San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1896-03-08
LOOK BEFORE YOU LEAP.

IUUk Dbl Uhh 1UU Liar.
How much easier to preach than
practice. Had the LIGHT prsacher
needed the adomintion of the text
two weeks ago, when he jumped
from the wharf at Rockport on to
the deck of the Oriole, he would
not have been out of his pulpit a
week ago, nor would he be shob-
bling around his room on sticks at
this time. 1t Is as old as human
observation, however, that it were
easier to tella hundred men what
1t were best to do than to be one
of the hundred to do what is told.
None the less is the adominition
wise. Compliance with this plain
law OF action, or disregard Of it,
marks all the difference between
the wisdom and the unwisdom Of
all our daily thinking and speak
ing and doing.
To look before we leap, is simply
to put out the tentacles or feelers
Of the mind and sample the Espot
on which the feet are to light
before they strike terra firma. 1t
is to flash the light of a correct
observation little ahead OF any
proposed action and forecast the
probable result. 1t Is that habit
of the mind by which presence of
mind is rendered largely uneces-
sary, absence Of body being con-
sidered safer. 1t is thatynative or
acquired quality of thescaculating
intelligence, which refuses to
count the chickens that are yet in
the egg basket, or even under the
hen, fully convinced that there
are added eggs in every nest. 1t
is that prudencesof thought and
act which says to itself in every
doubtful case, before you do it,
don't.
1t is to the interest OF every son
and daughter of the great humani-
" to study we'll the lessons of
this text, and by a wise practice
of the forethought that it incul-
Gates keep itself out OF the
thorns and brambles. 1t is only
in the nursery rhymes THAT men
are found wise enough to "jump
into the bramble bush and scratch
them back again" when they have
been foolish enough to jump into
one and scratch out their peppers.
In actual life such happy accidents
OF surgery are impossible. To
look before you leap is as neces-
sary as it is to avoid accidents,
keep free from dangers, and pre-
vent disasters. 1t Is an insurance
policy against all these, and is
more necessary to the ordinary
human than an accident policy is
to the commercial tourist. 1t is a
grounding case.
The man who looks before he
leaps is the exact opposite OF the
man who goes it blind. The
one is fatalist OF the fool kind !;
the other, free agent in whom
choice is necessary function of
his intelligence. The one man
never knows that a thunderstorm
is coming until the lightning
strikes him, and is ready to do 1t
over again every time and all the
time. The other man hears the
rambling of heavens artillery afar
off and puts up his lightning rod
and seeks shelter. The one man
never gets into difficulty that he
can avoid the other never avoids
a difficulty into which he can
possibly stumble. The one is the
creator OF circumstances the
other theirvictim. The one is right
handed in heart and head and. all
else; the other is left handed in
everything.
1t is this left handed man who
always gets left. His creditors
are always left in the lurch; his
business ventures are left to the
mercy of circumstances his horses
are left at the post; his friends
are left to mourn his impracti-
cableness; his family, if he has
one, is left to shift for itself, and
IL he has none his best girl is left for
the other fellow to marry. He is