The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1889-03-28
FORCE or HABIT


| Repetition, . ''second NATURE
Not habits exactly, but habit. You
are accustomed to hear much OF the
former word. Every body says .'Such
man has bad habits,n meaning that
he drinks, or swcars, or profancs the
Lords Day. such man has good
habits" meaning the reverse OF the
other.
Habit - something persisted in. It
is the tendency we have to do thing
the second time because we have done
it the first; the third time because Of
the second. until-as says the proverb:
"Habit becomes second nature" the
silken thread becomes q cable which
we can not break.
If you come to think of it, this APP
plies to things important and unim-
portant, if any thing in life may be
called that. know man whom on
Sundays and week night prayer-mect-
ings, walks up the aisle In little. old
fashioned country church. The seats arc
arranged SO that he faces the audience in
coming in. When about half way up the
aisle he always begins to finger ring
which he wears on the left hand. /
have watched him many times. and
never knew him to fail. Now think
that began in feeling Of shyness. but
he is no longer shy; the action is en-
tirely unconscious, it has become ha-
| bitual.
One summer, used to notice min.
lister who often passed my window. A
tall, dignified-looking man without his
hat, but he invariably set that hat on
his head tilted just a little, in some
what rakish manner, Perhaps it was
| foolish. but l sometimes thought /
might like to hear him preach, if he
would only wear his hat upright.
know another minister who has
hard work to preach without putting
his hands in his pockets. livery now
and then a hand slips in without his
thinking, and he snatches it out hur-
ricdly; suppose as boy no must
have carried his hands in his pockets
| great deal. You have seen people
who sit on the edge of chairs. who
twirl their fingers. who never keep
still all over; ways continued long
after the shyness and nervousness
| which caused them have passed away.
| This shows that habit can touch very
small things, and those which have no
moral quality. There can be habit
in the way each one walks the streets,
or wears his clothes. and let me say
here that you can be nice and particu-
lar about such things without the
slightest danger Of growing up
dude"
The great things Of life result from
little things more often than we think.
"From little, oft repeated. much will
rise" What you do to-day is the
added-up account of the little words
and ways of all the yesterdays. That
is an old story OF the merchant who
dismissed a boy who applied for work.
! As the lad went out he stopped and
picked up pin. The shrewd mer-
chant called him back and employed
him. He will be careful and econom-
zeal, he said. ''Phew!" you say, '.any
body can pick up pin.n Surely,
but not every body does. You
may be fairly certain he had
done it before, if he did it
when under the stress Of disappoint-
ment. / know educated men who al
ways say year. instead of ..years. =
Il was fifty year old on such a day. !"
If you were to ask them, they would
admit the mistake; they know better,
but you see they have made that mis-
take all the way up from boyhood,
and do not think of it now unless re-
minded.
You will catch my thought. / did
not wish to talk this time about great
habits. but rather OF the tendency to
repetition in what may seem of little
moment It will please me if you make
an application Of my words. You can
think Of illustration after illustration;
but pray do not look for them entirely
among your neighbors. Watch your
selves awhile. Ask yourselves. each,
what have done to-day, which, if
4 uOnC VO-AOAIOWs 0nA UO-4AOIlOWs anu
tomorrow, will make me grow up to
be disagreeable. untidy, discourteous,
unreliable, tardy." not to mention the
names of all ..the little foxes that spoil
the vines" Ask also what little ways
you nave, which, repeated and repeat
ed, will become second nature of
truth and courtesy and neatness.' and
all desirable traits. Look as fairly and
squarely at yourselves as if you were
that other boy"
i If mistake not, you will find much
to correct, but l think, too, you will
find some things to encourage. Re-
member that high motive dignities
small endeavor; you must climb the
little hills to reach the mountains top.
Sow an act, and you reap habit; SOW
habit and you reap character; SOW
character. and you reap destiny
n. Y. Observer.
Al lax ri ~ han t n