DON'T FRET | AdventAI

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · April 29, 1880

FromAdvent Review and Sabbath Herald, Vol. 55, No. 18

DON'T FRET.

It is unamiable. A fretting man or woman is one of the most unlovely objects in the world. A wasp is a comfortable housemate in comparison; for it only stings when disturbed. But an habitual fretter buzzes, if he does not sting, and that, too, without provocation. “It is better to dwell in the corner of the housetop, than with a brawling woman and in a wide house.”

It is useless. It sets no broken bones, stops no leaks, gathers no spilt milk, cements no smashed pitchers, cures no spoiled hay, and changes no east wind. Children or servants cease to respect the authority or obey the commands of a complaining, worrisome, exacting parent or master. They know that “barking dogs don’t bite,” and fretters don’t strike. So they go on in their own way, when one calm word of rebuke or command, from one habitually amiable and quiet, settles the question. We were once at a panoramic exhibition, when more than a hundred rude boys made such incessant noise as to disturb the whole company. A gentleman present tried frequently to hush them, in vain. Another gentleman uttered the monosyllable “boys!” in a tone of expostulation and authority; and the work was done. We have seen a maxim worthy to be inserted in letters of gold on every dwelling: “Never fret about things you can help, and never about things you can’t help.” That covers the whole ground. It is worth remembering.—Selected.