LESSON X

THE USE OF TRIFLES

A certain painter once said he had become great in his art by never
neglecting trifles. It would be well for all of us to follow that
simple and easy rule. No man's house but would be more comfortable,
and no family but would be more cheerful, if the value of trifles and
the art of using them were better understood. Attention to trifles is
the true art of economy.

We must, however, take care not to confound economy with parsimony.
The former means a frugal and judicious use of things without waste,
the latter a too close and sparing use of things needed. Now a person
who understands the use of little things is economical; for instance.
If you wipe a pen before you put it away it will last twice as long as
if you do not.

Generally the habits we acquire in our youth we carry with us into old
age; hence the necessity of proper training in childhood. A woman who
attends to trifles and has habits of economy will not hastily throw
away bits of cotton or worsted, nor will she waste soap by letting it
lie in the water. She will keep an eye to the pins and matches,
knowing that the less often such things are bought, the more is saved.
She will not think it above her care to mend the clothes or darn the
stockings, remembering that "_a stitch in time saves nine_."