LAUGHS: While we were looking through some microfilm from Era editions of 100 years ago, we came across some gems in a column called “Random Notes.”
We’re not sure who wrote them, but a century later, it’s amazing how many of these brief notes still hold true.
“Thought is the ancestor of every achievement. His progeny are countless.”
“The fact that the rolling stone gathers no moss is not so significant as the other verity that rolls downhill.” What a classy way to phrase it.
“A man can’t tell, these days, whether he is living within his income until he has consulted the day’s price lists.” This certainly rings true nowadays as well.
This next one is a bit of a brain scrambler about the upcoming holiday: “Labor Day is a non-labor day for the laborer.” We suppose it is.
This next one caused some laughter in the office: “When your neighbors say you are overrated you may safely conclude that you are becoming an important factor in the community.”
Some of the notes offered life advice: “Do not scorn a new idea. The untried road may be the one that leads to fortune;” and “Money is useless if it cannot be transferred for a worthy purpose. Keep your dollars working.”
Others offered some deeper philosophical points about people in general: “The person who is being honest and decent because he believes it to be his duty is the one who deserves credit for well doing;” and “When a man begins to boast of his past it is a pretty sure sign that he has ceased to look forward.”
And still others were veiled insults, but written in a polite way: “The man who constantly invites disaster generally is the most persistent whiner when his guest arrives;” and “Sometimes it is difficult to distinguish between real efficiency and a well camouflaged bluff;”
“It is difficult to make some people think. It is even more difficult to keep their thoughts in proper channels.”
And this one is a bit philosophical and a bit motivational: “Many persons seem ever ready to get behind any new movement. Very few, however, are willing to lay hold of the lead rope.”
We liked these so much we made several lists. Stay tuned for more in future columns.
