ed that he'd have to bear it, but he'd be hanged if he'd grin!

[Sidenote: Intensity of Desires]

The decision which is perhaps the hardest to make and, at the same time,
the most important from the standpoint of health and working-power, is
the decision _not to care too much_ about the objects we are seeking to
achieve. We need not subscribe to the Nirvana philosophy. A certain
intensity of desire is normal, but modern life tends to a morbid
frenzied intensity. Most of us need, in the interest of mental health or
sanity, to moderate our desires. A business man who had set his heart on
fulfilling a large responsibility nearly wrecked his health from worry
over the outcome. His wise physician prescribed that, before sitting
down to his desk each day, he should spend five minutes repeating and
impressing on his mind the words, "I don't give a hang! I don't give a
hang!" The truth is many people fail because of over-anxiety lest they
fail. Some invalids die from an exaggerated desire not to die.

[Sidenote: Ruling Ourselves]

A helpful precept, when one is failing in some crucial undertaking from
his very over-anxiety to succeed, is to replace the ambition to succeed
by a determination to pass the crisis unruffled, whether one succeeds or
fails, "He that ruleth himself is greater than he that taketh a city,"
and incidentally if we rule ourselves we are far more likely than
otherwise to take the city, if that be possible at all.

An ideal course of conduct implies a constant readiness, after all has
been done which can be done, to renounce one's feverish desires and
accept whatever higher powers decree, even if it be death. This is one
of the supreme aims of every great philosophy or religion. Job (13:15)
said, "Though He slay me, yet will I put my trust in Him," and Christ
exclaimed, "If it be possible let this cup pass from me; nevertheless,
not as I will, but as Thou wilt."

CHAPTER V

HYGIENE IN GENERAL

Section I--The Fifteen Rules of Hygiene

The aids to health discussed in the preceding chapters may be summarized
in specific formulas classified under the four heads, Air, Food,
Poisons, and Activity, corresponding to the four chapters, and under
fifteen sub-heads, corresponding to the fifteen sections.

I. AIR.
1. Ventilate every room you occupy.
2. Wear light, loose and porous clothes.
3. Seek out-of-door occupations and recreations.
4. Sleep out, if you can.
5. Breathe dee