The religion of a child

Self-government with  tenderness, —here you

have the condition of all authority over children.

The child must discover in us no passion, no weakness
of which he can make use ; he must
feel himself powerless to deceive or to
trouble us ; then he will recognise in us his
natural superiors, and he will attach a special
value to our kindness, because he will
respect it. The child who can rouse in us
anger, or impatience, or excitement, feels
himself stronger than we, and a child only
respects strength. The mother should consider
herself as her child's sun, a changeless
and ever radiant world, whither the
small restless creature, quick at tears and
laughter, light, fickle, passionate, full of
storms, may come for fresh stores of light,
warmth, and electricity, of calm and of
courage. The mother represents goodness,
providence, law ; that is to say, the divinity,
under that form of it which is accessible
to childhood. If she is herself passionate
she will inculcate on her child a capricious
and despotic God, or even several discordant
gods. The religion of a child depends
on what its mother and its father are, and
not on what they say. The inner and unconscious
ideal which guides their life is

precisely what touches the child ; their
words, their remonstrances, their punishments,
their bursts of feeling even, are for
him merely thunder and comedy ; what
they worship— this it is which his instinct
divines and reflects.
The child sees what we are, behind what
we wish to be. Hence his reputation as a
physiognomist. He extends his power as
far as he can with each of us ; he is the
most subtle of diplomatists. Unconsciously
he passes under the influence of each person
about him, and reflects it while transforming
it after his own nature. He is a
magnifying mirror. This is why the first
principle of education is : train yourself;
and the first rule to follow if you wish to
possess yourself of a child's will is : master
your own.

Amiel

Ego

By a keen outlook on life we find that what disturbs us most in life is the ego of another person; it is the ego that has a jarring effect upon life। Those who know the right manner of developing personality know that the first lesson in life is to efface that ego as much as possible. Christ says, 'Blessed are the poor in spirit.' That poorness in spirit is the softening of the ego. When the ego is softened in a person then in the thought, speech, and action of that person there is a charm. Sometimes a person, after going through disillusionment, suffering, torture, shows in his personality some charm, and that charm has come from the softening of the ego. But any virtue that develops naturally, forced by life or circumstances, is not a virtue in the same sense as that which has been developed through one's own effort. Every beautiful action, thought or speech is derived from the effacing of self, or ego. For instance, every manner of courtesy comes from holding the reins of the ego. Beauty of speech always depends on the same effacement of the self, and so it is with thought. As soon as the ego expresses itself without control it hurts the ego of another person. The tendency in the lower creatures to fight is caused only by the ego, and man has this tendency no less than they, but rather more. It is this tendency which brings about disturbances in the life of individuals and in the multitude. The family feuds in ancient times, and now wars, all come from the same source, the ego. The idea of self-denial in Christianity, if rightly considered, expressed the idea of effacement rather than that of renunciation. Those whose contact brings us comfort, ease, peace, always have a softened ego. The greater the person the finer the ego. No example can be better than that of Christ washing the feet of his disciples.


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