,,the  ,,untroubled ,,mind   ,,by       
,,herbert ,j4 ,,hall1 ,m4,d4    ,,boston
 ,,and ,,new ,,york  ,,houghton         
,,mifflin ,,company  ,the ,riverside    
,press ,cambridge    ,,copyright1 #aiae1
 ,,by ,,herbert ,j4 ,,hall  ,,all       
,,rights ,,reserved  ,published ,may    
#aiae     ,,preface   ,a very wise      
physician has said that every illness   
has two parts--what it is1 and what the 
patient thinks about it4 ,what the      
patient thinks about it is often more   
important and more troublesome than the 
real disease4 ,what the patient thinks  
of life1 what life means to him is also 
of great importance and may be the bar  
that shuts out all real health and      
happiness4 ,the following pages are     
devoted to certain ideals of life which 
,i would like to give to my patients1   
the long-time patients who have         
especially fallen to my lot4  ,they are 
not all here1 the steps to health and   
happiness4 ,the reader may even be      
annoyed and baffled by my indirectness  

and unwillingness to be specific4 ,that 
,i cannot help--it is a personal        
peculiarity2 ,i cannot ask any one to   
live by rule1 because ,i do not believe 
that rules are binding and final4 ,there
 must be character behind the rule and  
then the rule is unnecessary4  ,all that
 ,i have written has doubtless been     
presented before1 in better ways1 by    
wiser men1 but ,i believe that each     
writer may expect to find his small     
public1 his own particular public who   
can understand and profit by his        
teachings1 having partly or wholly      
failed with the others4 ,for that reason
 ,i am encouraged to write upon a       
subject usually shunned by medical men1 
being assured of at least a small       
company of friendly readers4  ,i am     
grateful to a number of friends and     
patients who have read the manuscript of
 the following chapters4 ,these         
reviewers have been frank and kind and  
very helpful4 ,i am particularly        
indebted to ,dr4 ,richard ,c4 ,cabot1   

who has given me much valuable          
assistance4     ,,contents        ,i4   
,,the ,,untroubled ,,mind               
#a      ,,ii4 ,,religio ,,medici        
#aj     ,,iii4 ,,thought ,,and ,,work   
#bj      ,,iv4 ,,idleness               
#cj       ,v4 ,,rules ,,of ,,the ,,game 
#ch      ,,vi4 ,,the ,,nervous          
,,temperament         #ej     ,,vii4    
,,self-,,control                    #ei 
,,viii4 ,,the ,,lighter ,,touch         
#fe      ,,ix4 ,,regrets ,,and          
,,forebodings         #gc       ,x4     
,,the ,,virtues                     #ha 
,,xi4 ,,the ,,cure ,,by ,,faith         
#hh     ,i  ,,the ,,untroubled ,,mind   
,canst thou not minister to a mind      
diseas'd1     ,pluck from the memory a  
rooted sorrow1     ,raze out the written
 troubles of the brain1     ,and with   
some sweet oblivious antidote           
,cleanse the stuff'd bosom of that      
perilous stuff     ,which weighs upon   
the heart8                 ,,macbeth4   
,when a man tells me he never worries1  

,i am inclined to think that he is      
either deceiving himself or trying to   
deceive me4 ,the great roots of worry   
are conscience1 fear1 and regret4       
,undoubtedly we ought to be             
conscientious and we ought to fear and  
regret evil4 ,but if it is to be better 
than an impediment and a harm1 our worry
 must be largely unconscious1 and       
intuitive4 ,the moment we become        
conscious of worry we are undone4       
,fortunately1 or unfortunately1 we      
cannot leave conscience to its own      
devices unless our lives are big enough 
and fine enough to warrant such a       
course4 ,the remedy for the mental      
unrest1 which is in itself an illness1  
lies not in an enlightened knowledge of 
the harmfulness and ineffectiveness of  
worry1 not even in the acquirement of an
 unconscious conscience1 but in the     
living of a life so full and good that  
worry cannot find place in it4 ,that    
idea of worry and conscience1 that      
definition of serenity1 simplifies life 

immensely4 ,to overcome worry by        
substituting development and growth need
 never be dull work4 ,to know life in   
its farther reaches1 life in its better 
applications1 is the final remedy--the  
great undertaking--it is life4 ,we must 
warn ourselves1 not infrequently1 that  
the larger life is to be pursued for its
 own glorious self and not for the sake 
of peace4 ,peace may come1 a peace so   
sure that death itself cannot shake it1 
but we must not expect all our affairs  
to run smoothly4 ,as a matter of fact   
they may run badly enough2 we shall have
 our ups and downs1 we shall sin and    
repent1 and sin again1 but if in the end
 we live according to our best          
intuitions1 we shall be justified1 and  
we need not worry about the outcome4 ,to
 put it another way1 if we would have   
the untroubled mind1 we must transfer   
our conscientious efforts from the small
 details of life--from the worry and    
fret of common things--into another and 
a higher atmosphere4 ,we must           

transfigure common life1 dignify it and 
ennoble it2 then1 although the old      
causes of worry may continue1 we shall  
have gained a stature that will make us 
unconscious masters of the little       
troubles and in a great degree equal to 
the larger requirements4 ,life will be  
easier1 not because we make less effort1
 but because we are working from another
 and a better level4  ,if such a change1
 and it would be a change for most of   
us1 could come about instantly1 in a    
flash of revelation1 that would be      
ideal1 but it would not be life4 ,we    
must return again and again to the old  
uninspired state wherein we struggle    
conscientiously with perverse details4  
,i would not minimize the importance and
 value of this struggle2 only the sooner
 it changes its level the better for    
every one concerned4 ,large serenity    
must1 finally1 be earned through the    
toughening of moral fibre that comes in 
dealing squarely with perplexing        
details4 ,some of this struggle must    

always be going on1 but serener life    
will come when we begin to concern      
ourselves with larger factors4  ,how are
 we to live the larger life8 ,partly    
through uninspired struggle and through 
the brave meeting of adversity1 but     
partly1 also1 in a way that may be      
described as out of hand1 by intuition1 
by exercise of the quality of mind that 
sees visions and grasps truths beyond   
the realms of common thought4  ,i am    
more and more impressed with the        
necessity of inspiration in life if we  
are to be strong and serene1 and so     
finally escape the pitfalls of worry and
 conscience4 ,by inspirations ,i do not 
mean belief in any system or creed4 ,it 
is not a stated belief that we need to  
begin with2 that may come in time4 ,we  
need first to find in life1 or at least 
in nature1 an essential beauty that     
makes its own true1 inevitable response 
within us4 ,we must learn to love life  
so deeply that we feel its tremendous   
significance1 until we find in the sea  

and the sky the evidence of an          
overbrooding spirit too great to be     
understood1 but not too great to satisfy
 the soul4 ,this is a sort of mother    
religion--the matrix from which all     
sects and creeds are born4 ,its         
existence in us dignifies us and makes  
simple1 purposeful1 and receptive living
 almost inevitable4 ,we may not know why
 we are living according to the dictates
 of our inspiration1 but we shall live  
so and that is the important            
consideration4  ,if ,i urge the         
acquirement of a religious conception   
that we may cure the intolerable        
distress of worry1 ,i do what ,i have   
already warned against4 ,it is so easy  
to make this mistake that ,i have       
virtually made it on the same page with 
my warning4 ,we have no right to seek so
 great a thing as religious experience  
that we may be relieved of suffering4   
,better go on with pain and distress    
than cheapen religion by making it a    
remedy4 ,we must seek it for its own    

sake1 or rather1 we must not seek it at 
all1 lest1 like a dream1 it elude us1 or
 change into something else1 less holy4 
,nevertheless1 it is true that if we    
will but look with open1 unprejudiced   
eyes1 again and again1 upon the sunrise 
or the stars above us1 we shall become  
conscious of a presence greater and more
 beautiful than our minds can think4 ,in
 the experience of that vision strength 
and peace will come to us unbidden4 ,we 
shall find our lives raised1 as by an   
unseen force1 above the warfare of      
conscience and worry4 ,we shall begin to
 know the meaning of serenity and of    
that priceless1 if not wholly to be     
acquired1 possession1 the untroubled    
mind4  ,i am aware that ,i shall be     
misunderstood and perhaps ridiculed by  
my colleagues when ,i attempt to discuss
 religion in any way4 ,theology is a    
field in which ,i have had no training1 
but that is the very reason why ,i dare 
write of it4 ,i do not even assume that 
there is a ,god in the traditional      

sense4 ,the idea is too great to be made
 concrete and literal4 ,no single fact  
of nature can be fully understood by our
 finite minds4 ,but ,i do feel vaguely  
that the laws that compass us1 and make 
our lives possible1 point always        
on--beyond the realms of time and       
space--toward the existence of a mighty 
overruling spirit4 ,if this is a cold   
and inadequate conception of ,god1 it is
 at least one that can be held by any   
man without compromise4  ,the modern    
mind is apt to fail of religious        
understanding and support1 because of   
the arbitrary interpretations of        
religion which are presented for our    
acceptance4 ,it is what men say about   
religion1 rather than religion itself1  
that repels us4 ,let us think it out for
 ourselves4 ,if we are open to a simple1
 even primitive1 conception of ,god1 we 
may still repudiate the creeds and      
doctrines1 but we are likely to become  
more tolerant of those who find them    
true and good4 ,we shall be likely in   

time to find the religion of ,christ    
understandable and acceptable--warm and 
quick with life4 ,the man who           
ungrudgingly opens his heart to the ,god
 of nature will be religious in the     
simplest possible sense4 ,he may worry  
because of the things he cannot         
altogether understand1 and because he   
falls so far short of the implied ideal4
 ,but he will have enlarged his life so 
much that the common worries will find  
little room--he will be too full of the 
joy of living to spend much conscious   
thought in worry4 ,such a man will      
realize that he cannot afford to spend  
his time and strength in regretting his 
past mistakes4 ,there is too much in the
 future4 ,what he does in the future1   
not what he has failed to do in the     
past1 will determine the quality of his 
life4 ,he knows this1 and the knowledge 
sends him into that future with courage 
and with strength4 ,finally1 in some    
indefinable way1 character will become  
more important to him than physical     

