II.

He enters[1] into the outer circle of the whirlpool, and throws care to the winds[2]. There he thinks to stay, but he gets nearer and nearer to the fatal gulf, until he is swept into the vortex before he dreamed of danger. This thing, habit[3], comes gradually. Many a man who has acquired[4] a habit of drinking, but does not exactly proceed to excess[5], is rescued simply by possessing certain physical qualities which his poor unfortunate friend had not. You say: “I am not so foolish as to become a drunkard!” So He thought once. You say: “I can leave it off[6] when I like,” as if He at first had not had (App. § 33) the power to leave it off when he liked. You say: “I have too sound an intellect to become a drunkard,” as if He were born without an intellect. You say: “I have too much pride in myself, too much self-respect,” as if He were not once as proud as you. _The way_ men acquire this habit, _is_ by looking on those[7] who proceed to excess as naturally inferior to themselves. The difference between you and the drunkard is just this, that you could leave off[8] the habit, but won’t; he would[9] with all his heart and soul, but cannot. I tell you, young men[10], that while the power of a bad habit is stripping you of nerve [pl.], _and_ (S. 10, N. 9) energy, and freshness of feeling[11], it does not destroy your responsibility. You are accountable to God for every power, _and_ talent, and influence with which you have been endowed.

[1] = approaches.

[2] to throw care to the winds, +sich keine Sorgen machen+.

[3] = What one calls habit.

[4] to acquire a habit, +in eine Gewohnheit verfallen+.

[5] +der dieselbe jedoch eigentlich nicht übertreibt.+

[6] to leave off, +aufhören+.

[7] = by considering (+halten+) those; to proceed to excess, +sich dem Übermaß ergeben+; as — themselves = as (+für+) _being_ worse than themselves.

[8] here +aufgeben+.

[9] = and that he would give it up.

[10] Commence the period with ‘Young men’.

[11] +Gefühlsfrische+, f.

_Section 231._

AN ORATION ON THE POWER OF HABIT.