That boy was given the place. Attention to small things has made many
a successful man, while a little temper, a little indifference, a
little cigarette, a little drink or some other little thing has been
the undoing of many a young man.
What are these little traits in human character? They are matches
struck in the dark. Do you know what that means, a match struck in the
dark? If not, get up some night when it's pitch dark in the room, run
your face up against a half open door, knock the pitcher off the table
and spill the cold water on your bare feet, sit down on a chair that's
not there, and you'll realize what it means to strike a match. If I
were to go into a parlor of one of your finest homes at midnight with
all the lights out, I would see nothing, but let me strike a match and
beautifully decorated walls, fine paintings, and furniture will meet
and greet my vision.
You cannot be very long in the company of anyone until a match will be
struck. Of one you will say, "that's good; I'm glad to find such a
trait in that person," but directly another match will flare up and
you will find another trait as disappointing as the other was
commendable, and you are at a loss to know what "manner of man" you
are with.
It's a wonder to me when so many characters are so difficult to solve
that many young people rush headlong into matrimony without striking a
match, except the match they strike at the marriage altar. A girl sees
a young man today; he's handsome, talks well, and she falls in love
with him, dreams about him tonight, sighs about him tomorrow and
thinks she'll surely die if he doesn't ask her to marry him. Yet she
knows nothing about his parentage or his character. No wonder we have
so many unhappy marriages, so many homes like the one where a stranger
knocked at the front door and receiving no response went around to the
rear where he found a very small husband and a very large wife in a
fight, with the wife getting the better of the battle.