope,

cheerfulness and other qualities. These are all to be found within.

All these qualities lie more or less dormant within, and can be called

into expression if we believe that Infinite Power is ours.

Again, however, must the warning be repeated that this Power must

not be used for selfish self-aggrandisement, still less may it be

used, or, rather, mis-used, either to influence or dominate others.

If this Power is mis-used the results are terrible and disastrous.

Therefore, use the Power only for the achievement of good and noble

aims and in service which shall enrich the life of your fellows,

adding to the common good. Having arrived at this stage you must go

forward. There can be no holding back. Ever onward, the Divine Urge

is sending you, to greater achievement and accomplishment. Just as

surely as the planets must revolve round the sun and fulfil their

destiny, so also must you go forward. See to it, then, that your aims

and ambitions are based upon eternal wisdom, for upon this does your

whole future depend.
Within You is the Power
by Henry Thomas Hamblin

If thou lackest knowledge, what hast thou then acquired? Hast thou acquired knowledge, what else dost thou want?

Talmud.

Time is the wheel-track

Time is the most important thing in human life, for what is pleasure after the departure of time? and the most consolatory, since pain, when pain has passed, is nothing. Time is the wheel-track in which we roll on towards eternity, conducting us to the Incomprehensible. In its progress there is a ripening power, and it ripens us the more, and the more powerfully, when we duly estimate it. Listen to its voice, do not waste it, but regard it as the highest finite good, in which all finite things are resolved.

Von Humboldt.

Men are of three different capacities

Men are of three different capacities: one understands intuitively; another understands so far as it is explained; and a third understands neither of himself nor by explanation. The first is excellent, the second, commendable, and the third, altogether useless.

                                                                                     

                                                                                                   Machiavelli

To-morrow’s task to-day conclude

Death comes, and makes a man his prey,

A man whose powers are yet unspent;

Like one on gathering flowers intent,

Whose thoughts are turned another way.
Begin betimes to practise good,

Lest fate surprise thee unawares

Amid thy round of schemes and cares;

To-morrow’s task to-day conclude.*

Mahābhārata.

All these passed away, and are nowhere

Consider, and you will find that almost all the transactions of the time of Vespasian differed little from those of the present day. You there find marrying and giving in marriage, educating children, sickness, death, war, joyous holidays, traffic, agriculture, flatterers, insolent pride, suspicions, laying of plots, longing for the death of others, newsmongers, lovers, misers, men canvassing for consulship—yet all these passed away, and are nowhere.

                                                                                              - M. Aurelius.

BOOK OF WISE SAYINGS

1.

The enemies which rise within the body, hard to be overcome—thy evil passions—should manfully be fought: he who conquers these is equal to the conquerors of worlds.

Bhāravi.

2.

If passion gaineth the mastery over reason, the wise will not count thee amongst men.

Firdausī.

3.

Knowledge is destroyed by associating with the base; with equals equality is gained, and with the distinguished, distinction.

Hitopadesa.

4.

Dost thou desire that thine own heart should not suffer, redeem thou the sufferer from the bonds of misery.

Sa’dī.

5.

To friends and eke to foes true kindness show;

No kindly heart unkindly deeds will do;

Harshness will alienate a bosom friend.

And kindness reconcile a deadly foe.

Omar Khayyām.

6.

There is no greater grief in misery than to turn our thoughts back to happier times.*

Dante.

* Cf. Goldsmith:
O Memory! thou fond deceiver,

Still importunate and vain;

To former joys recurring ever,

And turning all the past to pain.

7.

We in reality only know when we doubt a little. With knowledge comes doubt.

Goethe.

8.

In the hour of adversity be not without hope, for crystal rain falls from black clouds.

Nizāmī.

9.

One common origin unites us all, but every sort of wood does not give the perfume of the lignum aloes.

Arabic.

10.

I asked an experienced elder who had profited by his knowledge of the world, “What course should I pursue to obtain prosperity?” He replied, “Contentment—if you are able, practise contentment.”

Selman.

11.

Every moment that a man may be in want of employment, than such I hold him to be far better who is forced to labour for nothing.

Afghan.

12.

The foolish undertake a trifling act, and soon desist, discouraged; wise men engage in mighty works, and persevere.

Māgha.

13.

Those who wish well towards their friends disdain to please them with words which are not true.

Bhāravi.

14.

Reason is captive in the hands of the passions, as a weak man in the hands of an artful woman.

