g," by Arthur Frederick Sheldon.

MANY DOMINATING MOTIVES

As we have already seen, one man gets his information very quickly,
another must get it slowly. One demands details, another cannot endure
them. But these are not the only differences. One man learns best through
his eyes, another through his ears, and still another by his sense of
touch. One man gets his facts most easily by reading about them, another
must see the actual production, while the third forms the most definite
and easily understandable mental picture of them as a result of hearing
them described. One man, in buying machinery, wants to examine carefully
every detail of its construction, another man wants only to see it in
action and examine its product, while still another man demands both.

There is the same diversity in motives. One man's strongest motive is
vanity; another's, ambition, love of power; still another's, love of
beauty. One man responds most readily to any appeal to his affections,
another to an appeal to his pride. So, amongst dominating motives in men,
we find also avarice, greed, parsimony, benevolence, progressiveness, love
of variety, love of the striking and unusual, love of pleasure, a love of
cleanliness, physical appetite, a desire for comfort, love of home, love
of family, love of friends, love of country, religion, philanthropy,
politics, and many others which will readily occur to the thinking reader.

DIFFICULTY OF DETERMINING MOTIVES

It will readily be seen that no study of psychology in the ordinary
acceptance of the term can give us any clue to these variations in
individuals. Yet successful persuasion depends upon as accurate a
knowledge as possible of these very differences among people. The
parsimonious salesman who takes it for granted that every one's motives
are the same as his own, and, therefore, talks to every prospect about the
money-saving possibilities of his commodity, will most certainly fail in
trying to persuade those to purchase who care nothing about saving a few
cents, but do care a great deal about the quality, style, and beauty of
the commodity. The attorney who makes his plea to the court on the basis
of technical justice in every case he pleads will lose many cases in those
courts where the presiding judge is rather impatient with technical
justice and may, perhaps, decide cases upon their merits or according to
his own sympathies. We once knew a learned, able, and conscientious judge
who