Page:Advice to young ladies on their duties and conduct in life - Arthur - 1849.djvu/67

Rh with those of the other class, she will find herself at once upon a higher plane, and be impressed with the pleasing consciousness that she has a mind that can think and feel interested in subjects of general and more weighty interest. An hour spent with the one class leaves her mind obscure and vacant; while an hour spent with the other elevates, expands, and strengthens its powers, and causes it to see in a clearer atmosphere.

With one or the other of these classes a young lady is almost sure to identify herself, and rise into an intelligent woman, or remain nearly upon the level she at first occupied. We need not say how important it is for her to identify herself with the right class. Of course, her own tastes and preferences will have much to do in this matter. But, if she incline towards the unthinking and frivolous, she will be wise if she resist such an inclination, and compel herself, for a time, to mingle with those who look upon life with the eye of rational intelligence, and seek to live to some good purpose. The mental food received during the time she thus compels herself to mingle with them will create an appetite that unsubstantial gossip and frothy chit-chat can no longer satisfy.

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