,transcriber's ,note3        ,italic    
text is denoted by underscores4         
,for more transcriber's notes1 please go
 to the end of this text4               
,,happiness              ,,horace       
,,fletcher',s ,,works          ,,the ,a4
 ,b4-,z4 ,,of ,,our ,,own ,,nutrition4  
,thirteenth thousand4 #dfb pp4          
,,the ,,new ,,menticulture2 ,,or1 ,,the 
,a-,b-,c ,,of          ,,true ,,living4 
,forty-,eighth thousand4          #caj  
pp4        ,,the ,,new ,,glutton ,,or   
,,epicure2 ,,or1          ,,economic    
,,nutrition4 ,fifteenth                 
thousand4 #cdd pp4        ,,happiness   
,,as ,,found ,,in ,,forethought ,,minus 
,,fearthought4 ,fourteenth thousand4    
#bea pp4        ,,that ,,last ,,waif2   
,,or1 ,,social ,,quarantine4            
,sixth thousand4 #bgj pp4               
,,happiness    ,,as ,,found ,,in        
,forethought minus ,fearthought         
,,by    ,,horace ,,fletcher    ,fellow  
,american ,association for the          
,advancement of ,science                

,,fourteenth ,,thousand          ,,new  
,,york      ,,frederick ,a4 ,,stokes    
,,company      ,,publishers             
,,copyright1 #ahih1 ,,by      ,,horace  
,,fletcher          ,,contents4         
,,introduction1                         
#g      ,,hypothesis1                   
#bi      ,,theory1                      
#ch      ,,prefatory ,,definitions1     
#dc      ,,the ,,value ,,of ,,simile1   
#fc      ,,analysis ,,of ,,fear1        
#fi      ,,baleful ,,effects ,,of       
,,fear1                                 
#gh      ,,how ,,to ,,eliminate ,,fear1 
#hi      ,,how ,,to ,,cure ,,special    
,,forms ,,of ,,fear1                    
#ajj      ,,the ,,now-,,field1          
#aji      ,,pertinent ,,pages1          
#aag      ,,stop ,,importing1 ,,or1     
,,eradication ,,versus ,,repression1    
#ade      ,,the ,,impotence ,,of ,,pain1
                                  #aec  
,,unhappy ,,unless ,,miserable1         
#afj      ,,thou ,,shalt ,,not ,,strike 
,a ,,woman1                             

#afi      ,,the ,,point-,,of-,,view1    
#agg      ,,don',t ,,be ,a ,,sewer1     
#ahg      ,,call ,,suspicion ,a ,,liar1 
#aij      ,i ,,can',t ,not ,,do ,,it1   
#aib      ,a ,,million ,,to ,,one ,,on  
,,the ,,unexpected1                     
#aih      ,,love ,,cannot ,,be          
,,qualified1                            
#bjc      ,,last ,,sometimes ,,first1   
#baa      ,a ,,beginning ,,and ,,not    
,,an ,,end1                             
#bag      ,,appendix ,a--,,dr4 ,,wm4 ,h4
 ,,holcomb1                         #bbc
      ,,appendix ,b--,,george ,,kennan1 
#bdb      ,,explanation ,,of ,,the ,a4  
,b4 ,c4 ,,series1                       
#bec          ,,preface    ,,to         
,,sixth ,,thousand      ,happiness was  
written in answer to many questions     
elicited by the  publication of         
,menticulture4    ,the ,introduction is 
not material to the subject except to   
show the  sources of the suggestions    
relative to profitable living contained 
in  the two books4    ,the vital truths 

underlying the philosophy of life can be
 intelligently  stated in a few hundred 
words1 both as regards the proper       
cultivation  of the body1 or physical   
equipment1 and as regards the           
cultivation  of the mind1 so that they  
may do the best work of which they are  
capable4 ,false example and false       
teaching1 however1 have so impressed    
habits of weakness on the body and the  
mind that the chief aim of  curative    
suggestion should be to disabuse4 ,that 
is1 to cause people to  discard bad     
habits of thinking and doing in order   
that normal1 healthy  tendencies of     
action and of thought may take their    
place4    ,the difficulty of the task   
undertaken by any student and advocate  
of  reform is not the intelligent       
statement of the simple truth1 but the  
discovery and refutation of a           
complication of errors which have       
assumed  the reality of truth4 ,simile  
and illustration1 some logic and much   
ridicule1 are among the weapons that    

