.
No, his little prevarications and dodgings will not make him a liar,
but he can see that they surely will in John Smith's case. He can see
that others are idle and on the road to ruin, but cannot see it in his
own case.

There is a wonderful relation between bad habits. They all belong to
the same family. If you take in one, no matter how small or
insignificant it may seem, you will soon have the whole. A man who has
formed the habit of laziness or idleness will soon be late at his
engagements; a man who does not meet his engagements will dodge,
apologize, prevaricate, and lie. I have rarely known a perfectly
truthful man who was always behind time.

You have seen a ship out in the bay swinging with the tide and the
waves; the sails are all up, and you wonder why it does not move, but
it cannot, for down beneath the water it is anchored. So we often see
a young man apparently well equipped, well educated, and we wonder that
he does not advance toward manhood and character. But, alas! we find
that he is anchored to some secret vice, and he can never advance until
he cuts loose.

"The first crime past compels us into more,
And guilt grows _fate_ that was but _choice_ before."

"Small habits, well pursued betimes,
May reach the dignity of crimes."

Thousands can sympathize with David when he cried, "My sins have taken
such hold upon me that I am not able to look up; my heart faileth me."
Like the damned spot of blood on Lady Macbeth's hand, these foul spots
on the imagination will not out. What a penalty nature exacts for
physical sins. The gods are just, and "of our pleasant vices make
instruments to plague us."

Plato wrote over his door, "Let no one ignorant of geometry enter
here." The greatest value of the study of the classics and mathematics
comes from the habits of accurate and concise thought which it induces.
The habit-forming portion of life is the dangerous period, and we need
the discipline of close application to hold us outside of our studies.

Washington at thirteen wrote one hundred and ten maxims of civility and
good behavior, and was most careful in the formation of all habits.
Franklin, too, devised a plan of self-improvement and character
building. No doubt the noble characters of these two men, almost
superhuman in their excellence, are the natural result of their early
care and earnest striving towards perfection.

Fielding, describing a game of cards between Jonatha