A Frugal Family Life

Sun Myung Moon
May 4, 1984

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You must be exemplary in everything. Eating good food, living the good life in affluence can never be exemplary. You should know that an exemplary life lies in moderation and spending only what is absolutely necessary.

On Sundays I am forced to wear a suit, but at other times I go without a necktie as much as possible. When I am at home I do not wear a jacket but instead wear simple things like sweaters. Think about how much neckties cost in Western society. If you include necktie pins, how much do they cost in all? Consider two men: one thinks about the world and lives his entire life without a necktie and the other lives his life wearing a necktie without thinking about the world. Which one do you think will be closer to God when they go to the spirit world?

When you fast, you realize how much time you have. You realize just how much time you spend in eating three meals a day. How much effort is wasted mentally just by thinking about what to have, if you are constantly going back and forth opening the refrigerator door in order to eat an apple or drink a Coke? It is necessary to get accustomed to eating only at mealtimes. If you do so, you will not get sick; rather, you will become healthier.

I do not support the idea of taking a bath every day. It is not good for the health. I make it a rule to take a bath once every three days. I take a bath only when I cannot help it, when I have been sweating a lot. How much water do we consume by taking a bath every day? It is bad for the health. You may say, "Oh! Father is a barbarian," but that's okay for me. In the Garden of Eden, God, Adam, and Eve were all barbarians. At that time did they have a bathroom like we have today? Did they have toilet paper? They had nothing. Therefore, you should feel grateful for all those things, and you save this world even if you have to live this way.

There is a saying in the East that when a woman's voice goes beyond the wall, that house will perish. Men's voices are usually loud and go over walls. But women talk quietly. That is how it usually is. If a woman's voice goes beyond the wall, it goes against this principle. That is why you would perish if you lived with such a woman.

By listening to the voice of a woman, one will immediately know how that person will live; whether she will have a happy life or be miserable or be loved. Therefore, a woman's voice is very important. You never thought about these things, did you?