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Charlotte Mason in Modern English

Charlotte Mason's ideas are too important not to be understood and implemented in the 21st century, but her Victorian style of writing sometimes prevents parents from attempting to read her books. This is an imperfect attempt to make Charlotte's words accessible to modern parents. You may read these, print them out, share them freely--but they are copyrighted to me, so please don't post or publish them without asking.
~L. N. Laurio


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PART II - The House of the Mind

Chapter 1 - Ourselves

'Ourselves' is a Vast Country Still Unexplored

When we think about our bodies and the amazing things they can do, we can't help saying to ourselves, 'Your works are great and marvelous, God!' Now let's consider that inner self, which is even more wonderful. We can't see it or touch it like we can our physical bodies. It's the part of us that thinks and loves and prays, and is happy or sad, or good or not so good. The inner self is like a vast  country, and most of it is still unexplored. Or, it's like a great big house with halls and hidden rooms and closets around corners, so that it's hard to find your way around it. People generally speak of 'Ourselves' as being made up of Body, Mind, Heart, and Soul. We'll do the same. It isn't the only way to think of it, but it's the most convenient, in the same way that it's more convenient to say, 'The sun rises at six and sets at nine,' than, 'The earth revolves around the sun every day and the part of the earth where we live first gets in sight of the sun at about six o'clock in the morning in March.' Saying, 'The sun rises and sets' is a better way to describe

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it. It's not only easier to say, but it's how most people are used to thinking of it. In the same way, everybody seems to know about his own heart and soul and mind. Although it may be truer that we aren't divided into parts, but our whole person has different abilities and can do many different things at different times.

Self-control, Self-knowledge, Self-reverence

Sometimes it feels like we have two selves inside us. One wants to do something wrong or foolish, and the other one says, 'You shouldn't.' One of the most important things we need to learn in life is how, when and where to use that other self. We call it Self-control. But before we can have true self-control,  we need to know about ourselves. We need self-knowledge. A lot of people think they're different from everybody else, but that's not true. Self-knowledge teaches us that what's true for other people is also true for us. Then, when we discover the wonderful abilities and immense possibilities of Mansoul, we won't be filled with pride. Instead, we'll be self-reverent, and we'll have reverence and pity for even the lowest, most reprobate people because we'll understand that each one of them is also a great Mansoul, although their Mansoul might be neglected, ruined, or decayed. Man's most important duty is governing his own Mansoul. Now let's look at the Members of the Government.

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Chapter 2 - My Lord Intellect

Introduces Mansoul to Delightful Realms

We'll begin with My Lord Intellect. As the Foreign Secretary, he's the one who manages dealings and establishes relations with other foreign kingdoms. Through him, Mansoul enjoys more freedom because his provinces are plentiful and his states are stronger.

Science: a Vast and Joyous Region

One of those provinces is science. This is where stars are measured, the ocean depths are sounded, the wind's energy is harnessed to serve man, flowers reveal the secret of how they grow, and the grains of sand tell their history. Science is a huge, happy realm. The people there are always discovering new things, and each new thing is wonderful because each thing isn't a separate, isolated event, but is part of a whole. The realm of science is so immense that one of the wisest, greatest travelers there who discovered many things said, when he was an old man, that he felt like he was only a little child playing with pebbles on the beach. Do you, too, want to travel in the pleasant land of Science? My Lord Intellect will introduce you to the people you need to know, and do everything he can to make your path smoother.

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Imagination Adds Enjoyment to the Traveler

Intellect's partner is My Lord Chief Explorer, Imagination. I mentioned him earlier. He usually goes with travelers and cheers them by bringing wonderful new visions before their eyes.

History is a Pleasant Place

Another domain that Lord Intellect has the key to is History. He sends Imagination as a messenger and companion to the eager traveler. Of all the wonderful places in the mind, I think the domain of History might be the most appealing. In an old movie, you see people living and moving, dancing, walking, whatever they happened to be doing at the time the movie was filmed. History is a little bit like that, only it's even more interesting. In old movies, the people are small and not very clear. No matter how closely you look, they don't get any clearer. But history shows you people wearing what people used to wear, moving, looking and talking like they really used to, doing important business or having fun. The closer you look at and study any one person, the more sharply he comes into focus until he might seem even more real to you than the people you live with.

History Shows

Think for a minute about all the centuries that have gone by, and every country with its own population of living, moving people. Think of all the little tidbits you hear and read that bring to life some of the interesting things that happened and make those people seem very real, like that letter that a little boy sent to his father 4000 years ago in Egypt. He wrote that he

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wouldn't be good or do his lessons unless his father took him to a great festival that was coming up. It seems that even little boys who lived in Egypt 4000 years ago weren't always good! From one story, we can imagine Alcibiades walking the streets of Athens, handsome, amusing, charming--yet so reckless, proud and unprincipled that not even Socrates could make him good. Or maybe we can imagine King Henry VIII walking arm-in-arm with Sir Thomas More in his garden at Chelsea, and More's beloved daughter Margaret staying close by, and bringing her father candy after the king had left.

We are Making History

We can imagine the workers, the blacksmith at his forge, the farmer plowing his field, and the maypole with children dancing around it. Once our Intellect has opened our minds to history, we feel like we're in a great, exciting world, full of fun things, sometimes full of sad things, too. Finally it dawns on us that, just like those people, we're making history! We're all part of the world. The people who lived before us were very much like us. If they weren't, we wouldn't be able to understand them as much as we do. Some of the people might have been worse than us and they might have lived through worse times than we do, but we also meet a few great, noble people who make our hearts yearn to be like them. And that makes it easier for us to understand our own times. We see that we live in an age and country as great as theirs. There are plenty of opportunities for heroes, and if some of those heroes do their great deeds in a quiet way so that the world never hears about it, it doesn't make a whole lot of difference. Any time something good or heroic is done, no matter how small, many people will be better because of it. In fact, it's

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been said that the whole world is better because of one life lived dutifully, and that will be true until the end of time.

We Can't Feel Comfortable with History Unless We Use Our Imagination

But, in order to understand how this works, we need to read history and think about what we're reading. We're indebted to historians, such as Heroditus, the first historian, who used their imaginations to mentally picture people and events from the past after they had read and studied about them. They could imagine that everything was happening right before their very eyes, and then write it down for us to read. But their effort in seeing and writing down history doesn't do us much good unless our own Lord Intellect invites our Imagination to join us as we think of things and try to figure them out in our minds until they become real and alive to us.

Mathematics, a Land of Mountains

Another realm that's open to Intellect has an uninviting name. Traveling there can be difficult because of steep rock faces that have to be scaled, and deep ravines to be crossed. The land of Mathematics is full of mountains, but the air is crisp and refreshing, and great for the health, although some people find it too thin for their lungs. It's different from most mountainous countries. It's impossible to get lost, and every step is on firm ground so you can't fall over a cliff. People who work or play here are exhilarated from the effort of climbing, and satisfied because they find Truth. Once in a while Imagination needs to accompany travelers, but not very often. More often, Lord Attorney Reason goes along.

Philosophy Explores Mansoul

Another domain that makes things interesting for Intellect

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is lovely Philosophy. We already know a little bit about this land because it's the land of Mansoul itself, with its mountains, dark forests and unexplored wildernesses. Philosophy offers fascinating and fun journeys. The traveler who goes there learns many lessons about life, although the footing isn't as stable and firm as it is in the mountains of Mathematics. Still, precise certainty isn't everything. To seek, to venture, and to find a foothold step by step is also exhilarating. Every step forward is a place to rest and relax.

