How to Analyze People on Sight. Elsie Lincoln Benedict

with which many human Fords disguise themselves. The chances are

      that you have overlooked a dozen Pierces this week because their paint

      was rusty. Perchance you are a Pierce yourself, drawing a Ford salary

      because you don't know you are a high-powered machine capable of making

      ten times the speed you have been making on your highway of life.

      Superficialities Sway Us

       If so your mistake is only natural. The world classifies human beings

      according to their superficialities. To the world a human motorcycle can

      pass for a Rolls-Royce any day if sufficiently camouflaged with

      diamonds, curls, French heels and plucked eyebrows.

      Bicycles in Congress

       In the same manner many a bicycle in human form gets elected to

      Congress because he plays his machinery for all it is worth and gets a

      hundred per cent service out of it. Every such person learned early in

      life what kind of car he was and capitalized its natural tendencies.

      Don't Judge by Veneer

       Nothing is more unsafe than to attempt to judge the actual natures of

      people by their clothes, houses, religious faith, political

      affiliations, prejudices, dialect, etiquette or customs. These are only

      the veneer laid on by upbringing, teachers, preachers, traditions and

      other forces of suggestion, and it is a veneer so thin that trifles

      scratch it off.

      The Real Always There

       But the real individual is always there, filled with the tendencies of

      his type, bending always toward them, constantly seeking opportunities

      to run as he was built to run, forever striving toward self-expression.

      It is this ever-active urge which causes him to revert, in the manifold

      activities of everyday life, to the methods, manners and peculiarities

      common to his type.

      This means that unless he gets into an environment, a vocation and a

      marriage which permits of his doing what he _wants_ to do he will be

      miserable, inefficient, unsuccessful and sometimes criminal.

      Causes of Crime

       That this is the true explanation of crime has been recognized for

      many years by leading thinkers. Two prison wardens--Thomas Tynan of

      Colorado and Thomas Mott Osborne of Sing Sing--effectively initiated

      penal reforms based upon it.

      Every crime, like every personal problem, arises from some kind of

      situation wherein instinct is thwarted by outside influence.

       Human Analysis teaches you to recognize, on sight, the predominant

      instincts of any individual--in brief, what that individual is inclined

      to do under all the general situations of his life. You know what the

      world tries to compel him to do. If the discrepancy between these two is

      beyond the reach of his type he refuses to do what society demands.

      This and this only is back of every human digression from indiscretion

      to murder.

      It is as vain to expect to eradicate these inborn trends and put others

      in their places as to make a sewing machine out of an airplane or an oak

      out of a pine. The most man can do for his neighbor is to understand and

      inspire him. The most he can do for himself is to understand and

      organize his inborn capacities.

      Find Your Own Type

       The first problem of your happiness is to find out what type you are

      yourself--which you will know after reading this book--and to build your

      future accordingly.

      Knowing and Helping Others

       The second is to learn how to analyze others to the end that your

      relationships with them may be harmonious and mutually advantageous.

      Take every individual according to the way he was born, accept him as

      that kind of mechanism and deal with him in the manner befitting that

      mechanism. In this way and this only will you be able to impress or to

      help others.

      In this way only will you be able to achieve real success. In this way

      only will you be able to help your fellowman find the work, the

      environment and the marriage wherein he can be happy and successful.

      The Four C's

       To get the maximum of pleasure and knowledge out of this interesting

      course there are four things to remember as _your_ part of the contract.

      Read CONCENTRATEDLY

       Think of _what_ you are reading _while_ you are reading it.

      Concentration is a very simple thing. The next C is

      Observe CAREFULLY

       Look at people carefully (but not starefully) when analyzing them.

      Don't jump at conclusions. We humans have a great way of twisting facts

      to fit our conclusion as soon as we have made one. But don't spend all

      your time getting ready to decide and forget to decide at all, like the

      man who was going to jump a ditch. He ran so far back to get a good

      start each time that he never had the strength to jump when he got

      there. Get a good start by observing carefully. Then

      Decide CONFIDENTLY

       Be sure you are right and then go ahead. Make a decision and make it

      with the confidence that you are right. If you will determine now to

      follow this rule it will compel you to follow the first two because, in

      order to be sure you are right, to be certain you are not misjudging

      anybody, you will read each rule concentratedly and observe each person

      carefully beforehand.

      Practise CONSTANTLY

       "Practice makes perfect." Take this for your motto if you would become

      expert in analyzing people. It is one easily followed for you come in

      contact with people everywhere--at home, amongst your business

      associates, with your friends and on the street. Remember you can only

      benefit from a thing as you use it. A car that you never took out of the

      garage would be of no value to you. So get full value out of this course

      by using it at all times.

      These Rules Your Tools

       These rules are scientific. They are true and they are true always.

      They are very valuable tools for the furtherance of your progress

      through life.

      An understanding of people is the greatest weapon you can