nature," which, by the way, is often more powerful than the original
nature of the person. The Duke of Wellington said that habit was as
strong as ten natures, and he proceeded to drill habits into his army
until they found it natural to act in accordance with the habits pounded
into them during the drills. Darwin relates an interesting instance of
the force of habit over the reason. He found that his habit of starting
back at the sudden approach of danger was so firmly established that no
will-power could enable him to keep his face pressed up against the cage
of the cobra in the Zoological Gardens when the snake struck at him,
although he knew the glass was so thick that there could be no danger,
and although he exerted the full force of his will. But we venture to say
that one could overcome even this strongly ingrained habit, by gradually
training the sub-conscious mentality and establishing a new habit of
thought and action.

It is not only during the actual process of "willing" the new habit that
the work of making the new mental path goes on. In fact, the Yogis
believe that the principal part of the work goes on sub-consciously
between the intervals of commend, and that the real progress is made in
that way, just as the real work of solving the problem is performed
sub-consciously, as related in our last lesson. As an example, we may
call your attention to some instances of the cultivation of physical
habits. A physical task learned in the evening is much easier to perform
the following-morning than it was the night before, and still easier
the following Monday morning than it was on the Saturday afternoon
previous. The Germans have a saying that "we learn to skate in summer,
and to swim in winter," meaning that the impression passed on to the
subconscious mentality deepens and broadens during the interval of rest.
The best plan is to make frequent, sharp impressions, and then to allow
reasonable periods of rest in order to give the sub-conscious mentality
the opportunity to do its work. By "sharp" impressions we mean
impressions given under _strong attention_, as we have mentioned in some
of the earlier lessons of this series.

A writer has well said: "Sow an act, reap a habit; sow a habit, reap a
character; sow a character, reap a destiny," thus recognizing habit as
the source of character. We recognize this truth in our training of
children, forming goods habits of character by constant repetition, by
watchf