Some have held the notion that imagination is a faculty useful only to
actors, artists or poets. This is untrue. Some parents have discouraged
and even killed the imaginative faculty in their children, because they
did not wish them to follow either of the above professions.
Your child will be the greatest credit and satisfaction to you if
he becomes that for which his natural endowment and inclination is
strongest. It is a great mistake for parents to drive a child to grow
up according to some previously conceived plan or professional choice
of their own. Parental wisdom and duty are to find out what the child
is especially endowed for and to guide him in taking advantage of these
natural gifts, and at the same time inducing a general development in
other lines.
Because of past misunderstanding or lack of understanding of its
importance in every line of effort, including science, engineering,
and every business development, many parents have discouraged their
children in the use of their imagination. Every leader in commercial
and industrial life is a man who has learned to use this faculty.
Without it he could not make great progress. Other men as brilliant
as he have lagged behind because they have never cultivated their
imagination or allowed themselves to be led by it. You should do
everything possible to encourage and to guide your children in the
conscious use of this faculty.