ORIGINAL AND SUGGESTED RESOLUTIONS 151 



oil with those of other enterprises : in this case 

 I have formed an original decision. 



Resolutions that are suggested are formed very 

 easily indeed. But an effort is required to make 

 up our minds when there is no assisting suggestion. 

 The effort may be accompanied by a good deal 

 of mental perturbation. Many of us have 

 experienced the annoying perplexity that may be 

 occasioned by the necessity of making a spon- 

 taneous choice it may be in the purchase of a 

 necktie or a wedding present : we should feel 

 thankful were there only one article in stock 

 which could possibly be selected, and we hail with 

 relief any suggestion the shopman may make to 

 help us to a conclusion. We are sometimes even 

 impelled to go by the chance result of a " toss 

 up." To most men life would be unendurable 

 did it require them very frequently to form con- 

 clusions by spontaneous judgment : they are 

 content to be led by habit or suggestion. 



When we act upon a suggested resolution we 

 cannot, of course, claim to have exercised spon- 

 taneity or free will. There is a large and influ- 

 ential school of thought which denies that our 

 behaviour is at any time spontaneous, asserting 

 that resolutions which bear all the appearance 

 of originality are in reality forced upon us, 

 and merely give effect to suggestions that can be 

 detected if we cast our eyes backward in search 

 of them. My determination to rise early was the 

 outcome of a casual glance at an almanac : my 

 preference for oil shares was prompted by a 

 remark which I chanced to overhear in a railway 

 carriage. It is impossible to disprove this theory. 

 The action of our brains is limited by experience ; 

 it is compelled to mould itself upon the past, and 



