CHAPTER II
THE ENEMIES OF POISE
The enemies of poise are many and of different origins, both of feeling and of impulse.
They all tend, however, toward the same result, the cessation of effort under pretexts more or less specious.
It is of no use deceiving ourselves. Lack of poise has its roots deep in all the faults which are caused by apathy and purposeless variety.
We have learned in the previous chapter how greatly the vice of lack of confidence in oneself can retard the development of the quality we are considering.
Balanced between the desire to succeed and the fear of failure, the timid man leads a miserable existence, tortured by unavailing regrets and by no less useless aspirations, which torment him like the worm that dieth not.
Little by little the habit of physical inaction engenders a moral inertia and the victim learns to fly from every opportunity of escaping from his bondage.
Very soon an habitual state of idleness takes possession of him and causes him to avoid everything that tends to make action necessary.
The dread of responsibility that might devolve upon him turns him aside from every sort of endeavor, and he passes his life in a hopeless and sluggish inaction, from a fear of drawing down upon himself reproaches to which he might have to make answer or of being compelled to take part in discussions which would involve the disturbing of his indolent repose.