Literature, a Rich, Glorious Kingdom

The most easily accessible as well as the most pleasant and satisfying of all the realms that Intellect travels in, is the lavish, magnificent Kingdom of Literature. Intellect can't travel here alone, Imagination has to come, too. It helps when The Beauty Sense joins, too. It's wonderful to be with good company. When Intellect travels in the lovely land of Literature, he becomes intimate with the best people from all ages of history, and all countries of the world. Poets and novelists paint pictures for him, and fill his world with profoundly fascinating and engaging people who live their entire lives right before his very eyes. He has lots of acquaintances, and a few friends who tell him their secrets. He meets Miranda (The Tempest), melancholy Jacques (As You Like It), terrible Lady Macbeth (Macbeth), Fenella (Peveril of the Peak by Sir Walter Scott), the Fair Maid of Perth (by Sir Walter Scott). A whole crowd of people, each uniquely different, lives in his thoughts.

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How to Recognize Which Books are Truly Literature

Notice that there's a rundown place nearby where you're introduced to people and they paint pictures for you. But the pictures aren't so intense and full of meaning that you can still see them even when you close your eyes, and the people you meet don't captivate you enough for you to imagine what they're doing and saying in your thoughts. There's as much difference between this place and the Kingdom of Literature, as there is between a scenic snapshot and the real place the picture is supposed to represent. It's an insipid waste of time to wander around in that outer region. Yet lots of people spend a large part of their lives there, and never once even get within sight of the beauties and joys of the real Kingdom of Literature.

Besides comparing the two places and the people in them, there's another way to tell the difference between Literature and the barren land on its borders. If Intellect wants to try this test, he'll need to let the Beauty Sense help him. Read the next two examples and see if you notice any difference in their 'flavor.' See if the first one gives you a sense of delight and joy in the very sound of its words, separate from the actual meaning they represent. Do the words sing to you?

'That time of year, you may see in me
That yellow leaves, either a few or none at all, hang
Upon the branches as they shake from the cold,
Like bare ruins of choir lofts where the sweet birds sang so recently.'

Now read the next passage:

'Household gods!
Happiness will only exist on earth
When men feel your sacred power, and love
Your peaceful joys.'

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Do you notice that, although the second example is true, thoughtful, and expressed well, yet it lacks a certain charm in the words that makes the verse strike our hearts with living power? If you can't see any difference in them, maybe you will some day. The trick is to focus on the words themselves and wait to feel their force and beauty. When words seem so perfectly suited that no other words can be substituted, and there are so few words that not even one can be removed without spoiling the meaning, and the words are so fresh and musical that they awaken a sense of joy within you, then you know--you're reading real Literature, whether it's prose or poetry. A lot of wonderful literature can only be discerned by using this test.

The Beauty Sense

Intellect has one more region where he can go. This region is very beautiful and wonderful. Intellect can't go here without Imagination. And even more important, he'll need an educated ear and eye that can recognize the lyrical quality and beauty in words and how they're arranged. It's the Beauty Sense who holds the key to this delightful palace. There are few joys in life greater than beauty, or more constant. Yet it's impossible to define what beauty consists of. Some of its elements are color, form, proportion, and harmony. Words can have those qualities, and therefore, words can be beautiful. That's why the Beauty Sense is needed to fully enjoy Literature.

Beauty in Nature

Beauty doesn't just exist in Literature. It's everywhere--in fluffy white clouds in a blue sky, the gray trunk of a beech tree, a kitten playing, the graceful flight

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and lovely colors of birds, the hills, valleys, streams, golden fields of buttercups, and a broom tree in full bloom. Nature is full of beauty and enjoyment. People like the poet William Wordsworth who watch nature closely and know her intimately will always have an active Beauty Sense, and it will always bring them joy.

We can't get away from Beauty. Perhaps the most beautiful thing of all is the face of someone we love.

The Palace of Art

We can find beauty in the way a tasteful room is arranged, and its color scheme, or a nice dress, a pretty book cover, the metal hinges and knob on a door, if they're done artistically. And here's another region of beauty that can be entered by people whose Beauty Sense allows them to do more than just see the beauty in things--their souls become so filled with the beauty that that they see and hear, that it spills out in their own beautiful creations. They create paintings, statues, glorious churches, elaborate decorations, symphonies, sonatas and simple tunes. If we stop to consider how much there is for us to enjoy, we can't help but admire how good God is for putting us in a world so full of beauty, and for giving us a Sense of Beauty that lets us see and hear and, in a single moment, be overwhelmed with pleasure. There's beauty in art and in nature (maybe because nature is God's art?).

The Hall of Imitations

Like every other of the good gifts we've received, this one is also subject to neglect and wrong use. It's not enough to live in the midst of beauty. We also have to keep our Beauty Sense sharp and alert, and make sure that it's always

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quick to discern what's truly beautiful. A poet says this about a man who had lost his Beauty Sense:

'A primrose by the river's brim
Was just another rose to him
Just that, and nothing more.'

He totally missed the subtle aspect of beauty. He saw a river, and a flower, but not the pretty way it grew right there. The danger for us is that, in the same way that a bleak, barren land lies right on the border of the Kingdom of Literature, there's also a dull, dreary place that we can go into and mistake for the Palace of Art. It's called the Hall of Imitation. In this hall, people are busy painting, sculpting, molding and making things, Even the sun itself works many hours so they can take photographs. And the sun is as good an artist here as anyone else. You see, in this hall, people have the notion that the purpose of art is to make an exact copy of what they see in life. The 'artists' work hard trying to get the color and shape exactly like it is in real life. They paint photo-quality pictures, or life-like figurines. Yet, the whole time, they're missing the whole point. They don't see the subtle presence of Beauty in what they're looking at. Many people allow themselves to be deceived this way. They live their entire lives without even once entering the Palace of Art, and they only perceive a little bit of the Beauty of nature. It takes training to really see and to have our eyes opened to take in the joy that was created for us in this beautiful life.

Intellectual Life

I can't tell you any more right now about the wonderful and boundless pleasures that are open to Intellect and his Assistants. But if you've understood any of what I've already said so far, you'll be surprised

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to find out that many people live in a narrow confined space. They rarely step out into one of the two worlds we've been considering. The Intellect finds happiness in knowing, thinking, imagining and understanding. Its joy comes from the variety of different things we know, think, imagine and understand. Everybody's mind is busy thinking about one thing or another, but lots of people spend their time knowing and thinking about small things. There's nothing wrong with thinking of trivial matters sometimes, but some people think about them all the time and don't have room for the kind of great thoughts we get from seeing or hearing great things.

A boy can be so preoccupied with his baseball card collection, or the next soccer game, that there's no room in his mind for bigger things. Baseball cards and soccer are okay, but it's wrong to miss opportunities as great interests come and go, and aren't even noticed because we're too busy thinking of these other things. Or, students can be so obsessed with school grades, being top in their class, or getting a scholarship, that they never realize that their lessons are supposed to unlock doors into fascinating, intellectual wonderlands. Once they graduate, they close their books forever. As adults, they live lives of narrow interests. They hardly have any interest in the great, wide world, either past or present. That's what it means to be a slave of knowledge instead of its joyful master. It's much better to be like the man that the Bishop of London wrote about: 'He had the rare gift of being able to master knowledge and make it his servant. He didn't let knowledge make him its weary slave.'

