dividual
according to his habits. The nature of our habits fixes our status in
the struggle of life. If we get into the habit of thinking evil
thoughts, we live in that atmosphere. Health is a habit, so also is
success. Honesty, virtue, vice, procrastination, contentment,
fault-finding, grumbling, candy eating, gossiping, drinking, sleeping,
religion, friends, life itself, are habits. Life is what we make it. "As
the man thinketh in his heart, so he is." Some habits are good, others
are bad. Certain habits are constructive, others are destructive. If we
get into the habit of doing our work thoroughly and regularly, according
to some definite system, we encourage the habits of contentment,
calmness, efficiency, and happiness. If we do our work spasmodically,
irregularly, without system, if we gossip between times, we are
eternally trying to catch up, so we encourage the habits of
procrastination, discontent, inefficiency, fault-finding, and failure.
We must be master or victim of our habits. We must succeed, or we must
fail. The immutable law of life permits of no standing still. We are
either progressing or we are retrogressing. One of the best habits, if
not the very best, that the young wife can cultivate in her new home is
the study habit. It is eminently a constructive habit.

The germ of self-culture is latent in every healthy mind. It is an
exceedingly virile microbe. It may begin as a fad but intrinsically it
grows as a virtue. Environment may give it birth but its roots may not
be circumscribed. They seek nourishment from every far and near spring
and well, and its branches spread out to the north and south, and east
and west, and its leaves suck into its heart, health and strength and
color and fragrance, from the everlasting sun.

In our brain are millions of tiny cells. Each cell is capable of a
single thought. When we begin as children, we learn letters first, then
words, then sentences or thoughts. In due time we have a sufficient
number of cells, each with its photographed letter or word or thought.
From this stock we reason and think and plan. These are the letters and
words and thoughts of ordinary life. We have millions of cells left, and
the brain is a tireless, ceaseless worker. If we keep on feeding it more
letters, more words, more thoughts, it is satisfied, but if we stop, if
we stagnate, it keeps on working, but it can only use the words and
thoughts we have given it. Ceaselessly it rearranges th