So many people do not know the difference between obstinacy and
clear-headed firmness of will, that it is hardly safe to say much in
praise or blame of either without expressly stating that you do not mean
the other. They are as unlike as digestion and indigestion, and one would
suppose could not be much more easily confounded; but it is constantly
done. It has not yet ceased to be said among fathers and mothers that it
is necessary to "break the will" of children; and it has not yet ceased to
be seen in the land that men by virtue of simple obstinacy are called men
of strong character. The truth is that the stronger, better-trained will a
man has, the less obstinate he will be. Will is of reason; obstinacy, of
temper. What have they in common?
For want of strong will kingdoms and souls have been lost. Without it
there is no kingdom for any man,--no, not even in his own soul. It is the
one attribute of all we possess which is most God-like. By it, we say,
under his laws, as he says, enacting those laws, "So far and no further.
Pages:
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104