And wisest he in this whole wide land
Of hoarding till bent and gray;
For all you read more

And wisest he in this whole wide land
Of hoarding till bent and gray;
For all you can hold in your cold, dead hand
Is what you have given away.
. . . .
He gave with a zest and he gave his best;
Give him the best to come.

It is not the weight of jewel or plate,
Or the fondle of silk or fur;
"Tis read more

It is not the weight of jewel or plate,
Or the fondle of silk or fur;
"Tis the spirit in which the gift is rich,
As the gifts of the Wise Ones were,
And we are not told whose gift was gold,
Or whose was the gift of myrrh.

I make presents to the mother, but think of the daughter.
[Ger., Der Mutter schenk' ich,
Die read more

I make presents to the mother, but think of the daughter.
[Ger., Der Mutter schenk' ich,
Die Tochter denk' ich.]

Take gifts with a sigh: most men give to be paid.

Take gifts with a sigh: most men give to be paid.

Gifts come from above in their own peculiar forms.
[Ger., Die Gaben
Kommen von oben herab, in read more

Gifts come from above in their own peculiar forms.
[Ger., Die Gaben
Kommen von oben herab, in ihren eignen Gestalten.]

It is wrong to think that love comes from long companionship and persevering courtship. Love is the offspring of spiritual read more

It is wrong to think that love comes from long companionship and persevering courtship. Love is the offspring of spiritual affinity and unless that affinity is created in a moment, it will not be created for years or even generations

. . . in all our efforts to provide "advantages" we have actually produced the busiest, most competitive, highly pressured read more

. . . in all our efforts to provide "advantages" we have actually produced the busiest, most competitive, highly pressured and over-organized generation of youngsters in our history and possibly the unhappiest.

"The tree of knowledge is not the tree of life!" And yet can we cast out of our spirits all read more

"The tree of knowledge is not the tree of life!" And yet can we cast out of our spirits all the good or evil poured into them by so many learned generations? Ignorance cannot be learned.

Blessed are they who have the gift of making friends, for it is one of God's best gifts. It involves read more

Blessed are they who have the gift of making friends, for it is one of God's best gifts. It involves many things, but above all, the power of going out of one's self, and appreciating whatever is noble and loving in another.