This applies to all kinds of foolish vanity. It applies to the young
man who never does anything, BECAUSE HE IS TOO PROUD TO DO WHAT HE HAS
THE CHANCE TO DO.
It applies to men and women who squander on dress and show the money
that they need for more serious purposes.
It applies to those that in old age have no money saved up, BECAUSE
PRIDE SPENT THEIR MONEY AS FAST AS THEY GOT IT.
The pride that keeps men honest, the pride that makes men truthful,
never kept a man back or hurt him.
The bad kind of pride is the pride which can be described as "the
coward's pride." Men are foolishly and cowardly proud BECAUSE THEY ARE
AFRAID OF WHAT OTHER MEN WILL THINK. Money that they cannot afford
they spend helping other men to drink too much, BECAUSE THEY ARE
ASHAMED TO BE THOUGHT STINGY OR MEAN.
Men squander in keeping up appearances money that should be saved for
another day, for a good business opportunity, because they are too
cowardly to be guided by their own judgment, and ignore what others
may THINK about them.
Self-respect is one thing; foolish pride, vanity, moral cowardice, are
very different. Get rid of them.
All the advice from these 20 rules is good advice. The man who can
keep his temper while he thinks--whether he count ten or a million--is
a lucky man.
A man in a rage is a man whose BRAIN IS NO LONGER WORKING. And the man
whose brain isn't working is at the mercy of the man whose brain IS
working.
Worry about the FUTURE troubles is a curse with many men. It prevents
their working well TODAY.
Overeating, and especially eating at the wrong time, is a great evil
in this country. If men would learn to eat heartily only when their
day's work is done, WHEN THEIR MINDS MUST NO LONGER BE CONCENTRATED,
THEY WILL SAVE THEIR STOMACHS AND ACCOMPLISH TWICE THE AMOUNT OF WORK
IN THEIR LIVES.
Read these rules over, and moralize on them for yourselves and for
your children.