"The hell which theology once taught is no worse than the hell we make for
ourselves by habitually fashioning our characters in the wrong way. Could
the young but realize how soon they will become mere walking bundles of
habits, they would give more heed to their conduct while in the plastic
state. We are spinning our own fates, good or evil, and never to be undone.
Every small stroke of virtue or of vice leaves its never so little scar.
The drunken Rip Van Winkle excuses each drink he takes by saying, 'I won't
count this time.' He may not count it, and a kind heaven may not count it,
but down among his nerve cells and in the muscle fibres, the molecules are
counting it, registering and storing it up to be used against him when the
next temptation comes. Nothing we do in a strict, scientific sense is ever
wiped out; each thought and every deed is registered in the soul and helps
to compose that book out of which we will be judged on that great final day
when we are called upon to render an account of our stewardship."

Notwithstanding the difficulty, however, habits may be strengthened, or
abolished. The older they are the more difficult they will be to modify;
the chief factor involved is the amount of labor required to make the
change, the possibility of making it need never be questioned. Breaking the
habit of excessive use of drugs, tobacco, tea and coffee, or alcohol, will
occasion much discomfort, hardship, and even functional disturbance, but
these ills are only temporary, and the organism soon returns to its
original normal condition.

To break a well-established habit requires common sense, decision and
strength of purpose. "If you want to abolish a habit, you must grapple with
the matter as earnestly as you would with a physical enemy. You must go
into the encounter with all tenacity of determination, with all fierceness
of resolve, with a passion for success that may be called vindictive. No