42 The Spiritual Life.
ennoble us, unconsciously to ourselves. We
valuew^ordstoo highly,and depreciate unduly
the subtler silent forces of the Self, w^hich,
"sweetly and mightily ordering all things,"
createwithintheturbulentchaosofourperson-
alitythesurebasesofpeaceandtruth.
Less potent, but still sure, is the help thatmaybegainedbyreadinganybookwhichstrikes
anoblenoteoflife,whetherbyliftingupagreat
ideal,orpresentinganinspiringcharacterforour
study. SuchbooksastheBhagavadGitd,The
VoiceoftheSilence,LightonthePath, The
ImitationofChrist,areamongthemostpower-
fulof suchaids to thedesire-nature. Weare
apttoread too exclusivelyfor knowledge,and
lose themoulding force that lofty thought on
greatidealsmayexerciseoverouremotions. It
isa usefulhabit to read everymorning a few
sentencesfromsomesuch bookasthose named
above, and to carry these sentences with us
through the day, thus creating around us an
atmosphere thatis protective to ourselves and
beneficial to all with whom we come into
contact.