And what a terrible thing it was for a man of his tastes and his education to be living in this way. He should be in the sort of surroundings to which he had been accustomed, not in these dismal quarters.
Such were the suggestions which the social worker advanced to develop within the old gentleman the desire to move to a better environment. Back and forth over this ground the conversation went, the suggestions being introduced from different angles. Finally, after a discussion of more than two hours, the man promised to think over it by himself that night. The next day he called at the office of the social worker and said that he had decided to move.
Perhaps the inertia of the old gentleman—he said of himself that once he was settled in a place he was likely to stay—was unusual, but it serves to emphasize a fundamental fact in human nature. People may be convinced intellectually of the importance of a given course of action, yet they may not rally the energy necessary to carry it through. The truth of this, as applied to the breaking of habits, almost everybody will recognize. Moderation in eating and in the selection of proper foods is universally agreed to be essen-
