Moral Maladies
181
Results of Impure Habits
939. Moral pollution has done more than any other evil to cause the
race to degenerate.... It brings on disease of almost every description.—
Testimonies for the Church 2:391
.
940. Industry does not weary and exhaust one fifth part as much as
the pernicious habit of self-abuse.—
Testimonies for the Church 2:349
.
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941. Secret indulgence is, in many cases, the only real cause of the
numerous complaints of the young. This vice is laying waste the vital
forces and debilitating the system; and until the habit which produced
the result is broken off, there can be no permanent cure.—
A Solemn
Appeal, 58
.
Physical Effects
942. The sensitive nerves of the brain have lost their healthy
tone by morbid excitation to gratify an unnatural desire for sensual
indulgence.—
Testimonies for the Church 2:347
.
943. Let us view the results of this vice upon the physical strength.
Have you not marked the lack of healthy beauty, of strength and power
of endurance, in your dear children? Have you not felt saddened as you
watched the progress of disease upon them, which has baffled your skill
and that of physicians? You listen to numerous complaints of headache,
catarrh, dizziness, nervousness, pain in the shoulders and side, loss
of appetite, pain in the back and limbs, wakeful, feverish nights, tired
feelings in the morning, and great exhaustion after exercising. As
you have seen the beauty of health disappearing, and have marked the
sallow countenance or the unnaturally flushed face, have you been
aroused sufficiently to look beneath the surface, to inquire into the
cause of this physical decay? Have you observed the astonishing
mortality among the youth?—
A Solemn Appeal, 49
.
944. In those who indulge in this corrupting vice before attaining
their growth, the evil effects are more plainly marked, and recovery
from its effects is more nearly hopeless. The frame is weak and
[221]
stunted, the muscles are flabby; the eyes become small, and appear
at times swollen; the memory is treacherous, and becomes sieve-like;
and the inability to concentrate the thoughts upon study increases.—
Testimonies for the Church 2:402
.