Children should be early taught to reverence virtue, to abhor lust; and boys should be so trained that they will associate with the name of woman onl… - John Harvey Kellogg

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Children should be early taught to reverence virtue, to abhor lust; and boys should be so trained that they will associate with the name of woman only pure, chaste, and noble thoughts. Few things are more deeply injurious to the character of woman, and more conducive to the production of foul imaginations in children, than the free discussion of such subjects as the “Beecher scandal” and like topics. The inquisitive minds and lively imaginations of childhood penetrate the rotten mysteries of such foul subjects at a much earlier age than many persons imagine. The inquiring minds of children will be occupied in some way, and it is of the utmost importance that they should be early filled without thoughts that will lead them to noble and pure actions. Teach Self-Control.-One important part of early training is the cultivation of self-control, and a habit of self-denial, whenever right demands it. Another most essential part of a child’s moral training in the cultivation of right motives. To present a child no higher motives for doing right than the hope of securing some pleasant reward, or the fear of suffering some terrible punishment, is the surest way to make of him a supremely selfish man, with no higher aim than to secure good to himself no matter what may become of other people. And if he can convince himself that the pleasure he will secure by the commission of a certain act will more than counterbalance the probable risk of suffering, he will not hesitate to commit it, leaving wholly out of the consideration the question. Is it right ? or noble ? or pure ? A love of right for its own sake is the only solid basis upon which to build a moral character. Children should not be taught to do right in order to avoid a whipping, or imprisonment in a dark closet,-a horrid kind of punishment sometimes resorted to,-or even to escape “the lake of fire and brimstone.” Neither should they be constantly coaxed to right-doing by promised rewards,-a new toy, a book, an excursion, nor even the pleasures of Heaven. All of these incentives are selfish, and invariably narrow the character and belittle life when made the “chief” motives of action. Bur rather begin at the earliest possible moment to instill into the mind a love for right, and truth, and purity, and virtue, and an abhorrence for their contraries ; then will he have a worthy principle by which to square his life ;then will he be safe from the assaults of passion, of vice, of lust. A mind so trained stands up on an eminence from which all evil men and devils combined cannot displace it so long as it adheres to its noble principles.

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About John Harvey Kellogg

(February 26, 1852 – December 14, 1943) was an American medical doctor in , who ran a sanitarium using holistic methods, with a particular focus on , s, and exercise. Kellogg was an advocate of vegetarianism for health and is best known for the invention of the known as with his brother, . He led in the establishment of the .

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Alternative Names: John H. Kellogg Corn flakes Battle Creek Sanitarium Kellanova (Kellogg's)
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Additional quotes by John Harvey Kellogg

Difficulties.-Married people will exclaim, “What shall we do?” Delicate mothers who have already more children on their hands than they can care for, whose health is insufficient to longer endure the pains and burdens of pregnancy, but whose sensual husbands continue to demand indulgence, will echo in despairing tones, while acknowledging the truth, “What shall “we” do?” We will answer the question for the latter first, Mr. Mill, the distinguished English logician, in his work on “The Subjection of Woman,” thus represents the erroneous view which is popularly held of the sexual relations of the wife to the husband. “The wife, however brutal a tyrant she may be chained to-though she may know that he hates her, though it may be his daily pleasure to torture her, and though she may feel it impossible not to loathe him-he can claim from her and enforce the lowest degredation of a human being, that being made the instrument of an animal function contrary to her inclinations.”

Hereditary Effects of Venereal Disease.-The transgressor is not the only sufferer. If he marries, his children, if they survive infancy, will in later years show the effects of their father’s sin, exhibiting the forms of the disease seen in its later stages. Scrofula, consumption, cancer, rickets, diseases of the brain and nerves, decay of the bones by caries or necrosis, and other diseases, arise in this way. But it generally happens that the child dies before birth, or lingers out a miserable existence of a few days or weeks thereafter. A most pitiable sight these little ones are. Their faces look as old as children of ten or twelve. Often their bodies become reduced before death to the most wretched skeletons. Their hollow, feeble cry sends a shudder of horror through the listener, and impresses indelibly the terrible consequences of sexual sin. Plenty of these scrawny infants may be seen in the lying-in hospitals. In children who survive infancy, its blighting influence may be seen in the notched, deformed teeth, and other defects ; and very often it will be found, upon looking into the mouth of the child, that the soft palate, and perhaps the hard palate as well.

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The debilitating effects of excessive sexual indulgence arise from two causes; viz, the loss of the seminal fluid, and the nervous excitement. With reference to the value of the spermatic fluid, Dr. Garner remarks: “The sperm is the purest extract of the blood. . . . . Nature, in creating it, has intended it not only to communicate life, but also to nourish the individual life. In fact, the re-absorption of the fecundating liquid impresses upon the entire economy new energy, and a virility which contributes to the prolongation of life.”

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