268 BIOLOGY AND HUMAN LIFE 



sacrifice anything, and some never miss a chance to sacrifice. 

 Most of us try to use our judgment in every case, but in the 

 end we are able to distinguish two main classes of habits : 

 (i) those of people who can find good excuses for doing what 

 they like, and (2) those of people who can find satisfaction in 

 doing what they think is right. In both cases we choose a satis- 

 faction. Of course, if our habits do not fit in with the condi- 

 tions in which we have to live, we are in a bad way ; then none 

 of our decisions bring satisfaction. We are, then, like people 

 whose eating habits or thinking habits do not fit the require- 

 ments of life. 



It is a good rule to choose what you want and go for it hard. 

 Wanting everything means getting nothing. Wanting what is 

 unattainable is getting nothing, for it is like the baby crying for 

 the moon. Wanting things merely because others have them 

 (covetousness, envy) means in the end cheating yourself, for 

 even if you get them they do not satisfy, since they do not meet 

 your own real needs. 



222. How the mind unifies the organism. At any given mo- 

 ment the different processes of the body are unified by the 

 chief activity. If you are playing a game, like basket ball or 

 tennis, the heart and the lungs and the perspiration glands and 

 the liver and the kidneys are adjusting their activities to the 

 body's needs. Your senses and your muscles also are "on the 

 stretch" to see what your adversaries and partners are doing, 

 and to be ready to act according to the movements of the ball. 

 You may become quite excited in the game, and everybody 

 knows that excitement may work in two opposite ways. If you 

 are not excited, or warmed up, enough, if you do not care 

 enough, you will not hit hard enough ; you will not see enough 

 of what goes on to guide your movements ; you will not be 

 quick enough with your responses. On the other hand, if 

 you are too excited, if you begin to think about the score 

 or about possible failure, if you begin to wonder w^hether 

 certain eyes are watching you, you may spoil the game by 

 playing too wildly. In any case the body works as a whole 



