power of thinking to any purpose, is a natural gift, possessed by few,
and unattainable by the many. This idea is a very pernicious error, for
one of the traits by which the human being is distinguished from the
brute is the possession of this power; and the progress that every human
being may make in learning to think well has no limit but the universal
one of finite capacity.

The distinction made between thoughtful and thoughtless persons is
commonly one of intellect alone; it should be quite as much one of
morality. Considered intellectually, a thoughtless person cannot be
successful in any but the very lowest walks of life. He brings nothing
but his hands to what he does. If these be strong, he may dig, perhaps,
as well as another man, but he can never make a good farmer; he may
use the axe or the hammer to good purpose, but he can never become a
master-workman. If he attempt anything more or higher than what his
hands can do under the guidance of another's brain, his effort is sure
to be followed by confusion and failure. Viewing a thoughtless person
in a moral light, he cannot be religious, he cannot be virtuous, and,
unless by accident, he cannot even be externally moral. He may, perhaps,
perceive that the grosser forms of wickedness are to be avoided, but he
can have no comprehension of the danger involved in the little vices of
everyday life; and cannot understand how every one of these vices, small
as it may seem, contains within itself the germ of some one of those
great and shocking sins forbidden in the commandments. He will,
therefore, without compunction, go on committing these small sins
until the habit of evil becomes so fixed, that, if he does not end by
committing great ones, it is more frequently from lack of temptation
than from any worthier reason.

The thoughtless person can never be depended upon for anything. We never