p. 127 | A Blessing or a Curse

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Mar 3, 1914

A Blessing or a Curse

THE doom of a man to hard labor was part of the original curse; but in man's fallen state, the curse is turned into a blessing. Habits of industry are essential alike to physical and mental health, and are the basis of all social progress. Wherever a mild climate and the spontaneous production of nature make regular toil unnecessary, there civilization languishes, and mental development is dwarfed. But a barren soil, a cold climate, and unpropitious sky, develop physical energy, and strong character, and great mental achievements. New England owes its intellectual and moral activity, not to the Anglo-Saxon race alone, but to the inhospitable climate which has compelled its children to hard toil.