Precept & Practice – MARCH 3 – Negative Morality

It is probable that nearly all who think of conduct at all, think of it too much;  it is certain we all think too much of sin.   We are not damned for doing wrong, but for not doing right;  Christ would never hear of negative morality;  ‘thou shall’ was ever his word, with which he superseded thou shall not.   To make our idea of morality centre on forbidden acts is to defile the imagination and to introduce into our judgments of our fellow-men a secret element of gusto.   If a thing is wrong for us, we should not dwell upon the thought of it;  or we shall soon dwell upon it with inverted pleasure…..

A man may have a flaw, a weakness, that unfits him for the duties of life, that spoils his temper, that threatens his integrity, or that betrays him into cruelty.   It has to be conquered;  but it must never be suffered to engross his thoughts.   The true duties lie all upon the farther side, and must be attended to with a whole mind so soon as this preliminary clearing of the decks has been effected.   In order that he may be kind and honest, it may be needful he should become a total abstainer;  let him become so then, and the next day let him forget the circumstance.

R. L. Stevenson (Across the Plains)

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From the Introduction to Precept and Practice

The kindly welcome given to my other little books, ‘Being and Doing’ and ‘Character and Conduct,’ must be my excuse for adding another collection of extracts to the number now in circulation.

The quotations are gathered from the books of many earnest thinkers, and deal with Life in all its length and breadth, with ourselves, our characters, our plain unvarnished faults and weaknesses, our often untoward circumstances, and with all that drags us down;-  with our purposes, our religion, our love and friendships, and with all that uplifts us;-  with our relation to others, our influence and responsibilities, and finally with those stages of our journey which bring us to the Road’s Last Turn and to the Silent Land.

CONSTANCE  M. WHISHAW