THE BRAIN 



129 



want to. Many men swear when they do not know they 

 are doing it. They have acquired the habit, and find it 

 very hard to stop. We should be very careful how we 

 begin to do a wrong thing, for no matter how strong a 

 mind we have, we may fall into the habit of doing the 

 thing. 



248. Good habits. We can also form good habits. If 

 a boy is brought up to be generous and to speak kindly, 

 he will find it easy to do so all his life. He will not think 

 that giving means a loss to himself, but he will find as 

 much pleasure in the joy of others as in his own happiness. 

 We ought to form habits of doing good deeds and saying 

 kind words. Then we shall be of benefit to all around us, 

 and shall become useful and noble men and women. 



249. Heredity. Our habits affect others besides our- 

 selves and our neighbors. They may become transmitted 

 to our children. This transmission is called Jieredity. The 

 son of a drunkard will be likely to drink, and the son of a 

 thief to steal. The tendency is born in them. To get rid 

 of it, such boys must be taught good habits from their 

 babyhood. If they yield once, their tendency to form 

 the bad habits of their fathers will be stronger than their 

 tendency toward the good. 



250. Nervousness. A man's feelings often lead him 

 to desire things which his thoughts tell him are wrong. 

 Sometimes his feelings are made very unpleasant by little 

 things which his reason tells him he should not mind. In 

 all persons there is a conflict between thought and feeling. 

 Man differs from the lower animals in that he puts aside 

 his present feelings so that he may get more good in the 

 future. Reason must often overrule the feelings, to deny 

 them a pleasure or to compel them to endure an annoy- 

 ance. A lack of self-control is nervousness. 



ov. PHYSIOL. (INTER.) 9 