health even4 ,illness is half           
compensated when a man realizes that it 
is not what he accomplishes in the      
world1 but what he is that really       
counts1 which puts him in touch with the
 creative forces of ,god and raises him 
out of the aimless and ordinary into a  
life of inspiration and joy4     ,,ii   
,,religio ,,medici       ,at all events1
 it is certain that if any medical man  
had come to     ,middlemarch with the   
reputation of having definite religious 
views1 of being given to prayer and of  
otherwise showing an     active piety1  
there would have been a general         
presumption     against his medical     
skill4                 ,,george ,,eliot4
  ,when a medically educated man talks  
and writes of religion and of ,god1 he  
is rightly enough questioned by his     
brothers--who are too busy with the hard
 work of practice to be concerned with  
anything but material problems4 ,to me  
the word ,god is symbolic of the power  
which created and which maintains the   

universe4 ,the sunrise and the stars of 
heaven give me some idea of his majesty1
 the warmth and tenderness of human love
 give me some idea of his divine love4  
,that is all ,i know1 but it is enough  
to make life glow2 it is enough to      
inspire the most intense devotion to any
 good cause2 it is enough to make me    
bear suffering with some degree of      
patience2 and it is enough1 finally1 to 
give me some confidence and courage even
 in the face of the great mystery of    
death4 ,why this or another conception  
of ,god should produce such a profound  
result upon any one1 ,i do not know1    
except that in some obscure way it      
connects the individual with the divine 
plan1 and does not leave him outside in 
despair and loneliness4 ,however that   
may be1 it will be conceded that a      
religious conception of some kind does  
much toward justifying life1 toward     
making it strong and livable1 and so has
 directly to do with certain important  
problems of illness and health4 ,the    

most practical medical man will admit   
that any illness is made lighter and    
more likely to recover in the presence  
of hope and serenity in the mind of the 
patient4  ,naturally the great bulk of  
medical practice calls for no handling  
other than that of the straight medical 
sort4 ,a man comes in with a crushed    
finger1 a girl with anaemia--the way is 
clear4 ,it is only in deeper1 more      
intricate departments of medicine that  
we altogether fail4 ,the bacteriologist 
and the pathologist have no use for     
mental treatment1 in their departments4 
,but when we come to the case of the    
nervously broken-down school teacher1 or
 the worn-out telegrapher1 that is      
another matter4 ,years may elapse before
 work can be resumed--years of          
dependence and anxiety4 ,here1 a new    
view of life is often more useful than  
drugs1 a view that accepts the situation
 reasonably after a while1 that does not
 grope blindly and impatiently for a    
cure1 but finds in life an inspiration  

that makes it good in spite of necessary
 suffering and limitations4 ,often      
enough we cannot promise a cure1 but we 
must be prepared to give something      
better4  ,a great deal of the fatigue   
and unhappiness of the world is due to  
the fact that we do not go deep enough  
in our justification for work or play1  
or for any experience1 happy or sad4    
,there is a good deal of a void after we
 have said1 ,art for art's sake1 or     
,play for the joy of playing1 or even   
after we have said1 ,i am working for   
the sake of my family1 or for some one  
who needs my help4 ,that is not enough2 
and whether we realize it or not1 the   
lack of deeper justification is at the  
bottom of a restlessness and uncertainty
 which we might not be willing to       
acknowledge1 but which nevertheless is  
very real4  ,i am not satisfied when    
some moralist says1 ,be good and you    
will be happy4 ,the kind of happiness   
that comes from a perfunctory goodness  
is a thing which ,i cannot understand1  

and which ,i certainly do not want4 ,if 
,i work and play and serve and employ1  
making up the fabric of a busy life1 if 
,i attain a very real happiness1 ,i am  
tormented by the desire to know why ,i  
am doing it1 and ,i am not satisfied    
with the answer ,i usually get4 ,the    
patient may not be cured when he is     
relieved of his anaemia1 or when his    
emaciation has given place to the       
plumpness and suppleness and physical   
strength that we call health4 ,the man  
whom we look upon as well1 and who has  
never known physical illness1 is not    
well in the larger sense until he knows 
why he is working1 why he is living1 why
 he is filling his life with activity4  
,in spite of the elasticity and spring  
of the world's interests1 there must    
come often1 and with a kind of fatal    
insistence1 the deep demand for a cause1
 for a justification4 ,if there is not  
an adequate significance behind it1     
life1 with all its courage and          
accomplishment1 seems but a sorry thing1

 so full of pathos1 even in its         
brightest moments1 so shadowed with a   
sense of loss and of finality that the  
bravest heart may well fail and the     
truest courage relax1 supported only by 
the assurance that this way lies        
happiness or that right is right4  ,what
 is this knowledge that the world is    
seeking1 but can never find8 ,what is   
this final justification8 ,if we seek it
 in its completeness1 we are doomed     
always to be ill and unsatisfied4 ,if we
 are willing to look only a little way  
into the great question1 if we are      
willing to accept a little for the      
whole1 content because it is manifestly 
part of the final knowledge1 and because
 we know that final knowledge rests with
 ,god alone1 we shall understand enough 
to save us from much sorrow and painful 
incompleteness4  ,there is1 in the      
infinitely varied and beautiful world of
 nature1 and in the hearts of men1 so   
much of beauty and truth that it is a   
wonder we do not all realize that these 

things of common life may be in us and  
for us the daily and hourly expression  
of the infinite being we call ,god4 ,we 
do not see ,god1 but we do feel and know
 so much that we may fairly believe to  
be of ,god that we do not need to see   
,him face to face4 ,it is something more
 than imagination to feel that it is the
 life of ,god in our lives1 so often    
unrecognized or ignored1 that prompts us
 to all the greatness and the           
inspiration and the accomplishment of   
the world4 ,if we could know more       
clearly the joy of such a conception1 we
 should dry up at its source much of the
 unhappiness which is1 in a deep and    
subtle way1 at the bottom of many a     
nervous illness and many a wretched     
existence4  ,the happiness which is     
found in the recognition of kinship with
 ,god1 through the common things of     
life1 in the experiences which are so   
significant that they could not spring  
from a lesser source1 the happiness     
which is not sought1 but which is the   

inevitable result of such               
recognition--this experience goes a long
 way toward making life worth living4   
,if we do have this conception of life1 
then some of the old1 old questions that
 have vexed so many dwellers upon the   
earth will no longer be a source of     
unhappiness or of illness of mind or    
body4 ,the question of immortality1 for 
instance1 which has made us afraid to   
die1 will no longer be a question--we   
shall not need to answer it1 in the     
presence of ,god1 in our lives and in   
the world about us4 ,we shall be content
 finally to accept whatever is in store 
for us--so it be the will of ,god4 ,we  
may even look for something better than 
mere immortality1 something more divine 
than our gross conception of eternal    
life4  ,this is a religion that ,i      
believe medical men may teach without   
hesitation whenever the need shall      
arise4 ,i know well enough that many a  
blunt if kindly man cannot bring himself
 to say these words1 even if he believes

 them1 but ,i do think that in some     
measure they point the way to what may  
wisely be taught4  ,there is a practice 
of medicine--the common practice--that  
is concerned with the body only1 and    
with its chemical and mechanical        
reactions4 ,we can have nothing but     
respect and admiration for the men who  
go on year after year in the eager      
pursuit of this calling4 ,we know that  
such a work is necessary1 that it is    
just as important as the educational    
practice of which ,i write4 ,we know    
that without the physical side medicine 
would fail of its usefulness and that   
disease and death would reap far richer 
harvests3 ,i only wish the two naturally
 related aspects of our dealing with    
patients might not be so completely     
separated that they lose sight of each  
other4 ,as a matter of fact1 both       
elements are necessary to our human     
welfare4 ,if medicine devotes itself    
altogether to the cure and prevention of
 physical disease1 it will miss half of 

its possibilities4 ,it is equally true  
that if we forget the physical          
necessities in our zeal for spiritual   
hygiene1 we shall get and deserve       
complete and humiliating failure4 ,many 
men will say1 ,why mix the two8 ,why not
 let the preachers and the philosophers 
preach and the doctors follow their own 
ways8 ,for the most part this may have  
to be the arrangement1 but the doctor   
who can see and treat the spiritual     
needs of his patient will always be more
 likely to cure in the best sense than  
the doctor who sees only half of the    
picture4 ,on the other hand1 the        
philosopher is likely to be a           
comparatively poor doctor1 because he   
knows nothing of medicine1 and so can   
see only the other half of the picture4 
,there is much to be said for the       
religion of medicine if it can be kept  
free from cant1 if it can be simple and 
rational enough to be available for the 
whole world4     ,,iii  ,,thought ,,and 
,,work       ,i wish ,i had a           

trade6--,it would animate my arms and   
tranquilize     my brain4               
,,senancour4      ,doe ye nexte         
thynge4--,old ,english ,proverb4  ,since
 our minds are so constantly filled with
 anxiety1 there would seem to be at     
least one sure way to be rid of it--to  
stop thinking4  ,a great many people    
believe that the mind will become less  
effective1 that life will become dull   
and purposeless1 unless they are        
constantly thinking and planning and    
arranging their affairs4 ,i believe that
 the mind may easily and wisely be free 
from conscious thought a good deal of   
the time1 and that the greatest progress
 and development in mind often comes    
when the thinker is virtually at rest1  
when his mind is to all intents and     
purposes blank4 ,the busy1 unconscious  
mind does its best work in the serenity 
of an atmosphere which does not         
interfere and confuse4  ,it is true that
 the greatest conceptions do not come to
 the untrained and undisciplined mind4  

