Book Description

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1900 edition. Excerpt: ... themselves. The most effective gestures are those made unconsciously to the speaker, and are unobserved by the listener. "Forms are used for the purpose of conveying ideas, and the simpler and truer they are, the easier will they lm comprehended, no matter how great the idea. The grandest revelation ever brought to the human mind came in the simple form and language of the Gospels, and it were well if all art and all life would emulate that simplicity." HINDRANCES. The question might be asked, "Since gesture is the natural expression of mind through the muscles, why is it necessary to study or practice exercises for the purpose of effective expression through gesture?" The answer lies in the fact that all organic nature demands education in agreement with its tendencies, and all tendencies require education for their perfect development. Through education, tendencies blossom into fulfillment. The horticulturist, by bringing tn bear the right influences and conditions for the growth of a plant, assists nature in unfolding the highest possibilities of plant life. Every plant is susceptible of culture along the line of its natural tendencies. The horticulturist does not determine the tendency, he merely assists in its fulfillment. Without proper culture no one can fulfill his highest possibilities, and one of the aims of true education is the elimination of hindrances, to the end of developing the potential beauty, truth and good in human nature. Emerson says, "'Tis inhuman to want faith in the power of education, since to meliorate is the law of nature." We have but to consider the physiology of habit, upon which all scientists are agreed, in order to see that the meliorating force of education applies to the body as well as to the mind. A...