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Chapter 3 - The Demons Of The Intellect

Laziness Keeps us from Starting

Just like the physical body, the mind has its own demons. There are two that plague the intellect. One is a kind of sluggish inertia that makes us not feel like starting anything except the routine, mundane matters of our everyday life. But if we only get up and begin, our Intellect will rouse himself, strong and eager, to begin his work. Marlowe's Faust says,

'Are you sincere? Seize this very minute.
Whatever you can do, or dream about doing, begin it!
Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.
Just get started, it will seem to be fun.
Once you begin, the work is soon done.'

Once started, the work is fun, we enjoy the project, and time flies. Yet, the very next time we face a project, Intellect does the same thing. He drags his feet and procrastinates. We have to spur him to get him started, but, once he begins, the project goes along fine. It's good to remember this, because if we give in, Intellect will balk every time a project presents the merest challenge.

Habit Goes Over and Over the Same Ground

The other demon of Intellect is Habit. As you know, Habit is a good servant but a bad master for both the mind and the body. When he's allowed to act like a bad master and override the Intellect, he ruins life and makes it very narrow. When Habit rules, the Intellect

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is not at all lazy. He works and works--but he keeps going over and over the same ground! Day after day, year after year, he repeats the same thing. The material may be worthwhile. It may even be necessary. But the mistake is in never learning about anything else. It might be the same routine of school lessons, studied mechanically without ever really considering what's being learned. It might be constantly thinking about household crafts, business, racing, football, fashion. Those things all have their place, but to confine the mind to them is like harnessing a sleek thoroughbred racehorse to a circular pony ride.

We Shouldn't Spend All Our Time in One Field of Thought

It isn't just the mundane affairs of daily life that keep our minds too preoccupied to have a wide range of interests. Some people get into one of the great fields of thought that we've already mentioned. They are so interested there, and find so much to do, that they stay there until they're incapable of finding their way to any of the other great fields. The greatest man of science in our age was one of those unfortunate people. He lost himself in science so that he could no longer enjoy poetry, appreciate paintings, or even reflect on God. [Darwin??] And all because he couldn't tear his mind from the study he had spent his life immersed in. The people who lived during the Renaissance, when the greatest things were accomplished, the greatest pictures were painted, the greatest buildings were designed, the greatest discoveries made, were very insistent on one point. One man was expected to be an architect, a painter, a sculptor, a poet, and a scholar besides. Everything he did was done well. Everything he learned became part of his daily thoughts and added to the enjoyment of his life.

Vasari, who wrote a biography of Da Vinci, wrote, 'He had a divine and marvelous mind. He was excellent at geometry

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and was thus able to not only sculpt . . . but to prepare many architectural plans for buildings. Even though he was still young, he was the first to propose using the Arno to make a canal from Pisa to Florence. He made designs for mills and other machines that could be run with water power. And, since painting was going to be his livelihood, he studied drawing from real life.'

A Magnanimous Mind

It might be a mistake to think that, in order to do one thing well, you have to be single-minded and do just that one thing, and think about that one thing, all the time. The truth is, we should learn about everything we can. We need to spend some of our time learning more about Nature, Art, Literature, Mankind, and history and the times we live in. That's one of the ways that we become better people. The more a person is, the better he'll be able to do whatever it is that he's supposed to do. Let us be like Leonardo Da Vinci -- let's have a spirit that's 'always noble and magnanimous.'

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Chapter 4 - My Lord Chief Explorer, Imagination

Living Pictures

We've mentioned My Lord Chief Explorer, Imagination, as a companion of Intellect, but he really deserves his own introduction. He's amazing and, as mentioned earlier, he has the ability to create a whole series of living pictures about any region that the Intellect can think of. Great artists who create poetry, stories, paintings, architecture or music are able to express and show the rest of us part of the wonderful visions that Imagination has revealed to them. And we can appreciate and enjoy their work because our own Imagination does the same thing for us in a lesser degree. Our Imaginations make us pictures and poems inside the private room of our minds. Little children try to express what they see in their minds by playing. They act out things, but often in strange ways. Since they don't know the complete facts, they jumble things up. They might call a cow a hyena, and they sincerely expect to meet lions and tigers in every cluster of bushes.

The Cultivated Imagination

The more we know, the richer and more fleshed out our Imagination will be. Have you read Feats

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on the Fjord? The author, Harriet Martineau, never even visited Norway. Yet nobody could describe life on the fjords more vividly than she did. That's because her imagination felt comfortable in foreign lands and in different historical eras. Have you ever considered that Sir Walter Scott must have lived in all the different times and places in his imagination that he wrote about? No wonder people called him a wizard! In order to have a well-stocked collection of pictures in our imagination, we have to read a lot and work to imagine the things we read about to ourselves in our minds.

Imagination Must Not Make Pictures of Self

Imagination is wonderful at adding to the joy and depth of life. But, unfortunately, it too has its demons. They are Sin and Self. Every person imagines. You might imagine that you're a Princess with golden hair and blue eyes and a long, beautiful silk dress. The Prince comes and accomplishes some great heroic deeds that make the world stand in awe. Then he kneels in front of you and asks you to marry him:

'Little Ellie with a sigh
Says, I want a noble lover
Riding on the best of steeds.
His love shall bear no trace of lie
And with him I will discover
The swan's nest among the reeds.'

Or maybe you imagine that you are Prince Valiant himself. You conquer the Paynim and capture many lands. The King makes you his chief man in war and sits next to you at the celebration feast. These are lovely dreams, and there's not much harm in them, unless you spend so much time dreaming that you aren't doing. Remember that life is made of doing, not dreaming. When people criticize us,

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it can be comforting to dream of all the wonderful, beautiful things we'll do, such as caring for the sick and building homes for the poor, and buying gifts for the parent who found fault with us. We like to imagine how everyone will admire us for our beauty, or kindness, or cleverness--especially people who made fun of us. It's satisfying to imagine how kind we'll be to them and the presents we'll buy them--and to picture to ourselves how sorry they'll be for treating us badly!

I don't think it's right to use our Imagination in this way. For one thing, while we're preoccupied in our dreams, we're missing opportunities to do. And, after we've dreamed of ourselves as a superior and lofty person, so good and wonderful, we become easily offended. Then our Imagination stops creating visions of our goodness and starts magnifying the faults of our friends. Imagination tells us that Mom doesn't understand us and can't see what a great person we are. Or Dad isn't very nice, or Shelby is always noticed more than we are, or school lessons are too hard, or going for a walk is too much of a chore, or visitors are bothering us, or any book that isn't just stories will be boring. And, little by little, we begin to turn into the very people that we imagined to be so displeasing.

And then even our best friends will have to admit that we're boring and disagreeable, irritable and resentful. They'll say there's no pleasing us. They'll complain that we won't join in games, or get interested in any kind of plans. They'll say that we don't care to be pleasant with anyone, and that we don't care about helping anybody. Children will say that we're always grouchy, and they won't try to coax us to play with them. Older children will think we're grumpy

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and they'll leave us alone. It frustrates us because, in our own minds, we see ourselves as wonderful people. We have beautiful thoughts about the kind things we'll do for all those people, and we can't understand why people won't show a little gratitude!