have been effective in combating  old   
habits of wrong thinking1 but it is     
impossible to say which  argument will  
fit a particular case4    ,each of the  
illustrations used in this book has been
 the means of  curing some one person of
 some phase of fearthought1 and together
 they  have released many from that     
dread enemy of health and happiness     
called  ,fear4    ,the normal condition 
of ,nature is healthy growth--evolution 
or  progression--and ,man's chief       
function in assisting her is first the  
removal of weeds1 or other deterrents to
 the natural process1 and  afterwards   
the maintaining of quarantine against   
their return4    ,true ,happiness is the
 ,evidence and ,fruit of ,conscious     
,usefulness4    ,the wider the          
opportunity for usefulness the greater  
and keener the  happiness resulting     
therefrom4 ,consciousness of being one's
 best and  doing one's best1 however1   
regardless of scope1 is the only way to 
unalloyed happiness1 and to the         

accomplishment of the highest ideals4   
,there can be no more miserable1 sorry  
and harrowing condition than  that      
called ,indifference4    ,the separating
 of fearthought from forethought is not 
alone valuable  because of the personal 
comfort of being fearless1 but it is    
especially  useful in that the energy   
made possible by the divorce is         
available in  assisting others to be    
strong and helpful to themselves and to 
each  other4    ,if attention is once   
directed to the pulling of weeds1 to the
 removal  of deterrents1 to the         
eradication of the germs of disorder1   
the pursuit  will become most           
fascinating1 owing to the quick and     
happy response of  ,nature in her       
willingness to ,do the rest4    ,one of 
the marvels revealed by study of the    
question of the possibility  of a       
,perfect ,social ,quarantine1 having for
 its aim a protection that  will not    
permit any child to escape care1 is the 
comparatively small  areas of the       

propagating centers in which are bred   
the germs of social  disorder4    ,this 
subject is treated in a book1 now in    
press1 called ,that ,last  ,waif2 or1   
,social ,quarantine4    ,the same       
insignificance of origin applies to     
individual1 moral and  physical         
deterrents to happiness which afflict   
otherwise healthy men  and women4 ,the  
tap-roots of all unhappiness are not    
formidable in the  light of present     
knowledge4    ,whoever is less than     
keenly happy is the victim of errors or 
illusions  whose germs are easy to kill 
when found4 ,it is the especial object  
of this book to help those who are      
suffering unhappiness to find the       
tap-roots of their troubles4            
,auditorium ,annex1      ,chicago1      
,september #eth1 #ahih4                 
,,happiness      ,,as ,,found ,,in      
,,fore ,,minus ,,fear      ,,thought4   
,,introduction4      ,how to be happy is
 the one desire common to all humanity4 
,how to be happier is a better          

statement1 for there is no one so       
miserable but has some degree of        
happiness at times--enjoys some  moments
 when he forgets to be unhappy1 and     
looks with appreciation1  even if with  
only dull and bleared appreciation1 upon
 the things that  are always beautiful  
and joyful and free4    ,in highly      
civilized life there is everything to   
encourage1 and there  should be nothing 
to prevent1 happiness4    ,the normal   
condition of man in civilized life is   
that of happiness4    ,so great1 and so 
greatly increasing1 has been the        
acceleration of  progress1 that the     
possibility of unrestrained and         
unfettered  happiness has come to us in 
advance of our being prepared to accept 
the  freedom of it1 owing1 mainly1 no   
doubt1 to the weight of traditions      
under the habit of which we are prone to
 struggle long after the  conditions    
that gave birth to the traditions have  
ceased to exist4    ,the experience of  
the world has revealed1 and is          

