experience and all philosophy agree that it is the character; and
the central fact in character is the _will_. Yet the will is
not something in the soul that exists by itself, as a "faculty" of
the mind. The will is a product of all the other processes that go
on in the mind, and can not be trained by itself. Neither can the
will of the child be expected to come to its own through neglect.
Indeed, although the will can not be trained by itself, its training
is even more important than the training of the intellect. The great
defect in our moral training has been that we have generally
attempted to train our children too exclusively through precepts and
mottoes and rules, and too little through activities that lead to
the formation of habits. The will depends upon the intellect, but it
cannot be trained through _learning_ alone, though learning can
be made to help. There are, as we all know, only too many learned
men and women with weak wills, and there are many men and women of
strong character who have had but little book learning. The will
expresses itself through action, and must be trained through action.
But action is impelled by feelings, so the will must be trained also
through the feelings. All right education is education of the will.
The will is formed while the child is learning to think, to feel,
and to do.

We judge of character by the behavior. But our behavior is not made
up entirely of acts of the will. Hundreds of situations occur that
do not require individual decision, but are adequately met by acts
arising from habit, or even from instinct. The experience of the
race has given us many customs and manners which are for the most
part satisfactory, and which the child should learn as a matter of
course. It is thus important that the child should acquire certain
habits as early in life as possible. These habits will not only