ny anxiety
about the upshot of his education, whatever the line of it may be. If
he keep faithfully busy each hour of the working day, he may safely
leave the final result to itself. He can with perfect certainty count
on waking up some fine morning, to find himself one of the competent
ones of his generation, in whatever pursuit he has singled out.
Silently, between all the details of his business, the _power of
judging_ in all that class of matter will have built itself up within
him as a possession that will never pass away. Young people should know
the truth of this in advance. The ignorance of it has probably
engendered more discouragement and faintheartedness in youths embarking
on arduous careers than all other causes put together."

EXERCISE

Exercise 1. Point out an undesirable habit that you are determined to
eradicate. Describe the desirable habit which you will adopt in its
place. Give the concrete steps you will take in forming the new habit.
How long a time do you estimate will be required for the formation of
the new habit? Mark down the date and refer back to it when you have
formed the habit, to see how accurately you estimated.

CHAPTER V

ACTIVE IMAGINATION

A very large part of the mental life of a student consists in the
manipulation of images. By images we mean the revivals of things that
have been impressed upon the senses. Call to mind for the moment your
house-number as it appears upon the door of your home. In so doing you
mentally reinstate something which has been impressed upon your senses
many times; and you see it almost as clearly as if it were actually
before you. The mental thing thus revived is called an image.

The word image is somewhat ill-chosen; for it usually signifies
something connected with the eye, and implies that the stuff of mental
images is entirely visual. The true fact of the matter is, we can image
practically anything that we can sense. We may have tactual images of
things touched; auditory images of things heard; gustatory images of
things tasted; olfactory images of things smelled. How these behave in
general and how they interact in study will engage our attention in
this chapter.

The most highly dramatic use of images is in connection with that
mental process known as Imagination. As we study the writings of Jack
London, Poe, Defoe, Bunyan, we move in a realm almost wholly imaginary.
And as we take a cross-section of our minds when thus engaged,