SECTION CCXVIII. Prodigality and Frugality.

PRODIGALITY AND FRUGALITY.

Prodigality is less odious than avarice, less irreconcilable with certain virtues, but incomparably more detrimental to a nation's economy. The miser's treasures, even when they have been buried, may be employed productively, at least, after his death; but prodigality destroys resources. So, too, avarice is a repulsive vice, extravagance a seductive one. The practice of frugality[218-1] in every day life is as far removed from one extreme as the other. It is the "daughter of wisdom, the sister of temperance and the mother of freedom." Only with its assistance can liberality be true, lasting and successful. It is, in short, reason and virtue in their application to consumption.[218-2] [218-3]