How to be happy though human / by W. Béran Wolfe.
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involve themselves in ridiculous metaphysical tangles in their hope to find the “ right ” way and in their anxiety to avoid the “ wrong ”. They are inclined to be perfectionists. Without exception they believe in the philosophy of “ all—or none ”. Absolute truth or absolute right does not exist in this world. Reality is an approximation, and concessions must be made constantly to the factor of the unpredictable in nature. The hesita¬ tion neurotic, however, applies himself to the rigorous absolutes of theology, or to pious subscription to other cults which promise certain success in the worlds beyond this. For this reason hesitation neurotics are inclined to be superstitious, because nothing is so intangible, and yet so absolutely satisfying, as superstitions, dogmas, and creeds. Melancholia is frequently the end result of the hesita¬ tion neurosis. When the problems can no longer be denied, and the neurotic realizes that it is very late, that he has thrown away the greater part of his life in wasting time, he becomes depressed, “ blue,” deeply discouraged, and life-weary. The end result, whether a cure by clarification, or chronic mental invalidism, or suicide, depends largely on his environment, and on his willingness to make final concessions to reality. techniques of Evasion 3. Evasion of reality hy a detour of the chief arenas of human endeavour. In some ways the detour neurosis presents some of the most interesting problems of the neurosis, because the detour is frequently so clever that no one realizes that it is one, and often it is so wide that the neurotic loses sight of his first objective and becomes completely confused by his own strategy. The detour neurotics are differentiated from the hesitation neurotics by their greater activity. They are very much occupied in deceiving themselves, the better to deceive the world. Faced with a problem which they are afraid to solve, they call attention to the necessity of doing some other