give you an understanding of your own character. It will give you a better understanding of some, at least, of the laws and principles of character analysis. For this reason, it will also give you a far more intimate understanding of others.
COMPARE INDICATIONS AND CHARACTERISTICS
When you have learned what certain physical characteristics indicate, practise observing these indications amongst the people whom you know well. Try your skill at making the connection between the indication and the characteristics which, according to the science, it indicates. For example, go over in your mind all of the blondes you know and trace in their dispositions and characters, as you know them, the evidences of volatility, love of variety, eagerness, exuberance, positiveness, and other such characteristics. Take careful note as to how these qualities manifest themselves; observe differences in degrees of blondness, and corresponding differences in the degrees in which the characteristics indicated show themselves. Observe, also, how the various characteristics manifest themselves in combination. For example, note the difference between a blonde with a big nose and a blonde with a small nose.
ANALYZE, CHECK UP AND VERIFY
When you have analyzed yourself and your relatives, friends and acquaintances, you will be ready to begin on the analysis of people previously unknown to you. You will find them everywhere—in street-cars, in stores, on the streets, in churches and theaters, on athletic fields, in offices, in factories, in schools and in colleges. When you have analyzed them as carefully as you can and, if possible, have written down a brief outline of your analysis of them, check up and verify; find out how far you have been right. If, in any case, you find that you have been mistaken, find out why—study the case further. You have already demonstrated and verified your principles; therefore, either you have made an error in your observation or you have reasoned illogically in drawing your
conclusions. Find out which it is and correct your analyses—then verify them.
This is a practice which, if you are at all interested in human nature, you will find intensely fascinating. It is one which you can pursue for years and not find it monotonous. Not a day will pass, if you are diligent in this practice, in which you will not learn something new, something interesting, something valuable. Those who have studied and practised this science for many years are, almost without exception, the ones who are most eager and enthusiastic about making these observations, analyses and verifications.
STUDY TYPES
Perhaps one of the most interesting and valuable forms of exercise in the practical application of this science is the study of types and their variations. Anyone who has observed humanity knows that, while no two persons are exactly alike, practically all human beings can be classified satisfactorily into comparatively a few general types. We have considered some of these types at length in earlier chapters of this book. It is by a study and comparison of people belonging to these general types, the careful noting of resemblances and differences, that the science of character analysis becomes almost as easy as the reading of a book. If you see a man for the first time who resembles in many important particulars of appearance some man you know well, study him to see whether he will not manifest in much the same way the same characteristics as your friend. This kind of observation, intelligently made, is the basis of accuracy and swiftness in making analyses.
KEEP ACCURATE AND ADEQUATE RECORDS