o his habit, simply because he has wanted his drink all the time, and
has only been taught to repress his appetite; if he had been steadily
and carefully taught real self-control, he would have learnt to control
and drop his interior _desire,_ and thus keep permanently free. How
often we see intemperance which had shown itself in drink simply turned
into another channel, another form of selfish indulgence, and yet the
victim will complacently boast of his self-control. An extreme
illustration of this truth is shown in the case of a well-known
lecturer on temperance. He had given up drink, but he ate like a
glutton, and his thirst for applause was so extreme as to make him
appear almost ridiculous when he did not receive it.

The opportunities for self-control are, of course, innumerable; indeed
they constitute pretty much the whole of life. We are living in freedom
and use, real living use, in proportion as we are in actual control of
our selfish selves, and led by our love of useful service. In
proportion as we have through true self-control brought ourselves into
daily and hourly obedience to law, are we in the freedom that properly
belongs to our lives and their true uses.

When once we have won our freedom from resistance, we must use that
freedom in action, and put it directly to use. Sometimes it will result
in a small action, sometimes in a great one; but, whatever it is, it
must be _done._ If we drop the resistance, and do not use the freedom
gained thereby for active service, we shall simply react into further
bondage, from which it will be still more difficult to escape. Having
dropped my antagonism to my most bitter enemy, I must do something to
serve him, if I can. If I find that it is impossible to serve him, I
can at least be of service to someone else; and this action, if carried
out in the true spirit of unselfish service, will go far toward the
permanent establishment of my freedom.

If a circumstance which is atrociously wrong in itself makes us
indignant, the first thing to do is to drop the resistance of our
indignation, and then to do whatever may be within our power to prevent
the continuance of such wrong. Many people weaken their powers of
service by their own indignation, when, if they would cease their
excited resistance, they would see clearly how to remedy the wrong that
arouses their antagonism. Action, when accompanied by personal
resistance, however effective it may seem, does not begin