,but do we want great conceptions all   
the time8 ,there is a technical training
 for the mind which is1 of course1      
necessary for special accomplishments1  
but this is quite another matter4 ,even 
this kind of thought must not obtrude   
too much1 lest we become conscious of   
our mental processes and so end in      
confusion4  ,one of the greatest        
benefits of work with the hands1 or of  
objective and constructive work with the
 mind1 is that it saves us from unending
 hours of thinking4 ,work should1 of    
course1 find its fullest justification  
as an expression of faith4 ,if we have  
ever so dim a vision of a greater       
significance in life1 of its close      
relationship to infinite things1 we     
become thereby conscious of the need of 
service1 of the need of work4 ,it is the
 easy1 natural expression of our faith1 
the inevitable result of a spiritual    
contact with the great working forces of
 the world4 ,it is work above all else  
that saves us from the disasters of     

conflicting thought4  ,a few years ago a
 young man came to me1 suffering from   
too much thinking4 ,he had just been    
graduated from college and his head was 
full of confused ideas and emotions4 ,he
 was also very tired1 having overworked 
in his preparation for examinations1 and
 because he had not taken the best care 
of his body4 ,the symptoms he complained
 of were sleeplessness and worry1       
together with the inevitable indigestion
 and headache4 ,of course1 as a         
physician1 ,i went over the bodily      
functions carefully1 and studied1 as far
 as ,i might1 into the organic          
conditions4 ,i could find no evidence of
 physical disease4 ,i did not say1      
,there is nothing the matter with you2  
for the man was sick4 ,i told him that  
he was tired1 that he had thought too   
much1 that he was too much concerned    
about himself1 and that as a result of  
all this his bodily functions were      
temporarily upset4 ,he thought he ought 
to worry about himself1 because         

otherwise he would not be trying to get 
well4 ,i explained to him that this     
mistaken obligation was the common      
reason for worry1 and that in this case1
 at least1 it was quite unnecessary and 
even harmful for him to go on thinking  
about himself4 ,that helped a little1   
but not nearly enough1 because when a   
man has overworked1 when he has begun to
 worry1 and when his various bodily     
functions show results of worry1 no     
reasoning1 no explanations1 can wholly  
relieve him4 ,i said to this young man1 
,in spite of your discomforts1 in spite 
of your depression and concern in regard
 to yourself1 you will get well if you  
will stop thinking about the matter     
altogether4 ,you must be first convinced
 that it is best for you to stop        
thinking1 that no harm or violence can  
result1 and then you must be helped in  
this direction by going to work with    
your hands--that will be life and       
progress1 it will lead you to health4   
,fortunately ,i had had some experience 

with nervous illness1 and ,i knew that  
unless ,i managed for this man the      
character and extent of his work1 he    
would not only fail in it1 but of its   
object1 and so become more confused and 
discouraged4 ,i knew the troubled mind1 
in this instance1 might find its solace 
and its relief in work1 but that ,i must
 choose the work carefully to suit the  
individual1 and ,i must see that the    
nervously fatigued body was not pushed  
too hard4  ,in the town where ,i live is
 a blacksmith shop1 presided over by a  
genial old man who has been a blacksmith
 since he was a boy1 and in whose hands 
iron is like clay4 ,i took my patient   
down to the smithy and said1 ,here is a 
young man whom ,i want to put to work4  
,he will pay for the chance4 ,i want you
 first to teach him to make hand-wrought
 nails4 ,this was a good deal of a joke 
to the smith and to the patient1 but    
they saw that ,i was in earnest and     
agreed to go ahead4 ,we got together the
 proper tools and proceeded to make     

nails1 a job which is really not very   
difficult4 ,after an hour's work1 ,i    
called off my patient1 much to his      
disgust1 for he was just beginning to be
 interested4 ,but ,i knew that if he    
were to keep on until fatigue should    
come1 the whole matter would end in     
trouble4 ,so the next day1 with some new
 overalls and a leather apron added to  
the equipment1 we proceeded to another  
hour's work4 ,we went on this way for   
three or four days1 before the time was 
increased4  ,the interest of the patient
 was always fresh1 he was eager for     
more1 and he did not taste the dregs of 
fatigue4 ,yet he did get the wholesome  
exercise1 and he did get the strong     
turning of the mind from its worry and  
concern4 ,of course1 the rest of the day
 was taken care of in one way or        
another1 but the work was the central   
feature4 ,in a week1 we were at it two  
hours a day1 in three weeks1 four hours1
 and in a month1 five hours4 ,he had    
made a handsome display of hand-wrought 

nails1 a superior line of pokers and    
shovels for fireplaces1 together with a 
number of very respectable andirons4 ,on
 each of these larger pieces of         
handiwork my patient had stamped his    
initials with a little steel die that   
was made for him4 ,each piece was his   
own1 each piece was the product of his  
own versatility and his own strength4   
,his pride and pleasure in this work    
were very great1 and well they might be1
 for it is a fine thing to have learned 
to handle so intractable a material as  
iron4 ,but in handling the iron         
patiently and consistently until he     
could do it without too much conscious  
thinking1 and so without effort1 he had 
also learned to handle himself          
naturally1 more simply and easily4  ,as 
a matter of fact1 the illness which had 
brought this boy to me was pretty nearly
 cured by his blacksmithing1 because it 
was an illness of the mind and of the   
nerves1 and not of the body1 although   
the body had suffered in its turn4 ,that

 young man1 instead of becoming a       
nervous invalid as he might have done1  
is now working steadily in partnership  
with his father1 in business in the     
city4 ,i had found him a very           
interesting patient1 full of originality
 and not at all the tedious and boresome
 person he might have been had ,i       
listened day after day1 week after week 
to the recital of his ills4 ,i was      
willing to listen1--,i did listen1--but 
,i also gave him a new trend of life1   
which pretty soon made his complaints   
sound hollow and then disappear4  ,of   
course1 the problem is not always so    
simple as this1 and we must often deal  
with complexities of body and mind      
requiring prolonged investigation and   
treatment4 ,i cite this case because it 
shows clearly that relief from some     
forms of nervous illness can come when  
we stop thinking1 when we stop          
analyzing1 and then back up our position
 with prescribed work4  ,there may be   
some nervous invalids who read these    

lines who will say1 ,but ,i have tried  
so many times to work and have failed4  
,unfortunately1 such failure must often 
occur unless we can proceed with care   
and with understanding4 ,but the        
principle remains true1 although it must
 be modified in an infinite variety to  
meet the changing conditions of         
individuals4  ,i see a great many people
 who are conscientiously trying to get  
well from nervous exhaustion4 ,they     
almost inevitably try too hard4 ,they   
think and worry too much about it1 and  
so exhaust themselves the more4 ,this is
 the greater pity because it is the     
honest and the conscientious people who 
make the greatest effort4 ,it is very   
hard for them to realize that they must 
stop thinking1 stop trying1 and if      
possible get to work before they can    
accomplish their end4 ,we shall have to 
repeat to them over and over again that 
they must stop thinking the matter out1 
because the thing they are attempting to
 overcome is too subtle to be met in    

that way4 ,so1 if they are fortunate1   
they may rid themselves of the vagueness
 and uncertainty of life1 until all the 
multitude of details which go to make up
 life lose their desultoriness and their
 lack of meaning1 and they may find     
themselves no longer the subjects of    
physical or nervous exhaustion4     ,,iv
  ,,idleness       ,o ye6 who have your 
eyeballs vex'd and tir'd1       ,feast  
them upon the wideness of the sea4      
,,keats4      ,extreme busyness1 whether
 at school or college1 kirk or market1  
is a symptom of deficient vitality2 and 
a faculty for idleness     implies a    
catholic appetite and a strong sense of 
personal     identity4                  
,,stevenson4  ,it is an unfortunate fact
 that very few people are able to be    
idle successfully4 ,i think it is not so
 much because we misuse idleness as     
because we misinterpret it that the long
 days become increasingly demoralizing4 
,i would ask no one to accept a forced  
idleness without objection or regret4   

,such an acceptance would imply a lack  
of spirit1 to say the least4 ,but       
idleness and rest are not incompatible2 
neither are idleness and service1 nor   
idleness and contentment4 ,if we can    
look upon rest as a preparation for     
service1 if we can make it serve us in  
the opportunity it gives for quiet      
growth and legitimate enjoyment1 then it
 is fully justified and it may offer    
advantages and opportunity of the best4 
,the chief trouble with idleness is that
 it so often means introspection1 worry1
 and impatience1 especially to those    
conscientious souls who would fain be   
about their business4  ,i have for a    
long time been accustomed to combat the 
worry and fret of necessary             
idleness--not by forbidding it1 not by  
advising struggle and fight against it1 
but by insisting that the best way to   
get rid of it is to leave it alone1 to  
accept it4 ,when we do this there may   
come a kind of fallow time in which the 
mind enriches and refreshes itself      

beyond our conception4  ,i would rather 
my patient who must rest for a long time
 would give up all thought of method1   
would give up all idea of making his    
mind follow any particular line of      
thought or absence of thought4 ,i know  
that the mind which has been under      
conscious control a good deal of the    
time is apt to rebel at this freedom and
 to indulge in all kinds of alarming    
extravagances4 ,i am sure1 however1 that
 the best way to meet these demands for 
conscious control is to be careless of  
them1 to be willing to experience these 
extravagances and inconsistencies       
without fear1 in the belief that finally
 will come a quiet and peace which will 
be all that we can ask4 ,the peace of   
mind that is unguided1 in the conscious 
and literal sense1 is a thing which too 
few of us know4  ,mr4 ,arnold ,bennett1 
in his little book1 ,how to ,live on    
,twenty-four ,hours a ,day1 teaches that
 we should leave no time unused in our  
lives2 that we should accomplish a great

 deal more and be infinitely more       
effective and progressive if we devoted 
our minds to the definite working-out of
 necessary problems whenever those times
 occur in which we are apt to be        
desultory4 ,i wish here to make a plea  
for desultoriness and for an idleness   
which goes even beyond the idleness of  
the man who reads the newspaper and     
forgets what he has read4 ,it seems to  
me better1 whether we are sick or well1 
to allow long periods in our lives when 
we think only casually4 ,to the good old
 adage1 ,work while you work and play   
while you play1 we might well add1 ,rest
 while you rest1 lest in the end you    
should be unable successfully either to 
work or play4  ,a man is not necessarily
 condemned to tortures of mind because  
he must rest for a week or a month or a 
year4 ,i know that there must be anxious
 times1 especially when idleness means  
dependence1 and when it brings hardship 
to those who need our help4 ,but the    
invalid must not try constantly to      

puzzle the matter out4 ,if we do not    
make ourselves sick with worry1 we shall
 be able sometime to approach active    
life with sufficient frankness and      
force4 ,it is the constant effort of the
 poor1 tired mind to solve its problems 
that not only fails of its object1 but  
plunges the invalid deeper into         
discouragement and misunderstanding4    
,how cruel this is1 and how unfortunate 
that it should come more commonly to    
those who try the hardest to overcome   
their handicaps1 to throw off the yoke  
of idleness and to be well4  ,when you  
have tried your best to get back to your
 work and have failed1 when you have    
done this not once but many times1 it is
 inevitable that misunderstanding should
 creep in1 inevitable that you should   
question very deeply and doubt not      
infrequently4 ,yet the chances are that 
one of the reasons for your failure is  
that you have tried too hard1 that you  
have not known how to rest4 ,when you   
have learned how to rest1 when you have 