Disarming the Demons

The truth is, the others are more accurate in their assessment of us. Consider -- who is the main person in all the fantastic scenarios you create, and in all the plans you imagine? If you have to admit that the main person is you, yourself, then your Imagination has been spending too much time making pleasure-houses for Self, when it should have been collecting images of the wide, rich world all around. Correct Imagination's vision, and put this glorious servant to work doing his rightful duty. Then your friends will look forward to seeing you because you'll have so much to say, and you'll be interested in so many things. You'll no longer trouble them (or yourself!) with that touchy, critical, grudging Self who can be such a tyrant. In fact, you'll discover so many fascinating things to think about, that you'll hardly have a spare minute to think about yourself! Throw Self out as soon as he intrudes on any vision in the Imagination. One good tactic is to take your Self by the shoulders, look him right in the face, and laugh at him for being so ridiculous. That's what's called 'the saving grace of a sense of humor.' People who can laugh at themselves don't make themselves seem absurd by putting on airs and forced manners. Another help, though not quite as effective, is when the people you live with can laugh at you and tease you. Learn from their laughter. Put up with their teasing with good humor.

Living Pictures of Sin

The second demon of Imagination is Sin. Have you ever heard people remark that 'there seems to be an epidemic of burglaries' or 'an epidemic of murders'? They might be right.

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These things can run in epidemics. They're contagious in a curious way. People read about a crime in the newspaper. They let their Imagination dwell on the graphic details. The incident becomes a living image in their mind that they can't get rid of. And sometimes, the end result is that they attempt the same crime themselves! That's why it's not always wise to read newspaper accounts of crimes. Even if you aren't tempted to copy the wickedness, the horrid image of it remains in your mind once you've allowed your Imagination to paint a living picture of it inside you.

Unclean Imaginings

There's one kind of sin that we have to be especially careful not to impress into our mind. Once we do, that kind of sin will haunt us all our lives. That kind of sin is uncleanness. If people talk about those kinds of sins, don't listen. Walk away and find something else to do. If you come across the mention of these sins in your reading, even if it's in a book of poetry, or classics, or history, teach yourself to shut the eyes of your Imagination so that your thoughts won't become defiled. Never knowingly read anything, or listen to anything that might lead to unclean imaginings. I once visited a young dying woman. She was married, nice, and good, but she told me an awful thing. She said that her preparation for death had been made miserable, and she couldn't even pray because horrible images of uncleanness would come to her mind. She said she had never thought of such things before, but I wonder if at some time in her life, maybe years and years before, she had allowed her mind to wander to such thoughts. She had forgotten all about it, but an evil spirit took this opportunity as she was dying to bring them back to her memory. Stay away from all unclean talk, and all unclean reading. Avoid them even more than you would avoid a deadly plague.

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Living Pictures of Horrors

This isn't really a sin, but it's foolish to let your Imagination create living pictures of horrors, tragic accidents, falls from steep cliffs, ghosts, and other frightening things. Once we make a picture in our mind, it's there to stay, and it may show up at any moment to torment us.

Someone who has a tendency to be afraid of such things might say, 'But how can I help it?' That's a foolish question. It's foolish to ask that about any evil we might fall into. Yes, we can help it. Resisting them is what the battle of life is all about. In this particular case, you can find help by hurrying away from those thoughts and thinking about something else. If such terrors come at night when you can't do anything or read anything, you can still try to think about something else. One idea might be to think about the last story you read. Go over it in your mind.

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Chapter 5 - The Beauty Sense

The Demon of Exclusiveness

Our Beauty Sense adds so much joy to our lives that it's hard to imagine any danger attached to it. But there is one. It's Exclusiveness that makes the beauty Sense too hyper-sensitive, whether in music, painting, one's surroundings, or even natural scenery. Exclusiveness seeks to persuade the Prime Minister that the joys of Beauty are so full, and so satisfying, that nothing else is necessary to make life complete. The Intellect has no luck trying to interest the person in exciting new fields of research. Good, useful work presents itself, but to no avail. Urgent duties clamor for attention, but are ignored. A person who gives himself up to the intoxicating effect of Beauty makes himself believe that Beauty and Goodness are one and the same. And he comes to think that a person's Duty is to seek pleasure in whatever way he likes best. Even people are pushed aside to make way for Beauty.

We Are Not Allowed to Choose Our Lives

Instead of accepting the relatives, friends and neighbors that God sends into our lives, the person devoted to beauty chooses them for himself. He doesn't care to know about anyone except those who have the same view of life that

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he does. It's the same with places. He can't tolerate anything that's unpleasant or ugly, so he refuses to go where working people and poor people have to live. And the result is that he misses out on the happiness that his Beauty Sense was supposed to bring him. True happiness comes from doing work, being useful, having wide interests, and, last and least of all, enjoying pleasure. When people put enjoying pleasure above everything else, even when the pleasure is Beauty, they miss the very thing they seek. They become weakened physically, and fretful and discontented in their spirits.

A Paradise of Pleasure

But fear of that pitfall shouldn't keep us from enjoying the paradise of pleasure that our Beauty Sense can bring us to. We just need to be careful of two things. First, we shouldn't allow ourselves to get any notions about being superior to our neighbors. And, we need to make it our duty, as much as we can, to bring Beauty to places where it doesn't exist. If we keep these two thoughts in mind, then the Demon of Exclusiveness won't have any danger for us.

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Chapter 6 - My Lord Chief Attorney-General, Reason

Reason is an Advocate

I mentioned My Lord Attorney-General earlier, as a partner of Intellect. But, really, he's a very important person in Mansoul. In fact, he's so important that he sometimes gets control of the entire government. Reason has impressive abilities, and an independent character. You can get an idea of how Reason acts by watching a great lawyer promote his cause in court. He brings up one argument after another to prove his point, and he articulates each one with skillful clarity. His arguments bring those listening to an inevitable conclusion - at least, it seems inevitable, until the lawyer for the other side speaks! Have you ever witnessed your own thought processes? It can seem as if another person, an appointed attorney assigned to your defense, was bringing up point after point, until you couldn't help coming to a conclusion. Do you remember Prospero from Shakespeare's The Tempest? He neglected his duties as a ruler, and his brother intended to kill him, but exiled him instead on a desolate island, with his little daughter, Miranda.

How We Reason

I imagine that this is the kind of thing Prospero's Reason said to him: 'The part of man that thinks

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is the most important part of him. It's better to live around thinkers than common, everyday people. The greatest thinkers in the world are found in books, not in my court. I should let common, everyday people worry about the affairs of common, everyday people. My brother Antonio is capable of governing as well as I can. But he can't read for me, or think for me, or devote his time to improving my mind for me. Those are things that I have to do for myself. And there's my child to consider. I want her to grow up to be a thinker, so I need to prepare myself to be a fit teacher for her. Considering all these things, it's obvious that I need to give up my affairs and devote my time to my books.'

As these thoughts went through Prospero's mind, it wasn't him saying them to himself. It was his Reason saying it to him, and for him. Every point that his Reason brought up is true--but not the whole truth. Prospero's Reason wouldn't have used those specific arguments if he hadn't been a student and lover of books. Reason usually starts with a notion that was already in the person's mind to begin with.

Now let's imagine what Antonio's Reason might have said to him: 'It's shameful the way my brother neglects his dukedom. The government is going to ruin. Every man just does whatever he wants. He expects me to rule for him, but everybody knows I'm not a Duke. I have no real authority. If he died, I would inherit the dukedom, and I'd do my best to straighten everything out. His neglected subjects would be so relieved! Come to think of it, taking his life wouldn't really be such a crime because the sacrifice of the one man would mean the benefit of the entire dukedom. Things are getting worse and worse every day. Something has to be done. There's nobody else to get rid of him, so I'll have to do it myself.' Antonio's Reason rushed to provide him with all the

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arguments he needed to justify the ambitious idea he already had secretly entertained in his mind.

