Tuesday, June 05, 2012
The
proverb means that a man should not undertake to do a responsible or difficult
work without careful consideration. He ought to measure his capacity for it and
consider whether it is at all proper for him to do it, and what consequences
are likely to follow if he attempts to do it. In a world, that is full of
secret dangers, you should think twice before you set about doing a new thing.
Many
young men, and not a few grown-up people have ruined their lives by rash and
ill-considered acts. When we find a young man or boy straying into bad company,
we may at once conclude that he must have been led to it thoughtlessly; that
is, he did not pause to consider the character of the persons with whom he was
invited to mix. What consequences would follow if they were men of bad
character, and how it would affect the whole course of his life. In short, the
young man had not looked before he leaped. We know only too well that many a
promising boy has come to grief owing to an injudicious choice of companions
The;
same care is also required in selection a profession. It is, generally, the
guardian of the well-wishers of the boy who do it, but they often do it in a
way that ruins his future. A boy with a taste for science is made to practice
law. The result is disastrous. His life is a failure. Again, a boy with literary
taste is sought to be made an engineer with no better result. Or a boy who has
no liking for literary education is forced to appear in and pass examinations.
If he is unsuccessful in the examinations somehow, his misery does not end
there. He perhaps chooses a calling suitable to his temperament. Failure under
the circumstances is inevitable. Boys are sometimes seen taking to a
profession, simply because it is popular. This is what is called a leap in the
dark. It may land one in a safe place accidentally, but generally it leads to
failure.
A boy may not be expected to have the mature judgment
of old men. But so far the selection of friends or the undertaking of a new
work is concerned, he should know that the promptings of his heart are not
always a safe guide, because appearances are more often than not deceptive. He
should, therefore, consult men of wider experiences in such matters.
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