constantly revealing1  simple expedients
 applicable to every possible           
combination of  evils--except the evil  
of perverse ignorance--the use of which 
will  insure the success of honest and  
reasonable aims1 no matter how          
unfavorable the equipment and           
environment have been or are at the     
present time4    ,in a singularly       
adventurous career ,i have passed       
through many of the  conditions in which
 discomfort1 fear and unhappiness breed1
 including  the direst straits to which 
life can be exposed1 and have also been 
possessed1 at different times1 of the   
means to comfort and happiness  that    
broad opportunity1 keen appreciation and
 affluence are supposed to  furnish4    
,i have shared the occupations and      
sympathies of persons of many  different
 nationalities and of every degree of   
opportunity and  intelligence2 in       
torrid1 temperate and frigid climes2 in 
the ,americas1  in ,africa1 in ,europe1 
in ,asia1 and in the far-off islands of 

distant  seas2 on shipboard and on the  
farm2 in the mine and in the factory2 in
  the camp and on the commons2 in the   
arts of war and in the pursuits of      
peace2 in the country cross-roads       
school-house and in the university2  in 
service and in command--in all of which 
change it was possible only  to serve   
apprenticeships1 however1 for in such   
variety of occupation  no great         
accomplishment could develop1 except the
 accomplishment of  variety itself2 but1
 at the same time1 it was not possible  
for any  of the occupations to become   
stale to criticism1 and the ability to  
analyze1 in the light of comparison1 is 
the natural result and the  impelling   
motive in these essays4    ,i have      
pushed ways through tangled chaparral1  
led by hopes of  discovering precious   
metals2 and have chopped out roads in   
the jungle1  allured by the excitement  
of the chase and the spirit of          
adventure4 ,i  have observed nature in  
the vastness of her wild domains2 in the

 calm  and in the terror of the mighty  
deep2 in the harmonious quiet of rural  
cultivation1 and in the supreme         
picturesqueness of rugged mountain      
landscapes1 studded about1 here and     
there1 with golden-roofed temples  and  
cloistered parks4 ,i have not only seen 
nature with appreciative  eye when she  
has displayed her million moods and when
 she has taken on  myriad aspects1 but  
,i have tried to interpret her in terms 
of line and  color in famous studios in 
,europe1 under the advice of            
world-honored  masters of the art4      
,the numerous occupations engaged in    
were1 in many cases1 used as  necessary 
means to desired ends4 ,while ,i have   
enjoyed making le grand  tour as a globe
 trotter1 ,i have also had to work my   
way at times1  and in working my way    
have had to undertake occupations       
leading  that way4 ,so successful have  
,i been in finding means or excuses for 
travel1 that among my intimates the     
saying is current that if ,i took  it   

into my head to want to go to either of 
the poles1 ,i would engage  in a        
business that would make it necessary   
for me to go there1 thus  conserving my 
respect for duty and my desire for      
travel at the same  time4    ,i once    
sought and secured a place on the staff 
of one of the great  ,american daily    
journals in order to gain access to     
famous studios in  ,europe and ,america1
 and to become acquainted with the      
personality of  great artists who had   
become inaccessible to anyone except    
plutocratic  buyers of works of art1    
intimate friends and critics4 ,this was 
while  ,i was studying art with a view  
to learning some of the secrets of its  
inspiration in practice1 and thus       
journalism served a useful purpose1  as 
well as satisfied a burning curiosity4  
,in this connection ,i will  say that ,i
 have since been able1 directly and     
indirectly1 to create  appreciation that
 has led to the purchase of works of art
 in which very  large sums of money have

 been involved1 so that ,i cannot be    
charged  with imposture upon a          
profession which ,i respect to the point
 of  reverence for its mission in       
holding a true mirror up to nature and  
in teaching us to appreciate the subtle 
beauties that nature shows in  all of   
her aspects1 but which become           
commonplace to the many without  the    
assistance of art4    ,the ,japanese    
have a proverb which declares that once 
seeing is better  than an hundred times 
telling about1 and this good proverb has
  been the guiding star of my roamings1 
and has suggested practical             
participation in some of my occupations4
 ,my first attempt to see the  antipodes
 was not successful4 ,it did not have   
the necessary parental  sanction1 and ,i
 was brought back before ,i had measured
 very much  longitude and latitude2 but 
the determination shown in the attempt  
indicated so strong a tendency that it  
led to promise of assistance and        
permission to travel as a reward for    

