sted
in that sort of a life, which appears to him to be a kind of living
death, and such entreaty does not move him. His parents would do
better by looking more closely into the case. Why is he a gambler? He
desires money. He seeks excitement. He wants to live in an atmosphere
of intense life and activity. Very well. These desires are quite right
in themselves. It is useless to try to crush them. It is nonsense to
argue that he does not want these things. Clearly enough he does want
them and that is precisely why he gambles. Then do not attempt the
impossibility of killing the desire but change the objects of his
desires. Say to him: "You desire money and a life full of turbulence
and excitement. Well, you can get all that in a better and a
legitimate way and have the respect of your friends besides. You can
go into politics. That is a field within the pale of the law and in it
you can have scope for all the energy and activity and intensity of
life you long for, with all the element of chance which you find so
attractive." And when the young man has had his fling there and tires
of it then something else can be attempted. But to try to crush desire
and curb the outrushing life is both foolish and impossible. We can
only direct it.

There are, of course, certain gross desires that must be gotten rid of
by the most direct and least objectionable method, and when one really
desires to be free from a given vice or moral weakness and sets
earnestly and intelligently about it his release is not so difficult
as the complete tyranny of most vices would lead one to suppose. There
is a process by which any of us may be free if we will take the
trouble to patiently put it into practice. This method will apply to
any desire from which we wish to be released. For example, let us take
the person who has a settled desire for alcoholic stimulants but
really wishes to be rid of it forever. Many people who are thus
afflicted to the point where they occasionally become intoxicated
feel, when they recover their normal condition, that no price would be
too great to pay for freedom from this humiliating habit. As a rule
such a man tries to close his eyes to his shame and forget it,
promising himself that he will be stronger when the temptation again
assails him. But it is just this putting it aside, this casting it out
of his mind, that perpetuates his weakness. He instinctively shrinks
from dwelling upon the thought of whither he is drift