Guard Your Weak Point
？奥里森·马登 / Orison Marden
“I’ll sign it after a while，” a drunkard would reply， when repeatedly urged by his wife to sign the pledge； “ but I don’t like to break off at once， the best way is to get used to a thing. ”
“Very well， ” said his wife， “ see if you don’t fall into a hole one of these days， with no one to help you out. ”
Not long after， when intoxicated， he did fall into a shallow well， but his shouts for help were fortunately heard by his wife. “Didn’t I tell you so？” she asked. “It’s lucky I was in hearing or you might have drowned.” He took hold of the bucket and she tugged at the windlass； but when he was near the top her grasp slipped and down， he went into the water again. This was repeated until he screamed： “Look here， you’re doing that on purpose， I know you are.” “ Well， now， I am. ” admitted the wife. “Don’t you remember telling me it’s best to get used to a thing by degrees？ I’m afraid if I bring you up sudden， you would not find it wholesome.” Finding that his case was becoming desperate， he promised to sign the pledge at once. His wife raised him out immediately， but warned him that if ever he became intoxicated and fell into the well again， she would leave him there.
A man captured a young tiger and resolved to make a pet of it. It grew up like a kitten， fond and gentle. There was no evidence of its savage， bloodthirsty nature， and it seemed perfectly harmless. But one day while the master was playing with his pet， the rough tongue upon his hand started the blood from a scratch. The moment the beast tasted blood， its ferocious tiger nature was roused， and it rushed upon its master to tear him to pieces.
Sometimes the appetite for drink， which was thought to be buried years ago， is roused by the taste or the smell of “the devil in solution”， and the wretched victim finds himself a helpless slave to the passion which he thought dead.
The wife of Socrates， Xanthippe， was a woman of a most fantastical and furious spirit. At one time， having vented all the reproaches upon Socrates her fury could suggest， he went out and sat before the door. His calm and unconcerned behavior but irritated her so much the more； and， in the excess of her rage， she ran upstairs and emptied a vessel upon his head， at which he only laughed and said that“so much thunder must needs produce a shower.” Alcibiades， his friend， talking with him about his wife， told him he wondered how he could bear such an everlasting scold in the same house with him. He replied， “ I have so accustomed myself to expect it， that it now offends me no more than the noise of carriages in the street. ”
The strong man is the one who ever keeps himself under strict discipline， who never once allows the lower to usurp the place of the higher in him； who makes his passions his servants and never allows them to be his master； who is ever led by his mind and not by his inclinations. He drills and disciplines his desires and keeps the roots of his life under ground， and never allows them to interfere with his character. He is never the slave of his inclinations， nor the sport of impulse. He is the commander of himself and heads his ship due north even in the wildest tempests of passion.