learned to put off thinking and planning
 until the mind becomes fresh and clear1
 when you are in a fair way to know the 
joy of idleness and the peace of rest1  
you are a great deal more likely to get 
back to efficiency and to find your way 
along the great paths of activity into  
the world of life4  ,it is not so much  
the idleness1 then1 as the attempt to   
overcome its irksomeness1 that makes    
this condition painful4 ,the invalid in 
bed is in a trap1 to be tormented by his
 thoughts unless he knows the meaning of
 successful idleness4 ,this knowledge   
may come to him by such strategy as ,i  
have suggested--by giving up the        
struggle against worry and fret2 but    
peace will come surely1 steadily1 with  
healing in its wings1 when the mind is  
changed altogether1 when life becomes   
free because of a growth and development
 that finds significance even in        
idleness1 that sees the world with wise 
and patient eyes4  ,in a way it does not
 matter1 your physical condition or     

mine1 if our eyes have seen the glory   
that deifies life and makes even its    
waste places beautiful4 ,what is that   
view from your window as you lie in your
 bed8 ,a bit of the sea1 if you are     
fortunate1 a corner of garden1 surely1  
the top of an elm tree against the blue4
 ,what is it but the revelations of a   
,god in the world8 ,there is enough that
 is sad and unhappy1 but over all are   
these simple1 ineffable things4 ,if the 
garden is an expression of ,god in the  
world1 then the world and life are no   
longer meaningless4 ,even idleness      
becomes in some degree bearable because 
it is a part of a significant world4    
,unfortunately1 the idleness of         
disability often means pain1 the wear   
and tear of physical or nervous         
suffering4 ,that is another matter4 ,we 
cannot meet it fully with any           
philosophy4 ,my patients very often beg 
to know the best way to bear pain1 how  
they may overcome the attacks of nerves 
that are harder to bear than pain4 ,to  

such a question ,i can only say that the
 time to bear pain is before and after4 
,live in such a way in the times of     
comparative comfort that the attacks are
 less likely to appear and easier to    
bear when they do come4 ,after the pain 
or the nervous attack is over1 that is  
the time to prevent the worst features  
of another4 ,forget the distress2 live  
simply and happily in spite of the      
memory1 and you will have done all that 
the patient himself can do to ward off  
or to make tolerable the next occasion  
of suffering4 ,pain itself--pure        
physical pain--is a matter for the      
physician's judgment4 ,it is his        
business to seek out the causes and     
apply the remedy4     ,v  ,,rules ,,of  
,,the ,,game       ,it is not growing   
like a tree     ,in bulk1 doth make man 
better be4                 ,,ben        
,,jonson4      ,it is a good thing to   
have a sound body1 better to have a sane
     mind1 but neither is to be compared
 to that aggregate of virile     and    

decent qualities which we call          
character4                 ,,theodore   
,,roosevelt4      ,the only effective   
remedy against inexorable necessity is  
to     yield to it4                     
,,petrarch4  ,when ,i go about among my 
patients1 most of them1 as it happens1  
nervously sick1 ,i sometimes stop to    
consider why it is they are ill4 ,i know
 that some are so because of physical   
weakness over which they have no        
control1 that some are suffering from   
the effects of carelessness1 some from  
wilfulness1 and more from simple        
ignorance of the rules of the game4     
,there are so many rules that no one    
will ever know them all1 but it seems   
that we live in a world of laws1 and    
that if we transgress those laws by ever
 so little1 we must suffer equally1     
whether our transgression is a mistake  
or not1 and whether we happen to be     
saints or sinners4 ,there are laws also 
which have to do with the recovery of   
poise and balance when these have been  

lost4 ,these laws are less well observed
 and understood than those which        
determine our downfall4  ,the more gross
 illnesses1 from accident1 contagion1   
and malignancy1 we need not consider    
here1 but only those intangible injuries
 that disable people who are relatively 
sound in the physical sense4 ,it is true
 that nervous troubles may cause        
physical complications and that physical
 disease very often coexists with       
nervous illness1 but it is better for us
 now to make an artificial separation4  
,just what happens in the human economy 
when a nervous breakdown comes1 nobody  
seems to know1 but mind and body        
cooeperate to make the patient miserable
 and helpless4 ,it may be nature's way  
of holding us up and preventing further 
injury4 ,the hold-up is severe1 usually1
 and becomes in itself a thing to be    
managed4  ,the rules we have wittingly  
or unwittingly broken are often unknown 
to us1 but they exist in the ,all-,wise 
,providence1 and we may guess by our own

 suffering how far we have overstepped  
them4 ,if a man runs into a door in the 
dark1 we know all about that1--the case 
is simple1--but if he runs overtime at  
his office and hastens to be rich with  
the result of a nervous dyspepsia--that 
is a mystery4 ,here is a girl who came  
out last year4 ,she was apparently      
strong and her mother was ambitious for 
her social progress4 ,that meant four   
nights a week for several months at     
dances and dinners1 getting home at #c  
,a4,m4 or later4 ,it was gay and        
delightful while it lasted1 but it could
 not last1 and the girl went to pieces  
suddenly2 her back gave out because it  
was not strong enough to stand the      
dancing and the long-continued physical 
strain4 ,the nerves gave out because she
 did not give her faculties time to     
rest1 and perhaps because of a love     
affair that supervened4 ,the result was 
a year of invalidism1 and then1 because 
the rules of recovery were not          
understood1 several years more of       

convalescence4 ,such common rules should
 be well enough understood1 but they are
 broken everywhere by the wisest people4
  ,the common case of the broken-down   
school teacher is more unfortunate4     
,this tragedy and others like it are    
more often1 ,i believe1 due to unwise   
choice of profession in the first place4
 ,the women's colleges are turning out  
hundreds of young women every year who  
naturally consider teaching as the field
 most appropriate and available4        
,probably only a very small proportion  
of these girls are strong enough        
physically or nervously to meet the     
growing demands of the schools4 ,they   
may do well for a time1 some of them    
unusually well1 for it is the sensitive1
 high-strung organism that is           
appreciative and effective4 ,after a    
while the worry and fret of the         
requirements and the constant nag of the
 schoolroom have their effect upon those
 who are foredoomed to failure in that  
particular field4 ,the plight of such   

young women is particularly hard1 for   
they are usually dependent upon their   
work4  ,it is1 after all1 not so much   
the things we do as the way we do them1 
and what we think about them1 that      
accomplishes nervous harm4 ,strangely   
enough1 the sense of effort and the     
feeling of our own inadequacy damage the
 nervous system quite as much as the    
actual physical effort4 ,the attempt to 
catch up with life and with affairs that
 go on too fast for us is a frequent and
 harmful deflection from the rules of   
the game4 ,few of us avoid it4 ,life    
comes at us and goes by very fast4      
,tasks multiply and we are inadequate1  
responsibilities increase before we are 
ready4 ,they bring fatigue and          
confusion4 ,we cannot shirk and be true4
 ,having done all you reasonably can1   
stop1 whatever may be the consequences4 
,that is a rule ,i would enforce if ,i  
could4 ,to do more is to drag and fail1 
so defeating the end of your efforts4   
,if it turns out that you are not fit   

for the job you have undertaken1 give it
 up and find another1 or modify that one
 until it comes within your capacity4   
,it takes courage to do this--more      
courage sometimes than is needed to make
 us stick to the thing we are doing4    
,rarely1 however1 will it be necessary  
for us to give up if we will undertake  
and consider for the day only such part 
of our task as we are able to perform4  
,the trouble is that we look at our work
 or our responsibility all in one piece1
 and it crushes us4 ,if we cannot       
arrange our lives so that we may meet   
their obligations a little at a time1   
then we must admit failure and try      
again1 on what may seem a lower plane4  
,that is what ,i consider the brave     
thing to do4 ,i would honor the factory 
superintendent1 who1 finding himself    
unequal to his position1 should choose  
to work at the bench where he could     
succeed perfectly4  ,the habit of       
uncertainty in thought and action1 bred1
 as it sometimes is1 from a lack of     

faith in man and in ,god1 is1           
nevertheless1 a thing to be dealt with  
sometimes by itself4 ,not infrequently  
it is a petty habit that can be         
corrected by the exercise of a little   
will power4 ,i believe it is better to  
decide wrong a great many times--doing  
it quickly--than to come to a right     
decision after weakly vacillating4 ,as a
 matter of fact1 we may trust our       
decisions to be fair and true if our    
life's ideals are beautiful and true4   
,we may improve our indecisions a great 
deal by mastering their unhappy details1
 but we shall not finally overcome them 
until life rings true and until all our 
acts and thoughts become the solid and  
inevitable expression of a healthy      
growing regard for the best in life1 a  
call to right living that is no mean    
dictum of policy1 but which is renewed  
every morning as the sun comes out of   
the sea4 ,however inconsequential the   
habit of indecision may seem1 it is     
really one of the most disabling of bad 

habits4 ,its continuance contributes    
largely to the sum of nervous           
exhaustion4 ,whatever its origin1       
whether it stands in the relation of    
cause or effect1 it is an indulgence    
that insidiously takes the snap and     
sparkle out of life and leaves us for   
the time being colorless and weak4      
,next to uncertainty1 an uninspired     
certainty is wrecking to the best of    
human prospects4 ,the man whose one idea
 is of making himself and his family    
materially comfortable1 or even rich1   
may not be coming to nervous            
prostration1 but he is courting a moral 
prostration that will deny him all the  
real riches of life and that will in the
 end reward him with a troubled mind1 a 
great1 unsatisfied longing1 unless1 to  
be sure1 he is too smug and satisfied to
 long for anything4  ,the larger life   
leads us inevitably away from ourselves1
 away from the super-requirements of our
 families4 ,it demands of them and of   
ourselves an unselfishness that is born 

