ON FINISHING WHAT IS BEGUN.
Beginning things and leaving them unfinished, exerts a bad influence
in the formation of character. If it becomes a habit, it will make
you so fickle that no one will put confidence in you. There is James
Scott. If you go into his room, you will find his table strewed, and
his drawer filled, with compositions begun and not completed; scraps of
verses, but no poem finished; letters commenced, but not completed. Or,
if you go to his play-house, you will find a ball half wound; a kite
half made; a boat begun; one runner of a sled; one wheel of a wagon;
and other things to match. He wants energy and perseverance to finish
what he begins; and thus he wastes his time in frivolous pursuits. He
is very ready to _begin_; but before he has completed what is begun,
he thinks of something else that he wishes to do; or he grows weary of
what he is upon. He lives to no purpose, for he _completes_ nothing;
and he might as well _do nothing_, as to _complete nothing_.
If you indulge this practice, it will grow upon you, till you will
become weak, irresolute, fickle, and good for nothing. To avoid this,
begin nothing that is not worth finishing, or that you have not
good reason to think you will be able to finish. But when you have
begun, resolutely persevere till you have finished. There is a strong
temptation, with the young, to abandon an undertaking, because of
the difficulties in the way; but, if you persevere, and conquer the
difficulties you meet with, you will gain confidence in yourself, and
the next time, perseverance in your undertakings will be more easy. You
may, however, make a mistake, and begin what you cannot or ought not to
perform; in which case, perseverance would only increase the evil.