The Wedge

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Mar 7, 1907

ONE of the most effective of all mechanical powers is the wedge, by which large bodies may be raised or divided, and many things accomplished which could not easily be done by other mechanical agencies. In the mental and moral world the wedge can sometimes be used to great advantage. In hundreds of arguments we may put truth into wedge form, and thus drive it home.

There are some persons, however, who always seem inclined to drive their wedges butt end first, and in so doing they split the beetle oftener than they do the log. They assail others in the most offensive manner. They find out the points whereon they disagree with others, and make those points the most prominent of all. They attempt to catch fish by thrashing the water.

This is not the way of wisdom. Use the wedge, and be careful that you place it with the thin end to the log. Do not go too fast. Do not tell too much. Do not teach things which men are not able to comprehend or learn. Begin on a small scale. Place your wedges carefully. Drive them slowly and steadily, until they have fully entered and begun to take hold, then let ponderous blows drive them home, and let your strongest arguments carry all before them.—The Christian.