on us; we shall be viewed with a kind of contempt. Mere vanity may go far to give fixity to the will"[1]
(3) "Volition also becomes fixed by the action which follows on it. So soon as we have attained the settled belief that we are going to follow out a certain line of conduct, we immediately begin to adapt our thoughts and deeds to this belief. We thus come to be more and more committed to the course determined on. To withdraw from it would be to disturb our arrangements; to baulk expectations raised in others; and to arrest the general flow of our own mental activity. The more the mind has become set on one thing, the more it would be upset by being diverted to another."[2]
These three points are so important that they may be epitomised in three ethical maxims. (1) Immediately identify with your self the course of action decided upon. (2) Avoid relapsing into irresolution. (3) Translate your decision into action at the earliest possible moment.
§ 4. Some Educational Aspects. It follows from all this that there is eternal truth in such copy-book maxims as "Perseverance is a Virtue" and "If at first you don't succeed, try, try, try again." The triteness of these hackneyed precepts often blinds us to their truth. Yet there is no moral lesson which the child needs to learn more than this. It is not natural for the child to persevere. Its purposes are short-lived, just as its desires are transient and its ideals partial. It very soon tires of trying to do what is unpleasant or uninteresting.
