It is so to teach us that moderation is wisdom and
the only conduct that leads to health and happiness.
The abuse of the moral faculties is directly injurious; that of the
intellectual faculties mostly so in an indirect manner. Such abuses are
more hurtful by the influence they have upon the conduct than they have
upon the intellect itself. If a man's judgment is unsound, for example,
it leads to deleterious consequences, not only to himself, but to
others. If the powers of observation are weak, and a person is deficient
in the capacity of judging of form, distance or locality, he will be
incapacitated from success in many pursuits of life without his
suffering thereby, except in an indirect manner. The imagination, the
noblest manifestation of intellect, may, without judgment, be allowed to
run riot, or abused by its exaltation; and with the faculty of wonder
may lead to superstition, fanaticism and folly. The intellectual
faculties may be altogether weak or almost wanting. In such cases we
have foolishness merging into idiocy.
The examples here given of use, as opposed to neglect, misuse, or abuse,
are simply illustrative of the point in question.
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