These were but
three links of influence extending over sixty years. It might be
possible to trace this genealogy of influence back from Godwin, through
generation and generation, to the word or act of some shepherd in early
Britain, watching his flock upon the hills, living his quiet life, and
dying with the thought that he had done nothing to help the world.
Men and women have duties to others,--and duties to themselves. In
justice to ourselves we should refuse to live in an atmosphere that
keeps us from living our best. If the fault be in us, we should master
it. If it be the personal influence of others that, like a noxious
vapor, kills our best impulses, we should remove from that influence,--
if we can _possibly_ move without forsaking duties. If it be wrong
to move, then we should take strong doses of moral quinine to counteract
the malaria of influence. It is not what those around us _do_ for
us that counts,--it is what they _are_ to us. We carry our house-
plants from one window to another to give them the proper heat, light,
air and moisture. Should we not be at least as careful of ourselves?
To make our influence felt we must live our faith, we must practice
what we believe.
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