--- title: Improvement Era description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930. authors: - Wootton, A. collections: - periodicals tags: - magazine - improvement-era periodical: Improvement Era volume: 3 number: 1 published: 1899-11 publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations publisher_place: Salt Lake City language: en type: magazine reference: 'Wootton, A., "Little Things," *Improvement Era* 3, no. 1 (November 1899): 35–37.' source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera31unse transcription: Transcribed from the Internet Archive scan of each issue (the item for each issue is named in the issue's own source); unnumbered advertising leaves are omitted, printed page numbers are kept as page markers. identifier: improvementera31unse start_page: 35 end_page: 37 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1899-11) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera31unse publication_year: 1899 note: The Internet Archive item metadata carries a blanket "© Copyright by Intellectual Reserve, Inc." notice. The library owner judged it inapplicable because this issue was published in 1899, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright. --- # Little Things LITTLE THINGS. BY ELDER A. WOOTTON. How prone is the human mind to ignore the little things in life! But as the intellect expands and men become careful students of their surroundings, the small affairs take on an importance that is unappreciated by the casual observer. Success in any department of life comes only to him who looks carefully after the minutiae of his business. He who is careless of the the pennies will find the pounds soon disappearing. A small leak will soon sink a great ship. A spark of fire may destroy a city and bring destitution and misery upon thousands. A minute of time seems of but little worth, but what serious disasters might have been avoided had the danger signal been given one minute earlier! A particle of watery vapor, too minute to be observed by the human eye seems very insignificient, but the Mis- sisissippi, the Amazon and the Nile, are formed of these particles and those mighty rivers are certainly not insignificant. The aval- anche is only an aggregation of these particles, and there is nothing insignificant about an avalanche. The mighty trees of the forest are built up by nutriment imbibed through openings too small for successful scientific investigation. In the social and moral world, little things play the same prom- inent part either for good or evil. It is not the great acts of life that distinguish the gentleman from the boor, but the little acts of courtesy and demeanor, the little self sacrifices for the comfort and convenience of associates, the little apologies for slight inconveniences occasioned, each too insignificant individually to attract special attention; but in the aggregate these forma 36 IMPROVEMENT ERA. chain so strong as to draw the heart and bind the friendship for life.The small words and acts betokening love and esteem make home that happy place that forms such a tender spot in the mem- ory, which throbs in unison with that old but ever welcome melody, "Home, Sweet Home;" while a little slight or unkind word or look may lead to disintegration of family ties and cause life-long estrangement and bitterness of soul. The stealing of a pin unreproved may lead to a life of crime, disgrace and misery, when a kindly word of disapproval might have been sufficient to turn the whole course of life, as a small snag lodged in the bed of the Mississippi :has changed the course of that mighty river. Little temptations unresisted, little warn- ings unregarded and little stings of conscience unheeded are the steps that lead downward to the bonds of sin and shame, while the little temptations firmly withstood and the little every day duties well and faithfully done make up the sum total of true Christian life. Many go through life waiting for the opportunity to do some great thing to make them famous, neglecting the small duties that build character and fit men to cope with the greater as they come, not realizing that the noble achievements of eminent men are not the elements that made them great, but are the 'results of character built up by attending to the minutiae of life, through years of plodding, step by step, exercising self-restraint and will power, and growing mentally and morally strong by overcoming all the minor difficulties that obstruct their way to that eminence which appears so conspicuous to their fellow-mortals. Character is nothing but the resultant of the forces of the habits formed through life, and there is no habit so insignificant that it doesn't affect the trend of the whole character either for good or for evil. The telescope has revealed wonders to the human eye, but the microscope has revealed far more. It deals with little things, but things of vast importance to humanity for weal or woe. The germs of some of the most dreaded diseases known have been dis- covered, and although formerly supposed incurable, experiments are being made, remedies being discovered, and the average length of human life is being extended, simply by men devoting their LITTLE THINGS. 37 attention to things so small as to escape the notice of men during all the past ages of the world's history; and the end is not yet, for microscopy is only in its infancy. When we examine the wonders of creation and consider what little we know of them, we might cry out with the Psalmist: ''What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man that thou visitest him?" What is there so small as to be unworthy the notice of man, when all is the work of the great Creator of the universe? THE