“If the lady with the becoming hat will kindly notice how hard the man behind her is dodging, trying to see the preacher, she will undoubtedly be obliging enough to take down her millinery, postpone her halo, and conform to the customs of this church.” The effect is generally satisfactory to the audience, and the wearer’s self-respect is preserved in a trying episode. (Text.)
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Outcome—See [Direction].
Outlawry—See [Lawlessness].
Outstripping Danger—See [Ahead of Circumstances].
Overcoming Obstacles—See [Energy, Indomitable].
Overdoing—See [Comparisons, Apt].
OVERDOING DANGEROUS
On all sides we may see that the stern laws which are necessary to our development may become exhaustive and destructive, passing beyond a given limit, as in athletics a man may be overtrained. And all this is just as true of our moral as it is of our physical and intellectual nature. A fair share of hardship develops heroic qualities, but when existence becomes too hard it breaks the spirit; the child cruelly treated becomes cowed; men and women bred in misfortune’s school become timid, nervous, cowardly. So, if heaven did not temper life, the finer qualities could never be developed in us. Burdens too heavy to be borne would break our heart; temptations too fiery, or protracted, wear out our patience; sorrows too acute drink up our spirit. Overborne by unmitigated pressure, we should lose all faith, courage, hope; nothing would be left to us but atheism, cynicism, despair.—W. L. Watkinson, “The Transfigured Sackcloth.”
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