a clutter of flimsy things which pander only to an uncultured esthetic
taste--and make work. _Order_ is the wise woman's first law in
housekeeping; cleanliness her second, which is like unto the first in
importance. She lets extra rooms, furniture and fallals go _until she
can pay well to have them cared for_. The same rule obtains in her
kitchen and her personal dress.

The wise woman thinks of comfort and allows time for the _joys_ of life,
wherefore _all_ her life is a pleasure.

The foolish woman is ground under the wheels of routine. To her,
housework is a stern "duty" which comes _first_, and to which body,
mind, personal appearance, happiness, the joy of living, all must be
sacrificed.

Lastly, firstly, and all the time, the wise woman is guided in what to
do and in what to leave undone, by the Spirit of Love; whilst the
foolish woman is guided by the Spirit of Appearances.

Note the order in which I have written these needs of life; an exact
reversal of the usual order. Housework _last_, and the Spirit of Comfort
first. The tendency of every woman is to lose _herself_ in troubling
over the many things of her household. If she would be happy, useful,
young and growing she MUST turn her life the other side up.

The best way to begin, the only successful way so far as I know, is by
MAKING time for the hour of reading and meditation and silence. She must
_take_ the time, by sheer force of will--take it until it grows into a
habit which _takes her_. Out of this hour will come first peace and
self-control; and gradually she will find unfolding out of this peace