114 REPRODUCTION 



7. The Tendency in Man. In lower animals and plants 

 there is no special tendency to abuse or over-use the sex 

 instincts. In man, on the contrary, just because we can 

 remember and think and anticipate gratification, men do 

 give way to these desires and impulses in ways that 

 animals do not. An animal that is not deprived of food 

 is not likely to overeat, though it may give nearly its 

 whole time to eating; so it is with its sex gratification. 

 Man, however, because he can dwell on the pleasures of 

 food, can talk about the things he eats, and can do various 

 things to make our food more pleasant, is constantly 

 falling into over-indulgence in the matter of eating. His 

 continued consciousness and imagination of the pleasure 

 is a temptation to him. This same tendency in man is seen 

 in gratifying the sex impulses, and some most serious 

 dangers to our society and to our morals and our 

 civilization are connected with sex. 



8. The Need of Education. It has long been the custom 

 to say little to young people about the facts of sex and 

 reproduction. It has been felt that knowledge of these 

 matters might make more of wrong doing, but human 

 sentiment is changing with respect to this. It is coming to 

 be felt that young people will be helped and not harmed 

 by knowing the wonderful facts of reproduction. 



You should know that the sex impulses are natural and, 

 if not wrongly used, build us up in all the qualities which 

 each sex admires in the other. But you should also clearly 

 understand that these impulses are selfish, and must be 

 self-controlled. They are in danger of leading us into 

 wrong that is likely to destroy health and morals, respect 

 for each other, self-respect, and happiness. It is certainly 

 true that instincts and impulses that have all these 

 possibilities of both good and evil can be better guided 

 and controlled if we know about them than if we are 

 ignorant. Nature has shifted the responsibility to us. 



With his powers of reasoning and of imagination, there 



