70 INSTINCTS 



have had time to apprehend the situation. So 

 fear is the accompaniment of a movement to run 

 away; hatred, of a movement to kill. Fortunately 

 for the regularity of our lives, the development of 

 these instinctive movements beyond a rudiment- 

 ary stage is liable to a triple check or inhibition. 

 Reason may intervene to strengthen an opposing 

 instinct: we may refrain from striking because 

 we fear our antagonist as well as hate him. 

 Habit may intervene : we do not run because we 

 are disciplined to stand firm. And, thirdly, we 

 may consciously control ourselves, or " pull our- 

 selves together" : we do not run because we make 

 up our minds not to do so. The conscious, or 

 deliberate, control of an instinctive impulse takes 

 time to develop itself, and is a strain upon our 

 capacity. But by habit we may reinforce a 

 virtuous instinct which will assist us in over- 

 powering one that is vicious. It is habit that 

 preserves our lives from the frivolity and in- 

 decency of the brutes. 



It appears, then, that we should believe that 

 action precedes emotion, that we feel because we 

 are moved, and do not move because we feel. 

 An instinctive impulse is an impulse to action 

 and, however strictly inhibited, produces some 

 movement, be it nothing more than a slight 

 trembling of the muscles or a quickening of the 

 motion of the heart or lungs. The movement 

 is generally too slight to be apprehended, and 

 hence we commonly style our impulses by the 

 names of the emotions which accompany them : 

 the impulse to fondle is called "kindness," the 

 generative impulse " lust." The strength of an 

 emotion may be increased by uninhibited move- 

 ment : when a crowd begins to run fear grows 

 into panic. It follows, then, that we can control 

 our emotions by controlling our actions. Are 



