g necessary to become a writer
of any acceptability. Merely because a child finds it easier to dawdle
away the hours with a pencil or a brush than to go into the harvest field
or into the kitchen is not a good reason for supposing that this
preference is an indication of either talent or genius.

A parent's judgment of the requirements of a profession is oftentimes
most amusingly erroneous. We remember a father who told us that he was
quite certain that his son was born to be a ruler of men. When we asked
why, he told us in all seriousness that from early childhood his boy's
blood boiled with indignation against people who had committed indignities
upon kings and princes. Of course, in one sense of the word, this parent
was insane, and yet his bad judgment was scarcely more ridiculous than
that of many other parents. We have met parents who seemed to think that
success in the practice of law depended wholly upon the ability to make
speeches. We have seen other parents who thought that success in banking
depended upon the ability to count money and hold on to it. Even
intelligent people have the false idea that an architect needs only to be
a good draughtsman. The number of people who imagine that success in
business is won by shrewdness and sharp practice is very large.

PARENTAL PREJUDICES

Parents are often influenced by the most irrelevant of prejudices in
counseling their children as to vocation. A man who has had an unfortunate
experience with a lawyer is very likely to oppose strenuously any move on
the part of his son to study and practice law. Many practical men have
intense prejudices against art, music, literature, and other such
professions for their sons. The number of parents who are prejudiced
against a college education is legion. On the other hand, there are a
goodly number of men who are prejudiced against any vocation for their
sons which does not involve a college education.

Many parents who have worked hard and toiled unremittingly at any
particular profession oftentimes feel that they want their children to do
something easier, something requiring less drudgery, and so bitterly
oppose their following in their fathers' footsteps. On the other hand,
many fathers are domineering in their determination that their sons shall
follow the same vocation in which they made their success.

Parents are often prejudiced in favor of vocations followed by dear
friends or by men whom they greatly admire. A s