Disquisition by Scripps, E.W., One man, January 4, 1909

              Ohio University Libraries, E. W. Scripps Papers, MSS 117, Series 4, http:// media. library. ohiou. edu/ scripps
January 4, 1909. FILE 350
There is one laan {) f' - illihom I kno'V~' more thc.., ll does aL'" 1Y other living man.
About him there are mW1y things that I would not dare to tell J even to my
d- i aT'" .. L . j' • There are a few things that I would not speak of J because, cBedi t-able
to him as the~ r might seem to be by some ether person, to me they
seem to have origin in the Vl&':/ of l'aot. i ves, such as leave them worthless
as indicators of character. A disposition tc self anal~ rsis may be indica­ti
ve of an unhealthy, morbid mind. }' or m:,: ovm part I I consider self
analysis as not only a good pra. ctice, but a nE~ eessary practice for all
unusually strcm. g men, and for cJ. l men v7ho ha1Jie important duties to perform.
Self analYE'- is is a vice, perb. aps only when it is undertaken for a. wrong
purpose, when premises are fal se and v{ hen conclusions are incorrect.
The self analysis of a vain mB. l1 who wants to flatter himself, and who is
so blind to his ovm imperfeetions as not to 1~ ie able to formulate them,
even in his mID mind, are necessarily founded on wrong motives, false
premi se S J and hence I result in wrong conclusions.
In a general wa. y we are accustomed to attribute to every human being
two SIJecial SOl~ tf: of qualities. We speak of a. man's head and his heart.
Of some men we express approval of their heads, and eli sap}. il'oval of their
hearts. We say of some 1 " 1' hey are good fell · :::\ i~~ at heart but nevertheless
the: r are fool s" •
Of course, eruoti ens E.:. re as much t. ht: product of brain as any sort of
ratioci: nation. Still) we do recosnize the t",'! o qualities of men and the
definition implied in the use of t. he words the " head" and the " hear- til J aT""
good enough for present purposes.
In the main, I propose to deal with those ~ ualities in this man
under consideration which would re characterized as of the " head".
6 ~.