STRENGTH OF MIND.

Waikato Times, Volume 100, Issue 16712, 30 January 1926, Page 13 (Supplement)

STRENGTH OF MIND.

(By Lady Norah Bentinck.)

It is right for a man who is a man —and a woman, too, for that matter—to have his own opinions. Some go so far as to say that it is better to have 6rooked opinions than to have none at all. But with this Ido not agree, for, though the person without convictions may be a bore, the fanatic who clings to his crooked opinions at all costs is a menace.

The happy medium, of course, is that of the man who, having weighed the evidence and arrived at an opinion, is neither weak nor fanatical. We all know people who openly confess that they ore totally incapable of forming an opinion of their own and refer their small difficulties to every fresh person with whom they come in contact. They are influenced to a disturbing degree by each one in turn and end by completely distrusting themselves and irritating every friend by their everlasting vacillation. It is not pleasant, on the other hand, when people hold their views so strongly that they become a bugbear to their circle. A certain courtesy in these matters must be observed if the natural amenilies of social life arc not to be tilled. A dogged determination to hold out against every kind of reasoning simply because one has always held that view or because one's father or one's grandfather held it is exceedingly futile, and is not so much strength of mind as obstinacy. True decision of character consists in being able to plan a certain course of action, to form a just, unbiassed opinion, and then to go ahead with the plan and stick to it, unless, of course, some new argument or factor makes reconsideration advisable. It lias been said that an obstinate man does not hold opinions, but that they hold him. Obstinacy is often mistaken for strength, but it is in reality only the strength of the weak.