Counsels to Parents, Teachers, and Students - Ellen G. White

strength a precious talent has been entrusted to men
for labor. This is of more value than any bank
deposit and should be more highly prized, for
through the possibilities that it affords for enabling
men to lead a useful, happy life it may be made to
yield interest and compound interest. It is a
blessing that cannot be purchased with gold or
silver, houses or lands; and God requires it to be
used wisely. No man has a right to sacrifice this
talent to the corroding influence of inaction. All are
as accountable for the capital of physical strength
as for their capital of means.
The race is not always to the swift, nor the
battle to the strong; and those who are diligent in
business may not always be prospered. But it is
“the hand of the diligent” that “maketh rich.” And
while indolence and drowsiness grieve the Holy
Spirit and destroy true godliness, they also tend to
poverty and want. “He becometh poor that dealeth
with a slack hand.” (Proverbs 10:4)
Judicious labor is a healthful tonic for the
human race. It makes the feeble strong, the poor
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