and cowardly, whereas if he learns from the first to resist fear he will
develop a habit of courage? 'Very true.' And we may say that the use
of motion will inspire the souls of children with cheerfulness and
therefore with courage. 'Of course.' Softness enervates and
irritates the temper of the young, and violence renders them mean and
misanthropical. 'But how is the state to educate them when they are as
yet unable to understand the meaning of words?' Why, surely they roar
and cry, like the young of any other animal, and the nurse knows the
meaning of these intimations of the child's likes or dislikes, and the
occasions which call them forth. About three years is passed by children
in a state of imperfect articulation, which is quite long enough time
to make them either good- or ill-tempered. And, therefore, during these
first three years, the infant should be as free as possible from fear
and pain. 'Yes, and he should have as much pleasure as possible.' There,
I think, you are wrong; for the influence of pleasure in the beginning
of education is fatal. A man should neither pursue pleasure nor wholly
avoid pain. He should embrace the mean, and cultivate that state of calm
which mankind, taught by some inspiration, attribute to God; and he who
would be like God should neither be too fond of pleasure himself, nor
should he permit any other to be thus given; above all, not the infant,
whose character is just in the making. It may sound ridiculous, but I
affirm that a woman in her pregnancy should be carefully tended, and
kept from excessive pleasures and pains.

'I quite agree with you about the duty of avoiding extremes and
following the mean.'

Let us consider a further point. The matters which are now in question
are generally called customs rather than laws; and we have already made
the reflection that, though they are not, properly speaking, laws, yet
neither can they be neglected. For they fill up the interstices of
law, and are the props and ligatures on which the strength of the whole
building depends. Laws without customs never last; and we must not
wonder if habit and custom sometimes lengthen out our laws. 'Very true.'
Up to their third year, then, the life of children may be regulated by
customs such as we have described. From three to six their minds have
to be amused; but they must not be allowed to become self-willed and
spoilt. If punishment is necessary, the same rule will hold as in the
case of slave