purpose to guide him. He has only blind impulses that may often be
harmless but are never reliable. So the first need is for training
in regularity, and this is possible only under the guidance of the
mother or nurse, who _knows_ what is to be done, or not done,
and whose authority must be absolute. So the child must first of all
learn to obey. Later he must learn what and whom to obey.

Recognizing, then, in full the value of obedience, we must be
careful not to exaggerate it and consider it a cardinal virtue.
Obedience is far from being a fundamental virtue. On the contrary,
once established as a ruling principle in the household or anywhere
else, it is easily carried far enough to become a source of positive
harm. To obey means to act in accordance with another's wishes. To
act in this manner does not call upon the exercise of judgment or
responsibility, and too many grow up without acquiring the habit of
using judgment and without acquiring a sense of responsibility. They
are only too willing to leave choice and decision to others.
Decision of character and habitual obedience do not go well
together. Moreover, it is now coming to be more fully recognized
that the progress of society depends not upon closer obedience to
the few natural leaders, but upon the exercise of discretion and
judgment on the part of an ever larger number of those who are not
leaders.

There may be a still greater danger in requiring so-called implicit
obedience of every child. We have learned from modern studies of the
human mind that _doing_ is the outcome of _thinking_ and
_feeling_. When we constantly force children to do things that
have no direct connection with their thoughts and feelings, or when
we prevent actions which follow naturally from their thoughts and