With Moderation…

There are extremes in all things, in all directions; extremes of tolerance, of intolerance; extremes of broadmindedness and of narrow-mindedness. And the extreme is almost always hazardous, both in opinions and practices; in interests, activities, and utterance. Life needs to be in balance. Men need to consider all sides of themselves.

“Moderate desires,” said Timothy Dwight, “constitute a character fitted to acquire all the good which the world can yield….”

There is always the danger of being overbalanced, of seeing only one side, of being obsessed, of pushing things too far too fast, of pressing even a good point so hard that the reaction is opposite from the intended. While the purpose may be good, extreme pressure may be bad. No one likes to be pushed too far too fast. Without moderation men may be driven away from the very good to which they would otherwise go.

From the extreme of being too old-fashioned there is extreme of being a faddist; from the extreme of clinging too much to outworn ways there is the extreme of wanting to change everything. Judgement is a great gift. All things need maturing. Most matters require thoughtful, considered decision. And even so-called moderation is sometimes excessive.

To embrace an evil, even with restraint, is hardly moderation in the sincerest sense. To partake of what is not good, to use what should not be used, to do what should not be done, is, in the sincerest sense, excess.

“Moderation,” said Thomas Fuller, “is the silken string running through the pearl-chain of all virtues.”

“Even nectar,” says a Hindu proverb, “is poison if taken to excess.”