How to be a man

In one sense, very young persons are apt to think too much of themselves--in another, not enough. When they think they know more than their parents and teachers, or other elderl...

Perhaps some of my readers, when they see the title of this chapter, will think only of confinement in school, of books, and of hard study, and so be inclined to pass over it, a...

A watch, to one who had never seen such a piece of mechanism before, would be a great wonder. It is an object of much curiosity to the natives of savage and barbarous tribes, vi...

Next to your duty to God comes your duty to your _parents_; and you can never form an excellent, amiable, and lovely character, unless the foundation of it is laid in _filial pi...

The family is a little kingdom in miniature. The father and mother are king and queen; and children, and others residing in the family, are the subjects. I have treated at large...

Most of what I have said in the last two chapters will apply to your behavior at school. When you go to school, your teachers take the place of your parents. To them, for the ti...

Did it ever occur to you to inquire why all civilized people have their food prepared at particular hours, and all the family sit at table together? Why not have the food prepar...

All well-regulated Christian families are assembled, morning and evening, to worship God. Seeing we are dependent on him for all things, it is suitable and proper that we should...

I suppose, if my readers are the children of pious parents, they have been taught from their earliest recollection, to retire, morning and evening, to some secret place, to read...

Some people esteem it a hardship to be compelled to keep the Sabbath. They think it an interference with their liberties, that the state should make laws to punish them for brea...

Besides what I have noticed in several of the foregoing chapters, there are many things of a general nature, which I shall group together under the title of _habits_. A _habit_...

The reader will perhaps laugh at the idea of _educating_ the body. But a moment’s reflection will show that no part of man more needs education than the body. The design of educ...

I have seen boys who would make incredible exertion to accomplish any thing which they undertook for their own amusement; but who, when called upon to do any thing useful, would...

By the _heart_, I mean the _moral faculties_, in distinction from the _intellectual_. Any action is _moral_, which can be _praised_ or _blamed_. The _moral faculties_ are those...

The term _Mind_ is often employed to signify all the faculties of the soul. But I shall use it in application to the _intellectual faculties_, in distinction from the _moral_; a...

READING occupies a very important place in education. It is one of the principal means of treasuring up knowledge. It is, therefore, highly necessary that a taste for reading sh...

WRITING, or COMPOSING, is one of the best exercises of the mind. It is, however, I am sorry to say, an exercise to which young people generally show a great aversion. One reason...

There is no greater enemy to improvement than an indolent spirit. An aversion to effort paralyzes every noble desire, and defeats every attempt at advancement. If you are natura...

What is worth doing at all, is worth the undivided attention; but John can never be satisfied to do but one thing at a time. By attempting to read or play while dressing, he con...

Beginning things and leaving them unfinished, exerts a bad influence in the formation of character. If it becomes a habit, it will make you so fickle that no one will put confid...

CHARACTER is formed under a great variety of influences. Sometimes a very trifling circumstance gives direction to the whole course of one’s life. And every incident that occurs...

There are some boys, who carelessly go any where that they can find amusement, without regard to the character of their company. They not only associate indiscriminately in gene...

The human system is formed for alternate labor and rest, and not for incessant activity; and to provide for this, the night follows the day and the Sabbath the six days of labor...

The apostle James says, the _tongue_ is an unruly member, and that it is easier to control a horse or a ship, or even to tame wild beasts and serpents, than to govern the tongue...

There is, perhaps, no accomplishment which will add so much to your character and influence, as the art of conversing agreeably and well. To do this, however, requires a cultiva...

The inhabitants of New England have the reputation of being inquisitive to a fault; and perhaps with some justice. This disposition grows out of a good trait of character, carri...

It often requires great courage to say NO. But by being able promptly, on occasion, to utter this little monosyllable, you may save yourself a deal of trouble. If mother Eve had...

Can you find any thing, in all the works of Nature, which is not made for some use? The cow gives milk, the ox labors in the field, the sheep furnishes wool for clothing, and al...

The true secret of happiness is, to be contented. “Godliness,” says the apostle Paul, “_with contentment_, is great gain.” These two are _great gain_, because, without them, all...

It is a mistake often made by young people, to associate religion with a downcast look, a sad countenance, and an aching heart. Perhaps the mistakes of some good people, in putt...