210 BRAIN-REST. 



Some are born so and cannot help it, but a great many 

 have made themselves so by persistently neglecting to 

 use many of their intellectual faculties. 



After a man gets settled down to his business, what- 

 ever it be, he rarely has much time or energy to devote 

 to other things. Hence arises the value of a broad edu- 

 cation in early life, tending to widen the range of our 

 sympathies and interests. 



8. Education. All education worthy the name, not 

 merely supplies instruction in certain things useful to 

 know, but trains the will and strengthens the character. 

 For this reason it should include the performance of un- 

 pleasant or difficult duties. Every man and woman has 

 to face many such duties in the course of life, and the 

 will must be made strong to meet them. A school where 

 every study is made easy and pleasant may be popular, 

 but it is not the best school to turn out real men and 

 women, strong to play a noble part in life. 



9. The Brain Needs Rest as well as Work. Overwork, 

 giving no sufficient periods of rest for repair of the 

 nerve-substance destroyed during activity, harms the 

 brain very much in the same way as it does the muscles 

 (p. 52). The results of mental overwork are, however, 

 apt to be far more disastrous than those of muscular. 

 Muscles which have been exercised too much usually re- 

 cover completely with rest and nourishment, and become 

 as strong as ever : a brain which has given way under 

 overwork, is very apt never again to be as capable of 



8. What does all good education do? Why should it include diffi 

 cult tasks ? Why must the will be made strong? 



9. What is said of overwork of the brain ? Why worse than of the 

 muscles? What are the mental symptoms of an overtaxed brain? 

 How is the body in general affected by it? How does it often lead 

 to drunkenness ? 



