Understanding yourself : the mental hygiene of personality / by Ernest R. Groves.

  • Ernest R. Groves
Date:
[1935]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Understanding yourself : the mental hygiene of personality / by Ernest R. Groves. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    24/296 (page 12)
    cravings. This insight cannot be had merely by the wish¬ ing. There has to be a concrete searching of the self. To help the reader to know himself, to tolerate what cannot be changed, and to utilize to the full his personal and unique resources is the motive of this book. It is not so difficult to know the inner resources one has for the task of living, once the importance of finding them out is recognized. There is, however, the necessity of look¬ ing at the self from many angles. With such a background of scientific information there can be a true appraisal of the meaning of what one finds. The inheritance, the phys¬ ical constitution of the body, the peculiarities characteristic of the individual thinking and feeling, the history of the past stretching from at least the time of birth to the pres¬ ent, social setting, including relatives, friends, enemies, and casual acquaintances, the suggestions that come out of the social conditions of the period, and the prejudices and judgment that one brings to any experience, all must have scrutiny if any genuine knowledge of the self is to be at¬ tained. Some readers will raise an objection at this point. They will insist that it is morbid to give such attention to oneself. The issue that this query brings up is a most important one and one that requires frank and clear treatment. How often we know someone who is making himself trouble or spoiling what he tries to carry through or rendering himself disagreeable to others through some idiosyncrasy or small fault of which he is entirely unconscious. Fre- [12 ]