of a love that finds its expression in  
the service of ,god4 ,and what is the   
service of ,god if it is not such an    
entering into the divine purposes and   
spirit that we become with ,god         
re-creators in the world--working       
factors in the higher evolution of      
humanity8 ,while we live we shall get   
and save1 we shall use and spend1 we    
shall serve the needs of those dependent
 upon us1 but we shall not line the     
family nest so softly that our children 
become powerless4 ,we shall not confine 
our charities to the specified channels1
 where our names will be praised and our
 credit increased4 ,we shall give and   
serve in secret places with our hearts  
in our deeds4 ,then we may possess the  
untroubled mind1 a treasure too rich to 
be computed4 ,we shall not have it for  
the seeking2 it may exist in the midst  
of what men may call privations and     
sorrows2 but it will exist in a very    
large sense and it will be ours4 ,the   
so-called hard-headed business man who  

never allows himself to be taken        
advantage of1 whose dealings are always 
strict and uncompromising1 is very apt  
to be a particularly miserable invalid  
when he is ill4 ,i cannot argue in favor
 of business laxity1--,i know the       
imperative need of exactness and        
finality1--but ,i do believe that if we 
are to possess the untroubled mind we   
must make our lives larger than the     
field of dollars and cents4 ,the charity
 that develops in us will make us truly 
generous and free from the reaction of  
hardness4  ,it is a great temptation to 
go on multiplying the rules of the game4
 ,there are so many sensible and        
necessary pieces of advice which we all 
need to have emphasized4 ,that is the   
course we must try to avoid4 ,the child 
needs to be told1 arbitrarily for a     
while1 what is right1 and what is wrong1
 that he must do this1 and he must not  
do that4 ,the time comes1 however1 when 
the growing instinct toward right living
 is the thing to foster--not the details

 of life which will inevitably take care
 of themselves if the underlying        
principle is made right4 ,it must be the
 ideal of moral teaching to make clear  
and pure the source of action4 ,then the
 stream will be clear and pure4 ,such a 
stream will purify itself and neutralize
 the dangerous inflow along its banks4  
,it is true that great harm may come    
from the polluted inflows1 but they will
 be less and less harmful as the        
increasing current from the good source 
flows down4  ,we shall have to look well
 to our habits lest serious ills befall1
 but that must never be the main concern
 or we shall find ourselves living very 
narrow and labored lives2 we shall find 
that we are failing to observe one of   
the most important rules of the game4   
,,vi  ,,the ,,nervous ,,temperament     
,beyond the ugly actual1 lo1 on every   
side1     ,imagination's limitless      
domain4                 ,,browning4     
,he that too much refines his delicacy  
will always endanger his     quiet4     

,,samuel ,,johnson4      ,the great     
refinement of many poetical gentlemen   
has rendered     them practically unfit 
for the jostling and ugliness of life4  
,,stevenson4  ,it has been my fortune as
 a physician to deal much with the      
so-called nervous temperament4 ,i have  
come both to fear and to love it4 ,it is
 the essence of all that is bright1     
imaginative1 and fine1 but it is as     
unstable as water4 ,those who possess it
 must suffer--it is their lot to feel   
deeply1 and very often to be            
misunderstood by their more practical   
friends4 ,all their lives these people  
will shed tears of joy1 and more tears  
of sorrow4 ,i would like to write of    
their joy1 of the perfect satisfaction1 
the true happiness that comes in        
creating new and beautiful things1 of   
the deep pleasure they have in the      
appreciation of good work in others4    
,but with the instinct of a dog trained 
for a certain kind of hunting ,i find   
myself turning to the misfortunes and   

the ills4  ,the very keenness of        
perception makes painful anything short 
of perfection4 ,what will such people do
 in our clanging streets8 ,what of those
 fine ears tuned to the most exquisite  
appreciation of sweet sound8 ,what of   
that refinement of hearing that detects 
the least departure from the rhythm and 
pitch in complex orchestral music8 ,and 
must they bear the crash of steel on    
stone1 the infernal clatter of traffic8 
,well1 yes1--as a matter of fact--they  
must1 at least for a good many years to 
come1 until advancing civilization      
eliminates the city noise4 ,but it is   
not always great noises that disturb and
 distract4 ,there is a story told of a  
woman who became so sensitive to noise  
that she had her house made sound-proof3
 there were thick carpets and softly    
closing doors2 everything was padded4   
,the house was set back from a quiet    
street1 but that street was strewn with 
tanbark to check the sound of carriages4
 ,surely here was bliss for the         

sensitive soul4 ,i need not tell the    
rest of the story1 how absolutely       
necessary noises became intolerable1 and
 the poor woman ended by keeping a man  
on the place to catch and silence the   
tree toads and crickets4  ,there is     
nothing to excuse the careless and      
unnecessary noises of the world--we     
shall dispose of them finally as we are 
disposing of flamboyant signboards and  
typhoid flies4 ,but meanwhile1 and      
always1 for that matter1 the sensitive  
soul must learn to adjust itself to     
circumstances and conditions4 ,this     
adjustment may in itself become a fine  
art4 ,it is really the art by which the 
painter excludes the commonplace and    
irrelevant from his landscape4          
,sometimes we have to do this           
consciously2 for the most part1 it      
should be a natural1 unconscious        
selection4  ,i am sure it is unwise to  
attempt at any time the dulling of the  
appreciative sense for the sake of peace
 and comfort4 ,love and understanding of

 the beautiful and true is too rare and 
fine a thing to be lost or diminished   
under any circumstances4 ,the cure1 as  
,i see it1 is to be found in the        
cultivation of the faculty that finds   
some good in everything and everybody4  
,this is the saving grace--it takes     
great bulks of the commonplace and      
distils from the mass a few drops of    
precious essence2 it finds in the       
unscholarly and the imperfect1 rare     
traces of good2 it sees in man1 any man1
 the image of ,god1 to be justified and 
made evident only in the sublimity of   
death1 perhaps1 but usually to be       
developed in life4  ,the nervous person 
is often morose and unsocial--perhaps   
because he is not understood1 perhaps   
because he falls so short of his own    
ideals4 ,often he does not find kindred 
spirits anywhere4 ,i do not think we    
should drive such a man into conditions 
that hurt1 but ,i do believe that if he 
is truly artistic1 and not a snob1 he   
may lead himself into a larger social   

life without too much sacrifice4  ,the  
sensitive1 high-strung spirit that does 
not give of its own best qualities to   
the world of its acquaintance1 that does
 not express itself in some concrete    
way1 is always in danger of harm4 ,such 
a spirit turned in upon itself is a     
consuming fire4 ,the spirit will burn a 
long time and suffer much if it does not
 use its heat to warm and comfort the   
world of need4  ,real illness makes the 
nervous temperament a much more         
formidable difficulty--all the sensitive
 faculties are more                     
sensitive--irritability becomes an      
obsession and idleness a terror4  ,the  
nervous temperament under irritation is 
very prone to become selfish--and very  
likely to hide behind this selfishness1 
calling it temperament4 ,the man who    
flies into a passion when he is         
disturbed1 or who spends his days in    
torment from the noises of the street2  
the woman of high attainment who has    
retired into herself1 who is moody and  

unresponsive1--these unfortunates have  
virtually built a wall about their      
lives1 a wall which shuts out the world 
of life and happiness4 ,from the walls  
of this prison the sounds of discord and
 annoyance are thrown back upon the     
prisoner intensified and multiplied4    
,the wall is real enough in its effect1 
but will cease to exist when the        
prisoner begins to go outside1 when he  
begins to realize his selfishness and   
his mistake4 ,then the noises and the   
irritations will be lost in the wider   
world that is open to him4 ,after all1  
it is only through unselfish service in 
the world of men that this broadening   
can come4  ,there is no lack of         
opportunity for service4 ,perhaps the   
simplest and most available form of     
service is charity1--the big1           
professional kind1 of course1--and      
beyond that the greater field of        
intimate and personal charity4 ,i know a
 girl of talent and ability--herself a  
nervous invalid--sick and helpless for  

the lack of a little money which would  
give her a chance to get well4 ,i do not
 mean money for luxuries1 for foolish   
indulgences1 but money to buy           
opportunity--money that would lift her  
out of the heavy morass of poverty and  
give her a chance4 ,she falls outside   
the beaten path of charity4 ,she is not 
reached by the usual philanthropies4 ,i 
also know plenty of people who could    
help that girl without great sacrifice4 
,they will not do it because they give  
money to the regular charities--they    
will not do it because sometimes        
generosity has been abused4 ,so they    
miss the chance of broadening and       
developing their own lives4  ,i know    
well enough that objective interest can 
rarely be forced--it must usually come  
the other way about--through the        
broadening of life which makes it       
inevitable4 ,sometimes ,i wish ,i could 
force that kind of development1 that    
kind of charity4 ,sometimes ,i long to  
take the rich neurasthenic and make him 

help his brother1 make him develop a new
 art that shall save people from sorrow 
and loss4 ,we are all together in this  
world1 and all kin2 to recognize it and 
to serve the needs of the unfortunate as
 we would serve our own children is the 
remedy for many ills4 ,it is the new    
art1 the final and greatest of all      
artistic achievements2 it warms our     
hearts and opens our lives to all that  
is wholesome and good4 ,this is one of  
the crises in which my theory of        
inspiration first may fail4 ,here the   
charity may have to come first1 may have
 to be insisted upon before there can be
 any inspiration or any further joy in  
life4 ,it is not always charity in the  
usual sense that is required2 sometimes 
the charity that gives something besides
 money is best4 ,but charity in any good
 sense means self-forgetfulness1 and    
that is a long way on the road to       
nervous health4 ,give of yourself1 give 
of your substance1 and you will cease to
 be troubled with the penalties of      

selfishness4 ,then take the next        
step--that gives not because life has   
come back1 but because the world has    
become larger and warmer and happier4   
,when the giver gives of his sympathy   
and of his means because he wants       
to1--not because he has to do so1--he   
will begin to know what ,i mean when ,i 
say it is better to have the inspiration
 first4     ,,vii  ,,self-,,control     
,he only earns his freedom and existence
     ,who daily conquers them anew4     
,,goethe4  ,a good many writers on      
self-control and kindred subjects insist
 that we shall conscientiously and      
consciously govern our mental lives4    
,they say1 ,you must get up in the      
morning with determination to be        
cheerful4 ,they insist that in spite of 
annoyance or trouble you shall keep a   
smiling face1 and affirm to yourself    
over and over again the denial of       
annoyance4  ,i do not like this kind of 
self-control4 ,i wish ,i could admire it
 and approve it1 but ,i find ,i cannot  

