On the Causes of Frequent Suicide: A Psychological Treatise

as the pastor and confessor. I am far from setting myself up as a eulogist of the old times and presenting myself as one who praises and extols a custom or habit merely because it was introduced and loved by our ancestors; yet I would just as little criticize and reject something because it originates from the old times, nor would I unconditionally give preference to the new and praise it: for the old is often the proven, the solid, that which has been tested through long experience, while unfortunately the new, which is meant to show enlightenment, progress in intellectual development, in science, and in art, and to be the perfect, does not always deserve to be called a wholesome change and arrangement.