| Character 
| Lessons to 
| Train Youth 
* a 
By JAMES TERRY WHITE. 
ght, 1909, by the Character Devel- 
opment League. ] 
XIII.—Self Control. 
LMOST the 
first thing to 
be learned in 
life is self control. 
Self control is hay- 
ing one’s’ facul- 
tigs and especially 
one’s inclinations 
and emotions un- 
= der the control of 
i the will. Obedi- 
ence is the first 
evidence of moral 
; growth, for the 
4 child can disobey, 
_9AMES T. WHITE. jut has chosen 
ahat has the moral sanction of au- 
thority. Obedience to authority is the 
oundation of all government, but 
oral character requires obedience 
vithout authority—obedience to the 
ideal within—and that is self control. 
- Self control is largely a matter of 
the will, and serious determination is 
meeded to acquire it. It is perhaps 
most important to control one’s tem- 
‘per, for that bears so directly upon 
‘the happiness of those about us. One 
should learn to control his tongue. 
fanity is a vice for which there is 
‘no possible warrant or excuse. Editor 
Jordan says: “The second most deadly 
instrument is the dynamite gun; the 
first is the human tongue. The. gun 
only kills the body, but the tongue 
‘kills reputation and ofttimes ruins 
character.” 
One can attain self control in great 
things only through self control in lit- 
‘tle things. Strength of character con- 
gists of two things—power of will and 
‘power of self restraint. One of the 
‘best methods of strengthening will 
wer, thereby gaining self control, is 
by compelling oneself to do instantly 
the thing we shrink from, as jumping 
out of bed the moment one awakes or 
ng a cold shower bath. The prac- 
‘ice of these two simple actions is a 
wonderful assistant to self control. 
_ If one wants to be well he must 
control his eating. Eating too much 
is gluttony, and drinking too much of 
what is intoxicating is intemperance. 
Intemperance is one of the most 
‘loathsome and contemptible habits one 
can fall into, and it is due entirely to 
the lack of self control. 
_ There is only one safe course for 
those who wish to grow into success- 
ful and happy manhood, and that is to 
“feuch nothing that will intoxicate, It 
St ee toed 
NORTH SHORE BREEZE 
83 
Should be shuNntiéu us 4 CoOntHsious ais- 
ease. 
So as regards the use of tobacco. If 
a boy wents to grow up with all his 
faculties unimpaired he must let to- 
baceo alone. Life is of vastly more 
consequence than athletics, and yet 
when a boy goes into athletics his 
trainer says, “Cut out cigarettes if you 
want to make the team.” And life en- 
joins the same rule if one would 
“make” a fine character. 
Self control gives presence of mind, 
which enables one to instantly decide 
new situations and new problems. No 
situation happens twice; there is no 
next time. The self control in the 
daily round of school days will give 
self control all through life. 
A shipping merchant said to a boy 
applying for work, “What can you 
do?’ “I can do my best to do what 
you are kind enough to let me try,” 
replied the boy. ‘What have you 
done?” “JI have sawed and split my 
mother’s wood for nearly two years.” 
“What have you not done?’ ‘Well, 
sir,” the boy replied after a moment’s 
reflection, “I have not whispered in 
school for over a year.” “That is 
enough,’”’ said the merchant; “I will 
take you aboard my vessel, and I hope 
some day to see you captain. A boy 
who can master a wood pile and bridle 
his tongue must have good stuff in 
him.” 
Practice.—Let each child compel him- 
self to keep silence when called names. 
Let him jump out of bed the instant 
he is first awakened or called in the 
morning. Let him compel himself to 
do every day some one thing he does 
not want ‘to do. When angry count 
twenty before answering. 
Literature. 
The greatest hero is he who fights 
And vanquishes his sins, 
Who struggles on through weary years 
Against himself—and wins. 
—Unidentified. 
He who reigns within himse'!f and 
rules passions, desires and fears is 
more-than a king=—Milton. 
Receive your thoughts as guests, but 
treat your desires as children.—Chi- 
nese Proverb. 
There is no easy method of learning 
difficult things. The method is to close 
the door, give out that you are not at 
home and work.—Joseph de Maistre. 
He who cannot resist temptation is 
not a man. He is wanting in the 
highest attributes of humanity.—Hor- 
ace Mann. 
At each moment of a man’s life he 
Is either a king or a slave. As he sur- 
renders to a wrong appetite, to any 
human weakness, to any failure, he is 
a slave. As he day by day crushes out 
human weakness, recreates a new self 
from the sin and folly of the past, then 
he is a king. He is a king ruling with 
wisdom over himself.—William G. Jor- 
dan. 
When you have spoken the word it 
reigns over you. When it is unspoken 
you reign over it.—Arabic Proverb. 
Conviction, were it never so excel 
lent, is worthless till it converts itself 
into conduct.—Carlyle. 
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