Do not help to circulate stories of the entire truth of
which you are not certain, a tiling which is so frequently
done, merely for the sake of excitement, that it and its com-
panion fault of exaggeration are fixed habits with many
people. Try not only to be sure of the truth of any reports
which you may desire to repeat, but try also to train your-
self to exactitude of speech. Weigh your words ; be sure
that you know just what they mean before you use them,
and then don't let them be too big or too frequent. State
your facts with as much accuracy as you can command, and
in order to do this train yourself to observe carefully and to
listen attentively, for it is only by doing this that you can
protect yourself from constant errors in your descriptions
and statements.
If you permit yourself to fall into a habit of using big
words simply because you fancy they have a fine sound, you
will find them snares and pitfalls, for they will tempt you
into exaggerations, into saying more than you mean, and
very often into actual mis-statements or falsehoods. As a
matter of elegance, too, you should avoid grandiloquence of
speech, for nothing is more likely to make you ridiculous in
the eyes of sensible, well-bred people, than an attempt to
unduly magnify your subject or yourself by the use of unne-
cessary or exaggerated forms of expression. This, and more
also, applies to all words or expressions which are in the
94 ON HABITS AND MANNERS.
least irreverent or profane, of which, I think, 1 may safely
tell you that they are never used by Christians or even by
persons who claim nothing more than mere external refine-
ment. If you desire to gain the respect of either of these
two classes of people, you must give up absolutely the use of
all profanity, irreverence and vulgarity in your language,
and I would also once more advise you to guard yourself
against the too frequent use of exclamations of any kind, for
this latter is very commonly only a form of irreverence.
This whole matter of guarding your speech is an im-
portant one, for with the tongue you can commit much fol-
ly, injury and sin, and you must remember that words
which are, in one point of view, only "the breath of your
mouths," are, in another, fixed and unalterable facts, potent
for good and evil. Of scandal, of profanity, of coarseness, of
unkindness, words are the chief vehicle, the tongue the great
agent, while of a greater sin than any of these, the burden
lies principally upon that " little member" which is too of-
ten aa world of iniquity."
I mean the sin of falsehood, a sin which I fear many of
you do not sufficiently dread and fight against, but which
is too fatal in its consequences to be for a moment trifled
with. Do you ever stop to think soberly of the effect upon
a person of deliberate or even thoughtless untruthfulness?
Do you realize that if you allow yourself to become habitu-
ON HABITS AND MANNERS. 95
Page 41
Presented as published in 1888. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
Do not help to circulate stories of the entire truth of which you are not certain, a tiling which is so frequently done, merely for the sake of excitement, that it and its companion fault of exaggeration are fixed habits with many people. Try not only to be sure of the truth of any reports which you may desire to repeat, but try also to train yourself to exactitude of speech. Weigh your words ; be sure that you know just what they mean before you use them, and then don't let them be too big or too frequent. State your facts with as much accuracy as you can command, and in order to do this train yourself to observe carefully and to listen attentively, for it is only by doing this that you can protect yourself from constant errors in your descriptions and statements.
If you permit yourself to fall into a habit of using big words simply because you fancy they have a fine sound, you will find them snares and pitfalls, for they will tempt you into exaggerations, into saying more than you mean, and very often into actual mis-statements or falsehoods. As a matter of elegance, too, you should avoid grandiloquence of speech, for nothing is more likely to make you ridiculous in the eyes of sensible, well-bred people, than an attempt to unduly magnify your subject or yourself by the use of unnecessary or exaggerated forms of expression. This, and more also, applies to all words or expressions which are in the
least irreverent or profane, of which, I think, I may safely tell you that they are never used by Christians or even by persons who claim nothing more than mere external refinement. If you desire to gain the respect of either of these two classes of people, you must give up absolutely the use of all profanity, irreverence and vulgarity in your language, and I would also once more advise you to guard yourself against the too frequent use of exclamations of any kind, for this latter is very commonly only a form of irreverence.
This whole matter of guarding your speech is an important one, for with the tongue you can commit much folly, injury and sin, and you must remember that words which are, in one point of view, only "the breath of your mouths," are, in another, fixed and unalterable facts, potent for good and evil. Of scandal, of profanity, of coarseness, of unkindness, words are the chief vehicle, the tongue the great agent, while of a greater sin than any of these, the burden lies principally upon that " little member" which is too often aa world of iniquity."
I mean the sin of falsehood, a sin which I fear many of you do not sufficiently dread and fight against, but which is too fatal in its consequences to be for a moment trifled with. Do you ever stop to think soberly of the effect upon a person of deliberate or even thoughtless untruthfulness? Do you realize that if you allow yourself to become habitu-