How a Good Man's Reason Works

A good man's Reason rushes to provide him with undeniable arguments for the good actions that his good heart wants to do. John Howard was undoubtedly convinced by many sound reasons that the difficult task he thought of was a simple, direct course. He saw the inside of a prison by chance, and he couldn't shake thoughts of its misery. His Reason probably said, 'People have no idea that such horrors exist. Someone needs to tell them. Whoever tells them needs to know his facts. He'll need to know the conditions of more than one or two prisons. When the plight is fully known and discussed, and when Parliament considers it, I'm sure that new laws will be written and reforms set in motion. Prisoners will start to be treated like human beings, instead of kept in such filth, misery, sickness and sin that I saw. And why shouldn't the man who exposes this plight be me? The idea first came to me; maybe it's my calling. It's true, I'm in rather delicate health. But, if I die, what better way to die than doing my duty? Yes, it's true, I'm grieving, but at least I have no ties to keep me home. And I have plenty of money for the costs. I'll do it. I'll sacrifice my life for this duty.'

In this way, the good man's Reason argued for what he wanted to do. But if God's compassion hadn't put the concept of pity into his heart, his Reason could just as easily have taken the opposite line of reasoning. He might have been persuaded that this job wasn't right for one man, but needed the governments of countries to take care of.

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Reason's Role in Good Works and Great Inventions

Every great work of kindness that benefits the sick, helpless, sad or ignorant is the result of a chain of arguments that some person's Reason provided for him. And his Reason did this because, in each case, a notion of pity first came to the man. Every great work or invention has been reasoned out step by step. Have you ever been to a museum and seen the trunk of a tree that was hollowed out by burning to use as a canoe? That was the result of some impressive reasoning, as brilliant as Marconi's wireless radio. The man who discovered how to make the canoe had never seen a boat before. He had to figure out a way to cross the waters all by himself. He had no prior examples to get inspired from because his was the first boat that existed. We'll think about how he got his idea later. His reason worked it all out for him.

What is Meant by Common Sense

Most of the routine, simple things we do--like brushing our teeth, combing our hair, using manners at the table, were originally reasoned out. We have no idea who worked them out in the beginning. People don't reason them out any more. They just accept them by what's known of as common sense. In other words, just about everyone agrees that certain ways of doing specific things are the best ways. Every once in a while, a reformer comes along who reasons out the old things with a fresh perspective, and comes to a different conclusion. His conclusion might be right or wrong. For example, perhaps common sense has told most people that it's best to wear boots or shoes. But then a reformer comes along and persuades everyone, with a good line of reasoning, that it's

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even better to wear sandals. Someone else will disagree and say that it's better to go with bare feet, and now people are forced to stop and think about the issue and use their Reason on something they assumed was settled a long time ago.

Everything We Use Has Been Thought Out by Someone

It's interesting to look around a room or out in the street and try to consider the line of reasoning taken by the person who made the first chair, or key, or wheelbarrow. We appreciate things more when we remember that somebody had to think out each thing. But thinking things out like that is fun, you know that yourself. Maybe you've said, 'I have a great idea! Something my uncle said gave me the idea, and then the whole plan came to me quite clearly, one step at a time.' Perhaps it was an idea for a new game, or for building a ship, or for designing apartments to give lower income families more space. Whatever the idea is, it's exciting and fun to just sit still and listen as Reason does his work and creates the whole plan complete before your very eyes.

It's no wonder that so many people think that there's nothing in heaven or earth that's greater than human Reason. Nothing else is more surprising in the way it works, or more searching in its conclusions!

You remember how revolutionary France put Reason on a pedestal. They practically worshiped Reason. The French nation believed that no man had a duty to do anything except what his own Reason told him to do. If his Reason dictated it, then it was his solemn duty to do it. And you remember that some pretty horrible things were done in the name of Reason.

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In fact, that period of history is known as the Reign of Terror, even though all the atrocities that were committed were justified by the Reason of the men who did them. People don't say that Reason reigns anymore, but many thoughtful and good people believe that there is no higher authority than man's Reason. They believe that acting according to one's Reason is the most that can be expected of anyone.

Good, Sensible People Can Come to Opposite Conclusions

It's true that good laws, projects for the public good, great inventions are all the result of Reason. But you might be surprised to hear good people talk and try to convince others of something that their own Reason has told them. The Reason of equally good, intelligent people can bring them to totally opposite conclusions about war, peace, politics, religion, education, public works, fashion, diet--in fact, intelligent people can disagree on any subject you can think of. That's the reason there's controversy in the world. People think they can convince other people by using the same arguments that their own Reason used to convince them. And they could, if everyone else didn't already have arguments just as convincing on their own side. In fact, the side of an argument a person is on, generally depends on his own Will:

'Convince a man against his will.
He'll have the same opinion still.'

We need to remember that Reason is a personal servant to every person, and will play on his master's side. A person's Reason will work to convince him of what he was already inclined to believe in.

Reason is not Infallible

You know that the Pope is said to be infallible. That means that he can't be wrong, and that every decision he makes has to be

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the right decision. Many people say that of Reason. They say that Reason is infallible. But if two equally intelligent and equally good people are passionately convinced by their Reason of two things exactly opposite, then their Reason can't both be infallible. At least one of them has to be wrong. Perhaps one of them believes that a certain war is the duty of his country, and the other believes that the war is a crime. They can't both be right. Since all men (unless they're idiots or insane) have this same ability to Reason,  then we can only conclude that Reason is not infallible. Not all final conclusions are correct. It all depends on the notion from which the reasoning began.

Anarchists

We've all been saddened to learn that there are some people in the world who believe that their one duty in life is to take the life of some royal person or ruler. These people are anarchists. Although we're horrified to even think about their crimes, it's not difficult to follow the chain of logic that makes it look reasonable in their own eyes, no matter how wrong it may seem to us. The word anarchist means 'without rule.' The goal of anarchists is to put an end to all national rule and government, whether it's a kingdom or republic. Why? Because, they say, every man has his own Reason and can rule himself. No person should have a ruler over him. This example shows how an error in thinking can lead to the worst of crimes.

Reason in Math

Reason is never more delightful or perfect

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than in math. In math, people don't begin their line of logic with a notion that influences them to lean towards one side or the other. In math, little by little, truth unfolds itself to us. We're designed so that absolute, certain truth is a perfect joy to us. And that's the kind of joy we get from math. And there's great satisfaction from standing and witnessing our own mind work out a difficult problem. There's a case recorded where a mathematician went to bed with a difficult problem on his mind. He put a pencil and paper beside his bed, and thought he slept peacefully all night. But when he woke up, there was the problem worked out very clearly. He must have done it in his sleep.

Reason Must be Used for Good Purposes


Not much demonstrates the amazing greatness and ability of man as much as Reason. But, like all divine gifts, we're entrusted to use it for its best purpose. But we should never rely on it as a failsafe guide. After all, we can logically prove and justify both worthy and unworthy things. A quick-tempered person can go through a long chain of logical reasons that convince him that he's been treated unfairly and has every right to be mad. A burglar has logical reasons for his crimes. A naughty, vindictive child has logical reasons for playing a practical joke. Reason is totally subservient to us, and can therefore be used by us however we please. We can make Reason justify whatever we want, whether noble or corrupt, great or small. Since we have such a great gift, let's use it to reason out great matters. If we do, then some day, we'll be given the opportunity to think out some great service for the world. The chance to do something great usually comes when we're ready for it.

