the purpose of emotion is “re-inforcement,” or additional strength, rather than to serve as a sign of weakness. He believed that there was only one basic emotion—“excitement”—and that excitement manifests itself as fear, anger, courage, etc., depending on our own inner goals at the time—whether we are inwardly organized to conquer a problem, run away from it, or destroy it. “The real problem is not to control emotion,” wrote Lecky, “but to control the choice of which tendency shall receive emotional reinforcement.”
