A RICH MAN | AdventAI

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Nov 18, 1903

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 29, No. 46.

A RICH MAN.

One of Thoreau’s quaint sayings was, “A man is rich in proportion to the number of things he can afford to let alone.” On this basis there surely never were such opportunities for wealth as at the present time, when we are surrounded by beautiful, attractive, and tempting objects which are freely bought and used by our neighbors and acquaintances. To be able to resist temptations to buy things which we are just as well off without, and to indulge in amusements and recreations which are not for our physical or moral well-being; to be able to limit ourselves in regard to creditable indulgences—these are evidences of a strong character. One of the first and most important lessons which the mother of to-day must teach her child is to let things alone. When the baby has learned to admire the pretty flowers without picking them, to see candy, fruit, or other things which he knows “taste good” without putting them in his mouth; when the child has learned not to do things simply because “the other boys and girls” do them—then he can be trusted to go out into the world alone, for he can resist temptation. When such a boy grows to manhood his wants will be so few, his desires will be so well under control, that he will be indeed what Thoreau would call “a very rich man.”—The Congregationalist.