What you have to do is to teach the new habit to your brain by daily concentration on it; by forcing your brain to think of nothing else for half an hour of a morning.  After a time the brain will begin to remember automatically.  For, of course, the explanation of your previous failures is that your brain, undisciplined, merely forgot at the critical moment.  The tone was out of your mouth before your brain had waked up.  It is necessary to watch, as though you were a sentinel, not only against the wrong tone, but against the other symptoms of the attitude of blame.  Such as the frown.  It is necessary to regard yourself constantly, and in minute detail.  You lie in bed for half an hour and enthusiastically concentrate on this beautiful new scheme of the right tone.  You rise, and because you don’t achieve a proper elegance of necktie at the first knotting, you frown and swear and clench your teeth!  There is a symptom of the wrong attitude towards your environment.  You are awake, but your brain isn’t.  It is in such a symptom that you may judge yourself.  And not a trifling symptom either!  If you will frown at a necktie, if you will use language to a necktie which no gentleman should use to a necktie, what will you be capable of to a responsible being?...  Yes, it is very difficult.  But it can be done.

IX

‘FIRE!’

In this business of daily living, of ordinary usage of the machine in hourly intercourse, there occurs sometimes a phenomenon which is the cause of a great deal of trouble, and the result of a very ill-tended machine.  It is a phenomenon impossible to ignore, and yet, so shameful is it, so degrading, so shocking, so miserable, that I hesitate to mention it.  For one class of reader is certain to ridicule me, loftily saying:  ’One really doesn’t expect to find this sort of thing in print nowadays!’ And another class of reader is certain to get angry.  Nevertheless, as one of my main objects in the present book is to discuss matters which ‘people don’t talk about,’ I shall discuss this matter.  But my diffidence in doing so is such that I must approach it deviously, describing it first by means of a figure.

Imagine that, looking at a man’s house, you suddenly perceive it to be on fire.  The flame is scarcely perceptible.  You could put it out if you had a free hand.  But you have not got a free hand.  It is his house, not yours.  He may or may not know that his house is burning.  You are aware, by experience, however, that if you directed his attention to the flame, the effect of your warning would be exceedingly singular, almost incredible.  For the effect would be that he would instantly begin to strike matches, pour on petroleum, and fan the flame, violently resenting interference.  Therefore you can only stand and watch, hoping that he will notice the flames before they are beyond control, and extinguish them.  The probability is, however,