A well-furnished mind

A well-furnished mind is like a beautifully appointed home; it has room for many things and must be kept with constant vigilance. Moth and rust mar and ruin the house in which no one lives. Simple neglect is more destructive than continual use. We often meet women who have ceased to grow because they have ceased to study, have ceased to be receptive and responsive. By forming the habit of reading and arranging for an hour with a good book in the day’s work, every woman, young or older, will increase her mental wealth and her facility to learn. A girl’s greatest charm is not in her graceful figure nor a beautiful grace; it is in her power to interest those whom she meets. To be an interesting woman one must have a bright and wide-awake mind. She must use her talents that they will increase. It is eternally true that to him that has, and exercises the gifts, more shall be given, while from him that has and does not use the gifts, there shall be a loss.
Margaret Elizabeth Sangster, Winsome Womanhood, Chapter Five: Her Books (from Heartthoughts)