Another step in the process of making a good man out of a bad boy has to do with the mind. The body grows not alone by exercise, but the body grows by what we put into it: the food we eat and the water we drink, etc. We might say, I think, that the body grows on what it feeds on. It is the same way with the mind: the mind grows on what it feeds on. If we feed our minds on obscene pictures, on bad books, on vulgar stories, told by ourselves or our associates, we cannot expect to have minds that are keenly alive and active for good. Our thoughts control us, boys and girls, whether we understand the process by which they control or not. Our thoughts control us. If our thoughts are pure and sweet and noble, we will be pure and sweet and noble. If our thoughts are impure, vile and ignoble, we will be impure, vile and ignoble. Our thoughts rule us. So every boy should guard well his thoughts; every boy should guard well what he puts into his mind. Every boy’s mind feeds on what he puts into it, and every boy’s mind grows on what it feeds. It goes without saying, then, that a boy should not read “blood and thunder” detective stories, stories about the “James Brothers” and other outlaws and bandits; nor should a boy read filthy so-called “love stories.” All such literature should be shunned, as a boy would shun deadly poison. A boy who desires to become a good man should read only those things which will give him confidence in himself that he can and may become a good man--good for the service of God and the service of his fellow-men. Bad company must also be left behind if a bad boy wants to become a good boy. Those boys who tell smutty jokes and stories should not be allowed to associate with that boy whose eyes have been opened and who wants to feed his mind on good and wholesome food. Character, boys, in its last analysis depends chiefly on three things: Heredity, environment and will. Now you cannot do much to change your inherited tendencies--the tendencies you receive from mother and father at birth, but you can do much in offsetting, in overcoming these tendencies. You can also do much with the aid of a generous and enlightened public to change your surroundings if they happen to be bad. I confess that your mothers and fathers, your teachers and pastors ought to do much more in this regard than you; but if they will not exert themselves to get you out of evil surroundings, then, as you value your own life and time and possibilities, by the help of God, try to get out yourselves. The will is very largely influenced by your surroundings. Hence you can see the importance of having good books and good associates.