February 13

A man hath joy by the answer of his mouth: and a word spoken in due season, how good is it! The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the Lord: but the words of the pure are pleasant words. —PROV. xv, 23, 26.

What you keep by you, you may change and mend; But words, once spoken can never be recalled.

ROS COMMON.

Our French cousins call the unerring perception which enables us to say without fail the right thing in the right place, the sixth sense. Some of us are born with it. It is as natural a trait, indeed, in the American character as it is rare in that of some other people. It can be gained by cultivation of a kindly spirit, and the habit of placing ourselves momentarily in each man's place before we speak to him.

Youth's Companion.

Talent is something, but tact is everything. Talent is serious, sober, grave, and respectable: tact is all that, and more too. It is not a sixth sense, but it is the life of all the five. It is the open eye, the quick ear, the judging taste, the keen smell, and the lively touch; it is the interpreter of all riddles, the sur- mounter of all difficulties, the remover of all obstacles. It is useful in all places, and at all times; it is useful in solitude, for it shows a man his way into the world; it is useful in society, for it shows him his way through the world. Talent is power, tact is skill; talent is weight, tact is momentum; talent knows what to do, tact knows how to do it; talent makes a man respect- able, tact will make him respected; talent is wealth, tact is ready money. For all the practical purposes of life, tact carries it against talent, ten to one. . . . Tact has a knack of slipping into place with a sweet silence and glibness of movement. It seems to know everything without learning anything. . . . It has all the air of commonplace, and all the force and power of genius. London Atlas.