The Appeasement of Appetites

January 1, 1970

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If a man has a greed for money, you can’t satisfy him merely with more money. Whoever heard of a miser who thought he had enough. Nor is a thirst for strong drink satisfied by drinking strong drink. The drunkard is never satisfied by drinking. Nor is hate appeased by hating. Nor are passions appeased by yielding to passions. – Oh, maybe for the moment, but basically appetites increase with indulgence. Every vice, every bad habit, every evil intent, returns with additional demands if we indulge it. Every indulgence adds to desire. Yielding to unworthy impulses invites more and more yielding; giving way to appetites intensifies appetites – and any so-called appeasement merely brings more and more demands. The more you give ground for the wrong reasons, the more ground you will be expected to give. An evil cannot be appeased by pampering it. And the longer we refuse to face unpleasant facts, the more unpleasant facts there will be to face. A soft answer may turn away wrath, but a definite “no” is the only answer to a wrong impulse or a wrong proposal. Where a principle is involved, the sooner you stand your ground, the better will be your chances of not having to give ground.

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