p. 260 | Everyday Life Reveals True Character and Conduct

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · April 22, 1880

FromThe Advent Review and Sabbath Herald, Vol. 55, No. 17

Everyday Life Reveals True Character and Conduct

—It is not the dress occasion, but it is the everyday life, which shows a person’s real measure of character and conduct and taste. His highest attainment proves what he is capable of being and doing. His average performance proves what he is contented to be and to do. Not the winsome smile and the gracious manners put on before visitors or while visiting, but the common expressions of face and speech, as known at home and in private, indicate one’s true temper and spirit. Not the showily arranged parlor, but the adornment of bedroom or kitchen, marks the standard of refinement in every home. Not the table and the table manners when “company” is being entertained, but the table and the table manners when no one from outside the family is present, disclose the measure of good-breeding deemed essential in any household. Not the street or the evening dress, but the dress when about daily housework, not the best suit, but the common one, evidences the real neatness and taste of the wearer. Occasional displays impress others, but the ordinary course of one’s life expresses one’s self.—S. S. Times.