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Story
April 16, 1868
The Monmouth Inquirer
Freehold, Monmouth County, New Jersey
What is this article about?
Moral essay questioning responsibility for one's face via the soul's influence, contrasting a bright-eyed girl's self-deprecating prettiness with an orphan's serene pallor made lovely by inner calm.
Clipping
OCR Quality
75%
Good
Full Text
Are We Responsible for our Faces.
"I am not responsible for my face," said a bright-eyed girl to her mother. "I know I am not pretty," while her red lips curled and her eyes glowed, and her cheek looked a rosier tinge. Near her sat a delicate child, an orphan, homeless, and dependent upon her labors for daily bread. Perhaps had life been easier, she might have been beautiful in the ordinary acceptation of the word. But care had paled her cheek, and the brightness of her eye had been quenched in tears. Still, there was an expression so calm and holy, a certain uplifting, as one gazed, into a purer atmosphere, as it were, and the soul sitting behind shaded the face, making it far more lovely in its palor than the bright complexioned maiden by her side.
"A good heart never grows old!' says an English writer. True, the forehead may wrinkle with time; but there are no frowns; the white calm of the soul mirrored on the face, winning with every look the upward way. Such faces wear a charm over which time has no control; neither does the blight of sickness take it away.
If the soul has this shaping influence are we not responsible for the effects? If the spirit is lovely, the face will, as a natural consequence, bear the same stamp. Let us remember this, and give others the benefit of the sunshine that sits in our hearts. A gloomy, discontented face is a wrong to our associates, and a reproach to God.
"I am not responsible for my face," said a bright-eyed girl to her mother. "I know I am not pretty," while her red lips curled and her eyes glowed, and her cheek looked a rosier tinge. Near her sat a delicate child, an orphan, homeless, and dependent upon her labors for daily bread. Perhaps had life been easier, she might have been beautiful in the ordinary acceptation of the word. But care had paled her cheek, and the brightness of her eye had been quenched in tears. Still, there was an expression so calm and holy, a certain uplifting, as one gazed, into a purer atmosphere, as it were, and the soul sitting behind shaded the face, making it far more lovely in its palor than the bright complexioned maiden by her side.
"A good heart never grows old!' says an English writer. True, the forehead may wrinkle with time; but there are no frowns; the white calm of the soul mirrored on the face, winning with every look the upward way. Such faces wear a charm over which time has no control; neither does the blight of sickness take it away.
If the soul has this shaping influence are we not responsible for the effects? If the spirit is lovely, the face will, as a natural consequence, bear the same stamp. Let us remember this, and give others the benefit of the sunshine that sits in our hearts. A gloomy, discontented face is a wrong to our associates, and a reproach to God.
What sub-type of article is it?
Curiosity
What themes does it cover?
Moral Virtue
What keywords are associated?
Inner Beauty
Soul Influence
Face Responsibility
Moral Lesson
Orphan Hardship
What entities or persons were involved?
Bright Eyed Girl
Mother
Delicate Child
Orphan
Story Details
Key Persons
Bright Eyed Girl
Mother
Delicate Child
Orphan
Story Details
A bright-eyed girl tells her mother she is not responsible for her unpretty face despite her appealing features, while a pale orphan's calm and holy expression makes her face more lovely. An English writer notes a good heart never grows old, and the soul shapes the face, making us responsible for its effects through inner sunshine rather than gloom.