HOW TO READ HUMAN NATURE: ITS INNER STATES AND OUTER FORMS By WILLIAM WALKER ATKINSON WITH NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS L. N. FOWLER & CO. 7, Imperial Arcade, Ludgate Circus London, E. C., England 1916 THE ELIZABETH TOWNE CO. HOLYOKE, MASS. COPYRIGHT 1913 BY ELIZABETH TOWNE HOW TO READ HUMAN NATURE CONTENTS Chapter Page I. Inner State and Outer Form 9 II. The Inner Phase: Character 29 III. The Outer Form: Personality 38 IV. The Temperaments 47 V. The Mental Qualities 68 VI. The Egoistic Qualities 76 VII. The Motive Qualities 81 VIII. The Vitative Qualities 89 IX. The Emotive Qualities 93 X. The Applicative Qualities 100 XI. The Modificative Qualities 107 XII. The Relative Qualities 114 XIII. The Perceptive Qualities 122 XIV. The Reflective Qualities 139 XV. The Religio-Moral Qualities 148 XVI. Faces 156 XVII. Chins and Mouths 169 XVIII. Eyes, Ears, and Noses 177 XIX. Miscellaneous Signs 186 CHAPTER I INNER STATE AND OUTER FORM "Human Nature" is a term most frequently used and yet but little understood. The average person knows in a general way what he and others mean when this term is employed, but very few are able to give an off-hand definition of the term or to state what in their opinion constitutes the real essence of the thought expressed by the familiar phrase. We are of the opinion that the first step in the process of correct understanding of any subject is that of acquaintance with its principal terms, and, so, we shall begin our consideration of the subject of Human Nature by an examination of the term used to express the idea itself. "Human," of course, means "of or pertaining to man or mankind." Therefore, Human Nature means the _nature_ of man or mankind. "Nature," in this usage, means: "The natural disposition of mind of any person; temper; personal character; individual constitution; the peculiar mental characteristics and attributes which serve to distinguish one person from another." Thus we see that the essence of the _nature_ of men, or of a particular human being, is the _mind_, the mental qualities, characteristics, properties and attributes. Human Nature is then a phase of psychology and subject to the laws, principles and methods of study, examination and consideration of that particular branch of science.