The soul is our personality, our ego; therefore, the soul is our self. That which is included in our soul, analytically speaking, is the mind, the emotion, and the will—these three parts. The mind is the organ of man’s thinking. It is what we usually speak of as the brain. (Physiologically it is the brain, and psychologically it is the mind.) It is the major part of the soul. Man’s thinking, meditating, considering, and remembering are all functions of the mind in the soul. Man after the fall, especially today’s man, lives largely in the mind and is directed by the thoughts of the mind. As man thinks, so man behaves. Man’s action is always tied to man’s thought. There is hardly one person who does not live according to his thought. Thus, regardless of who or what we are considering, we must begin with man’s thought in order to win man’s mind. Nowadays there are so many theories, schools, and educational methods, and they all have one aim: dealing with man’s thought to win man’s mind. If you can win a man’s mind by his thought, you can then gain him, because man lives in the mind, which is the intellect, and is directed by the thought of the mind.
The emotion in the soul is the organ of man’s love, anger, sorrow, and joy. Man loves, detests, rejoices, mourns, and is excited or depressed—these are all functions of the emotion in man’s soul. There are many who are emotional. They are rich in emotion and very easily stirred. They often deal with matters by their emotion. With such people, when you reason with them in thought, it is often difficult to get through, but you can very easily move their emotion.
The will in the soul is the organ of man’s decision making. Man decides, determines, judges, chooses, receives, and refuses—these are all functions of the will in man’s soul. Some people are in the mind, some are in the emotion, and there are some who are in the will. Just as those who are in the mind or emotion live in their mind or emotion, so those who are in the will likewise live in their will. As the mind or emotion respectively is the strongest part of those who are in them, so is the will. One who is in the will is strong in his decision and determination. Once he has determined upon some course of action, you have no way to change him. You may reason with him, but he does not care for reason. You may appeal to him with emotion, but he has no regard for emotion. He is one who acts by his will and is in the will.
The soul is comprised of these three parts—mind, emotion, and will. These three parts are simultaneously present in everyone. Everyone has a mind, emotion, and will. However, some are more in the mind, some are rich in emotion, and others are strong in the will.
Some are very clear in their thinking and very quick in their mind. Whenever something comes up, they think carefully before acting. If they have not thought things through, no matter how you try to move them with emotion, it is impossible. If you want to win them, you must use reason. They are living in the mind, or the intellect; they are the intellectual ones.
Some especially abound in emotion. It seems as if they do not have a mind and do not think, but have only emotion. Such people often make a mess of things by their emotion. If you reason with them, they frequently neither care nor understand and are not moved in their heart. If you deal with them with emotion, it is very easy to touch their inward part. A thousand or ten thousand reasons are not as powerful toward them as one or two tears. Sometimes, no matter how you reason with them, you cannot win them over, but if you shed a few tears, you can win them over. They only care for emotion, not for reason. This is because they are not in the intellect, but in the emotion.
Some people’s will is especially strong. In everything they have some proposal or idea. And once they make a decision, they are very firm and cannot be easily changed. Such people usually are quite stable and stubborn, caring neither for emotion nor for reason. They decide and plan everything by their obstinate will. They set forth ideas and establish policies. You reason with them, but they do not understand. You use emotion with them, but they are not moved. They are neither in the intellect nor in the emotion, but in the will.