A Jolly by Josh | Page 6

than you want to do at present; but, if you learn habits
expensive enough to spend the whole of it, you are going to be hard up
when your expenses increase, as they will if you marry or assume
greater responsibilities. Therefore, it is necessary for you to practise
self-denial and deny yourself wisely. We have seen that self-denial of
some sort is necessary to everybody who have not fixed their habits,
and by that I mean fixed their habits to such an extent that no change in
their circumstances will induce them to lead a more expensive life. It
becomes obvious that those who have fixed their habits on economical
and praiseworthy lines will not only be the wealthiest, but will be the
people who enjoy the most freedom. It is to them that wealth is a real
blessing; and it is they who make their wealth a blessing to others,
always keeping in mind the personal equation.
It is therefore up to you to choose habits and fix them, so they will
bring about the best result, and thus conduce to your happiness, the
merit of your actions, and the use of your money. How, then, among all
the opportunities which arise shall you choose, how tell which ones of
the luxuries to which you have been accustomed you shall discard?
We have several times spoken of the touchstone we were seeking, one
that will tell what actions are good and what bad, which desires to fulfil
and which to deny. We have now reached something pretty close to our
definition. Gratify those which contribute toward the success of the
object you have in mind: deny yourself those which are detrimental to
it, and which do not tend directly or indirectly toward its
accomplishment.
We wish to attain the attitude of mind of a Stoic toward the first class
of desires, and that of a spendthrift almost toward the second. For
example, keep your personal comfort well in bounds, and train yourself

to disregard it entirely; otherwise, you may say farewell to freedom.
Be temperate in eating your food, drinking cold water, taking exposure,
in your hours and in general. For example, it is not a good plan to have
too much of anything which you like particularly. It immediately dulls
the sense of pleasure in that thing, and, raising the level of your likes to
a degree that makes you dislike some other thing, perhaps, which you
liked before, thus working a loss rather than a gain. Therefore,
temperance, which is synonymous of moderation, in my use of the
word, is the wisest thing you can practise. But be intemperate in the
pursuit of your object. Let no expense be too large to equip yourself
physically or mentally for your life's work, as, for example, to assure
regular exercise, to cure any physical imperfection or disease, or for the
furtherance of any desire for investigation on natural or scientific
subjects or points of interest allied to the thing which you are seeking
to attain. There is no need of moderation in labor, exposure, or
discomfort. Thus you will eventually reach your ends, and may obtain
results at which people will stand amazed, believing them to be beyond
the range of possibilities, as they will not know that for years a
systematic preparation has been going on to prepare yourself for this
result.
As a boy, your desires have been limited by your opportunities. You
have had certain kinds of recreation provided for you which you have
enjoyed. Your expenditure of money has been limited by your purse,
which will have been small if your parents were wise; and your
expenditure of time will have been limited by the hours you have been
unable to take from study, which will also have been small.
At college your opportunities will have broadened, and you begin to
have something similar to the elective system. You can choose more
freely how to spend your time. Your development to this point, I have
already said, may be called the rounding of the handle; and your
education will be normal if you have average application, intelligence,
and memory. During college your future course will begin to shape
itself, but before you fix upon your definite object there is likely to be a
period at which you can be tempted into the greatest dissipation. By

dissipation I do not mean the accepted term, but the scientific use of the
word; namely, the useless expenditure of energy in futile pursuits. It is
the opposite of concentration, which means directing energy upon your
object. To make myself clearer, I will define energy as also meaning, in
addition to your labor, your money, as money is the accumulated
energy of your ancestors, just as coal is the accumulated energy