| The Beauty of Self Control |
Chapter 4 |
Page 5 |
Young people should seek association with those who are wiser and more experienced than themselves, those who can teach them lessons they have not yet learned, lead them in paths they have not yet walked in, and help them to find their own powers and possibilities. It is a great mistake merely to choose a friend with whom to have a good time, one who will flatter us and make us feel satisfied with ourselves, one with whom we may get on pleasantly. We should have friends who, like Paganini with the Cremona, can discover and call out the best that is in us. “Our best friend is he who makes us do what we can.”
It is the same with the teachers to whom we may go. There are those who have wisdom enough to teach, and who honestly do the best they can with those who come to them, but who lack the mental vision to discover the faculties that are in their pupils, or who lack the ability and skill to bring out their possibilities. There are other teachers who may know less themselves, but they have the power to find the talents that are in their pupils, and then to call them out. The same is true of the value and influence of books. There are books which we may enjoy reading, and which may give us entertainment and pleasure, but which leave in our minds no new knowledge, no stimulating of thought, no new visions of beauty, no wonder to impel us to research, and no strengthening of character. On the other hand, there are books which stir our hearts, which wake us up, which kindle in us upward inspirations, and which incite us to the attaining of better things. These are the books we should read, for they will give us the help we most need if we are to grow into fullness of life and power.
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