Popular Science Monthly/Volume 82/March 1913
This idea of superiority to other people is so inbred that it has probably become a hereditary character for which the individual is entirely irresponsible. But a paranoid make-up is not particularly dangerous to its possessor who is otherwise normal, unless by great stress or a very unusual combination of disagreeable experiences this tendency be diverted into abnormal channels.
The chief danger lies in the accentuation of the character by too close inbreeding with those having a like tendency. In fact, the gen- eral attitude of the person who has this paranoid make-up in a mild degree may be said to be an enviable one rather than otherwise. He is aggressive in upholding his rights, suspicious of attempts to thwart him in the pursuit of the same, and strives constantly to reach the goal of his ambitions. These are all admirable traits. It is only when they become accentuated to the point where they are pervaded by delusions of grandeur and persecution, that they render the person possessing them a menace to society.
Al
This idea of superiority to other people is so inbred that it has probably become a hereditary character for which the individual is entirely irresponsible. But a paranoid make-up is not particularly dangerous to its possessor who is otherwise normal, unless by great stress or a very unusual combination of disagreeable experiences this tendency be diverted into abnormal channels.
The chief danger lies in the accentuation of the character by too close inbreeding with those having a like tendency. In fact, the gen- eral attitude of the person who has this paranoid make-up in a mild degree may be said to be an enviable one rather than otherwise. He is aggressive in upholding his rights, suspicious of attempts to thwart him in the pursuit of the same, and strives constantly to reach the goal of his ambitions. These are all admirable traits. It is only when they become accentuated to the point where they are pervaded by delusions of grandeur and persecution, that they render the person possessing them a menace to society.
Al
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