Page:The Message and Ministrations of Dewan Bahadur R. Venkata Ratnam, volume 2.djvu/125

 we have to stand; and nothing is more unfortunate than to fancy and to say, 'We have signed the pledge, and we shall be sound.' It is not the pledge that saves life. It is the life that saves the pledge-— saves it from dishonour or disrepute. See to it, then, that the pledge you take and the life you live are not in disharmony with each other. It is the life that must be the guarantee for the pledge, not the pledge that can stand security for the life. Therefore, take the pledge, read every word in it, lookup to God and say, 'Father, grant me the strength to keep this.' In this world, we must be either striving up- ward after some high ideal or sliding downward towards some weakness, be it only gradually. There is no such thing permissible as conquering the field and then resting. We must either go forward or go backward. If the imprisoned prince in our story — after taking out the thread — had said, 'I have done,' he would not have succeeded in his attempt. So also a man has to discipline himself. First, give