“We are in such a haste to be doing, to be writing, to be gathering gear, to make our voices audible a moment in the derisive silence of eternity, that we forget that one thing, of which these are but parts – namely to live!” (“Walking Tours”, in The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson, Swanston edn, vol 2, London: Chatto and Windus, 1911)

“To be what we are, and to become what we are capable of becoming, is the only end of life. Life is not a matter of holding good cards, but of playing a poor hand well. Our business in life is not to succeed, but to continue to fail in good spirits.” (Robert Louis Stevenson, Familiar Studies of Men and Books)

The best things in life are nearest:
Breath in your nostrils,
light in your eyes,
flowers at your feet,
duties at your hand,
the path of right just before you.

Then do not grasp at the stars,
but do life’s plain,
common work as it comes,
certain that daily duties and daily bread
are the sweetest things in life.

(Poem Best Things in Life, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

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~Robert Louis Stevenson was a Scottish novelist and travel writer.

Excellence Reporter 2019