Habits

That is, be systematically ascetic or heroic in little unnecessary points, do every day or two something for no other reason than that you would rather not do it, so that when the hour of dire need draws nigh, it may find you not unnerved.

No matter how full a reservoir of maxims one may possess, and no matter how good one's sentiments may be, if

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Sweat the small stuff. If you didn’t clip your fingernails today, no one will notice. If you don’t clip them for a week, maybe one person will notice. If you don’t clip them for a year, everyone will notice. Small seemingly invisible things compound.