Varieties of Watchfulness

Men are afraid of breaking down where they are strongest, but are seldom afraid of their weaknesses. If a man is hard, he fears mellowness. A proud man watches lest he should let himself down. A selfish man is vigilant against being unduly tempted by profuse kindness. And no man has a more salutary fear of rash generosity than he whose pores are sealed so tight that all the suns of prosperity cannot open them. Men are apt to guard themselves where it is impossible for them to be overcome; but they are quite careless of those open avenues through which temptation comes and goes so easily that they are unconscious of wrong-doing because they are not pained by it. —Beecher