1. THOUGHT IS KING.
“Our habits make or unmake us.” “In a thoughtless hour a groove is imbedded in the nerve substance, and thereafter, nine-tenths of the life flows through that groove.” Habit is, indeed, a most powerful and a most tyrannical master; and yet it has come within the observation and even the experience of many, that thought is even more masterful than habit. Appearing at the psychological moment and in a pedagogical way, a thought may be made to possess the mind with force sufficient to break almost any habit. From an ethical point of view, the exceptions to this are due to an inability to arouse thought of sufficient strength. Moreover, mental reactions which result in habit are originally brought about through some thought process. Speaking in general terms, it may be affirmed that thought makes habit and if sufficiently strong breaks habit. That our habits make or unmake us may be true, but is it not likewise true that our thoughts make or unmake our habits?
Thought is king; thought has made man king of the animal kingdom, and if thought has figured so largely in the evolution of the human animal in past ages, may we not assume that it will sway the future ages in like manner? Thought is a product of the class room. Here thoughts which make habits, and thoughts which breakhabits have full sway. As the children of the American schools think to-day, so will the men of American life think on the morrow; and as America thinks so will she ultimately do. This lends vital import to any object which may either inspire or regulate thought.