16. BE INDUSTRIOUS.¹

     Work is not always pleasant.

     But few are unhappier than those who lead a purposeless, idle and bored existence: children gloom to their mother when they have nothing to do; the low-mindedness of the unemployed, even when they are on "relief"² or the "dole"³ is legendary; the retired man, with nothing further to accomplish in life, perishes from inactivity, as shown by statistics.

     Even the tourist, lured by a travel agency’s call to leisure, gives a tour conductor a bad time if he has nothing for them to do.

     Sorrow itself can be eased by simply getting busy at something.

     Morale is boosted to high highs by accomplishment.  In fact, it can be demonstrated that

production⁴ is the basis of morale.

     People who are not industrious dump the workload on those around them.  They tend to burden one.

     It is hard to get along with idle people.  Aside from depressing one, they can also be a bit dangerous.

     A workable answer is to persuade such to decide on some activity and get them busy with it.  The most lasting benefit will be found to arise from work that leads to actual production.

The way to happiness is
a high road when it includes industriousness
that leads to tangible production.

Definition of Terms for This Lesson

³dole: the British term for government relief.

gloom: act, look or feel miserable, sad and hopeless.

¹industrious: applying oneself with energy to study or work; actively and purposefully getting things done; opposite of being idle and accomplishing nothing.

low-mindedness: the quality or characteristic of tending to think or behave in a hopeless, dispirited or discouraged manner.

lured: tempted, attracted or persuaded (to do something or go somewhere) with the promise of pleasure.

⁴production: the act of completing something; finishing a task, project or object that is
useful or valuable or simply worth doing or having.

²relief: goods or money given by a government agency to people because of need or poverty.

tangible: real or actual, not imaginary.

workable: practical; effective.