Sa’dī.

15.

Like an earthen pot, a bad man is easily broken, and cannot readily be restored to his former situation; but a virtuous man, like a vase of gold, is broken with difficulty, and easily repaired.

Hitopadesa.

16.

The son who delights his father by his good actions; the wife who seeks only her husband’s good; the friend who is the same in prosperity and adversity—these three things are the reward of virtue.

Bhartrihari.

17.

Let us not overstrain our abilities, or we shall do nothing with grace. A clown, whatever he may do, will never pass for a gentleman.

La Fontaine.

18.

To abstain from speaking is regarded as very difficult. It is not possible to say much that is valuable and striking.*

Mahābhārata.

* Cf. James, III, 8.

19.

Pagodas are, like mosques, true houses of prayer;

’Tis prayer that church bells waft upon the air;

Kaaba and temple, rosary and cross,

All are but divers tongues of world-wide prayer.

Omar Khayyām.

20.

In no wise ask about the faults of others, for he who reporteth the faults of others will report thine also.

Firdausī.

W.A.Clouston on the usefulness of Proverbs

Cynics may ask, how many have profited by the innumerable proverbs and maxims of prudence which have been current in the world time out of mind? They will say that their only use is to repeat them after some unhappy wight has “gone wrong.” When, for instance, a man has played “ducks and drakes” with his money, the fact at once calls up the proverb which declares that “wilful waste leads to woful want”; but did not the “waster” know this well-worn saying from his early years downwards? What good, then, did it do him? Again, how many have been benefited by the saying of the ancient Greek poet, that “evil communications corrupt good manners”?—albeit they had it frequently before them in their school “copy-books.” Are the maxims of morality useless, then, because they are so much disregarded?

When a man has reached middle-age he generally feels with tenfold force the truth of those “sayings of the wise” which he learned in his early years, and has cause to regret, as well as wonder, that he had not all along followed their wholesome teaching. For it is to the young, who are about to cross the threshold of active life, that such terse convincing sentences are more especially addressed, and, spite of the proverbial heedlessness of youth, there will be found many who are not deaf to this kind of instruction, if their moral environment be favourable. But, even after the spring-time of youth is past, there are occasions when the mind is peculiarly susceptible to the force of a pithy maxim, which may tend to the reforming of one’s way of life. There is commonly more practical wisdom in a striking aphorism than in a round dozen of “goody” books—that is to say, books which are not good in the highest sense, because their themes are overlaid with commonplace and wearisome reflections.

May we not find the “whole duty of man” condensed into a few brief sentences, which have been expressed by thoughtful men in all ages and in countries far apart?—such as: “Love thy neighbour as thyself,” “Do unto others as ye would that they should do unto you.” The chief themes of all teachers of morality are: benevolence and beneficence; tolerance of the opinions of others; self-control; the acquisition of knowledge—that jewel beyond price; the true uses of wealth; the advantages of resolute, manly exertion; the dignity of labour; the futility of worldly pleasures; the fugacity of time; man’s individual insignificance. They are never weary of inculcating taciturnity in preference to loquacity, and the virtues of patience and resignation. They iterate and reiterate the fact that true happiness is to be found only in contentment; and they administer consolation and infuse hope by reminding us that as dark days are followed by bright days, so times of bitter adversity are followed by seasons of sweet prosperity; and thus, like the immortal Sir Hudibras, when “in doleful dumps”, we may “cheer ourselves with ends of verse, and sayings of philosophers.”

Bible Quote

Almighty God, lead me in the search for life. Teach me what is


important and what is unimportant; what is false, and what is true.

Remove the hindrances that keep me from the worthiest deeds, and grant

that I may have the peace that comes with surrender of self to thy

will.

THE SUCCESSFUL MAN IS SELF-MADE.

THE SUCCESSFUL MAN IS SELF-MADE.

The crown and glory of life is Character. It is the noblest
possession of a man, constituting a rank in itself, and an estate in
the general good-will; dignifying every station, and exalting every
position in society. It exercises a greater power than wealth, and
secures all the honor without the jealousies of fame. It carries with
it an influence which always tells; for it is the result of proved
honor, rectitude and consistency--qualities which, perhaps, more than
any other, command the general confidence and respect of mankind.

