Take equal parts of malice, ignorance and hate, mix well and serve hot, and you have prejudice.—N. D. Hillis.
(2478)
PREJUDICE DISARMED
There is a certain famous preacher, perhaps
the leading man in his denomination,
against whom I have had a prejudice which
has been slowly increasing for the last
twenty-five years. When he used his influence
a few years ago to prevent the recognition
in a great ecclesiastical council of two
of the noblest spiritual leaders of this generation,
because of their adherence to the
old-fashioned faith and methods, my bump
of prejudice against that man reached full-*sized
proportions.
It was my lot very recently to be a member of a house of mourning where this same minister was the officiating clergyman, and I had to meet him personally. But when he had finished his prayer, my prejudice had all melted away like dew before the rising sun, and I felt like rushing up to him, putting an arm in his, and saying, "You didn't do it, did you? I'm sure I've misunderstood; please set me right about yourself."—George W. Coleman, "Searchlights."
(2479)
PREJUDICE, RELIGIOUS
An old woman at Jhansi, in North India,
a Brahman of strictest sect, and mother of a
princess who was very ill, called in Dr.
Blanche Monro, of the Woman's Union Missionary
Society. She dismissed the lady
doctor each time with smiles, thanks, and
rich rewards, then grimly ordered her servants
to wash everything the foreign lady
had touched—the floor, table, chairs, her own
clothes, and finally herself. After she has
taken a bath, she feels pure once more.
(2480)
PREPARATION
Many disappointments and failures are simply the results of superficial expectations of easy success without patient preparation of the needed preliminary conditions.
A famous English gardener once heard a
nobleman say complainingly, "I can not have
a rose garden, tho I often have tried, because
the soil around my castle is too poor for
roses." "That is no reason at all," replied
the gardener. "You must go to work and
make it better. Any ground can be made
fit for roses if pains are taken to prepare
it. The poorest soil can be made rich." It
was a wise saying, and it is true in other
cases than rose gardens. Some young people
say, "I can't be cheerful," or, "I can't be
sweet-tempered," or "I can't be forgiving,"
as if they were not responsible for the
growths in their soul-garden because the soil
is poor. But "any ground can be made fit
for roses," and any heart can be made fit for
the loveliest blossoms of character. (Text.)
(2481)
Preparation a Safeguard Against Loss—See Control of Circumstances.
Preparation, Aimless—See Aimlessness.
Preparation by Training—See Toughness.
PREPARATION CONTINUOUS
Michelangelo, when an old man, said: "I
carry my satchel still!" indicating that his
life was a perpetual study and preparation.
(2482)
PREPARATION, COSTLY
Alonzo Cano, a Spanish sculptor, being
employed by a lawyer of Grenada to make
a statue of St. Antonio de Padua, and having
mentioned how much it would cost, the
lawyer began to reckon how many pistoles
per day the artist had earned. "You have,"
said he, "been five-and-twenty days carving
this statue, and your exorbitant demand
makes you charge the rate of four pistoles
per day, while I, who am your superior in
a profession, do not make half your profits
by my talents." "Wretch!" exclaimed the
artist; "do you talk to me of your talents?
I have been five-and-twenty years learning
to make this statue in five-and-twenty days."
So saying, he dashed it on the pavement.—Croake
James, "Curiosities of Law and
Lawyers."
(2483)
PREPARATION, PROPHETIC
Shortly before the death of Mozart, the
musician, a stranger brought him an anonymous
letter in which a request for a requiem
was made. To its composition he gave the
full strength of his powers. The conviction
seized him that he was composing a requiem
for his own obsequies. While engaged in
this work and under this strange inspiration,
he gathered all his strength to complete his
work. And when the task was finished, a
strange fire lighted his eye, as the melody,
