Part 21 (2/2)
LIMITATIONS OF THE WILL--Just how far the will can go in its control, just how farbeen one of thethe philosophers But some few facts are clear If the will can exercise full control over all our acts, it by this very fact determines our character; and character spells destiny There is not the least doubt, however, that the will in thus directing us in the achievement of a destiny works under two limitations: _First_, every individual enters upon life with a large stock of _inherited tendencies_, which go far to shape his interests and aspirations And these are important factors in the work of volition _Second_, we all have our setting in the reat _ely beyond our power toupon us andto their type
THESE LIMITATIONS THE CONDITIONS OF FREEDOM--Yet there is nothing in this thought to discourage us For these very lier freedoes of conflict with the forces of nature, with his brother man, and with himself, has deeply instilled in him the spirit of independence and self-control It has trained him to deliberate, to choose, to achieve
It has developed in him the power _to will_ Likewise man's environment, in which he must live and work, furnishes the problems which his life work is to solve, and _out of whose solution will receives its only true developh the action and interaction of these two factors, then, that man is to work out his destiny What he _is_, coupled hat he may _do_, leads hiree a spark of divinity, a sovereign individuality, a power of independent initiative This is all he needs to make him free--free to do his best in whatever walk of life he finds hi of it will lead hi freedom, and he can voice the cry of every earnest heart:
Build thee more stately mansions, O my soul!
As the swift seasons roll!
Leave thy low-vaulted past!
Let each new temple, nobler than the last, Shut thee froth art free, Leaving thine outgrown shell by life's unresting sea!
7 PROBLEMS IN OBSERVATION AND INTROSPECTION
1 Give illustrations from your own experience of the various types of action mentioned in this discussion From your own experience of the last hour, what exaive? Would it have been better in some cases had you stopped to deliberate?
2 Are you easily influenced by prejudice or personal preference indecisions? What recent decisions have been thus affected? Can you classify the various ones of your decisions which you can recall under the four types est number fall? Have you a tendency to drift with the crowd? Are you independent in deciding upon and following out a line of action? What is the value of advice? Ought advice to doall the evidence on a case before the one who is to decide?
3 Can you judge yourself well enough to tell to which volitional type you belong? Are you over-impulsive? Are you stubborn? What is the difference between stubbornness and firmness? Suppose you ask your instructor, or a friend, to assist you in classifying yourself as to volitional type Are you troubled with indecision; that is, do you have hard work to decide in trivial matters even after you know all the facts in the case? What is the cause of these states of indecision? The re power of will? Can you control your attention? Do you subh degree of effort? Can you persevere? Have you ever failed in the attain yourself to pay the price in the sacrifice or effort necessary?
5 Consider the class work and examinations of schools that you know
Does the systeement and control throw responsibility on the pupils in a way to develop their powers of will?
6 What e pupils to use self-coh standards of excellence in their studies and conduct? Does it pay to be heroic in one's self-control?
CHAPTER XVIII
SELF-EXPRESSION AND DEVELOPMENT
We have already seen that the mind and the body are associated in a copartnershi+p in which each is an indispensable and active nity and worth from its relation with the mind, and that the mind is dependent on the body for the crudeout of itsadaptation to our environment We have seen as a corollary of these facts that the efficiency of both mind and body is conditioned by the manner in which each carries out its share of themore of this interrelation
1 INTER-RELATION OF IMPRESSION AND EXPRESSION
_No i expression_ has becoy Inner life implies self-expression in external activities The strea in upon us hourly from our environment must have means of expression if development is to follow We cannot be passive recipients, but must be active participants in the educational process We must not only be able to _know_ and _feel_, but to _do_
[Illustration: FIG 20]
THE MANY SOURCES OF IMPRESSIONS--The nature of the impressions which come to us and how they all lead on toward ulti 20) Ourimpressions upon us every moment of our life; also, the material objects hich we deal have become so saturated with social values that each conificance, and what an object _means_ often stands for more than what it _is_ Frole; from the wider circle whose lives do not immediately touch ours, but who are interpreted to us by the press, by history and literature; froone the lives of millions, and of which our lives form a part, there come to us constantly a flood of impressions whose influence cannot be ious impressions God is all about us and within us He speaks to us froh the still small voice froious instruction, and the lives of good people are other sources of religious i to mold our lives The beautiful in nature, art, and human conduct constantly appeals to us in aessthetic impressions