That is to say, an action may require all our attention and all our volition for its first, or second, or third performance, but by frequent repetition it becomes, in a manner, part our organisation, and is performed without volition, or even consciousness.
Bagehot discusses how repeated actions become automatic over time, highlighting the relationship between practice and consciousness.
Share
More from Walter Bagehot
All savage religions are full of superstitions founded on luck.
Perhaps such powers as these are what a wise man would most seek to exercise and least fear to possess.
No doubt this momentary gain is bought at a ruinous after-cost.
But as soon as the House met, Lord Thurlow became the greatest.
Other voices in this conversation
