Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1904-03-23
Professor Clark Before the School
Assembly Of the L. D. S U.
Today.
THE VALUE OF EARLY HABITS.
We Are What We Think-Will Power
Is Manhood Literature is the
Criticism Of Lie.

Az the general assembly OF the Lat
ter-day Saints university today, Prof.
S. II. Clark delivered an address that
was replete with inspirational ideas and
practical suggestions as to the conduct
Of early life. After singing and prayer.
Mr. Harold Howard rendered IN a good
baritone voice the song. May Be-" by
Rosey President Paul introduced the
professor with words OF warmest ap-
probation. Mr., Clark spoke as fol-
lows:
Young people, the time is coming
when you must take your stand In life,
The stand you take will depend upon
what you are now doing. Psychology
has shown US that habit IL not some.
thing mysterious or ETHEREAL, 1t is a
form OF physical and mental action
The action OF the human being may
be lkened to that OF great machine,
with all It's fly wheels and wheels with.
In wheels Just as definitely as the
machine works when you start the
lever, so does the human mind when
you have formed the habit. over the
lever we have control: but when we
have pulled the lever, the machine Will
work In It's predestined way-predes'
tined, that Is, by the man who made II.
Habit II simply power or the will to
do, We form habits by what we think
and what we do. You are now In the
adoescent period, when habits are
formed. Before the adult stage Of
life, habits can be formed or reformed,
and there are cases Of reformation In
middle or In late life but they are few.
often what seem 20 be reformatons
In late life are only the bursting forth
OF a plant whose seed has long been
maturing, Now, the fact Is that you
are what you think, not what the world
thinks you are; for there Is many n
man great In his own heart whom the
world looks down upon, What you
are when you leave this school, you will
probably be through your lives. You
cannot go along a certain line for ten
years and then decide that YOU Will
change your ways on the first OF next
month; YOU cannot change. Every
time you do certain thing II becomes
easier to do, until finally the doing OF
that thing becomes automatic. Our
powers OF action have q certain light.
trigger adjustment, and the pressure
Of child's hand Ia often enough to
bring about the action which our habits
have decreed. We hear people say, II
can't help it, That Is true, but they
could have helped II ten years ago.
Their action has now become matter
of impulse, and when the impulse comes
the action follows, because they have
trained themselves to respond to the
impulse In that way.
AS long as a man and truth are two
separate things says Spinoza, there
is power for growth" and when man
and truth are united we have perfec-
ton A bad habit Is simply mill
stone hung around our necks, prevent
Ing us from rising; and good habit
Is something In us that takes advantage
OF opportunity when It comes. Now
what are We? The Scriptures tell III
that what we think In our hearts, that
We are. This is a great truth. We
are what we think, not what we think
we are, but as we think, 30 are We,
Did you ever catch yourself thinking?
I'VE need few moments every day In
which to be alone with ourselves" said
a great thinker II Is then that we
catch ourselves wanting to be some.
thing. II you catch yourself thinking,
you can see what you really are for by
the law of habit, we think what we are.
We are therefore rich II we think so,
and poor II we viii believe IT, Shake.
sDeare, who said everything says that
there Is nothing either good or bad but
thinking makes IL So" Can | be abso-
lutely righteous this second? Yes. by
thinking so, Join, then, this second to
the next, and that TO the next, and so
ON, and then we have solved the great
est problem Of the universe II some
how happens that We are good this
minute and the next, but there comes
ND something so that we cannot hold
the perfect thought, The imperfect
comes IN and down We drop, IL IL
simply matter OF will power. and
there IL nothing so ptiful In the uni
verse as the man without VIII There
Is nothing else so vital as VIII, This
is science, not preaching, but better
than all your studies win II be II you
learn to think You know what YOU
are, for sin In choice and Will Science
proves what Christ OWNED when he
made known that man Is what he
thinks. All literature only throws side
lights on this great truth. Do we De.
light in literature because Of It's pic
lures, It's beautiful lines, It's choice
arts? Yes but there is only one prob
lem I'm literature, and that Is the oriti-
cism Of life, studies IN literature are
studies IN life.
Read Sllas Mariner once year to
keep yourself in the path OF literary
righteousness The human soul must
cling to something, Young men and
women, take your stand, What will
your souls cling to? VIII It be the
practical so called? We must have
the practical. Irrigation schemes are
an right. but we can get along Without