The Washington herald., 1920-07-19
DON'T copDLE your FAULTS.

DON'T COODAS hVO1 EAOAASs
.I know ! have q beastiy temper.
Little things irritate me and when
I get into a rage ! say things that
stab my wife to the heart, and that
terrify the children. and make the
cat take to the cyclone cellar"
'I am sorry for my poor husband
because / know that / am out
rageously extravagant, but when !
see lovely things I can't help buy
ing them whether we can AFFORD
them or not"
mo one loves me. I really haven't
a friend in the world. People are
afraid of me because I have a sharp
tongue. and say sarcastic things. but
I can't resist making a witty speech
no matter whom 1t hurts"
These are some of the common
confessions Of faults with which we
are all familiar. There isn't q day
when we do not meet men and
women who coolly vivisect their own
characters. and unerringly diagnose
the fatal weakness that Is sapping
their lives and robbing them OF hap
piness and usefulness. but who
calmly accept the situation and
make no effort to cure themselves.
They know with absolute clear
ness and surety what ails them
spirituaIly, but they do not try to
eradicate the trouble. Yet. IL any
one of these same people even sus-
pected that they had a cancer that
was eating at their vitals ana
noi.oninR their blood, they would
not hesitate to have II cut OUT
thopph they risked death in doing 50.
Men and women who know they
have tuberculosis, or diabetes or any
dangerous disease OF the BODY are
willing to spend their last cent ana
undergo any treatment, no mater
what sacrifices and sunering IL en-
tails, to get rid OF IL.
sickness of the soul they regard
lightly. They may know tha' they
are afflicted with an abnormal
growth OF selfishness, that their
ltempers register a hectic tempera
Iture half OF the time; tnat 'heir
Tongues are cankered by bitterness
that everything good and generous
IN them has atrophied, and tney haSe
hardening Of the heart put theS
perform no major surgical opera
Itions on their characters
| They lop of no brutallties OF con
duct or speech. They take no heroiC
remedies to reduce their Spleen nor
do they quicken their heart acaoH
into normal by stimulating IL uy
showing a little love to those aoou'
them.
20 much more stress do We put
on our physical health tnah we Go
ON our spiritual Yet, when all Is
said, our happiness depends upo"
the being of our souls more
than IL does upon the well-being OF
our bodies.
Now, it would be bad enough II
we sinned through ignorance and
were so besotted by self-concei'
that we could not perceive that we
had a single defect concealed about
our persons. But what excuse can
be offered for US when we sin know
Iinsly; when we recognize our weak
nesses, yet make no enort to brace
Iup: when we are aware OF our faults
yet Tndhe HO dbNCAhpN ~
them?
Yet. that Is precisely what nine
out of ten people do. Instead OF
using the knowledge OF their faults
to exterminate them, root and
! branch, they regard their defects
with affection. and even with pride
A man will tell you that lie is al
ways stone broke because he never
can save money. 1t slips through
his fingers. Or. he will say that he
hasn't the faculty of getting along
THAT he is always the one who i'
laid off in the place in which hC
/ works when they cut down the
force. He recognizes his weakness
but he doesn't try to conquer the
fault that is running him. He doesn'r
llet the knowledge that he has the
natural inclination to be a spender
make him doubly careful TO cult
vate thrift. Nor does he face the
fact that because he is tempera