THE EVOLUTION OF THE MIND. 437 



repetition of conscious actions the character is formed. This forma- 

 tion of personal character by action I have called " the higher hered- 

 ity," as distinguished from the true heredity which finds its bounds 

 in the content of the germinal cell. By means of habits each crea- 

 ture builds up in some fashion its own life. In such way and to 

 some degree each is " the architect of his own fortunes." In such 

 manner " the vanished yesterdays " are the rulers of to-morrow. 



Besides the actual sensations, besides the so-called realities, the 

 brain retains also the sensations which have been, and which are not 

 wholly lost. Memory pictures crowd the mind, mingling with 

 pictures brought in afresh by the senses. The force of suggestion 

 causes the mental states or conditions of one person to repeat them- 

 selves in others. Abnormal conditions of the brain itself furnish 

 another series of feelings with which the brain must deal. More- 

 over, the brain is charged with impulses to action passed on from 

 generation to generation, surviving because they are useful. With 

 all these arises the necessity for choice as a function of the mind. 

 The mind must neglect or suppress all sensations which it can not 

 weave into action. The dog sees nothing that does not belong to 

 its little world. The man in search of mushrooms " tramples down 

 oak trees in his walks." To select the sensations that concern us is 

 the basis of the power of attention. The suppression of undesired 

 action is a function of the will. To find data for choice among the 

 possible motor responses is a function of the intellect. Intellectual 

 persistency is the essence of individual character. 



As the conditions of life become more complex, it becomes neces- 

 sary for action to become more carefully selected. "Wisdom is the 

 parent of virtue. Knowing what should be done logically precedes 

 doing it. Good impulses and good intentions do not make actions 

 safe. In the long run, action is tested not by its motives but by its 

 results. 



The child, when he comes into the world, has everything to learn. 

 His nervous system is charged with tendencies to reaction and im- 

 pulses to motion, which have their survivals from ancestral experi- 

 ence. Exact knowledge, by which his own actions can be made 

 exact, must come through his own experience. The experience 

 of others must be expressed in terms of his own before it be- 

 comes wisdom. Wisdom, as I have elsewhere said, is knowing 

 what it is best to do next. Virtue is doing it. Doing right 

 becomes habit if it is pursued long enough. It becomes a " sec- 

 ond nature," or, we may say, a higher heredity. The formation 

 of a higher heredity of wisdom and virtue, of knowing right and 

 doing right, is the basis of character-building. 



The moral character is based on knowing the best, choosing the 