because it seems to me self-conscious   
and superficial4 ,it is better than     
nothing and unquestionably adds greatly 
to the sum of human happiness4 ,but ,i  
do not think we ought to be cheerful if 
we are consumed with trouble and sorrow4
 ,the fact is we ought not to be for    
long beyond a natural cheerfulness that 
comes from the deepest possible sources4
 ,while we are sad1 let us be so1 simply
 and naturally2 but we must pray that   
the light may come to us in our sorrow1 
that we may be able soon and naturally  
to put aside the signs of mourning4     
,the person who thinks little of his own
 attitude of mind is more likely to be  
well controlled and to radiate happiness
 than one who must continually prompt   
himself to worthy thoughts4 ,the man    
whose heart is great with understanding 
of the sorrow and pathos of life is far 
more apt to be brave and fine in his own
 trouble than one who must look to a    
motto or a formula for consolation and  
advice4 ,deep in the lives of those who 

permanently triumph over sorrow there is
 an abiding peace and joy4 ,such peace  
cannot come even from ample experience  
in the material world4 ,despair comes   
from that experience sometimes1 unless  
the heart is open to the vital spirit   
that lies beyond all material things1   
that creates and renews life and that   
makes it indescribably beautiful and    
significant4 ,experience of material    
things is only the beginning4 ,in it and
 through it we may have experience of   
the wider life that surrounds the       
material4  ,our hearts must be opened to
 the courage that comes unbidden when we
 feel ourselves to be working1 growing  
parts of the universe of ,god4 ,then we 
shall have no more sorrow and no more   
joy in the pitiful sense of the earth1  
but rather an exaltation which shall    
make us masters of these and of         
ourselves4 ,we shall have a sympathy and
 charity that shall need no promptings1 
but that flow from us spontaneously into
 the world of suffering and need4       

,beethoven was of a sour temper1        
according to all accounts1 but he wrote 
his symphonies in the midst of          
tribulations under which few men would  
have worked at all4 ,when we have felt  
something of the spirit that makes work 
inevitable1 it will be as though we had 
heard the eternal harmonies4 ,we shall  
write our symphonies1 build our bridges1
 or do our lesser tasks with dauntless  
purpose1 even though the possessions    
that men count dear are taken from us4  
,suppose we can do very little because  
of some infirmity3 if that little has in
 it the larger inspiration1 it will be  
enough to make life full and fine4 ,the 
joy of a wider life is not obtainable in
 its completeness2 it is only through a 
lifetime of service and experience that 
we can approach it4 ,that is the proof  
of its divine origin--its               
unattainableness4 ,god keep you from the
 she wolf and from your heart's deepest 
desire1 is an old saying of the         
,rumanians4 ,if we fully obtain our     

desires1 we prove their unworthiness4   
,does any one suppose that ,beethoven   
attained his whole heart's desire in his
 music8 ,he might have done so had he   
been a lesser man4 ,he was not a        
cheerful companion4 ,that is            
unfortunate1 and shows that he failed in
 complete inspiration and in the        
ordinary kind of self-control4 ,he was  
at least sincere1 and that helped not a 
little to make him what he was4 ,i would
 almost rather a man would be morose and
 sincere than cheerful from a sense of  
duty4  ,our knowledge of the greater    
things of life must always be           
substantiated and worked out into       
realities of service1 or else we shall  
be weak and ineffective4 ,the charity   
that balks at giving1 reacts upon a man 
and deadens him4 ,i am always insisting 
that we must not live and serve through 
a sense of duty1 but that we must find  
the inspiration first4 ,it is better to 
give ourselves to service not for the   
sake of finding ,god1 but because we    

have found ,him and because our souls   
have grown in the finding until we      
cannot help giving4 ,if we have grown to
 such a stature we shall be able to meet
 sorrow and loss bravely and simply4 ,we
 shall feel for ourselves and for others
 in their troubles as ,forbes ,robertson
 did when he wrote to his friend who had
 met with a great loss3 ,i pray that you
 may never1 never1 never get over this  
sorrow1 but through it1 into it1 into   
the very heart of ,god4 ,all this is    
very unworldly1 no doubt1 and yet ,i    
will venture the assertion that such a  
standard and such a method will come    
nearer to the mark of successful and    
well-controlled living than the most    
carefully planned campaign of duty4 ,if 
we plan to make life fine1 if we say1 in
 effect1 ,i will be good and cheerful1  
no matter what happens1 we are beginning
 at the wrong end4 ,we may be able to   
work back from our mottoes to real      
living1 but the chances are we shall    
stop somewhere by the way1 too confused 

and uncertain to go on4 ,self-control1  
at its best1 is not a conscious thing4  
,it is not well that we should try to be
 good1 but that we should so dignify our
 lives with the spirit of good that evil
 becomes well-nigh impossible to us4    
,,viii  ,,the ,,lighter ,,touch         
,heart not so heavy as mine1            
,wending late home1     ,as it passed my
 window     ,whistled itself a tune4    
,,emily ,,dickinson4  ,i have never seen
 good come from frightening worriers4   
,it is no doubt wise to speak the truth1
 but it seems to me a mistake to say in 
public print or in private advice that  
worry leads to tragedies of the worst   
sort4 ,no matter how hopeful we may be  
in our later teaching about the         
possibilities of overcoming worry1 the  
really serious worrier will pounce upon 
the original tragic statement and apply 
it with terrible insistence to his own  
case4  ,i would not minimize the        
seriousness of worry1 but ,i am         
convinced that we can rarely overcome it

 by direct voluntary effort4 ,it does   
not go until we forget it1 and we do not
 forget it if we are always trying      
consciously to overcome it4 ,we worriers
 must go about our business--other      
business than that of worry4  ,life is  
serious--alas1 too serious--and full    
enough of pathos4 ,we cannot joke about 
its troubles2 they are real4 ,but1 at   
least1 we need not magnify them4 ,why   
should we act as though everything      
depended upon our efforts1 even the     
changing seasons and the blowing winds8 
,no doubt we are responsible for our own
 acts and thoughts and for the welfare  
of those who depend upon us4 ,the       
trouble is we take unnecessary          
responsibilities so seriously that we   
overreach ourselves and defeat our own  
good ends4  ,i would make my little     
world more blessedly careless--with an  
abandon that loves life too much to     
spoil it with worry4 ,i would cherish so
 great a desire for my child's good that
 ,i could not scold and bear down upon  

him for every little fault1 making him a
 worrier too1 but1 instead1 ,i would    
guide him along the right path with     
pleasant words and brave encouragement4 
,the condemnation of faults is rarely   
constructive4  ,we had better say to the
 worriers1 ,here is life2 no matter what
 unfortunate things you may have said or
 done1 you must put all evil behind you 
and live--simply1 bravely1 well4 ,the   
greater the evil1 the greater the need  
of forgetting4 ,not flippantly1 but     
reverently1 leave your misdeeds in a    
limbo where they may not rise to haunt  
you4 ,this great thing you may do1 not  
with the idea of evading or escaping    
consequences1 but so that past evil may 
be turned into present and future good4 
,the criminal himself is coming to be   
treated this way4 ,he is no longer      
eternally reminded of his crime4 ,he is 
taken out into the sunshine and air and 
is given a shovel to dig with4 ,a       
wonderful thing is that shovel4 ,with it
 he may bury the past and raise up a    

happier1 better future4 ,we must care so
 much to expiate our sins that we are   
willing to neglect them and live        
righteously4 ,that is true repentance1  
constructive repentance4  ,we cannot    
suddenly change our mental outlook and  
become happy when grief has borne us    
down4 ,for the broken heart silence and 
shade1--that is fair and right4 ,i would
 say to those who are unhappy1 ,do not  
try to be happy1 you cannot force it2   
but let peace come to you out of the    
great world of beauty that calmly       
surrounds our human suffering1 and that 
speaks to us quietly of ,god4 ,genuine  
laughter is not forced1 but we may let  
it come back into our lives if we know  
that it is right for it to come4  ,we   
have all about us instances of the      
effectiveness of the lighter touch as   
applied to serious matters4 ,the life of
 the busy surgeon is a good example4 ,he
 may be1 and usually is1 brimming with  
sympathy1 but if he were to feel too    
deeply for all his patients1 he would   

soon fail and die4 ,he goes about his   
work4 ,he puts through a half-dozen     
operations in a way that would send cold
 shivers down the back of the           
uninitiated4 ,and yet he is accurate and
 sure as a machine4 ,if he were to take 
each case upon his mind in a heavy1     
consequential way1 if he were to give   
deep concern to each ligature he ties1  
and if he were to be constantly afraid  
of causing pain1 he would be a poor     
surgeon4 ,his work1 instead of being    
clean and sharp1 would suffer from      
over-conscientiousness4 ,he might never 
finish an operation for fear his patient
 would bleed to death4 ,such a man may  
be the reverse of flippant1 and yet he  
may actually enjoy his somber work4     
,cruel1 bloodthirsty8 ,not at all4      
,these men--the great surgeons--are as  
tender as children4 ,but they love their
 work1 they really care very deeply for 
their patients4 ,the successful ones    
have the lighter touch and they have no 
time for worry4  ,sometimes we wish to  

arouse the public conscience4 ,do the   
long columns of figures1 the impressive 
statistics1 wake men to activity8 ,it is
 rather the keen1 bright thrust of the  
satirist that saves the day4 ,once in a 
,new ,england town meeting there was a  
movement for a much-needed new          
schoolhouse4 ,by the installation of    
skylights in the attic the old building 
had been made to accommodate the        
overflow of pupils4 ,the serious        
speakers in favor of the new building   
had left the audience cold1 when a young
 man arose and said he had been up into 
the attic and had seen the wonderful    
skylights that were supposed to meet the
 needs of the children4 ,i have seen    
them1 he said2 we used to call them     
scuttles when ,i was a boy4 ,a hundred  
thousand dollars was voted for the new  
schoolhouse4  ,there is a natural gayety
 in most of us which helps more than we 
realize to keep us sound4 ,the pity is  
that when responsibilities come and     
hardships come1 we repress our lighter  

