ring the will, by training, out of the region of
appearances into that of realities, we must learn to find the true
causes of weakness and use our wills little by little to remove them.
To remove the external effect does no permanent good and produces an
apparent strength which only hides an increasing weakness.

Imagine, for instance, a woman with an emotional, excitable nature who
is suffering from jealousy; she does not call it jealousy, she calls it
"sensitive nerves," and the doctors call it "hysteria." She has severe
attacks of "sensitive nerves" or "hysteria" every time her jealousy is
excited. It is not uncommon for such persistent emotional strain, with
its effect upon the circulation and other functions of the body, to
bring on organic disease. In such a case the love of admiration, and
the strength of will resulting from that selfish desire, makes her show
great fortitude, for which she receives much welcome praise. That is
the effect she wants, and in the pose of a wonderful character she
finds it easy to produce more fortitude--and so win more admiration.

A will that is strong for the wrong, may--if taken in time--become
equally strong for the right. Perversion is not, at first, through lack
of will, but through the want of true perception to light the way to
its intelligent use.

A man sometimes appears to be without power of will who is only using a
strong will in the wrong way, but if he continues in his wrong course
long enough, his weakness becomes real.

If a woman who begins her nervous degeneration by indulging herself in
jealousy--which is really a gross emotion, however she may refine it in
appearance--could be made to see the truth, she would, in many cases,
be glad to use her will in the right direction, and would become in
reality the beautiful character which her friends believe her to be.
This is especially true because this moral and nervous perversion often
attacks the finest natures. But when such perversion is allowed to
continue, the sufferer's strength is always prominent in external
dramatic effects, but disappears oppressively when she is brought face
to face with realities.

Many people who are nervous invalids, and many who are not, are
constantly weakening themselves and making themselves suffer by using
their wills vigorously in every way _but_ that which is necessary to
their moral freedom: by bearing various unhappy effects with so-called
stoicism, or fighting against them