Paradise Lost, bk. 8.

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NOTHING ALONE.

    One all-extending, all-preserving Soul
    Connects each being, greatest with the least;
    Made beast in aid of man, and man of beast;
    All served, all serving:  nothing stands alone: 
    The chain holds on, and where it ends, unknown.

POPE.

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MAN’S RULE.

    Thou gavest me wide nature for my kingdom,
    And power to feel it, to enjoy it.  Not
    Cold gaze of winder gav’st thou me alone,
    But even into her bosom’s depth to look,
    As it might be the bosom of a friend;
    The grand array of living things thou madest
    To pass before me, mak’st me know my brothers
    In silent bush, in water, and in air.

Blackie’s Translation of Goethe’s Faust.

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DUMB SOULS.

    Even the she-wolf with young, on rapine bent,
    He caught and tethered in his mat-walled tent,
    And cherished all her little sharp-nosed young,
    Till the small race with hope and terror clung
    About his footsteps, till each new-reared brood,
    Remoter from the memories of the wood
    More glad discerned their common home with man. 
      This was the work of Jubal:  he began
    The pastoral life, and, sire of joys to be,
    Spread the sweet ties that bind the family
    O’er dear dumb souls that thrilled at man’s caress,
    And shared his pain with patient helpfulness.

GEORGE ELIOT:  Legend of Jubal.

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Nor must we childishly feel contempt for the study of the lower animals, since in all nature’s work there is something wonderful.  And if any one thinks the study of other animals despicable, he must despise the study of his own nature.

ARISTOTLE.

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VIRTUE.

    Thus born alike, from virtue first began
    The diff’rence that distinguished man from man: 
    He claimed no title from descent of blood;
    But that which made him noble made him good.

DRYDEN.

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LITTLE BY LITTLE.

    Little by little the time goes by—­
    Short if you sing through it, long if you sigh. 
    Little by little—­an hour, a day,
    Gone with the years that have vanished away;
    Little by little the race is run,
    Trouble and waiting and toil are done!

    Little by little the skies grow clear;
    Little by little the sun comes near;
    Little by little the days smile out
    Gladder and brighter on pain and doubt;
    Little by little the seed we sow
    Into a beautiful yield will grow.