On the Causes of Frequent Suicide: A Psychological Treatise

breadth from the demands of duty, because they do not lack an early, strong, religious upbringing. Unfortunately, however, this strong, religious upbringing is not always the one that is imparted; either it is directed solely and too early toward trifles and useless glitter: our children learn more quickly to move their feet skillfully and gracefully and to express themselves pleasingly in foreign languages than one makes wholesome provisions so that the innocence and purity of the heart is never clouded; one tells them the stories of the ancient world and of their own fatherland more for pastime than for instruction, and so that the grandson’s breast may be steeled for noble emulation by the high-hearted deeds of the ancestors; or education breaks off too early and