A Verse Digest of P. T. Barnum’s The Art of Money Getting (1880)
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GOOD HEALTH
we lived with much
more real comfort
with much less care
a most unexampled tide of prosperity
the foundation of success in life is good health
that is the substratum of fortune, the basis of happiness
there are those who have bad health and cannot help it
there are a great many in poor health who need not be so
sound health is the foundation of success and happiness in life
how important it is that we should study the laws of health
which is but another expression for the laws of nature
closer we keep to the laws of nature
nearer we are to good health
yet many persons pay
no attention to natural laws
absolutely transgress them
the sin of ignorance is never
winked at in regard to the
violation of nature’s laws
infraction always brings penalty
repentance will not stop the smart
many persons violate the laws of nature for the sake of fashion
nothing living except a worm ever naturally loved tobacco
yet how many persons deliberately train an unnatural appetite
and overcome aversion for tobacco, a poisonous, filthy weed
married men run about spitting tobacco juice on carpet and floors
this artificial appetite grows by what it feeds on
old proverb says: habit is second nature
but artificial habit is stronger than nature
an old tobacco-chewer
his love for the quid
is stronger than
his love for food
he can give up roast beef easier than he can give up the weed
young lads go to bed boys and wake up men
take a match and light it, and then puff away
the tobacco-chewer gets up, puts a quid
in his mouth and keeps it there all day
apples and pears and peaches and apricots
there is nothing more delicious nor more
healthy than ripe fruit, so help yourself
he will roll the dear quid under his tongue
no thank you, I have got tobacco in my mouth
his palate has become narcotized by the
noxious weed and he has lost the taste for fruits
I have smoked until I trembled like an aspen leaf
blood rushed to my head, a palpitation of the heart
these remarks apply tenfold to intoxicating drinks
to make money requires a clear brain
reflection and forethought and reason
if the brain is muddled, warped by intoxicating drinks
it is impossible to carry on business successfully
many good opportunities have passed
while a man was sipping a social glass
many foolish bargains have been made
under the influence of the nervine
many important chances have been put off
because the wine cup has thrown the system
wine is a mocker, an unmitigated evil
the parent of every evil in our country
Money Getting, Part I, Part II
Money Getting is a verse digest of P.T. Barnum’s The Art of Money Getting (1880)