selves sternly1 as though such          
repression were a duty4 ,better let us  
guard the springs of happiness very1    
very jealously4 ,the whistling boy in   
the dark street does more than cheer    
himself on the way4 ,he actually        
protects himself from evil1 and brings  
courage not only to himself1 but to     
those who hear him4 ,i do not hold for  
false cheerfulness that is sometimes    
affected1 but a brave show of courage in
 a forlorn hope will sometimes win the  
day4 ,it is infinitely more likely to   
win than a too serious realization of   
the danger of defeat4 ,the show of      
courage is often not a pretense at all1 
but victory itself4  ,the need of the   
world is very great and its human       
destiny is in our hands4 ,half of those 
who could help to right the wrongs are  
asleep or too selfishly immersed in     
their own affairs4 ,we need more helpers
 like my friend of the skylights4 ,most 
of us are far too serious4 ,the         
slumberers will slumber on1 and the     

worriers will worry1 the serious people 
will go ponderously about until some one
 shows them how ridiculous they are and 
how pitiful4     ,,ix  ,,regrets ,,and  
,,forebodings       ,regret avails      
little--still less remorse--the one     
keeps alive     the old offense1 the    
other creates new offenses4             
,,goethe4  ,the unrepentant sinner walks
 abroad4 ,unfortunately for us moralists
 he seems to be having a very good time4
 ,we must not condone him1 though he may
 be a very lovable person2 neither must 
we altogether condemn him1 for he may be
 repentant in the very best way of all  
ways1 the way that forgets much and     
leaves behind more1 because life is so  
fine that it must not be spoiled1 and   
because progress is in every way better 
than retrospection4 ,the fact is1 that  
repentance is too often the fear of     
punishment1 and such fear is1 to say the
 least1 unmanly4 ,i would rather be a   
lovable sinner than one of the people   
who repent because they cannot bear to  

think of the consequences4 ,knowledge   
and fear of consequences undoubtedly    
keep a great many young people from the 
so-called sins of ignorance4 ,but there 
must be something behind knowledge and  
fear of consequences to stop the youth  
of spirit from doing what he is inclined
 to do4 ,over and over again we must go 
back to the appreciation of life's      
dignity and beauty--to the consciousness
 of the spirit of ,god behind and in the
 world if we are to find a balance and a
 character that will deliver us from    
evil4  ,when we have found this         
consciousness--when we live it and      
breathe it1 we shall be far less apt to 
sin1 and when we have sinned1 as we all 
must in the course of our blundering    
lives1 we shall not waste our time in   
regret or in the fear of consequences4  
,if the ,god we dream of is as great as 
the sea1 or as beautiful as a tree1 we  
need not fear ,him4 ,he will be tender1 
and just at the same time4 ,he will be  
as forgiving as ,he is strong4 ,the best

 we can do1 then1 is to leave our sins  
in the hand of ,god and go our way1     
sadder and wiser1 maybe1 but not        
regretting too much1 not fearing any    
more4  ,there is a new idea in          
medicine--the development of which has  
been one of the most striking           
achievements of modern times--the idea  
of psychanalysis as taught and advocated
 by ,freud in ,germany4 ,the plan is to 
study the subconscious mind of the      
nervous patient by means of hypnotism1  
to assist the patient to recall all the 
mental experiences of his past1--even   
his very early childhood1--and in this  
way to make clear the origin of the     
misconceptions and the unfortunate      
impressions which have presumably       
exerted their influence through the     
years4 ,the new system includes1 also1  
the interpretation of dreams1 their     
effect upon the conscious life and their
 influence upon the mentality4 ,very    
wonderful results are reported from the 
pursuit of this method4 ,many a badly   

warped and twisted life has been        
straightened out and renewed when the   
searchlight has revealed the hidden     
influences that have been at work and   
which have made trouble4 ,the repression
 of conscious or unconscious feelings   
can no doubt change the whole mental    
life4 ,we should have the greatest      
respect for the men who are doing this  
work4 ,it requires1 ,i am told1 an      
almost unbelievable amount of patience  
and time to accomplish the analysis4 ,no
 doubt the adult judgment of childish   
follies is a direct means of disposing  
of their harmful influence in life1 the 
surest way of losing the conscious or   
unconscious regrets that sadden many    
lives4 ,there are probably many cases of
 disturbed and troubled mind that can be
 cured in this way only4 ,the method    
does not appeal to me because ,i am so  
strongly inclined to take people as they
 are1 to urge a forgetfulness that does 
not really forget1 but which goes on    
bravely to the development of life4     

,this development cannot proceed without
 the understanding that life may be made
 so beautiful that sins and failures are
 lost in progress4 ,some of us may need 
the subtle analysis of our lives to make
 clear the points where we went astray  
in our thoughts and ideas1 but many of  
us1 fortunately1 are able to take       
ourselves for better or for worse1 sins 
and all4 ,most of us ought to do that1  
for the most part1 if we are to progress
 and live4 ,sometimes the revelations of
 evils we know not of result in         
complications rather than               
simplification1 as in the case of a boy 
who wrote to me and said that since he  
had learned of his early sins he had    
made sure that he could never be well4  
,instead of going into further analysis 
with him1 ,i assured him that1 while it 
was undoubtedly his duty to regret all  
the evil of his life1 it was a still    
greater duty to go on and live the rest 
of it well1 and that he could do so if  
he would open his eyes to the           

possibilities of unselfish service4  ,i 
am very much inclined to preach against 
self-analysis and the almost inevitable 
regret and despair that accompany it4   
,one of my patients decided some time   
ago that her life was wasted1 that she  
had accomplished nothing4 ,it was true  
that she had not the endurance to meet  
the usual demands of social or even     
family life1 and that for long periods  
she had to give up altogether4 ,but it  
happened that she had the gift of       
musical understanding1 that she had     
studied hard in younger days4 ,with a   
little urging the gift was made to grow 
again and to serve not only the         
patient's own needs1 but to bring very  
great pleasure to every one who listened
 to her playing4 ,that rare1 true       
ability was worth everything1 and she   
came to realize it in time4 ,the gift of
 musical expression is a very great     
thing1 and ,i succeeded in making this  
woman understand that she should be     
happy in that ability even if nothing   

else should be possible4  ,often enough 
nothing that can compare with music     
exists1 and life seems wholly barren4   
,rather cold comfort it seems at first  
to assure a person who is helpless that 
character is the greatest thing in the  
world1 but that is the final truth4 ,the
 most limited and helpless life may glow
 with it and be richer than imagination 
can believe4 ,it is never time to       
regret--and never time to despair4 ,the 
less analysis the better4 ,when it comes
 to character1 live1 grow1 and get a    
deeper and deeper understanding of      
life--of life that is near to ,god and  
so capable of wrong only as we turn away
 from ,him4 ,do not say things2 what you
 are stands over you and thunders so1 ,i
 cannot hear what you say to the        
contrary4 ,we shall do well not to      
forget that1 whatever failures or       
mistakes we have made1 there is infinite
 possibility ahead of us1 that character
 is the greatest thing in the world1 and
 that most good character has been built

 upon mistakes and failures4 ,i believe 
there is no sin which may not make up   
the fabric of its own forgiveness in the
 living of a free1 self-sacrificing     
life4 ,i know of no bodily ill nor      
handicap which we may not eventually    
rise above and beyond by means of brave 
spiritual progress4 ,the body may fail  
us1 but the spirit reaches on and into  
the great world of ,god4     ,x  ,,the  
,,virtues       ,the virtues hide their 
vanquished fires     ,within that whiter
 flame--     ,till conscience grows     
irrelevant     ,and duty but a name4    
,,frederick ,,lawrence ,,knowles4  ,in  
most books ,i have read on nerves and   
similar subjects1 advice is given1      
encouragement is given1 but the         
necessity for patience is not made      
clear4 ,patience is typical of all the  
other virtues4 ,many a man has followed 
the best of advice for a time1 and has  
become discouraged because the promised 
results did not materialize4 ,it is     
disappointing1 surely1 to have lived    

upon a diet for months only to find that
 you still have dyspepsia1 or to have   
followed certain rules of morality with 
great precision and enthusiasm without  
obtaining the untroubled mind4 ,we are  
accustomed to see results in the        
material world and naturally expect them
 everywhere4 ,the trouble is we do not  
always recognize improvements when we   
see them1 and we insist upon certain    
preconceived changes as a result of our 
endeavors4 ,the physician is apt rashly 
to promise definite physical            
accomplishments in a given time4 ,he is 
courting disappointment and distrust    
when he does so4 ,we all want to get    
relief from our symptoms1 and we are    
inclined to insist upon a particular    
kind of relief so strongly that we fail 
to appreciate the possibilities of      
another and a better relief which may be
 at hand4 ,the going astray in this     
particular is sometimes very            
unfortunate4 ,i have known a man to rush
 frantically from one doctor to another1

 trying to obtain relief for a          
particular pain or discomfort1 unwilling
 to rest long enough to find out that   
the trouble would have disappeared      
naturally if he had taken the advice of 
the first physician1 to live without    
impatience and within his limitations4  
,the human body is a very complex       
organism1 and sometimes pain and        
distress are better not relieved1 since 
they may be the expression of some      
deeper maladjustment which must first be
 straightened out4 ,this is also true of
 the mind--in which the unhappy         
proddings of conscience had better not  
be cured by anodynes or by evasion      
unless we are prepared to go deeply     
enough to make them disappear           
spontaneously4 ,we must sometimes insist
 upon patience1 though it should exist  
as a matter of course--patience with    
ourselves and with others4 ,the         
physician who demands and secures the   
greatest degree of patience from his    
clients is the most successful          

practitioner1 for no life can go on     
successfully without patience4 ,if      
patience can be spontaneous1--the       
natural result of a broadening          
outlook1--then it will be permanent and 
serviceable2 the other kind1 that exists
 by extreme effort1 may do for a while1 
but it is a poor makeshift4  ,i always  
feel like apologizing when ,i ask a man 
or a woman to be tolerant or charitable 
or generous or1 for that matter1 to     
practice any of the ordinary virtues4   
,sound living should spring unbidden    
from the very joy of life2 it should    
need no justification and certainly no  
urging4 ,but unfortunately1 as the world
 now stands1 there are men and groups of
 men who do not see the light4 ,there is
 a wide contagion of selfishness and    
short-sightedness among the well-to-do1 
and a necessary federation of protection
 and selfishness among the poor4 ,the   
practical needs of life1 artificial as  
they are among the rich1 and terribly   
insistent as they are among the poor1   

