THE COMING GENERATION 



the child by the avoidance of injudicious and indiscrim- 

 inate praise ; yet the hungering mind should not be em- 

 bittered by the absence of judiciously worded and sym- 

 pathetic approval. Here, as elsewhere, the premium is 

 on the happy mean. 



You will do well to inculcate such persistency of 

 application as leads to true volitional strength. Teach 

 the child to restrain and control its emotions, and on 

 no account deceive yourself by supposing, as so many 

 parents do, that outbursts of stubborn temper are 

 evidence of "will power." In point of fact, they show 

 an opposite state. It is the weak will that attempts to 

 bolster itself with bluster and bombast. 



It is really astonishing how parents and others can 

 deceive themselves as to the true character of the mental 

 traits of those dear to them. I saw recently a neurotic 

 girl of sixteen, in the typical condition of that period, 

 hysteria, who lay in bed month after month and ex- 

 cept when her attention was diverted kept her muscles 

 in a state of persistent spasmodic twitching. She de- 

 clared herself absolutely unable to arise, yet she looked 

 the picture of health, and in reality was physically ca- 

 pable of almost any exertion. Had she possessed but a 

 modicum of the will power with which ordinary people 

 arc endowed, she would have arisen and gone about 

 the affairs of every-day life in the every-day fashion. 

 Yet her mother, totally unconscious of the true state 

 of affairs, said to me with tears in her eyes. "Ah, doc- 

 tor, it is perfectly wonderful the way that poor girl 

 holds out. See how she controls herself! She could 

 never have stood this had she not had a strong will." 



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