Teach me, O Spirit, not to discern the laws of virtue with dread, but with love. Teach me to remember that virtue, though sometimes difficult to follow at the start, becomes easy and self‐fulfilling when I obey its laws, and adorns me finally with Thy laurel of happiness. Teach me to remember that evil, though it promises a little pleasure at the beginning, always brings great sorrow in the end.
Teach me to love the ways of virtue, which guide me to my own highest interest and highest good. Help me to shun vicious action, which is ever injurious to my true interest. Implant in me those wholesome habits which enable me always to perceive virtuous ways as more charming than vicious ones.
Help me to remember that virtue, though sometimes bitter-tasting at first, becomes nectar eventually; and that evil, though its taste seems sweet at the beginning, becomes poison at the end.
