The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1885-01-27
HABITS OF YOUTH.
Some Good Advice In M. Quad's
Short Talks With Boys.


my boy.
When you come to consider him nv
piecemeal, nothing is more curious about
him than this thing we call habit. 1t has
more to do with his success or failure In
life than you have reflected on. While
We make our habits, they. make or un.
make us. A habit is something which
is at first underlined, but which in time
may become positive monster. The
tie is at first weak thread which an in.
fant could snap twain, but as the years
go by the thread becomes q cord-a
Frope-a chain which no human effort
can break. Lecture a man on his vicious
habits and while be will admit the jus.
tice OF your assertions, he cannot break
hisbonds without putting forth such ef-
:orts as discourage forty y.Dine out Of fifty
at the start. Let me talk to you a little
while as boy, and warn you how habit
NAV spoil you as man.
While it is true that some persons
seem born good.natured and others peev.
isb, the peevisbness is more habit than
birth right. You can let little things
vex and annoy you, or you can throw
them off. You may have heard a child
snarl and cry by the half hour because
refused something. The mother will
make peevish youth Of that child You
have met hoys who were always whining
that their kites we're lost, or some one
made up faces at them, or their knives
we're mislaid, or some one called 'em
names. II those boys grow 10 be men
they will have no friends. Their whin-
ing is simply habit.
On the other hand, you can name
boys who never appear to have cause
for complaint. They are good-natured,
cheerful and willing, and thev never
want for friends or favors. You can
class yourself with either, just as you
will All your little annoyaEces and
vexatlons can he trodden under foot, or
you can magnify them until you firmly
believe that you were horn into the
world for first.class martyr.
Great numbers of the male population
of this country use profane language
Why2 Ask any man and his answer
will he: "Oh, l got into the habit of it
and don't think"
He doesn't swear because he wants to
be classed as wicked, hut habit has him
on the hip. and men dressed as gentie-
men go about blurting out oaths that
shock you You can become just such
q man. or you can carry clean month
and win respect where they secure dis
gust.
One.third, perhaps, OF the men of
America chew and smoke. Ask that
man who just discharged half q gill OF
Etobacco-jnice on the sidewalk il he
chews because he loves the weed, and he
will Ilanswer: .Bless you, no! It's filthy,
unhealthy, abominable thing, but I've
got into the habit of it and can't STOP"
And so from the day be begins chewing,
say at 16, until he dies, say at the age
of go his tobacco not only costs him
twenty-five cents per week at the lowest
estimate, but for fortv-four long years
be soils his clothes, dirties his house,
dlsgusts his best friends and weakens his
physical and mental system. Habit, my
.boy--all habit. The 6rst few chews
make him terribly sick and he could
easily stop He perseveres, however,
AID the habit begins to gain strength =
Let your first chew be your last. Let
your first smoke end the matter OF pipe
aud cigars with you.
II you live in q town or village there
an ssover town." or cup town." or
"down town." or sacross the river"
which has its charms for boy OF your
age, or you can imagine such to be the
case There is drug store or grocery
or barber shop where certain men gath
e. in the evening TO brag and lie and
swear and discuss all subjects. At l6
looked upon these men as heroes and
ssges At 90 l was ready to kick N.Y.
self for ever having given them fifteen
minutes of my time. Ask them why
they thus idle away two or three hours
which could be so pleasantly spent at
home with hooks, and any one of them
will answer: "Oh, I've kind O. got 10
the habit OF it, suppose. There may
be nothing 80 very wicked about it, but
you can see for yourself how silly it is
to waste time In that manner. II is the
first starting point in the careers OF lazy
men and loafers Look around among
your business acquaintances and you
will end that nine-tenths OF the success.
ful ones, aud entirely all OF the repre-
sentalives of good society, have NO
"down town" loafng places.
When q boy l argued with the rest
that such things as harvest apples, mel
ons, grapes and peaches we're free plum
der for boys. 1t did not seem in the
least crime to make a-night raid after
those things. and the farmer who defen-
,led his orchard was set down ss an old
curmudgeon. While an occasional thief
may be born to steal, the majority are
made by just such practices After
few raids after melons it did not seem
so very bad to steal the wheel off wag
on, or hide some ones horse 10 the
woods, or wheel awav bunch OF shin
giles where they could nat he found Il
Let boy begin to-day ID "coon" fruit
and have his swing for year and he
will commit some offense for which the
law can send him to Jail
The leading traits OF everv mans
character comes from this or that habit.
Give boy problem in mathematics to
work out in his head while walking half
a mile, and in a year he will bave ac-
quired slow gait aud perhaps carry II
through life. On the other hand, take
boy with q naturally slow gait and give
him speedy errands to do and his pace
will soon be naturally increased. once
heard a mother ask her boy some ques-
tior which she suspected he might not
readily answer correctly, and she added:
"Now, take a good long time to think 1t
over.r She tolds me that this was
common habit Of hers, but she forgot
that the hoy might be forming habit
as we'll. Long years after, when ] met
him again, 1t you had asked him the
name OF the President, his own age, or
the day Of the week, he would have
scratched his head, rubbed his right leg
with his left, and finally drawled out /:
"W-a-l-l. sir, I'm sure this Is Wednes-
i dav.n One need not be go rapid oil