Unpunctual People

The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Oct 20, 1863

Unpunctual People.

What bores they are; what havoc they make with the precious moments of orderly, systematic men of business. A person who is faithless to his appointments may not intend to swindle people, but he does. To those who know how to turn time to advantage, every hour has an appreciable pecuniary value; minutes, even, are worth so much a-piece. He who robs you of them, might just as well take so much money from your purse. The act is petty larceny or grand larceny, according to the amount of time he compels you to waste, and the value of it, at a fair appraisal, to yourself or your family. The only capital of a large portion of the community is time. Their compensation is measured by the clock. The moments of which promise breakers cheat them may represent, in fact, the necessaries of life, and the loss of an hour may involve the privation of a loaf or a joint, or some other article urgently needed at home. Nobody places any confidence in persons who are habitually behind time. They scarcely succeed in any enterprise. Therefore, for your own sake—as well as for the sake of others—be punctual.—Sel.