certain accomplishments in study  that  
were considered to be impossible1 as    
judged by former efforts1 but  which    
became surprisingly easy to the boy who 
saw a way to the other  side of the     
world in the task4    ,i spent my       
sixteenth birthday on the ,island of    
,java1 and saw ,japan and  ,china at the
 most interesting periods of their      
recent history--,japan1  in ,feudal     
,times1 before any of the changes that  
have made her the last  and greatest    
wonder of the world2 and ,china1 at the 
close of the  ,taiping rebellion1       
wherein more than thirty millions of    
persons lost  their lives1 and about    
which there hovered a lawlessness the   
like of  which the world has not        
witnessed elsewhere4    ,chance and     
restless change have thrown me into     
companionship with  the most elemental  
of human beings2 and have also led me to
 the  acquaintance1 and into the        
affections of the wisest and loveliest  
of  men and women--the rarest blossoms  

of our generation4 ,opportunity has     
found me available for the command of a 
crew of ,cantonese pirates1 on  a       
,chinese lorcha1 at a time when piracy  
was a common occupation in the  ,china  
,sea2 and for the mismanagement of a    
,french ,grand ,opera ,company1  when no
 one else was foolish enough to         
undertake it4    ,the foregoing are but 
glimpses of the opportunities for       
observation  out of which ,i draw my    
deductions relative to profitable       
living4  ,four complete trips around the
 world--two of them before the time  of 
ocean steamship lines and continental   
railroads2 thirty-six trips  across the 
,american ,continent by various rail1   
water and stage routes2  sixteen voyages
 across the ,pacific ,ocean1 and many   
across the ,atlantic2  intermittent     
periods of residence in many different  
countries of  ,europe1 in ,china1 in    
,india1 in ,japan and in different      
localities in the  ,americas2 as well as
 visits to parts remote from the lines  

of travel1  such as ,south ,africa1     
,yucatan and the mountain regions of    
,mexico  and ,central ,america1 that are
 the type of all of the ,south ,american
  countries2 and all of which residences
 and visits have been chosen  at times  
of greatest interest in each locality2  
in response to the  invitation of the   
,spirit-of-,adventure by which ,i have  
been led--these1  together with no less 
than thirty-eight distinct occupations1 
embrace  the sum of my opportunities4   
,fortune has always been kind to me when
 ,i have trusted her2 when my  aims and 
ambitions were worthy1 and when ,i have 
been sufficiently  appreciative and     
grateful for the things ,i already      
possessed to merit  and invite continued
 favors2 but1 she has always passed me  
by whenever  ,i have doubted her        
goodness or questioned her intentions4  
,and so  consistent has been the course 
of ,fortune1 as viewed in the           
retrospect1  that ,i can assert1 with   
all the assurance of firm belief1 that  

,unto  him who hath 7appreciation and   
gratitude7 shall be given2 but unto him 
who hath not 7appreciation and          
gratitude7 shall be taken away even that
  which he hath4    ,until ,i began to  
collect my remembrances into groups1    
form them into  classes for review and  
deduct from them suggestions for        
profitable  living1 ,i had thought that 
my chronic restlessness was aimless as  
measured by the common estimate of      
usefulness2 but the sympathy  aroused by
 the publication of my little           
volume--first1 privately                
printed1--,menticulture1 or the ,a-,b-,c
 of ,true ,living--revealed the         
possibility of utilizing my varied      
experiences and observations to  good   
advantage in calling attention to       
uses-of-energy1 points-of-view1         
habits-of-thought and habits-of-action1 
that made for happiness in some  persons
 in some parts of the world1 while they 
were entirely unknown to  others as well
 fitted to enjoy them4    ,i was led to 

