The prison mirror. [volume] (Stillwater, Minn.) 1887-1894, 1889-08-29
How To Gain ent.


That "contentment is better than wealth is
prOverb that needs some modification because
by its terms it assumes that contentment and
wealth are in some way in opposition to each
other This not true in all cases. Contentment
without wealth is better than wealth without
contentment, and that is the extent of truth in
the old saying. But if contentment had such value
why do not men strive for it they do for riches?
1t is quite as easy to attain. and may be had by
any one with good digestion who starts in the
right way to get it. But the inexperienced u.s.
ually consider that contentment will come with
riches and therefore strive for the latter unmnd.
full of the proverb. There could not be greater
mistake, for unless one is very guarded in the
qualification and development of his tastes. his
needs will grow faster than his riches, and when
he has attained the latter he will still be poor
and discontinued. For 1t is to be observed that
riches are only relative, and contentment comes
only when there is proper balance maintained
between one desires and needs and the means
at hand for their qualification. 1t is needless to
go to the very rich for examples illustrating this
truth. Thousands of men with fairly good but
moderate incomes show in their lives how elusive
.contentment is when no restraint put upon the
growth of appetite. The clerk who thought him
self rich when his salary increased to $1,000
per annum finds himself poor when he is getting
50. 500 simply because he has changed his habits
of lfe and his wants have outgrown his income.
Two three dollars "a week supplied him with
pocket money when he felt that he could not af-
ford more. A simple lunch down town, one or
two cigars day. contented him. But as his sal
airy increased better and better dinners took the
place of ii cold lunch more and finer cigars were
smoked, glass of wine became necessary part
of each meal. and the personal expenses mounted
up out of proportion to the increase of salary.
What in his younger and poorer days would have
satisfied him in the matter Of eating and drinking
would appear to him now very poor fare indeed
He has allowed his appetite and tastes to develop
along with the growth of his income, very often
an advance thereof and he is Just as far off from
contentment as ever. No matter how high one
may go up in the social scale. similar state of
affairs may be observed as to nine men out of ten.
No matter what they may have, they want more:
contentment has eluded them because they have
allowed their desires to grow with their fortunes.
IT it is true. however, that contentment depends
upon proper balance being maintai med between
needs and desires on the one hand and the means
for supplying the needs and gratifying the desire
on the other. then it is plain that while seeking
riches as means Of gaining contentment watch.
full eye must be kept on the growth of desires and
needs. This is where nearly every one fails. Ex-
pensive habits grow almost unconsciously. and
when unhappily need for retrenchment comes
the straitened style of living seems a ha tdship,
though but few years before it would have
seemed luxury itself. The consideration of this
truth should suggest to the reader that riches and
poverty, want and luxury in large measure
not absolute but relative. That which is poverty
to one, would be riches to another; tn at which at
certain period of an individuals life is consd.
cred luxury seems exceedingly commonplace to
MIN when he has become accus toned to it, TIC
reach contentment, therefore, prospect i've OF
ones income, the tastes and desires must be kept
within control What may be fairly called the
necessaries of the life not limited and fixed
as Is sometimes assumed 1t is true that the
physical life of all men could be sustained by the
same foods, drink, air and exercise but there are
mental and moral demands as we'll as physical
Habit is hard taskmaster and the necessare,
OF life to one who has been pampered and nurseo
an the lap OF fortune are much greater than the
necessaries OF life to the laborer who has neye,
known other than the plainest food, and whose
mind has not been cultivated for the endowment O.
literature and the arts 1t is not necessary to th.
attainment of IA contented mind that one shoulc
forego the pleasures of life limit his culture ane
enjoyments, and teach himself to live like tbos,