one person to repeat themselves in
another. Abnormal conditions of the brain itself furnish another
series of feelings with which the brain must deal. Moreover, the brain
is charged with impulses to action passed on from generation to
generation, surviving because they are useful. With all these arises
the necessity for choice as a function of the mind. The mind must
neglect or suppress all sensations which it cannot weave into action.
The dog sees nothing that does not belong to its little world. The man
in search of mushrooms "tramples down oak-trees in his walks." To
select the sensations that concern us is the basis of the power of
attention. The suppression of undesired actions is a function of the
will. To find data for choice among the possible motor responses is a
function of the intellect. Intellectual persistency is the essence of
individual character.

As the conditions of life become more complex, it becomes necessary for
action to be more carefully selected. Wisdom is the parent of virtue.
Knowing what should be done logically precedes doing it. Good impulses
and good intentions do not make action right or safe. In the long run,
action is tested not by its motives, but by its results.

The child, when he comes into the world, has everything to learn. His
nervous system is charged with tendencies to reaction and impulses to
motion, which have their origin in survivals from ancestral experience.
Exact knowledge, by which his own actions can be made exact, must come
through his own experience. The experience of others must be expressed
in terms of his own before it becomes wisdom. Wisdom, as I have
elsewhere said, is knowing what it is best to do next. Virtue is doing
it. Doing right becomes habit, if it is pursued long enough. It
becomes a "second nature," or, we may say, a higher heredity. The
formation of a higher heredity of wisdom and virtue, of knowing right
and doing right, is the basis of character-building.

The moral character is based on knowing the best, choosing the best,
and doing the best. It cannot be built up on imitation. By imitation,
suggestion, and conventionality the masses are formed and controlled.
To build up a man is a nobler process, demanding materials and methods
of a higher order. The growth of man is the assertion of
individuality. Only robust men can make history. Others may adorn it,
disfigure it, or vulgarize it.

The first relation of the child to