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Reason Justifies Notions That Have Been Accepted by the Will

'The kettle started it,' is how Dickens begins The Cricket on the Hearth. The point is, Reason never starts it. Reason continues it and finishes it, but it doesn't start it. What starts it and sets Reason into motion, is usually an idea that the Prime Minister (the Will) has allowed in. Once it's admitted, Reason grabs it and puts it through all his assembly lines until it comes out as a finished product. In other words, our conclusions can't really be blamed on Reason. Reason just works with whatever he's given. Ultimately, our Will is responsible for our conclusions. It's our Will who takes in [or chooses to reject] the foundational idea.

Our Will can be persuaded to admit a concept because it's traditional and old, or because it's new and novel, or because a man he respects says so, or because a man he doesn't like says the opposite, or because it's in his best personal interest to have a certain opinion, or because it suits his fancy, or because it makes him look intelligent. There are a hundred good (and bad) reasons why our Will might go ahead and let an idea in. If the Will lets an idea in for any of these reasons, he'll usually tell his Reason in advance what to prove. After all, Reason's job is to logically prove for us whatever we think is right. Reason doesn't bring us to conclusions because they happen to be true.

That's why Reason has no right to have the last word on most subjects. It wasn't up to him to have the first word, and he'll always follow the lead of that first word. When you make a journey, arriving at the correct destination doesn't depend on traveling the smoothest roads, or on keeping a good pace. It depends on starting in the right direction!

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Why there are Different Schools of Philosophy

With this in mind, yet knowing that most people can't resist trusting Reason as if it was a competent, skilled counselor, it shouldn't surprise you that some philosophers who are honest and sincere, have concluded that there is no God. And other men prove that only what we can see or probe with instruments exists in man. They think that matter is all there is in the universe, and there's no such thing as spirit, either in God or man. And there are some philosophers on the opposite side who have reasoned a belief in existentialism. They claim that matter doesn't exist. They've proven conclusively to themselves that chairs, tables, trees and people don't really exist. What we think we see is really only the idea of those things, and our mind has created the vision of those things.

Practice in Reasoning

Maybe the best way to use this ability to reason things out, is to provide it with lots to do. We can do that by asking ourselves what causes this, or what causes that, and why people or animals do certain things. If Reason doesn't practice, it will get sluggish. There are some people who never wonder about things, or ask themselves questions about things they see.

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Chapter 7 - Managers of the Revenue, The Desires (Part 1)

The Mind Needs To Be Fed

We place the Managers of the Revenue (the desires) after the Intellect because their job is to do the same thing for the mind that the Appetites do for the body. The mind needs to be fed. It needs to grow and produce, just like the body. The body would never think to eat if it didn't get hungry. And the Mind would never think to feed itself what it needs if it didn't have certain desires to satisfy. You might say that the Desires gather the resources that the Mind needs, so we'll call them Managers of the Revenue.

Desire for Approval

Have you ever watched a baby playing with blocks? When he's managed to set one on its end, he turns to his mother for a smile. The little one isn't happy unless his mother or caregiver praises him. When he crawls to the window, pulls himself up on the chair leg and says, 'ma-ma, da-da,' he expects a smile for doing these things. If, instead, his caregiver looks severe and says, 'no, no!' then his little face will be crestfallen and he'll cry. No one has taught him that it matters whether the people he loves are pleased with him. It's born in him, and is just part of his make-up as a human being, as a little Mansoul.

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The Desire for Approval helps him later when he struggles with conquering a difficult math problem, or climbs a hill, or works to bring home a good report card. All this time, what he's doing is bringing raw material to the factory--he's bringing knowledge to his mind. And he's doing it because the people whose approval is worth having are concerned that he learns and knows, doesn't waste time in idleness, and develops habits of working steadily. That way, his mind will be nourished properly every day, just like his body.

The Demon of Vanity

But the proper and useful Desire for Approval has its own demons. One of them is Vanity. We can't live contentedly without the approval of somebody, but some children and adults choose to seek the approval of worthless, silly people instead of the respect of the wise and good. Some boys would rather talk and show off in order to make their playmates laugh, instead of working and playing in a way that wins the approval of their betters. People can be vain and can show off about almost anything--their rich relatives, the fancy parties they go to, their fashionable clothes, their new pocket-knife, their own cleverness. But when people show off, like a peacock spreading its tail, it's always in order to impress someone whose good opinion isn't worth having. Nice people think well of us just for doing and being our best. We know that, so we never try to show off for those people. A person who doesn't care about anybody's approval is stupid. But a person who wants the approval of unworthy people is vain.

Fame and Infamy

Another danger is that a person can allow the desire for approval to take over so much that he can't think of anything else. Everything he does, whether good or bad, is done to get them noticed by others. He'd rather that people said bad things about him than nothing

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at all. Some burglaries, murders and assassinations happen only for the sake of the infamy that the crime will bring. Sometimes heroic deeds are only done for the fame they'll bring. Infamy and fame both mean having a lot of people talking about you. When a person becomes so obsessed with his Desire for Approval that he's always wondering what other people will think about him and say about him, he loses self-respect, which is even more precious than the respect of others. A person can only have self-respect when the desires, motives and abilities of their Mansoul are in proper balance.

The Desire to Excel

Another desire that helps to feed the mind is Emulation, or the Desire to Excel. We might be learning to ice skate, and we don't give ourselves any rest until we can skate as well as another boy we know who learned the previous winter. Then we want to outdo him. Then we find a better skater and we want to skate as well as him. Then we want to skate better than him. Soon, we dream of the day when we'll be able to skate better than anyone in the neighborhood. And finally, we imagine how glorious it would be to the best skater in the whole world! It seems like some animals, especially horses, also have this desire. A horse will be annoyed if another horse is in front of him, and it motivates him to quicken his pace. And that's just what the Desire to Excel does for us. It spurs us to try harder when we get lazy. If one student reads, we decide to read more. If the other student works at his lessons, we work more. So, with a little competitive spirit, our Mind gets the food it needs to sustain itself.

Prizes and Places

The Desire to Excel has two Demons, just like the Desire to be Approved.

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First, people can get so obsessed with wanting to get ahead that they have no time to think of anything else. They could care less what they learn about, that's not what interests them. All they care about is good grades, or a prize, or being in first place or whatever. And what ends up happening is that the student who does take first place has a mind so starved that it never recovers its appetite. History, literature and science seem too uninteresting to spend time on. The whole point of life becomes getting ahead of everyone else. This is how Emulation, which was given to us to improve our mind and develop our body, defeats its own ends. All it cares about is being in first place.

Being the Best at Unworthy Things

We can err by being too competitive about things that are good in themselves. But, like any other servant, Emulation sometimes tries to gain control of Mansoul through unlawful, unworthy means. In the old days when people were hard drinkers, men wanted to be distinguished by their ability in drinking lots of wine at one sitting. A 'three-bottle man' was to be admired.

Distinctions as trivial as that are still sought after by many people, both adults and children. We should reflect on this and make sure we're not devoting our lives to a wish to be the best at something that's unworthy.

The Desire for Wealth

Everybody desires wealth, some more than others. That desire makes us willing to work to get the things we need for our bodies and minds. It's this desire that

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makes a small boy collect baseball cards, stamps, string and marbles. And it makes one rich man collect rare, valuable pictures, while another hoards his money and doesn't spend it so that he becomes a millionaire.

