PROUD

For men shall be … proud …

—II Tim 3:2

4821 “Congratulations” For Nothing

The newspaper cartoonist H. T. Webster once amused himself by sending telegrams to 20 of his acquaintances whom he selected at random. Each message contained just one word: “Congratulations!” As far as Webster knew, not one of his friends had done anything special for which to be complimented. Yet each person was so flattered that he immediately wrote him a letter of thanks. All had assumed they had done something worthy of a congratulatory telegram!

—H. G. Bosch

4822 They Forgot Word “Humbly”

The London Times some years ago told the story of a petition that was being circulated for signatures. It was a time of great excitement, and this petition was intended to have great influence in the House of Lords; but there was one word left out. Instead of reading, “We humbly beseech thee,” it read, “We beseech thee.” So it was ruled out. My friends, if we want to make an appeal to the God in Heaven, we must humble ourselves before the Lord, we shall not be disap pointed.

—D. L. Moody

4823 Reversed Table Seating

A rich man once invited many honored guests for a feast. His own chair, richly decorated, was placed at one end of the long table. While he was away, each guest seated himself according to his own esteem of his position in sight of the master. When time came and all were seated, the master moved his chair to the other end of the table!

4824 When Frog Opens Its Mouth

In a certain pond on one of the farms in the East were two ducks and frog. Now these neighbours were the best of friends; all day long they used to play together. But as the hot summer days came, the pond began to dry up and soon there was such a little bit of water that they all realized that they would have to move. Now the ducks could easily fly to another place, but what about their friend the frog?

Finally it was decided that they would put a stick in the bill of each duck, and then the frog would hang onto the stick with his mouth and they would fly him to another pond. And so they did.

As they were flying, a farmer out in his field looked up and saw them and said, “Well, isn’t that a clever idea! I wonder who thought of it!”

The frog said, “I did &elips ”

4825 “Tops” In Humility

The late Prof. Irwin Edman of Columbia University once had a chat with a French monk who bemoaned the fact that his order was not as famous as the Jesuits for scholarship or the Trappists for silence and good works. “But,” he added, “when it comes to humility, we’re tops.”

—Leonard Lyons

4826 Secret: Go Up As He Came Down

One of Spurgeon’s students went into a pulpit with every expression of confidence but he had an extremely difficult time. He came down distressed, almost brokenhearted, and he went to Spurgeon about it. The words of Spurgeon to him were these, “If you had gone up as you came down, you would have come down as you went up.”

—Al Bryant

4827 Skipper To Skipper

During World War II, as we were leaving Pearl Harbor on a patrol craft, we found ourselves on a collision course with an enormous aircraft carrier. After an emergency backdown, and a sigh of relief, we were left standing on the bow watching the mammoth carrier pass by, less than 50 feet away. A patrol craft is only 100 feet long, and our crew stood on the deck feeling very insignificant. However, our pride was saved by our ship’s mate; he took a megaphone in hand and yelled, “Our skipper can lick your skipper!”

—Charles H. Kasserman

4828 Sin Of Imagination, Instead

After a minister had preached a searching sermon on pride, a woman who had heard the sermon waited upon him and told him that she was in much distress of mind, and that she would like to confess to a great sin. The minister asked her what the sin was.

She answered, “The sin of pride, for I sat for an hour before my mirror some days ago admiring my beauty.”

“Oh,” responded the minister, “that was not a sin of pride—that was a sin of imagination!”

—C. E. Macartney

4829 Epigram On Proud

•     It’s a shame that when success turns a person’s head it does not also wring his neck just a little.

•     One way to restore humility is to read the help-wanted ads. You’d be surprised how many positions there are which you are too ignorant, too unattractive or too old to fill.

—Kiwanis Magazine

•     Too Brass? In a direct conversation between a general and a private, who is likeliest to have the last word? Think this over.

•     It is possible to be too proud to be proud.

•     A cartoon shows boss slamming fists on desk and saying, “I do want to shun publicity, but I want people to know I shun publicity!”

•     It’s difficult, if not impossible, to save money when your neighbors keep buying things you can’t afford.

—E. C. Mckenzie

•     One cannot wear two pairs of straw sandals at the same time.

—Japanese Proverb

•     Diogenes the Cynic, being in the house of Plato, strode over the carpets with his dirty feet, saying, I trample the pride of Plato. True, said Plato, but with a greater pride.

See also: Boasters ; Humility.