r affection for their parents will be in no way
diminished, but they will cease to regard them as being vitally
necessary to the harmony of their existence.

This lack of trust that timidity occasions can result in very serious
misfortunes.

In driving a child who seeks for some firm guidance to appeal to others
than his natural protectors, there is always the risk of his following a
method of education that is basically opposed to all the traditions of
the family.

How many children are thrown in this way upon the tender mercies of a
teacher whose views of life, albeit perfectly honorable, are quite
opposed to the plans of the parents.

Such people, instead of complaining of the conduct of the teacher and
crying out about the leading astray of their child, would do better to
question themselves and to ask their own hearts whether their children
have ever found in them the protection that is being given them by
others.

We do not want to overwork the old fable of the oak and the ivy.
Nevertheless, it is to the point to remark that this plant attaches
itself to none but the most solid trunks, disdaining the Weaker saplings
that will bend beneath its weight and will, after a little while, force
it to return to the ground instead of helping it to climb into the air.

The man endowed with poise plays in his own family the role of the oak
which lends the strength of its trunk as an aid to weakness, covering
with the shadow of its branches the feeble efforts that too hot a sun or
too violent a storm might easily bring to nothing.

And if the storm should break it is the crest that it presents with
pride to the fury of the elements that will keep it from being itself
destroyed.

It must also be remembered that the instinct of the Ego flourishes in
every one of us, often quite unconsciously, but always with sufficient
force to make it certain that this ego will be developed in the
direction in which it sees chances of support.

We are not speaking here of mere egoism, which is a species of
acknowledgment of weakness that very young children are incapable of
making to themselves, but which those who are older will try to avoid.

But there is no one, even among the most strong, who has not felt at
some time in his life the joy of finding counsel, moral support, or
protection, if only in the form of a hearty and energetic agreement with
his ideas.

One can not wonder, therefore, that people of poise are able to draw