serious study of the causes and effects 
of happiness and  unhappiness by        
observations of the pitiable neglect of 
the science  of menticulture1 7which is 
the science of fundamental means71 and  
the science of happiness 7which is the  
science of ultimate desirable  ends71 in
 materially civilized communities1 and  
by persons who have  mastered1 and are  
already possessed of1 the physical means
 to comfort  and happiness4 ,this       
neglect is not surprising when we       
reflect that all  available time and all
 available thought have been excitedly  
employed  in developing material1       
physical means1 to the exclusion of the 
thought of cultivating the end2 to the  
harnessing and training of the  forces  
of ,nature1 to the exclusion of planning
 for their best uses2 but  it will be   
surprising if1 however1 in the near     
future1 the ends are  not scientifically
 cultivated1 now that the fundamental as
 well as the  physical means are        
understood1 and the leisure to apply    

them is secured4    ,more than forty    
years of observation1 and upwards of    
three years of  study1 analysis and     
arrangement with a fixed purpose1 have  
enabled  me to suggest changes of       
attitude towards the problems of life   
that  have not failed to bring more or  
less strength and happiness to  all who 
have adopted them1 as attested by       
thousands of written and  verbal        
communications and by report4 ,this is  
literally true1 and the  statement of it
 is warranted by the merit of the       
results1 removed from  any personality  
in connection with it4    ,the          
underlying cause of all weakness and    
unhappiness in ,man1 heredity  and      
environment to the contrary             
notwithstanding1 has always been1 and   
is still1 weak habit-of-thought4 ,this  
is proven by the observed  instances in 
which strong habit-of-thought has       
invariably made its  masters superior to
 heredity1 and to environment1 and to   
illness1  and to weakness of all kinds1 

and has redeemed them from non-success  
and misery1 to the enjoyment of success1
 honor and happiness4 ,it has  also been
 proven that none are so ill-favored as 
to be exempt from  regeneration by the  
influence of optimistic thinking1 and   
none so  plain1 nor even so ugly1 as    
judged by the world's standards of      
beauty1  but that the radiance of pure  
thought will make them more beautiful   
than their brothers of nobler mien and  
more symmetrical physique1 but  whose   
thoughts are poisoned by fear and by    
selfishness4    ,happiness is not       
dependent upon wealth1 and wealth does  
not necessarily  bring happiness1 but   
both are dependent upon                 
good-habit-of-thought2  for             
good-habit-of-thought develops          
appreciation1 which is  the measure of  
all wealth1 and appreciation leads to   
the  habit-of-feeling and the           
habit-of-action which produce happiness4
    ,notwithstanding the words of ,jesus
 of ,nazareth1 by which one-half of  the

 world's inhabitants are supposed to be 
governed2 notwithstanding  the          
admonitions of the other great teachers 
to whom the other half  of humanity turn
 for counsel2 notwithstanding the       
lessons taught  by all of nature's      
processes of growth1 especially the     
teachings  of later evolution2          
fear--fear of death1 fear of disaster1  
fear of  non-attainment1 fear of        
non-preferment1 and fear of the things  
that  never happen as feared1 and the   
anger and the worry growing out  of     
these fears--have been looked upon as   
afflictions necessary to  humanity1     
repressible only during life1 and       
eradicable only at the  change called   
death4    ,early theology wrestled with 
conditions wherein it was thought       
necessary to use the whip of fear as    
well as the attraction of love to       
incline men to religion4 ,modern        
theology teaches the religion of love   
alone1 but it has not yet sufficiently  
denounced the former teaching  of fears1

 perhaps in the interest of consistency 
or because of filial  respect1 inasmuch 
as its parents once put the label of    
truth upon  the religion of fear4       
,science also has taught1 and still     
continues to  teach1 the potency of the 
crowding-out stimulant in growth1       
without  proclaiming a line where       
attraction became the stronger motive in
  civilization--an intangible line      
already far astern in the wake of       
present progress4    ,fear has had its  
uses in the evolutionary process1 and   
seems to  constitute the whole of       
forethought1 as instinct seems to       
constitute  the whole of intelligence in
 most animals1 but that it should remain
  any part of the mental equipment of   
human civilized life is an  absurdity4  
,there are1 undoubtedly1 human beings   
that are still so  nearly animal that   
fear alone will restrain them from      
wrong-doing1  or stimulate them 7or1    
rather1 push them7 to peaceful and      
useful  living1 but none such will read 

