How to be happy though human / by W. Béran Wolfe.

technique of being happy as a human being. The technique of the cure follows as a logical consequence : it lies in the art of building bridges to one’s fellow-men, and in the courageous affirmation of life. We have intimated that the need for security is the reason for the existence of society and civilization. Very often, however, an individual becomes panic-stricken because he senses his insecurity so deeply. More often than not, he is ignorant of the natural and easy way to attain security—that is, by being a socially adjusted human being, and he looks to his private and uniquely individual defences to give him a greater plus of security. He pro¬ ceeds to build walls about himself. The more walls he builds, the more anxious he becomes, and the more anxious he is, the higher he builds his walls. This is the vicious circle of isolation. The tragedy of these people is that they sometimes succeed in walling themselves in so completely that they not only keep out all danger, but also light, food, life, and love—the very things that could bring them happiness. If the defences are battered down by fortune (and they usually arej, all is lost. If fate deals unkindly with an individual who has built his bridges according to the second diagram, he remains relatively secure and happy. The Great War proved conclusively that in the war between armaments and allies, the allies eventually win. Symptoms of the Inferiority Complex How can you recognize whether you have an inferiority complex ? A whole volume might be written about the complicated manifestations of this almost universal phenomenon. The inferiority complex reveals itself in all human situations in which an individual is naturally placed in a position of greater danger, or in situations demanding a definitely social adjustment. Our assump¬ tion is indicated by the facts. One of the simplest situa¬ tions in which an individual senses his isolation most keenly—in which therefore the experience of complete