This book is written for young students in high schools and normal
schools. No knowledge can be of more use to a young person than a
knowledge of himself; no study can be more valuable to him than a study
of himself. A study of the laws of human behavior,--that is the purpose
of this book.

What is human nature like? Why do we act as we do? How can we make
ourselves different? How can we make others different? How can we make
ourselves more efficient? How can we make our lives more worth while?
This book is a manual intended to help young people to obtain such
knowledge of human nature as will enable them to answer these questions.

I have not attempted to write a complete text on psychology. There are
already many such books, and good ones too. I have selected for
treatment only such topics as young students can study with interest and
profit. I have tried to keep in mind all the time the practical worth of
the matters discussed, and the ability and experience of the intended
readers.


TO THE TEACHER

This book can be only a guide to you. You are to help your students
study human nature. You must, to some extent, be a psychologist yourself
before you can teach psychology. You must yourself be a close and
scientific student of human nature. Develop in the students the spirit
of inquiry and investigation. Teach them to look to their own minds and
their neighbor's actions for verification of the statements of the text.