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Article ON THE POWER OF HABIT. ← Page 3 of 3
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On The Power Of Habit.
brother tradesman on a Saturda }^ afternoon , or Sunday morning O ' night . 1 never wished to draw other fish to my net , that is , customers to my shop , than th ' . ise gudgeons who would par sauce for it . Though a militiaman , I never iet off a gun in my life : I should faint at the smell of powder . 1 determined , therefore , to be nearer London , nearer my friends , and yet enjoy my retirement too . For this purpose I took a house by Vauxhallwith some landwhich I
, , intended to improve ; but , instead of turning my thoughts upon that , I was anxious to know how the warehouse and my young relation went on . Accordingly , as soon as breakfast was over , 1 used to cross the bridgej and had more satisfaction in walking round the warehouse , and seeing the old spot where 1 had made my money , than all the beauties of Veitumnus and Pomona . I put in these hard names
on purpose to convince you , that I was bred at Paul ' s school . Practice gave me a habit ; and , under pretence of seeing how my relation went on , I went every day to . the old shop ; and now I find , that , not being content with being the real master , I am now , at the age of'fifty , really and truly his foreman , or journeyman . Habitude has made every other scene of life tasteless . and insipid to me ; and I as constantly find , myself in his warehouse at eleven in the morning , as if I was paid for it , and had . no other support . Now , Sir , for the
moral . My own practice will shew the exreme folly of striking out new paths , at my age of fifty , unsuitable to the mind and education : it will shew , also , how very few are capable , from the weakness of their understanding , and incapacity of reflecting , , to bear that retirement which all men in business are in pursuit of , as the certain means of their happiness . Let not , therefore , those , ' who have been used to an active lifethink of finding happiness in a rural situation
, , till they , are sure that their mind can relish it . Pleasure and pain are greater in imagination , than in reality ; and , however tiresome or disagreeable a man may imagine his own burthen to be , was he to exchange it with his neighbour , he would find the load but little different from . that which he designed to throw , off from his-own shoulders . A rural retirement , to a man that has been in active
scenes in London , I am sure , must be a state of misery . Half our pleasure in this world is owing to our imagination ; and , though I fancied a retirement was happiness , while I was in the possession of its miserable alternative , I am now , in a manner , come back to my old warehouse , to the astonishment of my friends and acquaintance . I , indeed , get nothing by it , as I work even harder than I used to
do , without fee or reward : but experience has convinced me , that custom or habitude in man makes his happiness or misery in this world . I am , Sir , yours , & c , Septembers , 179 6 , D . R .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On The Power Of Habit.
brother tradesman on a Saturda }^ afternoon , or Sunday morning O ' night . 1 never wished to draw other fish to my net , that is , customers to my shop , than th ' . ise gudgeons who would par sauce for it . Though a militiaman , I never iet off a gun in my life : I should faint at the smell of powder . 1 determined , therefore , to be nearer London , nearer my friends , and yet enjoy my retirement too . For this purpose I took a house by Vauxhallwith some landwhich I
, , intended to improve ; but , instead of turning my thoughts upon that , I was anxious to know how the warehouse and my young relation went on . Accordingly , as soon as breakfast was over , 1 used to cross the bridgej and had more satisfaction in walking round the warehouse , and seeing the old spot where 1 had made my money , than all the beauties of Veitumnus and Pomona . I put in these hard names
on purpose to convince you , that I was bred at Paul ' s school . Practice gave me a habit ; and , under pretence of seeing how my relation went on , I went every day to . the old shop ; and now I find , that , not being content with being the real master , I am now , at the age of'fifty , really and truly his foreman , or journeyman . Habitude has made every other scene of life tasteless . and insipid to me ; and I as constantly find , myself in his warehouse at eleven in the morning , as if I was paid for it , and had . no other support . Now , Sir , for the
moral . My own practice will shew the exreme folly of striking out new paths , at my age of fifty , unsuitable to the mind and education : it will shew , also , how very few are capable , from the weakness of their understanding , and incapacity of reflecting , , to bear that retirement which all men in business are in pursuit of , as the certain means of their happiness . Let not , therefore , those , ' who have been used to an active lifethink of finding happiness in a rural situation
, , till they , are sure that their mind can relish it . Pleasure and pain are greater in imagination , than in reality ; and , however tiresome or disagreeable a man may imagine his own burthen to be , was he to exchange it with his neighbour , he would find the load but little different from . that which he designed to throw , off from his-own shoulders . A rural retirement , to a man that has been in active
scenes in London , I am sure , must be a state of misery . Half our pleasure in this world is owing to our imagination ; and , though I fancied a retirement was happiness , while I was in the possession of its miserable alternative , I am now , in a manner , come back to my old warehouse , to the astonishment of my friends and acquaintance . I , indeed , get nothing by it , as I work even harder than I used to
do , without fee or reward : but experience has convinced me , that custom or habitude in man makes his happiness or misery in this world . I am , Sir , yours , & c , Septembers , 179 6 , D . R .