re knowledge
in such a manner as to produce dislike and disgust. A proper interest
in a subject leads to a quiet, steady absorption of the mind with it,
but does not imply an impetuous, passionate, and one-sided devotion to
one thing. Interest keeps the mind active and alert without undue
excitement or partiality.

It would be well if every study and every lesson could be sustained by
such an interest as this. It would be in many cases like lubricating
oil poured upon dry and creaking axles. Knowledge might then have a
flavor to it and would be more than a consumption of certain facts and
formulas coldly turned over to the memory machine. The child's own
personality must become entangled in the facts and ideas acquired.
There should be a sort of affinity established between the child's soul
and the information he gains. At every step the sympathy and life
experiences from without the school should be intertwined with school
acquisitions. All would be woven together and permeated by _feeling_.
We forget that the feelings or sensibilities awakened by knowledge are
what give it personal significance to us.

The interest we have in mind is _intrinsic_, native to the subject, and
springs up naturally when the mind is brought face to face with
something attractive. The things of sense in nature and the people
whom we see and read about, have a perennial and inexhaustible
attraction for us all. It is among these objects that poets and
artists find their materials and their inspiration. For the same
reason the pictures drawn by the artist or poet have a charm which does
not pass away. They select something concrete and individual; they
clothe it with beauty and attractiveness; they give it some inherent
quality that appeals to our admiration and love. It must call forth
some esthetic or moral judgment by virtue of its natural quality. Like
luscious grapes the objects presented to the thought of the children
should have an unquestionable quality that is desirable.

We just spoke of interest, not as fluctuating and variable, but steady
and persistent. It contains also the elements of ease, pleasure, and
needed employment; that is, in learning something that has a proper
interest, there is greater ease and pleasure in the acquisition, and
occupation with the object satisfies an inner need. "When interest has
been fully developed, it must always combine pleasure, facility, and
the satisfaction of a need. We see a