No wonder a noted bachelor of medicine declares “People are what they eat!” The exclamation point is our own.  We quite agree with our medical brother for we have seen people eat until we thought we would never be hungry again.

But there is more to self-indulgence than the food specialist has to answer for, so we will be on our way.  For instance, there is the spendthrift; surely he is entitled to a short stanza.  We all know him.  He goes on the theory that he has all the spending money in the world, and that long after he is dead those on whom he spent it will remember his generosity.  Vain hope!—­Whatever memory of him remains will be of a different kind.  Those who have been bored by his gratuitous attentions will take up the threads of their existence where they left off when he drove them away from their usual haunts.  No longer will they have to dodge down alleys and run up strange stairways in an effort to avoid his overtures.

[Illustration:  Douglas Fairbanks in “The Good Bad-Man"]

When alive and in full operation he knew more about what was best for us than we could possibly think of knowing.  Left to his own devices he would have us smoke his particular brands, drink his labels, eat his selections, wear his kind of a cravat, overcoat, cap, hat, shoes, and underwear.  And to make his proposition sound business like he would willingly pay the bills!  In this little amusement we are supposed to play the part of receiver and praise his generosity.

Whatever may be our verdict on this chap we must keep in mind that his inordinate desire to waste his substance was no less than a vice if for no other reason than its example upon others; it is just as bad to be a “receiver" as it is to be a spendthrift.  If we cannot build up a reputation for generosity without becoming ostentatious we might better take lessons in refinement from someone “to the manor born.”

There is no desire to single out and set down by name and number every sort of self-indulgence. Excesses of any kind are indulgences, and it is easy to fall into them if we have not built up our stamina to resist.

Our failures are usually traceable to ourselves.  No matter what excuses may be offered in our behalf we know in our own minds that we are to blame.  Somewhere along the line of our endeavors we faltered—­then we fell.  Our conservatism reinforced by our strength of character finally gave way at a given point and put the whole plant out of business.  Our system of inspection had become cursory instead of painstaking.  Everything had been running along so smoothly we forgot that everything must wear out in time if it isn’t looked after properly.

A previous chapter entitled, “Taking Stock of Ourselves,” has a specific bearing upon the subject in hand.  It emphasizes the necessity of taking stock of ourselves early in life in order that we may know our weak spots and take immediate steps to dig them out by the roots and replace them with “hardy perennials” which thrive on and on unto the last day.