Do you know that as long as you don't despair, or look upon life bitterly, things work out fairly well in the end? Do you know that happiness is a perfume you cannot sprinkle on others without getting a few drops on yourself? Do you know that most people are lonely and many a stranger would be happy if you gave them a kind word and not a stony stare?

Thoughts by the late Rev. Paul Osumi are selected weekly by his family.