Page:An introduction to ethics.djvu/90

 our features. In general, we strive to conceal only those emotions of which we are ashamed. We seek to overcome blushing, because it "gives us away." We strive to prevent our faces paling with fear, because that is an emotion of which we are ashamed. Many of our emotions we have so far under control that we allow them to express themselves on some occasions, but not on others. We would allow the emotion of anger to express itself on our faces and in our words and actions, if we thought the occasion demanded righteous indignation. On the other hand, a similarly violent emotion might be repressed, if we thought its expression wrong or inexpedient. And there are other emotions whose expression on the face few people can wholly prevent.

Three things have specially to be remembered in connection with the control of emotion.

(1) There is no virtue in restraining the expression of our emotions unless we are thus helped to control the emotions themselves. The great practical importance of controlling the expression of emotion lies in the fact that if it is regularly and strictly controlled, the emotion itself is less apt to be evoked on future occasions by the appropriate stimulus. The importance of controlling the expression consists in the added ability it gives us to control the emotion itself. "And it seems probable that in societies such as our own, where control over the expression of emotion is inculcated from an early age, emotions are, as a rule, actually less intense than among peoples who see no cause for shame in giving them comparatively free play."