An honest, heart-felt preference of better things  

(Jared Waterbury, "Piety, the Only Foundation
of True and Substantial Joy" May, 1838)

Piety powerfully dissuades its possessors to forsake the
indulgence of pleasures, and the gaieties of the world.
This relinquishment is not a forced, but a voluntary act.
It is not so much the coercion of stern duty, as the sweet
constraint of an honest, heart-felt preference of
better things. In comparison to true piety, the world's
groveling pleasures are empty and unsatisfying.