How much self-torture would Jean Jacques Rousseau have saved himself had he known the virtue of moral courage! How different would have been the fate of poor Goldsmith, that bright intellect and tender heart, if he could have resolved to put aside his little vanities and extravagances! Moral courage would have saved Haydon, the artist, from a suicide’s death. It would have saved Pope from a thousand petty follies. It would have rescued many a man from a premature grave, a prison, or a workhouse; for be assured, our sufferings and failures in life are nearly always the result of our own errors. If we but look steadfastly to what is true and right, resisting every effort to divert us from the one straight pat- ah, we should not find ourselves lost in quagmires and quicksand! The road before us is different; but it is so plain, and it leads to such a glorious goal!
- Adams ©