Some of us think the best way to break a bad habit is to taper it off.  Our mistaken idea is not to subject ourselves to the shock and strain of breaking off a habit sharply.  We think we can do better by letting go gradually.  But the real fact is that to taper off means merely to stall around with the habit until we get to going on it strong again.  Tapering off is a poor method.  It usually [...]

We ourselves are the builders of our habits, and therefore we are the creators of ourselves in that sense.  This quotation is frequently given:  “We sow a thought and reap an act, we sow an act and reap a habit, we sow a habit and reap a character, we sow a character and reap a destiny.”  I believe that’s true and I believe that we should always be conscious of that.  Coupled [...]

Did you ever see a man’s desk piled high with paper and things, the pigeon-holes crammed full, and running over?  Do you know what the trouble is?  It is this:  He keeps a lot of things he ought to put in the wastebasket.  He keeps them because he thinks he will want them some day, and is afraid to throw them away.  If he would look squarely at every paper that comes to his desk, and decide [...]