60
Mind, Character, and Personality Volume 2
upon immutable laws.—
Christian Temperance and Bible Hygiene, 28,
1890
. (
Counsels on Diet and Foods, 29
.)
Mind Strengthens Under Correct Treatment—Every day men
in positions of trust have decisions to make upon which depend results
of great importance. Often they have to think rapidly, and this can
be done successfully by those only who practice strict temperance.
The mind strengthens under the correct treatment of the physical and
mental powers. If the strain is not too great, new vigor comes with
every taxation.
But often the work of those who have important plans to consider
and important decisions to make is affected for evil by the results of
improper diet. A disordered stomach produces a disordered, uncertain
state of mind. Often it causes irritability, harshness, or injustice. Many
[444]
a plan that would have been a blessing to the world has been set aside,
many unjust, oppressive, even cruel measures have been carried, as
the result of diseased conditions due to wrong habits of eating.—
The
Ministry of Healing, 309, 310
(1905).
Avoiding Overwork—I hear of workers whose health is breaking
down under the strain of the burdens they are bearing. This ought not
to be. God desires us to remember that we are mortal. We are not to
embrace too much in our work. We are not to keep ourselves under
such a strain that our physical and mental powers shall be exhausted.
More workers are needed that some of the burdens may be removed
from those now so heavily loaded down.—
The Review and Herald,
April 28, 1904
. (
Evangelism, 660
.)
Putting Two Years Into One—The student who desires to put the
work of two years into one should not be permitted to have his own
way. To undertake to do double work means, with many, overtaxation
of the mind and neglect of physical exercise. It is not reasonable to
suppose that the mind can assimilate an oversupply of mental food; and
it is as great a sin to overload the mind as it is to overload the digestive
organs.—
Counsels to Parents, Teachers, and Students, 296
(1913).
Excessive Study Lessens Self-control [
See chapter 54, “Over-
study.”
]—Excessive study, by increasing the flow of blood to the brain,
creates morbid excitability that tends to lessen the power of self-control
and too often gives sway to impulse or caprice. Thus the door is opened
to impurity. The misuse or nonuse of the physical powers is largely
responsible for the tide of corruption that is overspreading the world.