Instructing Children How to Earn and Use Money
297
He was forced to be modest in his wants, active in his work, simple in
his tastes. He had to put his faculties to work in order to obtain food
and clothing. He had to practice economy.
Fathers labor to place their children in a position of wealth, rather
than where they themselves began. This is a common mistake. Had
children today to learn in the same school in which their fathers learned,
they would become as useful as they. The fathers have altered the
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circumstances of their children. Poverty was the father’s master; abun-
dance of means surrounds the son. All his wants are supplied. His
father’s character was molded under the severe discipline of frugality;
every trifling good was appreciated. His son’s habits and character
will be formed, not by the circumstances which once existed, but by
the present situation—ease and indulgence.... When luxury abounds
on every side, how can it be denied him
Parents’ Best Legacy to Children—The very best legacy which
parents can leave their children is a knowledge of useful labor and
the example of a life characterized by disinterested benevolence. By
such a life they show the true value of money, that it is only to be
appreciated for the good that it will accomplish in relieving their own
wants and the necessities of others, and in advancing the cause of
God
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13
Manuscript 58, 1899
.
14
Testimonies For The Church 3, 399
.