Website owner:  James Miller

Principles for Living Life




   What is the secret to a happy life?  How does one acquire 
   happiness, peace and mental health?  The secret lies in 
   outlooks, attitudes, values and habits of the mind.  Live by 
   the following principles: 

     - put spiritual things first;  nothing is as important as 
         spiritual things.  Seek understanding, wisdom, knowledge,
         truth. 

     - flee argument;  seek peace, quiet, harmony 

     - pursue honesty, sincerity, naturalness, simplicity 

     - avoid idleness;  try to keep busy 

     - reject intellectual authority;  trust no one's mind but 
         your own;  learn to trust and rely on your own sense and
         judgment;  pursue common sense 

     - know yourself and be yourself 

     - love, fear, revere and obey God;  let your full allegiance 
         be to Him; take him and his commandments seriously;  love
         Goodness; meditate on the value of Goodness and the folly
         of Badness;  pursue Virtue 

     - simplify! simplify! simplify!  keep life as simple as 
         possible;  pursue "the simple life" and reflect on its 
         merits;  avoid the Sophisticated and the Superficial;  
         question fads and fashions 

     - cultivate thrift and frugality 

     - flee hatred, resentment, bitterness, anger, malice, envy 
          and other such self-destructive feelings; stay clear of 
          them; don't let them gain a hold on your mind; carry no 
          malice or anger against any man 

     - flee cynicism and sarcasm 

     - cultivate humility, meekness, patience and a mild, warm, 
          friendly, even disposition

     - never return evil for evil; do not retaliate for wrongs 
          done to you; leave justice to God; act maliciously 
          toward no man; never even wish bad for another person

     - do not judge another person; leave judgment to God

     - watch your language; let no blasphemy, profanity, or low 
          words ever pass your lips; let your language be pure           

     - always do what is right, live by your conscience;  always 
          have consideration for your neighbor;  treat him
          properly;  do what is right by him 

     - establish and cultivate good habits (such as abstinence 
          from drinking, smoking, gambling, drug use, etc.) 

     - always be dependable and responsible;  always be true to 
          your word;  never break a promise 

     - always tell the truth;  never lie 

     - question the assumptions, ideas, views, attitudes, values, 
          and pursuits of society;  examine them and re-examine
          them;  trust them not;  seek truth 

     - pursue justice, fairness, and impartiality;  be objective 
          and fair in your thinking;  give to each man his due; 
          get the facts first and be slow in passing judgment;
          love Truth and pursue it

     - pursue substance rather than appearance;  don't worry about 
          appearance, let people think what they will;  don't let
          appearances become your object

     - stay strictly away from the morally impure. Have nothing 
          to do with it.  Avoid it in all forms.

     - always act from reason and principle and not from emotion        



   Oct 1977




More from SolitaryRoad.com:

On Self-sufficient Country Living, Homesteading

America has lost her way

The really big sins

Theory on the Formation of Character

Moral Perversion

You are what you eat

People are like radio tuners --- they pick out and listen to one wavelength and ignore the rest

Cause of Character Traits --- According to Aristotle

These things go together

Television

We are what we eat --- living under the discipline of a diet

Avoiding problems and trouble in life