Keep in your mind whatsoever things are upright, just and manly. This does not mean that you should be a “goody-goody” or a “sissy.” No, these two specimens of half-boys are detestable to all real men and women. So are the other kind――the vulgar and vile. Proper thoughts and clean acts in boyhood all go to make a man of character, of honor, give you the inward grace of a gentleman which cannot manifest itself outwardly save in good manners, modesty of bearing and fearlessness. Let your mind be stored with evil thoughts, indecent pictures made up in your mind, then act upon all these foul things, and nothing can bring you to the point of being a man and gentleman. Never.
And the reason is this: The memory is something like photographic films, like millions of them, some exposed, some unused. Every thought is registered on your memory films. Every tiny brain cell is a film ready to take a picture the moment it is exposed to a thought. You can have a pile of bright, good, inspiring ones so big and thick that they hide forever those films which have registered evil and wrong thoughts.
Every debasing thought or waking dream of filth leaves its photographic negative somewhere in your brain. Every thought or mind picture remains there to come forward again and again, if it is not darkly and deeply hidden by manly thoughts and ambitious dreams of what you want to do to make something of yourself and do something for the world.
It is in these facts that the great injury of self-abuse enters. You cannot commit the vicious act without having in your mind some kind of nasty and unnatural pictures. You first bring this picture to your consciousness which accompanies the act.
This picture you may think is only a passing one, but it has left its negative in your brain. It will stay there to some time reappear, unless it is packed so far behind natural and manly thoughts that it cannot possibly throw itself before your consciousness.
From this explanation you can see that if the habit of self-abuse and all the pictures in your mind which accompany the habit are continued, your brain cells will soon be occupied by these negatives, and there will be a constantly decreasing space for right thoughts. Now comes the time when the youth finds it hard to apply himself to his work or studies. His mind will wander; he is called stupid, he becomes discouraged and leaves school or work. Yet, he can, at this period in his life, be brought back to be a normal youth. He can start right by knowing that if he will at once put all evil thoughts away he can hide the brain pictures which have been holding him down.