Part 6

Marriage universally expected—Happiness of Single Life—Matrimony brings Cares as well as Joys—Marriage not the Chief End of Life—Marriage the More Preferable State—Jeremy Taylor's Contrast of the Two States—Early Marriages Injudicious—Why Some remain Single, 416

Married Life.

Marriage the Bond of Social Order—Influence of a Good Wife—Nature of the Marriage Tie—Gold can not purchase Love—Unhappy Marriages—Human to see the Good Side of Things past—Happiness found in consulting the Happiness of Others—Elevating Influence of Marriage, 422

Duties of Married Life.

Duty of Married Life can not be shaken off—Marriage does not change human Nature—Love not the Only Requisite of Domestic Felicity—Chance to make or mar Life—Danger from Familiarity—Patience demanded—Must expect Imperfections—Must seek the Happiness of Others—Duty of forgetting Self, 429

Trials of Married Life.

Trials to be expected—Death of Wedded Love—Daily Life the Test of Married Love—Domestic Happiness reached through Trials—Must learn to bear with the Faults of Each Other—Imperfections of Character make the Strongest Claims on our Love—Many Trials arise from Mistaken Notions as to Economy—Necessity of having a Home, 436

Husband and Wife.

True Marriage the Growth of Years—There must be a Mutual Self-sacrifice—Keep Faults to yourself—Constant Tenderness and Care necessary—Proofs of Affection should be granted—Duty of Husbands—Duty of Wives—Man desires Woman's Sympathy and Love—Wives should consult Husbands' Taste, 443

Jealousy.

Baseness of this Passion—Distinction between Jealousy and Envy—Jealousy preferable to Envy—Jealousy assumes Many Forms—No One willing to Acknowledge Jealousy—Jealousy a Deadly Thing—Suspicion an Enemy to Happiness, 449

Regret.

Regret a Sad Word—All have felt it—The Profoundest Sorrows self-wrought—Death an Occasion of Much Regret—Shadowed Lives—How to escape regret, 454

Memory.

Memory the Noblest Gift of Providence—Memory the Golden Cord—Treasure of a Good Memory—Memory of Past Days—Slight Things suffice to recall Past Memories—The Reminiscences of Youth—Memory sometimes Painful—Memory crowds Years into Moments, 458

Hope.

Hope accomplishes All Things—Moderate Hope Helpful—Sustaining Power of Hope—Should only hope for Probable Things—Hope ever with us—Hope lives in the Future—The Morality of Hope—A True Hope ever Present—Hopes and Fears—Rise above Trouble, 465

Prosperity.

Prosperity the Test of Character—A Degree of Prosperity to be reasonably hoped for—Continuous Prosperity not a Good Thing—How to prosper—Prosperity and Happiness not Identical—Early Adversity the Foundation of Future Prosperity—Hardships a Good Thing, 472

Trifles.

Details Important—Trifles make Success—No Such Thing as Trifles in Life—Trifles make the Difference between First and Second Class Work—Unhappiness of Life caused by Trifles—Trifles make an Influence, 477

Leisure.

Spare Moments the Gold-dust of Time—Time our Estate—What can be done in Leisure Time—Busiest Persons have always the Most Time—Time can not be recalled—Effort required to employ Time Rightly—Death teaches the Value of Time, 482

Happiness.

Happiness the Principal Thing—Deceitfulness of Happiness—Happiness like To-morrow—Wealth and Fame not Necessary to Happiness—Can not control our Outward Surroundings—Circumstances not essential to Happiness—Disposition to enjoy Life what is wanted—Enjoy Present Surroundings—Content is Happiness—Must seek for Happiness in the Right Way, 488

True Nobility.

True Nobility often counterfeited—Man not rated by his Possessions—Greatness often Obscure—Some Great in Evil—Influence of Noble Principles—True Nobility Modest in Expression—Nobility of Character Reverential—True Nobility within Reach of All, 494

A Good Name.