Habit From Ethics for Young People By Charles Carroll Everett, 1861 In speaking of the influence of companions, I said

that a man tends to imitate t he persons by whom he is surrounded; and we saw that while this tendency may wor k harm, it may also work much good: and that in fact the development of civiliza tion has been largely dependent upon this tendency. Most of all, a man tends to imitate himself. The fact that he has done a thing o nce, in a certain way, makes it easier for him to do it again in the same way. T he oftener this is repeated, the more fixed does the habit become. At last he ca nnot do the thing in a different way without great effort. Finally it may become almost impossible for him to do it in a different way. It is interesting to see the force of habit in little things. In this way one ca n most easily get an idea of its real power. Notice its power in such a little matter as putting on one s clothes, one s coat, fo r instance. Almost every one in doing this always puts the same arm first into t he sleeve. With some it is the right arm and with some it is the left. Probably very few, if they were asked, could tell which arm they put in first; but as soo n as they undertake to do the thing, the arm which commonly goes first makes its movement; and it is only by a strong act of will that it can be made to give wa y to the other Observe, farther, how skill is acquired in any handiwork, so that at last the wo rk goes on better when we are not thinking of it, than when we attend to what we are doing. The fingers of the skillful pianist take care of themselves, and the old ladies can read as they knit. So strong does habit, as the result of traini ng, become, that it is said to be impossible for a good swimmer to drown himself , unless he be tied hand and foot. By habit that has become an instinct, the bod y practises the lesson that it has learned; and the man who has thrown himself i nto the water swims in spite of himself. Notice now the good results of this tendency of habits to become fixed. In some cases, like those to which I have referred, the life of the person is, in a sens e, doubled. As was just said, the old ladies knit and read or talk at the same t ime. So in very many things, the body that has been trained does the work while the mind is left free to busy itself as it will. Another great advantage that springs from the fixity of habits is found in the f act that, by means of this, our lives may make real progress. What we have gaine d is secured to us. Think how hard it would be if we had continually to start again from the beginni ng. How the soldier shrinks when he first goes into a battle; how gladly he woul d flee. It is said that green soldiers are sometimes placed alternately with tho se that have been seasoned in many a fight, that the stability of the veterans m ay keep the raw recruits in their place. The old soldiers have got so in the hab it of marching and standing as they are told, that it has become with them a mat ter of course. Consider, too, how a man who is in the habit of handling money lets it pass thro ugh his hands with hardly a thought of the possibility of keeping any of it. In such cases habit may sometimes be a better safeguard than principle that has not hardened into habit. Principle untrained may sometimes give way to a temptation which habit would withstand. This fact applies to everything that we do, and to every relation of our lives.

We can make a habit of honesty, of industry, of kindliness, of attention, of cou rtesy, and of whatever we will. Indeed, Aristotle, one of the wisest men of anti quity, defined virtue as a habit of rightdoing. Consider what power we have thus over our lives. We shape them to a large extent as we choose, and then, through habit, they tend to harden into the shape that we have given them, as the plaster hardens into the shape which the artist has c hosen. The matter has, very obviously, another side. Bad habits form as readily as good ones. I am not sure that they do not form more readily than good ones, because virtues require more effort than faults. We drift into faults; but to make the b est life we have to take control of it and guide it. Think, now, how many bad habits are formed, habits of inattention, of carelessnes s, fretfulness, of evil speaking, of selfishness, and others that are even worse . Indeed, a bad habit is the last thing that most of us are afraid of. We think th at we are acting always from our own choice, that it is no matter what we do now , because another time, whenever we wish, we can do differently. But all the whi le a certain habit is forming and hardening, until at last we find ourselves alm ost helpless. Thus, even our tastes, our amusements, our selection of books, the tendency even of our most secret thoughts, are becoming fixed, and we are becom ing permanently the persons we meant to be only for the moment. If the artist takes such pains with the plaster that he is forming, so that it m ay harden into a shape of beauty, what care should we take of the habits which a re to effect so strongly and permanently our bodies, our minds, and our hearts.