The Demon of Selfishness

Just like before, there are two demons waiting in the wings of this desire. One is selfishness. Once a person allows the desire of wealth to possess him, whether it manifests in hoarding stamps or art, figurines or money, he can't think of anything else. Getting more and keeping what he has consumes his life. He simply can't part with any of his treasure. He can't be generous. His mind is so preoccupied that he doesn't even have time to be kind. His focus is on gaining more for himself, and he becomes a selfish person. When a person's life becomes consumed with the Desire for Wealth, it becomes Greed. A person who is always grasping after more wealth is greedy. It may go so far that he can't part with any of his wealth, not even to take care of his own needs. A person in this condition is called a miser. But a person who makes the effort to acquire things as a small part of his life rather than the most important part, might get enough to share and thus be generous and helpful to others.

Worthless Wealth

Another risk is hoarding what's not worth anything. There's a charming story about a noble couple who spend their lives going on quick trips. First they're rushing to Palermo, then Moscow, now to Tokyo. Why are they traveling? Because they hear that one country has a matchbook cover that they don't have in their collection yet. Maybe this one is blue, or

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brown and yellow. The object of their desire is a two-inch match book. They never stop to ask what makes this ugly little match book so special. They only know that it's a little different than the rest, so, at great cost and inconvenience, they rush off to get it. The author of this story is making fun of the crazy trend that makes people have collections of one kind or another, whether worthy or not. This trend results from the natural Desire for Wealth that's inborn in every Mansoul. But it's up to us to make sure that what we collect has some real value. Let's start a collection of good books that we'll always treasure, or art prints from the great masters. Even postage stamps can be a good thing to collect--if we make the effort to be interested in the stamps themselves. We should wonder about things like why German stamps of the 1920's have an image of Germania. If a collection doesn't have an interest for the mind itself, then it's not worth having. If you always follow that principle, then you won't be the kind of person who thinks that silver plate is worth collecting just because it's silver plate. Instead, you might collect it because you can appreciate its antiquity, or its associations, or the beauty of its designs.

The Desire for Power

Another desire that comes naturally for all humans is the Desire for Power. All children have this from their preschool days in greater or lesser measure, but the one who has the most, rules the others. The other children play his games, run his errands, and tolerate him lording over them all day long. Those who love power the most will get it. But if they're good-natured, kind, helpful, generous, bright and amiable, then they'll use their power to keep everyone else happy, interested and entertained. Power is a good thing if we use it as an opportunity to serve. But it's a bad thing when all we care about is ruling everyone else.

The desire for power, also called Ambition, isn't quite the

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same as the Desire to be the Best. A child who just wants to be the Best is satisfied to be first. An ambitious child wants to lead everyone else. I think that an ambitious child is more useful to the world than one who wants to be the best because, if he wants to lead the others, he'll have to make himself worthy of taking the lead. He'll have to be the best, whether he's Class President or captain of the baseball team. But he must remember that 'pride goes before a fall.' If he lets himself become proud because he's the leader, then he'd better be careful! People don't mind following someone who's devoted and knows his duty. But they'll never follow someone who's proud and self-satisfied. Just like any other desire, the Desire for Power can ruin a life if it becomes Master. Once someone starts to be obsessed with being the leader, he'll stop caring whether he leads for a worthy or unworthy cause. He'll be just as happy to lead his co-workers in riot and disorder, as he will to lead them in a noble effort for a good cause. Many lives have been utterly ruined because of Ambition.

'Managing' People

There's another danger connected with the Desire for Power. This one is more harmful to those around us than it is to ourselves. If we always insist on taking the lead, it isn't fair to everyone else because it doesn't give them a chance to lead. We cheat them out of a part of their lives when we deny them their fair share of opportunities to practice their leadership skills. We grow stronger and more capable at their expense. As we get more and more powerful, they get weaker and weaker. Who is less noble than a person who is always trying to manage everyone else and always manipulating to get power for themselves? The best safeguard against this kind of danger is to never take the lead, but to wait until leadership is thrust on us. Instead of grabbing power, wait until it's given to us. And when we're in the position of leader, we should use our power to encourage others to make progress and to help them, rather than just looking for our own good.

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Chapter 8 - Managers of the Revenue, The Desires (Part 2)

The Desire for Community

Another thing that all people have in common is the Desire to be together. Everyone likes visitors, friends, neighbors, acquaintances. Little children like playing with other little children outside. Even as young as two years old, you can see a few of them toddling around together, talking baby talk with each other, and enjoying each other. The fun in going to public school is being with children who are the same age and in similar situations. Young men join clubs, women give parties, uneducated working class men will hang out together, even if they have very little to say to each other, and natives of some third world countries will sit silently in circles for hours. They all congregate for the same reason: everyone desires the company of others. We want to see friendly faces, hear human voices, give pleasure and receive it from each other.

We Learn from Other People

We learn when we're together, because most people have something useful to say that's good for us to hear. We owe it to others to have something to say that will interest others, maybe something

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we've seen, or read, or heard or thought. When Queen Victoria was a little girl, she was introduced to lots of interesting people so that she could talk with them. She met world travelers, scientists, inventors, soldiers, and naval men. She would read and think about the subject that they were involved with before she met them so that she'd be able to enjoy talking with them. That way, she'd have something useful to say and she would be knowledgeable enough to learn something from them. If you know a little about botany, a botanist won't mind sharing something about plant lore with you. If you know a bit of history, a historian will take time to tell you what he's doing in his studies. But if you know absolutely nothing about their subject, you could be with the greatest poet or adventurer or painter, and have nothing to discuss but the weather! Royalty and other great people understand this. They want to get most of their information first-hand, so they need to be knowledgeable about various subjects. They're able to learn about the latest discoveries in astronomy from a real astronomer who's making those discoveries, and they can learn about evolution from Darwin himself, and so on. Sometimes we envy privileged people because they have so many opportunities to hear their information first-hand. But don't forget that, in order to have any kind of productive conversation with the most capable people, there has to be a twofold preparation that princes and other dignitaries have to undergo. The amount of time and effort it takes them would surprise most students. When they enter into a discussion with a learned specialist, they bring two things to the conversation. They bring a cultivated and intelligent mind, and some working knowledge of a broad range of subjects. With those two items, we could make the most of our opportunities with anyone we meet, too. It seems to me that people usually get whatever it is they're ready for. I don't know if this is some kind of divine rule, but it seems to be true to me. At any rate, preparation is always wise, and it's a good idea to be ready for the best in conversation with whoever you might meet. If you do this, then your natural

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desire for society will do its job of collecting mental nourishment for your mind.

But it isn't just experts and specialists that we can learn from. I've seen impolite people in a room, or even sitting at the table, who didn't say a word because they didn't think the person next to them was worth talking to! Yet they think that, if only they had a chance to talk to so-and-so, who they admire from a distance, then they'd have lots to say! This isn't just bad manners and rude. It's also foolish, and they only hurt themselves. There's not a person alive who doesn't have some bit of knowledge, or experience, or who hasn't had some thought of his own. There's a good story told about Sir Walter Scott. He was traveling from London to Edinburgh on a stage coach and the man sitting next to him wouldn't talk. Scott tried bringing up the weather, crops, politics, books--every subject he could think of, and we can assume there were many from a man of such varied interests. Finally, in despair, he asked, 'Well, what can you talk about, then, sir?' 'Bent leather,' said the man. And Scott went on to have 'one of the most interesting conversations I can remember.' Everybody has his pet subject that he likes to talk about, if we only have the ability to find out what it is.

