But it should be done with the greatest possible del- icacy, and in the tenderest manner, and long intervals of praise should intervene between the times of criticism. Fault-finding is a good deal like the drink or opium habit. Once begun in a family, it is very easy to continue, and very difficult to arrest one's self. But I believe the happiness of more families has been wrecked by it than from alcohol or opium. On the other hand, the lack of a timely word of criticism has caused many a wife or hus- band to become fixed in some habit which resulted in Cupid's flight.
Men are far more touchy than women about being criticised.
A man can point out a fault in his wife much more calmly than he can listen to her when she reminds him that he is growing careless in some matter which seems trivial, yet is of vital importance if not corrected. Yet these reminders, when given with affectionate courtesy and consid- eration, often save the honeymoon from eternal eclipse. Every-day thoughts in prose and verse.