Section 230. AN ORATION ON THE POWER OF HABIT. 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.