CHAPTER XLIX 

 HABIT 



297. Habits. The old saying, "The burnt child dreads the 

 fire," refers to this common observation, that acts which have 

 unpleasant associations come to be avoided. The positive side 

 of this fact is just as important — namely, that acts which re- 

 sult in feelings of satisfaction come to be performed more fre- 

 quently. This is what a boy uses when he tries to teach his 

 dog or colt some new trick. If the animal is rewarded every 

 time he does what you want him to do, he will be more and 

 more likely to repeat the performance. At last he gets to the 

 point at which it is just as easy to perform the trick as to do 

 what it is natural for him to do. A boy taught his dog to 

 fetch his cap for him every time he started for the front door. 

 This trick we call a habit. 



Now, if you look about you at what others are doing, or if 

 you watch yourself for a day, you will notice that most of our 

 actions are made up of habits. Turning to the right on passing 

 someone, or taking off the hat to a lady, is a habit ; these things 

 do not come naturally, for many people never do them at all. 

 And they are not done on purpose each time, for those who 

 have the habit do not stop to think each time what is the 

 proper thing to do. Wiping the mud off the boots before enter- 

 ing a house may be a habit, or it may not ; it does not come 

 naturally ; it is not instinctive. 



298. Inhibition. It is natural to throw out of the mouth 

 anything that one does not wish to keep in ; but one may 

 learn to avoid spitting — that is, one may acquire the habit of 

 holdhig back on an impulse. This process of sending out a 

 nerve impulse to interfere with or stop the action started by 



248 



