he, 'not to absent themselves morosely from public places, nor to avoid
the social throng; which cannot fail to afford to judicious, rational,
and feeling minds, many subjects both of amusement and instruction. It
is true, that we cannot relish the pleasures and taste the advantages
of society, without being able to give a patient hearing to the tongue
of folly, to excuse error, and to bear with infirmity.'

In like manner, we are not to disregard wholly, our dress. It is true
that the shape of a hat, or the cut of a coat may not add to the
strength of the mind, or the soundness of the morals; but it is also
true that people form an opinion often from our exterior appearance;
and will continue to do so: and first impressions are very difficult to
be overcome. If we regard our own usefulness, therefore, we shall not
consider the fashion or character of our dress as a little thing in its
results. I have said elsewhere that we ought neither to be the first
nor the last in a fashion.

We should remember, also, that the _world_, in its various parts and
aspects, is made up of little things. So true is this, that I have
sometimes been very fond of the paradoxical remark, that 'little things
are great things;' that is, in their _results_. For who does not know
that throughout the physical world, the mightiest results are brought
about by the silent working of small causes? It is not the tornado, or
the deluge, or even the occasional storm of rain, that renews and
animates nature, so much as the gentle breeze, the soft refreshing
shower, and the still softer and gentler dews of heaven.

So in human life, generally, they are the little things often, that
produce the mightier results. It is he who takes care of pence and
farthings, not he who neglects them, that thrives. It is he alone who
guards his lips against the first improper word,--trifling as it may
seem--that is secure against future profanity. He who indulges one
little draught of alcoholic drink, is in danger of ending a tippler; he
who gives loose to one impure thought, of ending the victim of lust and
sensuality. Nor is it one single gross, or as it were accidental act,
viewed as insulated from the rest--however injurious it may be--that
injures the body, or debases the mind, so much as the frequent
repetition of those smaller errors, whose habitual occurrence goes to
establish the predominating choice of the mind, or affection of the
soul.

Avoid then, the per