And the child reacts to
feeling equally intense. These are normal reactions to stimuli--normal,
under the circumstances.
THE NORMAL MIND
The normal mind reasons clearly with the best data at hand to results
that will stand the test of conformity to reality; the normal mind uses
reason and feeling, guided by reasonable attitude; in the normal mind
_reason_ advises action and _will_ brings it about; in the normal mind
_feeling_ proportionate to the circumstances accompanies every thought
and every action. And in the well-balanced man or woman every function
of the mind leads to action as its final end.
But man only approximates the normal. The perfectly balanced man or
woman is so rare as to be a marked person. The average intelligent
individual only in general approximates this standard. He goes beyond it
in spurts of untrammeled genius, to wrench lightning from the heavens,
and to send his trains through the air; or he allows his feelings to
dictate to his reason, and much of the time so exaggerates or
depreciates the simple facts of life that the results of his reasoning
no longer conform sufficiently to reality as to be thoroughly
dependable.
Pages:
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96