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Progress and Achievements of the Colored People / Containing the Story of the Wonderful Advancement of the Colored Americans—the Most Marvelous in the History of Nations—Their Past Accomplishments, Together With Their Present-day Opportunities and a Glimpse Into the Future for Further Developments—the Dawn of a Triumphant Era. A Handbook for Self-improvement Which Leads to Greater Success cover

Progress and Achievements of the Colored People / Containing the Story of the Wonderful Advancement of the Colored Americans—the Most Marvelous in the History of Nations—Their Past Accomplishments, Together With Their Present-day Opportunities and a Glimpse Into the Future for Further Developments—the Dawn of a Triumphant Era. A Handbook for Self-improvement Which Leads to Greater Success

Chapter 147: Do Not Drink Alcohol Or Form Other Bad Habits
By Kelly Miller
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History - AmericanHistory - Modern (1750+)

About This Book

The text surveys the social, educational, economic, and moral advancement of Colored Americans since emancipation, combining narrative chapters on leadership, labor, business, religion, health, and physical training with a detailed compendium of institutions. It presents statistics and government-sourced reports, profiles of schools and agencies (more than three hundred institutions described) and numerous photographs and portraits (over sixty illustrations), and offers practical advice on self-improvement, professional development, and community organization. Chapters address education, vocational and professional training, entrepreneurship, public employment, and civic life, aiming to document achievements and to guide further progress.

Do Not Drink Alcohol Or Form Other Bad Habits

Drink is the curse of the age, and it has been truly said of it “A man is a fool who will put that in his mouth which will steal his brains.”

The habit of drinking intoxicating liquors is not a mere personal vice, it is public and affects every person belonging to or connected with you.

Looked at from a business standpoint, it is a destroyer of opportunity, and undermines the most brilliant prospects in life. It leads to moral and physical death.

If you hope to win you must not drink intoxicating liquors, it matters not whether you can stand them or not. They will get you finally, besides that, nobody wants a man who drinks.

Drink brings on other habits that are destructive of character and opportunity. A man who gambles will drink. Why? Because he knows he is doing something he should not do, and the drink hardens his conscience. The hardening process continues and he forms all sorts of bad habits. The more he forms the more reckless he becomes, then it is a case of “Good night” to everything decent and noble, or worth having.

There are few cures to bad habits. They become diseases in the course of time, and fatal diseases, besides encouraging other diseases by reducing the resisting power of the body.

There is a preventive to all bad habits, however, and only one—never take your first drink of intoxicating liquor; never gamble for a first stake; never taste the first dose of cocaine to know how it will affect you. In other words: never begin a bad habit and it can not become your master and crowd you out of the companionship of men.