ncy; sixth, upon an
accurate knowledge of the character, disposition and personal
peculiarities of his employer or employers and superior executives;
seventh, upon an intelligent and diplomatic adjustment of his methods of
work, his personal appearance, his personal behavior, his relationship
with his fellow employees and with his employers, to the end of building
up and maintaining permanently the highest possible degree of confidence
in him and satisfaction with his service.

PART FOUR

PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICE OF CHARACTER ANALYSIS

CHAPTER I

THE SCIENTIFIC BASIS OF CHARACTER ANALYSIS

A few years ago we were content to guess, to follow tradition, and to
charge up to the caprices of fate or an all-wise Providence the failures
we experienced as a result of our ignorance. Then someone, less bound by
tradition than the average, discovered that exact knowledge was obtainable
about most subjects. Scientific research took the place of guess-work or
mere haphazard leaps in the dark. We began to observe, classify, measure,
weigh, test, and record, instead of guess. Thus science was born.

As far back as human records go men have made observations upon others,
have formed certain conclusions as a result of these observations, and
have recorded them. Some were accurate and valuable; others merely
ludicrous and misleading. Tens of thousands of men and women have
attempted to analyze human character, but most of them became lost in a
maze of apparent contradictions and gave up in despair, content to follow
impression and intuition. Though they became discouraged and abandoned the
field, each of these workers contributed something of value to the
subject, and to-day we have a science of character analysis exact enough
to add very greatly to our wisdom in dealing with humanity and its
problems.

LIMITATIONS OF THE SCIENCE

We do not wish you to misunderstand our claims for the science. Character
analysis is not a science in the mathematical sense. As we said in our
introduction, we cannot place a man on the scales and determine that he
has so many milligrams of industry, or apply measurements and prove that
he has so many centimeters of talent for salesmanship. Nor can we, using
the method of the chemist, apply the litmus to his stream of consciousness
and get his psychical reaction in a demonstrable way. We are glad we
cannot, else humanity might lose the fine arts of coquetry and conquest.
Perhaps we neve