iar. He never dreamed of forming such a habit; but the little
misrepresentations to gain some temporary end, had, before he was aware
of it, made a beaten track in the nerve and brain tissue, until lying
has become almost a physical necessity. He thinks he can easily
overcome this habit, but he will not. He is bound to it with cords of
steel; and only by painful, watchful, and careful repetition of the
exact truth, with a special effort of the will-power at each act, can
he form a counter trunk-line in the nerve and brain tissue. Society is
often shocked by the criminal act of a man who has always been
considered upright and true. But, if they could examine the habit-map
in his nervous mechanism and brain, they would find the beginnings of a
path leading directly to his deed, in the tiny repetitions of what he
regarded as trivial acts. All expert and technical education is built
upon the theory that these trunk-lines of habit become more and more
sensitive to their accustomed stimuli, and respond more and more
readily.

We are apt to overlook the physical basis of habit. Every repetition
of an act makes us more likely to perform that act, and discovers in
our wonderful mechanism a tendency to perpetual repetition, whose
facility increases in exact proportion to the repetition. Finally the
original act becomes voluntary from a natural reaction.

It is cruel to teach the vicious that they can, by mere force of
will-power, turn "about face," and go in the other direction, without
explaining to them the scientific process of character-building,
through habit-formation. What we do to-day is practically what we did
yesterday; and, in spite of resolutions, unless carried out in this
scientific way, we shall repeat to-morrow what we have done to-day.
How unfortunate that the science of habit-forming is not known by
mothers, and taught in our schools, colleges, and universities! It is
a science compared with which other departments of education sink into
insignificance. The converted man is not always told that the great
battle is yet before him; that he must persistently, painfully,
prayerfully, and with all the will-power he possesses, break up the old
habits, and lay counter lines which will lead to the temple of virtue.
He is not told that, in spite of all his efforts, in some unguarded
moment, some old switch may be left open, some old desire may flash
along the line, and that, possibly before he is aware of it,