Character is human nature in its best form It is moral order embodied
in the individual. Men of character are not only the conscience of
society, but in every well-governed state they are its best motive
power; for it is moral qualities in the main which rule the world.
Even in war, Napoleon said, the moral is to the physical as ten to
one. The strength, the industry, and the civilization of nations--all
depend upon individual character; and the very foundations of civil
security rest upon it. Laws and institutions are but its outgrowth.
In the just balance of nature individuals, nations and races, will
obtain just so much as they deserve, and no more. And as effect finds
its cause, so surely does quality of character amongst a people
produce its befitting results.

Though a man have comparatively little culture, slender abilities,
and but small wealth, yet, if his character be of sterling worth, he
always commands an influence, whether it be in the workshop, the
counting-house, the mart, or the senate. Canning wisely wrote in
1801, "My road must be through Character to Power; I will try no
other course; and I am sanguine enough to believe that this course,
though not perhaps the quickest, is the surest." You may admire men
of intellect; but something more is necessary before you will trust
them. This was strikingly illustrated in the career of Francis
Horner--a man of whom Sydney Smith said that the Ten Commandments
were stamped upon his countenance. "The valuable and peculiar light,"
says Lord Cockburn, "in which his history is calculated to inspire
every right-minded youth, is this: He died at the age of thirty-
eight; possessed of greater public influence than any other private
man, and admired, beloved, trusted, and deplored by all, except the
heartless or the base. Now let every young man ask--how was this
attained? By rank? He was the son of an Edinburgh merchant. By
wealth? Neither he, nor any of his relations, ever had a superfluous
sixpence. By office? He held but one, and only for a few years, of no
influence, and with very little pay. By talents? His were not
splendid, and he had no genius. Cautious and slow, his only ambition
was to be right. By eloquence? He spoke in calm, good taste, without
any of the oratory that either terrifies or seduces. By any
fascination of manner? His was only correct and agreeable. By what,
then, was it? Merely by sense, industry, good principles, and a good
heart--qualities which no well-constituted mind need ever despair of
attaining. It was the force of his character that raised him; and
this character not impressed upon him by nature, but formed, out of
no peculiarly fine elements, by himself. There were many in the House
of Commons of far greater ability and eloquence. But no one surpassed
him in the combination of an adequate portion of these with moral
worth. Horner was born to show what moderate powers, unaided by
anything whatever except culture and goodness, may achieve, even when
these powers are displayed amidst the competition and jealousy of
public life."

Franklin attributed his success as a public man not to his talents or
his powers of speaking--for these were but moderate--but to his known
integrity of character. Hence, it was, he says, "that I had so much
weight with my fellow-citizens. I was but a bad speaker, never
eloquent, subject to much hesitation in my choice of words, hardly
correct in language, and yet I generally carried my point." Character
creates confidence in men in high station as well as in humble life.
It was said of the first Emperor Alexander of Russia, that his
personal character was equivalent to a constitution. During the wars
of the Fronde, Montaigne was the only man amongst the French gentry
who kept his castle gates unbarred; and it was said of him, that his
personal character was a better protection for him than a regiment of
horse would have been.

That character is power, is true in a much higher sense than that
knowledge is power. Mind without heart, intelligence without conduct,
cleverness without goodness, are powers in their way, but they may be
powers only for mischief. We may be instructed or amused by them; but
it is sometimes as difficult to admire them as it would be to admire
the dexterity of a pickpocket or the horsemanship of a highwayman.

Truthfulness, integrity, and goodness--qualities that hang not on any
man's breath--form the essence of manly character, or, as one of our
old writers has it, "that inbred loyalty unto Virtue which can serve
her without a livery." He who possesses these qualities, united with
strength of purpose, carries with him a power which is irresistible.
He is strong to do good, strong to resist evil, and strong to bear up
under difficulty and misfortune. When Stephen of Colonna fell into
the hands of his base assailants, and they asked him in derision,
"Where is now your fortress?" "Here," was his bold reply, placing his
hand upon his heart. It is in misfortune that the character of the
upright man shines forth with the greatest lustre; and when all else
fails, he takes his stand upon his integrity and his courage.

The rules of conduct followed by Lord Erskine--a man of sterling
independence of principle and scrupulous adherence to truth--are
worthy of being engraven on every young man's heart. "It was a first
command and counsel of my earliest youth," he said, "always to do
what my conscience told me to be a duty, and to leave the consequence
to God. I shall carry with me the memory, and I trust the practice,
of this parental lesson to the grave. I have hitherto followed it,
and I have no reason to complain that my obedience to it has been a
temporal sacrifice. I have found it, on the contrary, the road to
prosperity and wealth, and I shall point out the same path to my
children for their pursuit."

