Chapter 22—Temperance and Dietetics
“Every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things.”
Every student needs to understand the relation between plain living
and high thinking. It rests with us individually to decide whether our
lives shall be controlled by the mind or by the body. The youth must,
each for himself, make the choice that shapes his life; and no pains
should be spared that he may understand the forces with which he has
to deal, and the influences which mold character and destiny.
Intemperance is a foe against which all need to be guarded. The
rapid increase of this terrible evil should arouse every lover of his race
to warfare against it. The practice of giving instruction on temperance
topics in the schools is a move in the right direction. Instruction in this
line should be given in every school and in every home. The youth and
children should understand the effect of alcohol, tobacco, and other
like poisons in breaking down the body, beclouding the mind, and
sensualizing the soul. It should be made plain that no one who uses
these things can long possess the full strength of his physical, mental,
or moral faculties.
But in order to reach the root of intemperance we must go deeper
than the use of alcohol or tobacco. Idleness, lack of aim, or evil asso-
ciations, may be the predisposing cause. Often it is found at the home
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table, in families that account themselves strictly temperate. Anything
that disorders digestion, that creates undue mental excitement, or in
any way enfeebles the system, disturbing the balance of the mental
and the physical powers, weakens the control of the mind over the
body, and thus tends toward intemperance. The downfall of many a
promising youth might be traced to unnatural appetites created by an
unwholesome diet.
Tea and coffee, condiments, confectionery, and pastries are all
active causes of indigestion. Flesh food also is harmful. Its naturally
stimulating effect should be a sufficient argument against its use; and
the almost universally diseased condition of animals makes it doubly
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