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Advices for a Good Living, II

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Advices for Good Living
Part Two

Unknown Author

Different author from Part One.  Original in Spanish, translation by Luis Prada

Keep away from the crowd and its unfruitful effort to fame and gold.
Never turn your gaze back, once you have closed your door to the deplorable tumult of greed and ambition.
Wipe your tears of failure, of misfortune. Put aside your onerous burden and rest until your heart has recovered its calm.
Keep yourself in peace.  It is later than you think, since your earthly life, in the worst of cases, it is but a blink between two eternities.
Discard all fear.  Nothing can damage you here.  Only yourself.  Do what you fear and appreciate proudly those victories.
Concentrate your energy.  To be in all places is as to be nowhere.  Be zealous with your time, because it is your greatest treasure.
Think over your goals.  Before allowing your heart to become fond of something, examine the happiness enjoyed by those who already have what you desire.
Love your family and have very well in mind the fortune.  Think with how much zeal you would search for it if you would not have it.
Set aside you impossible dreams and carry on with the task you have at your reach, no matter how unpleasant it may be.  All the great successes result of working and knowing to wait.
Be patient.  God’s delays are not negatives.  Wait.  Keep yourself steadfast.  Bear in mind that you treasure is always near.  Whatever you sow, good or evil, that you will reap
Never blame others for your situation.  You are what you are by your own decision; that’s all.
Learn to live in an honorable poverty if that is what it should be, and occupy yourself in things more important that in carrying gold to your tomb.
No concessions to difficulty.  Anxiety is the rust of life and when you add tomorrow’s burdens to today’s ones, their weight becomes intolerable.
Keep away from the company of the whining and give instead thanks for your defeats.  You would not suffer them should you needed them not.
Always learn from others.  Who teaches himself, has already a silly as a master.
Be cautious.  Do not tax your consciousness.  Conduct your life as if you had to show it on a arena full of gossiping people.
Avoid showing-off.  If you see in you something that makes you conceited or puffed up, observe closely and you will find enough subject to humble yourself.
Be sensible.  Be aware that not all men are created equal, because there is no equality in nature.  However, there has never been born a man whose work has not been born with him.
Work each day as if it were the first, but treat with tenderness the lives you touch, as if all should have to be finished at midnight.  Love all, including the ones that repudiate you; hate is a luxury you cannot afford yourself.
Look for the needy.  Learn that he who gives with a hand will always gather with both.
Keep yourself in a good state of mind. Above all remember that very little is needed to lead a happy life.  Look up.  Walk always ahead.
Cling to God with humbleness and go through your path to eternity in silence, with charity and with a smile.
When you depart, may all say that your legacy was to leave the world better than as you found it.

Part I