SELF-DENIAL

Dunstan Times, Issue 2482, 24 May 1909, Page 3

SELF-DENIAL

The value of self-denial does not reside in itself as an end, but oniy as a means to a higher state in which it is no longer needed, For example, a greedy child needs careful training in habits requiring constant selfdenial ; but years pass, the habit of restraint is acquired, reason dominates, and in maturity he no longer finds the need of selldenial in this direction, for a more intelligent self-love prefers the possession of hchlth to the indulgence of the palate. The right-doing that was once so painful has become pleasant. So the child who selfishly r.natches the property of his playmate presently learns by teaching and experience the higher enjoyment of justice and sympathy, and when he is a man it costs him no pain to refrain from snatching his neighbour’s parse, although his desire for money may be stronger than his childish desire for the coveted plaything.