blind us to larger considerations4  ,if 
all matters of welfare1 public or       
private1 could be treated unselfishly1  
how quickly we should be rid of some of 
the great evils that afflict the race4  
,i am inclined to think that much of the
 goodness of people does come in that   
way1 unconsciously1 naturally1 as the   
light flows from the sun4 ,yet ,i       
suppose that in our present order1 and  
until1 through the years1 the better    
time arrives1 we must very often ask    
ourselves and others to be good and to  
be charitable1 just because it is right1
 or worse still because it is good      
policy4  ,a man grows better1 more      
human1 more intelligent1 as he practices
 the virtues4 ,he is safer1 no doubt1   
and the world is better4 ,it is even    
true that1 by the constant practice of  
virtues1 he may come finally to espouse 
goodness and become thoroughly good4    
,that is the hopeful thing about it and 
the reason why we may consistently ask  
or demand the routine practice of the   

virtues4 ,but let us hold up all the    
time in our teaching and in our lives   
the other course1 the development of the
 inspiration that includes all virtues  
and that makes all our way easy and     
plain in a world where confusion reigns1
 because men are going at the problem of
 right living the wrong way around4     
,the practice of good living will never 
be easy in its details1 but if it is    
sure in its inspiration there will be no
 question of the final triumph4 ,we     
shall have to fight blindly sometimes   
and with all the strength and           
persistence of animals at bay4 ,we shall
 fail sometimes1 too1 and that is not   
always the worst thing that can happen4 
,it is the glory of life that we shall  
slowly triumph over ourselves and the   
world4 ,it is the glory of life that out
 of sore trouble1 in the midst of       
poverty and human injustice1 may rise1  
spontaneous and serene1 the spirit of   
self-sacrifice1 the unconquerable spirit
 of service that does not question1 that

 expresses the divine tenderness in     
terms of human love4 ,through the times 
of darkness and doubt which must        
inevitably come1 there will be for those
 who cherish such a vision1 and who come
 back to it again and again1 no utter   
darkness1 no trouble that wholly        
crushes1 no loss that wholly destroys4  
,if we could not understand it before1  
it will slowly dawn upon us that the    
life of ,christ exemplified all these   
things4 ,charity1 kindliness1 service1  
patience1--all these things which have  
seemed so hard will become in our lives1
 as in his1 the substance and expression
 of our faith4 ,the great human virtues 
will become easy and natural1 the       
untroubled mind1 or as much of it as is 
good to possess1 will be ours1 not      
because we have escaped trouble1 but    
because we have disarmed it1 have       
welcomed it even1 so long as it has     
served to strengthen and ennoble our    
lives4     ,,xi  ,,the ,,cure ,,by      
,,faith       ,the healing of his       

seamless dress     ,is by our beds of   
pain--     ,we touch ,him in life's     
throng and press1     ,and we are whole 
again4                 ,,whittier4  ,i  
cannot finish my little book of ideals  
without writing some things that are in 
my mind about cure by faith or by       
prayer4 ,it is a subject that ,i        
approach with hesitation because of the 
danger of misunderstanding4 ,no subject 
is more difficult and none is more      
important for the invalid to understand4
 ,we hear a great deal about the        
wonderful cures of ,christian ,science  
or of similar agencies1 and we all know 
of people who have been restored to     
usefulness by such means4 ,has the      
healing of ,christ again become possible
 on earth8 ,no one would be more eager  
to accept it and acknowledge it than the
 physician if it were really so4 ,but   
careful investigation always reveals the
 fact that the wonderful cures are not  
of the body but of the mind4 ,it is easy
 enough to say that a cancer or         

tuberculosis has been cured by faith1   
and apparently easy for many people to  
believe it1 but alas1 the proof is      
wanting4 ,the ,christian ,scientist1    
honest and sincere as he may be1 is not 
qualified to say what is true disease   
and what is not4 ,what looks like       
diseased tissue recovers1 but medical   
men know that it could not have been    
diseased in the most serious sense1 and 
that the prayer for recovery could have 
had nothing to do with the cure1 save in
 a very indirect way4  ,the man who     
discards medicine for philosophy or     
religion is courting unnecessary        
suffering and even death4 ,the worst    
part of it is that he may induce some   
one else to make the same mistake with  
similar results4 ,in writing this       
opinion ,i am in no way denying the     
great significance and value of faith   
nor of the prayerful and trustful mind4 
,if it cannot cure actual physical      
disease1 faith can accomplish veritable 
miracles of healing in the mind of the  

patient4 ,no thoughtful or honest       
medical man will deny it4 ,nor will most
 medical men deny that the course of    
almost any physical illness may be      
modified by faith and prayer4 ,i am     
almost saying that there is no known    
medicine of such potency4 ,every bodily 
function is the better for the          
conquering spirit that transcends the   
earth and finds its necessary expression
 in prayer4  ,there really need be no   
issue or disagreement between medicine  
and faith cure4 ,at its best1 one is not
 more wonderful than the other1 and both
 aim to accomplish the same end--the    
relief of human suffering4 ,when the two
 are merged1 as some day they will be1  
we shall be surprised to discover how   
alike they are4 ,christian ,science is  
rightly scorned by medical men because  
it is unscientific1 because it makes    
absurd and untenable claims outside its 
own field1 and because it has not as yet
 investigated that field in the         
scientific spirit4 ,when proper study   

and investigation have been made it will
 be found that faith cure1 not in its   
present state1 but in some future       
development1 will have an immense field 
of usefulness4 ,it will be worthy of as 
much respect in that field as medicine  
proper in its own sphere4 ,as a matter  
of fact both medicine and faith cure are
 miraculous in a very real sense1 as    
both depend for efficiency now and      
always upon the same great laws which   
may be fairly called divine4 ,what is   
the discovery that the serum of a horse 
will under certain circumstances cure   
diphtheria8 ,does it not mean that man  
is tapping sources of power far beyond  
his understanding8 ,is man responsible  
save as the agent8 ,did he produce the  
complex animal chemistry that makes this
 cure possible8 ,did man make the horse1
 or the laws that control the physiology
 and pathology of that animal8 ,here1   
then1 is faith cure in its largest and  
best sense4 ,the biologist may not be   
willing to admit it1 but his faith in   

these great laws of ,god have made      
possible the cure of a dread disease4   
,here1 as in all matters of pure        
religion1 it is what men say and write1 
not the fact itself1 that makes all the 
misunderstanding2 we make our judgments 
and conceive our prejudices from mere   
surface considerations4 ,call life what 
you will1--leave out the symbolic word  
,god altogether1--the facts remain4 ,the
 true scientific spirit must reverence  
and adore the power that lies behind    
creation4 ,it is as inconsistent for the
 bacteriologist to be an unbeliever as  
it is for the ,christian ,scientist to  
deny the value of bacteriology4         
,medicine is infinitely farther advanced
 than ,christian ,science1 and yet      
,christian ,science has grasped some    
truth that the natural scientist has    
stupidly missed4 ,when an obsession is  
thrown off and courage substituted for  
fear1 we witness as important a cure as 
can be shown to the credit of surgery4  
,if the ,christian ,scientists and the  

other faith-curers were only less       
superficial and less narrow in their    
explanation of the facts1 if they would 
condescend to study the diseases they   
treat1 they would be entitled to1 and   
would receive1 more respect and         
consideration4  ,the cure and prevention
 of disease through the agency of man   
are evidently part of the divine plan4  
,our eagerness to advance along the     
lines of investigation and practice is  
but that divine plan in action4 ,the    
truly scientific spirit will neglect no 
possible curative agent4 ,when          
scientific men ridicule prayer1 they are
 thinking not of the real thing which is
 above all possible criticism1 but of   
the feeble and often pathetic groping   
for the real thing4 ,we ask in our      
prayers for impossible blessings that   
would invert the laws of ,god and change
 the face of nature--very well1 we must 
be prepared for disappointment4 ,the    
attitude of prayer may1 indeed1         
transform our own lives and make        

possible for us experiences that would  
otherwise have been impossible4 ,but our
 pathetic demands--we shall never know  
how forlorn and weak they are4 ,prayer  
is the opening of the heart to the being
 we call ,god--it is most natural and   
reasonable4 ,if we pray in our weakness 
and blindness for what we may not have1 
there is1 nevertheless1 a wonderful     
re-creative effect within us4 ,the      
comfort and peace of such communion is  
beyond all else healing and restoring in
 its influence upon the troubled and    
anxious mind of man4 ,the poet or the   
scientist who bows in adoration before  
the glory of ,god revealed in nature1   
prays in effect to that ,god and his    
soul is refreshed and renewed4 ,the poor
 wretch who stands blindfolded before   
the firing squad1 waiting the word that 
ends the life of a military spy1 is near
 enough to ,god--and the whispered      
prayer upon his lips is cure for the    
wounds that take his life4  ,the best   
kind of prayer seeks not and asks not   

for physical relief or benefit1 but     
opens the heart to its maker1 and so    
receives the cure of peace that is a    
greater miracle than any yet wrought by 
man4 ,under the influence of that cure  
the sick are well and the dead are alive
 again4 ,with the courage and spirit of 
such a cure in our lives1 we shall      
inevitably do our utmost to relieve1 by 
any good means1 the physical suffering  
of the world4 ,we shall follow the laws 
of nature4 ,we shall study them with the
 utmost care4 ,we shall take nothing for
 granted1 since by less careful steps we
 shall miss the divine law and so go    
astray4 ,the science of healing will    
become no chance and irrational thing4  
,we shall use all the natural means to  
relieve and prevent suffering--there    
will be no scoring of one set of doctors
 by another because all will have one   
purpose4 ,but more to the point than    
that1 men will discover that health in  
its largest sense consists in living    
devout and prayerful lives whereunto    

shall be revealed in good time all that 
our finite minds can know and use4      
,there will be no suffering of the body 
in the old and pitiful sense1 for we    
shall be so much alive that disease and 
death can no longer claim us4   ,,the   
,,end