Dangers Related to the Love of Socializing

The Love of Society has two dangers related to it. One, as I said before, pertains especially to vain people who like to be flattered at any cost. They'll choose friends who are inferior to them and who will pretend to look up to them and praise them a lot. The other danger is the same one that applies to all of our other natural desires. The craving to socialize might take possession of our whole

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lives and gain control of Mansoul. One woman gossiping with her neighbor from her doorway says, 'There's no harm in it' of the girl who chats with her friends in the morning, plays tennis in the afternoon, and then goes out every evening. In fact, the girl does little but chatter here and there all day long, and has nothing to show for it. Some people are so busy running here and there, seeing and being seen, talking and being talked to, that their minds are practically starving for their own thoughts and resources. Although people don't lament over this like they do when a life is ruined over alcohol or some other sin, yet a life is still ruined just as completely, though their friends don't seem to mind.

Community is a Feast Where Everybody Brings Something

Any community, even if it only consists of two or three people, is like a potluck where each person has to bring something to the table. Young people often feel intimidated by this because they feel like they have nothing to say, unless they're with one or two close friends or family members. But be encouraged. Even intelligent listening is something worth offering, and it's something that everyone likes! There are more people who are good at talking than good at listening. You've probably been amused to see a group of people and notice that everybody is talking at the same time and nobody is listening. Listening with the entire mind is an act of delicate courtesy that draws the best from even dull people.

People who don't have much culture can only talk to their own kind, or to their own specific 'friends.' Car people have nothing to say to anyone but other car people, guys who are into dogs can't talk to anyone except other guys who are into their dogs, school boys

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can't talk to anyone but other school boys, school girls can't talk to anyone but other school girls, sailors have nothing to say to anyone but sailors, soldiers with other soldiers. This is natural, as the proverbial saying goes; 'Birds of a feather flock together.' But it's not a good idea. Why limit ourselves to our own little pond when we can have a share in the whole world?

The Desire for Knowledge

There's one Desire that truly is for the mind what hunger is for the body. I've saved that one for last. It's the Desire for Knowledge,. Everyone wants to know--but some people want to know about things worth knowing, and some people are happy knowing about unworthy, trivial things. The desire to know about unworthy things is called idle Curiosity. 'Where did you buy it?' 'How much did it cost?' 'What did she say?' 'Who was there?' 'Why aren't they on good terms?' and so on, are the kinds of questions that Curiosity asks. It seems harmless enough to satisfy your curiosity with scraps of news and gossip about one celebrity or another, or a notorious murderer, or a famous millionaire, or a politician, or military hero, or admirable lady, or dancer. Curiosity relishes newsworthy tidbits about any or all of them. Curiosity is just as eager to know and share the latest trivia about satellites, computer processing speeds, or whatever. But that's just psuedo-knowledge. The desire for real knowledge would lead a person from the thrill of processing speed to a serious study of computer technology. But idle Curiosity is content to know a few facts about a subject, instead of really understanding it.

Idle Curiosity and the Desire for Real Knowledge

In the same way that candy and pastries satisfy hunger without really nourishing and sustaining the body, so Curiosity satisfies the mind superficially with the tidbits of trivia that it gathers. The person who allows himself to be merely curious doesn't have any desire to really know. And that's too bad, because

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every person is born with a natural desire to explore the mysteries and fascinating subjects that are available to the Intellect. I mentioned them earlier. The minds feeds on knowledge about great subjects--History, Literature, Nature, Science, Art. That's what it needs to grow. The mind digests that kind of knowledge in the same way that the body digests healthy food. Great knowledge makes a person 'magnanimous,' which means a person who has a great mind is interested in lots of things, and can't be much bothered about petty, personal matters. It's a tragedy to lose out on such a wonderful possibility--and all for the sake of petty scraps of trivia about people and things that have nothing to do with each other, and not much relevance to our own lives!

Imitation and the Love of Knowledge

The love of Knowledge is the most noble of all our Desires. But if any of the other Desires gain control of Mansoul, the love of Knowledge will be squeezed out and deprived of its share in Mansoul. This is especially true when Imitation replaces the love of Knowledge. People sometimes take the trouble to learn about knowledge, or math, or history, or poetry, in a frantic, eager way--but not because they love those things. They do it because of some prize, or rating, or reward given for looking knowledgeable. But Knowledge has her own rewards, and she reserves them for those who truly love her.  She only pays us lifelong joy and happiness when Knowledge is precious to us and satisfies us for her own sake. A person can't be unhappy if he delights in Knowledge, not just to show off how smart he is, or to be superior to others, but simply because Knowledge is such a worthy thing to seek. Such a person is able to say, 'My mind is like an entire kingdom to me.' No matter how displeasing his life circumstances might be, he's able to escape into the kingdom of his mind, and he can find joy and entertainment in the

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fascinating, beautiful and wonderful things he's stored there.

Grades and Knowledge

Some children enjoy going to school, not because of what they learn there, but because they get grades that make them feel superior to some of their peers. They need to understand that grades and first-place standings and passing tests are all the reward they'll get from their education. John Ruskin said, 'They cram to pass their tests, instead of to really learn. The result is that they do pass, but they don't know.' The lasting joy of real Knowledge only comes to people who love Knowledge for the sake of knowing, not to those who use knowledge only as a way to get good grades or to advance themselves in life.

All People have Powers of Mind

There's a lot more we could say about the House of Mind, but this is probably enough for now. In reading about Intellect, Imagination, the Sense of Beauty, the Desires and the rest, you might have been amazed and surprised to recognize that all of those things are a part of your own self. It's even more interesting and surprising to realize that these same amazing abilities and possibilities are a part of even the underprivileged kids living on the streets, to a lesser or greater degree. The degree varies because the more of these things that our parents and grandparents had, the more we will probably have, too--they can be hereditary, although that's not always the case. But, except in the tragic case of the mentally challenged, no child was ever born who wasn't gifted with these great possibilities to some degree, whether his parents were civilized or savages. And that's a good reason for us to give every person in the world the opportunity to be

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everything they were born to be!

Managing Our Thoughts

We don't have to let this knowledge of ourselves be like a burden we carry on our backs. Once we learn something, it will come to our mind when we need it. We don't have to strive to keep it in mind constantly. For instance, you don't have to constantly go around reminding yourself, 'If I put my finger in the socket, I'll get shocked.' You just know that's true, so you don't do such a foolish thing. In the same way, once you understand the effects of only caring about what grade you'll make, you'll naturally try to put your mind and interest into your schoolwork for the sake of learning. That information isn't a burden. It immediately makes learning become more enjoyable. A king's castle is no more of a bother to the king than a shepherd's cottage is to the shepherd. Yes, the king has lots of treasures to take care of, and he has to remember how to keep them safe, and how to use them and appreciate them. But he has no trouble making the appropriate arrangements, and everything gets taken care of without him having to worry about it. That's the way it is with managing our thoughts. That's all there is to it. Knowing that we have to manage our thoughts, knowing that we're capable of doing it, knowing when and how to interfere with our thought process--this isn't everything, but I think it's half the battle.



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Paraphrased by L. N. Laurio
Please direct any comments or questions to me by emailing me at cmseries-owner at yahoogroups dot com.



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