Miller, James R: Making the Most of Life. V1. 02-Oct-2011
 

James Russell Miller (March 20, 1840 – July 2, 1912) was a popular Christian author, Editorial Superintendent of the Presbyterian Board of Publication, and pastor of several churches in Pennsylvania and Illinois.

Excerpt:
Alexander was accustomed to say; “Philip of Macedon gave me life, but it was Aristotle who taught me how to make the most of life.”
To have the gift of life is a solemn thing. Life is God’s most sacred trust. It is not ours to do with as we please; it must be accounted for, every particle, every power, every possibility of it.
These chapters are written with the purpose and hope of stimulating those who may read them to earnest and worthy living. If they seem urgent, if they present continually motives of thoughtfulness, if they dwell almost exclusively on the side of obligation and responsibility, if they make duty ever prominent and call to self-renunciation and self-sacrifice, leaving small space for play, it is because life itself is really most serious, and because we must meet it seriously, recognizing its sacred meaning and girding ourselves for it with all earnestness and energy.