SHYNESS

SHYNESS is so common, at least in this country, that we tend to accept it as something inborn, as a characteristic part of the charm of youth, and as evidence, when it persists into later years, of a certain fineness of character ; it seems even to be a trait, perhaps not wholly to be deplored, in the national temperament. But youth seems more than willing-to forego this ornament, which is often the cause of a great deal of mental discomfort and may become a serious handicap in the business of life, and shyness has some claim, on these and other grounds, to the attention which is usually accorded to a neurosis.