A Short Sermon

“Owe no man anything.”

KEEP out of debt. Avoid it as you would war, pestilence, and famine. Hate it with a perfect hatred. Abhor it with an entire abhorrence. Dig potatoes, break stones, peddle tin-ware; do anything that is honest and useful, rather than run into debt. As you value comfort and independence, keep out of debt. As you value good digestion, a healthy appetite, a placid temper, a smooth pillow, pleasant dreams, and happy wakenings, keep out of debt. Debt is the hardest of all taskmasters, the most cruel of all oppressors. It is a millstone about the neck. It is an incubus on the heart. It spreads a cloud over the firmament of man’s being. It furrows the forehead with premature wrinkles; it plucks from the eye its light; it drags all nobleness and kindness out of the port and bearing of man. It takes all the soul out of his laugh, and all stateliness and freedom from his walk. Come not under its accursed dominion, nor ever be its slave.

“Owe no man anything.”