Jasper County Democrat, Volume 13, Number 64, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 November 1910 — Page 3 Miscellaneous Column 1 [MISCELLANEOUS]

Habits. Our habits, the result of years Of working in a rut. Of reaching for the selfsame doors To open and to shut. Of being sad or being gay; Devoting - me to work or play Or showing Wilier men the way Their morals should be cut. We get up at the selfsame hour The selfsame task to ply, Have breakfast on the-same old plan As in the days gone by. We light our meerschaum-or cigar And.start posthaste to catch the car Or with the patent sawbuck spar Or to the office fly,, And thus it is our habits form As strong as iron bands. We cannot change them if we would Or break them'with our hands. We cannot lose them, though we try. They have us fettered hip and thigh, Like landmarks, tail, serene and high, Each time built habit stands. We cannot crush them down unless A fortune comes our way. Then we can fold the old ones up And for new habits pay. Ways that were drab at once grow pink, Cigars and things to eat and drink Grow more expensive—in a wink ~ Old habits break like clay.