THE IMPORTANCE OF CHARACTER - MAJOR A. R. CALHOUN.

THE IMPORTANCE OF CHARACTER.

That "Heaven helps those who help themselves," is a maxim as true as
it is ancient. The great and indispensable help to success is
character.

Character is crystallized habit, the result of training and
conviction. Every character is influenced by heredity, environment
and education; but these apart, if every man were not to a great
extent the architect of his own character, he would be a fatalist, an
irresponsible creature of circumstances, which, even the skeptic must
confess he is not. So long as a man has the power to change one
habit, good or bad, for another, so long he is responsible for his
own character, and this responsibility continues with life and
reason.

A man may be a graduate of the greatest university, and even a great
genius, and yet be a most despicable character. Neither Peter Cooper,
George Peabody nor Andrew Carnegie had the advantage of a college
education, yet character made them the world's benefactors and more
honored than princes.

"You insist," wrote Perthes to a friend, "on respect for learned men.
I say, Amen! But at the same time, don't forget that largeness of
mind, depth of thought, appreciation of the lofty, experience of the
world, delicacy of manner, tact and energy in action, love of truth,
honesty, and amiability--that all these may be wanting in a man who
may yet be very learned."

When someone in Sir Walter Scott's hearing made a remark as to the
value of literary talents and accomplishments, as if they were above
all things to be esteemed and honored, he observed, "God help us!
What a poor world this would be if that were the true doctrine! I
have read books enough, and observed and conversed with enough of
eminent and splendidly-cultured minds, too, in my time; but I assure
you, I have heard higher sentiments from the lips of the poor
uneducated men and women, when exerting the spirit of severe, yet
gentle heroism under difficulties and afflictions, or speaking their
simple thoughts as to circumstances in the lot of friends and
neighbors, than I ever yet met with out of the Bible."

In the affairs of life or of business, it is not intellect that tells
so much as character--not brains so much as heart--not genius so
much as self-control, patience, and discipline, regulated by
judgment. Hence there is no better provision for the uses of either
private or public life, than a fair share of ordinary good sense
guided by rectitude. Good sense, disciplined by experience and
inspired by goodness, issued in practical wisdom. Indeed, goodness
in a measure implies wisdom--the highest wisdom--the union of the
worldly with the spiritual. "The correspondences of wisdom and
goodness," says Sir Henry Taylor, "are manifold; and that they will
accompany each other is to be inferred, not only because men's
wisdom makes them good, but because their goodness makes them wise."

The best sort of character, however, can not be formed without
effort. There needs the exercise of constant self-watchfulness,
self-discipline, and self-control. There may be much faltering,
stumbling, and temporary defeat; difficulties and temptations
manifold to be battled with and overcome; but if the spirit be
strong and the heart be upright, no one need despair of ultimate
success. The very effort to advance--to arrive at a higher standard
of character than we have reached--is inspiring and invigorating;
and even though we may fall short of it, we can not fail to be
improved by every honest effort made in an upward direction.

HOW TO GET ON IN THE WORLD; or, A LADDER TO PRACTICAL SUCCESS. [pic] by MAJOR A. R. CALHOUN.

WHAT IS SUCCESS?

It has been said that "Nothing Succeeds Like Success." What is
Success? If we consult the dictionaries, they will give us the
etymology of this much used word, and in general terms the meaning
will be "the accomplishment of a purpose." But as the objects in
nearly every life differ, so success cannot mean the same thing to
all men.

The artist's idea of success is very different from that of the
business man, and the scientist differs from both, as does the
statesman from all three. We read of successful gamblers, burglars or
freebooters, but no true success was ever won or ever can be won that
sets at defiance the laws of God and man.

To win, so that we ourselves and the world shall be the better for
our having lived, we must begin the struggle, with a high purpose,
keeping ever before our minds the characters and methods of the noble
men who have succeeded along the same lines.

The young man beginning the battle of life should never lose sight of
the fact that the age of fierce competition is upon us, and that this
competition must, in the nature of things, become more and more
intense. Success grows less and less dependent on luck and chance.
Preparation for the chosen field of effort, an industry that
increasing, a hope that never flags, a patience that never grows
weary, a courage that never wavers, all these, and a trust in God,
are the prime requisites of the man who would win in this age of
specialists and untiring activity