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

CHAPTER FIVE Of Tools Character and Personality The Dynamic Concept of Character—Introversion and Extraversion— “ Good ” and “ Bad ” Characters—The “ Ideal ” Character—The Evolution of a Personality—The Evolution of a Neurotic Character —How to Analyse a Character. VJLTHAT tools are available for the art of self-sculpture ? ▼ ▼ We have learned that living is a fine art, and we have discovered some of the obstacles that stand in the way of our creative efforts to make something of ourselves. Some compensatory technique is available to every human being, and it is our task to know what techniques and forms of craftsmanship are most appropriate. In the present chapter we shall discuss the choice of tools and instruments most suited to the art of self-sculpture, and at the same time we shall seek an understanding of the perplexity of those unhappy men and women who have, through fear and ignorance, used the wrong instruments. But before we describe the tools available to each and every one of us, in the quest of happiness, let us determine the purpose and goal of our individual efforts. You will remember that every human child begins life with the handicap of actual inadequacy aggravated by the realiza¬ tion of his handicap. The child compensates by setting himself a goal which promises the consolations of peace, security, a sense of completeness which satisfy his self¬ esteem. The child s idea of the goal of his striving, vaguely formulated deep in his unconscious, is usually crystallized in some consciously realized, partial attribute of godlikeness (a boy who feels himself small and weak, and whose unconscious goal is to be a complete he-man, crystallizes his unconscious striving in his conscious desire to be a policeman because the policeman seems to have all the qualities of security and bigness that he