190 THE NKKYOl S SYSTKM AND ITS CONSERVATION 



1o conceive of misconduct, but rather in the strength to 

 refrain from it and to "overcome evil with good." This 

 i- eminently true of the sexual life, and, even if the claims 

 of Freud are fully accepted, it does not follow that men 

 need lose self-re<pect or liecome cynical regarding the 

 high principles by which the lives of their associates are 

 governed. 



\\ 'e have quoted the statement that sleep is inattention. 

 By contrast, the state of complete waking may be regarded 

 a- one of at tention, and, more precisely, of attention of the 

 active order. Psychologists distinguish active from passive 

 attention, the former requiring the voluntary selection of 

 its objects and the removal of their competitors by a 

 process of inhibition. Passive attention is that which is 

 involuntarily yielded to stimuli which we are unable to 

 ignore. This is clearly the case when we dream; we are 

 not able to follow up the features of the dream which in- 

 terest us, but are compelled to shift our thought to others 

 which, in turn, elude our scrutiny. Ellis has said that 

 dreams have always the chai'acter of dissolving views. 

 Objects which excite our curiosity persist in fading away 

 and becoming overlaid by new ones seemingly unrelated 

 to the first. 



We have spoken chiefly of the part played in dreams by 

 memories and bodily conditions. The special sense organs 

 doubtless bear their part. This is true even of the eyes, 

 which are -omves of vague sensation even when closed. 

 It is believed by many, including Bergson, that the glim- 

 mering effect which anyone may notice on shutting the 

 eyes is quite influential in suggesting the scenery of 

 dreams. It may be thought a very limited source for 

 such elaborate phenomena, but, as IVrgsoii points out, it 

 i- our habit when awake to till in the details of what we 

 866 in scant outline. Dreams influenced by Bounds are 

 rather common, and serve to raise interesting questions 

 as to whether we recall our dreams as they actually oc- 

 curred or arrange their contents in a new order. To use 

 an illustration from Klli-: A man dreams that he enlists in 



