Emerson, in his acute observations on manners, declares that
there is nothing “so inelegant as haste,” meaning by this the
haste which is a hurry. Haste which the occasion demands is
never undignified. A fireman running to a fire is a rather
inspiriting sight. We would despise him if he walked. It
is rushing in the ordinary affairs of life, which demand
deliberation, steadiness, control, that destroys dignity and so
destroys good manners. The man in a hurry, we feel at once, is
so because he is not master of the situation. He would not be
compelled to gorge his breakfast, to walk so fast that he looks
like an animated wagon-wheel, or to slight his work, if he had
his affairs in control.--_Chautauquan._
(1357)
=Hasty Action=--See RETALIATION.