Turquoise water flows through a small wooden dam bordered by rocks and low plants.

Original artwork, not a still

John Dryden

Ill habits gather by unseen degrees,– As brooks make rivers, rivers run to seas.

Behind the line

What it means

Our interpretation.

Bad habits build up so gradually that we fail to notice them growing. Just as small streams join to form rivers, and rivers finally reach the sea, each minor lapse feeds a larger one until an entrenched pattern has formed almost without our noticing.

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