and to postpone the enjoyment of life. A considerable fraction of those who 

 act on this rule will survive the gay carnival to suffer privations and head- 

 aches or worse. Many outlive by many years their very capacity to enjoy 

 anything at all. 



We cannot follow our childish impulses, for they do not fit our needs and 

 circumstances of later years. Besides, our impulses have been conditioned by 

 experience, our thought, our sensitiveness, our affections; and there are always 

 conflicts among them. On the other hand, we should not go mad when we 

 are confronted by a dilemma. Unlike Pavlov's dog, human beings can learn 

 to stop and consider, to weigh \'alues. 



Sometimes we have to weigh immediate desires against remote conse- 

 quences — consequences to others as well as to ourselves. A child constantly 

 asks, "Why must I?" or "Why mayn't I?" He does not understand possible 

 consequences. But an older, responsible person has to make decisions that 

 consider far-off consequences in many different directions. Eventually, ma- 

 ture men and women seem to adopt a style of life that does take account of 

 consequences as a matter of course. 



Whether a person who knows more and considers more and is sensitive to 

 more is "happier" than one who does from moment to moment as he likes it is 

 impossible to answer. We can say only that as people do become more sensi- 

 tive and more understanding and more considerate, they seem also to get 

 more out of life. Human beings are social and do not normally choose to live 

 as "individualists" in isolation. Living in the group, we cannot carry on, 

 however, the kind of conduct that suits the protected and irresponsible in- 

 fant, or the kind that a hermit might work out for himself. It comes down to 

 a question of what kind of group one lives in, and how satisfyingly he adjusts 

 himself to the social world of which he is a part. How does one live in the 

 family, among his friends, in his economic life, in the club, in the church, in 

 the community, in his whole civilization? 



In Brief 



The feelings which accompany our sensations and our activities are the 

 most "real" and immediate of all experiences. 



Avoiding pain and privation and gratifying the natural impulses are the 

 beginnings of contentment and happiness. 



In addition to the basic needs we share with other animals, we need the 

 chance to act freely, to play, to make, to create by handling materials. 



Human beings are disposed to explore, to wonder, to inquire, although 

 they are also held back by fear; men must have the chance to go after what 

 they want, whether they ever attain it or not. 



672 