this book1 and neither you nor ,i should
  be burdened by their limitations or   
necessities4 ,we have passed the  point 
where we need to be pushed2 or1 if we   
have not1 we are ashamed  to confess it1
 thereby acknowledging that it is       
unnecessary2 and are  within the        
atmosphere of appreciation and          
attraction where fear and  its          
expressions have no proper place1 and   
where the toleration of  fear beclouds  
not only our own clear vision1 but also 
the vision of  those who are still below
 us in the scale of intelligence1 to    
whom1  as beacon-lighters on the heights
 above them1 we owe the influence of    
right example4    ,i have made especial 
study of the reports of the ,society for
 ,psychical  ,research1 the book        
entitled ,fear1 by ,prof4 ,angelo       
,mosso1 of ,turin1  ,italy1 and the     
contributions to the ,american ,journal 
of ,psychology  by ,president ,g4       
,stanley ,hall1 of ,clarke ,university1 
,worcester1  ,massachusetts2 ,dr4 ,colin

 ,a4 ,scott1 ,professor of ,psychology  
and ,child  ,study at ,cook ,county     
,normal ,school1 ,chicago1 ,illinois2   
and others who  are devoting particular 
attention to the causes and effects of  
fears in  children2 together with the   
after-effect of early fears upon persons
  when they are fully grown4 ,the claim 
of these students is that the           
consideration of the future that        
constitutes forethought is a mixture  of
 hope1 faith and fear1 the sum of which 
is the stimulant to action  and         
progress1 hope and faith being the      
civilized or divine motives1  and fear  
being the animal motive4 ,my own        
experience and observations  corroborate
 this contention1 but ,i find that the  
fear element of  forethought is not     
stimulating to the more civilized       
persons1 to  whom duty and attraction   
are the natural motives of stimulation1 
but  is weakening and deterrent4 ,as    
soon as it becomes unnecessary1 fear    
becomes a positive deterrent1 and should

 be entirely removed1 as dead  flesh is 
removed from living tissue4 ,i have also
 demonstrated1 beyond  the possibility  
of doubt1 that the fear element can be  
eliminated out  of forethought as soon  
as it becomes evident that it is        
unnecessary1  separable and eliminable1 
and that energy and desire for  progress
 and growth are beautifully stimulated  
as the result of its  elimination4      
,to assist in the analysis of fear1 and 
in the denunciation of  its expressions1
 ,i have coined the word fearthought to 
stand  for the unprofitable element of  
forethought1 and have defined  that     
variously-interpreted word worry as     
fearthought1 in  contradistinction to   
forethought4 ,i have also defined       
fearthought as  the self-imposed or     
self-permitted suggestion of            
inferiority1 in  order to place it where
 it really belongs1 in the category of  
harmful1  unnecessary1 and1 therefore1  
not-respectable things4    ,darwin and  
,spencer and other biologists have      

asserted that if primitive  man had not 
been urged by fear of discomfort he     
would have sat upon  a stone1 naked1    
near the roots or the herbs that served 
to appease  his hunger--if it also      
happened to be near to a spring where he
 could  quench his thirst--until he     
died2 and that fear has been the        
impelling  motive in the progress of the
 race4 ,this was undoubtedly true up to 
a  certain point1 but1 like many of the 
laws of ye olden tyme1 is not           
applicable to the present nor to us4    
,there is now sufficient protection     
vouchsafed by forethought1 and          
sufficient attraction furnished by      
affection and duty1 to lead the van  in 
the pursuit of progress1 and to set an  
example that will be its own            
torch-bearer in guiding the trend of    
thought and of action4    ,when the     
motto1 ,fearlessness1 becomes           
embroidered upon the banners of  all of 
our religious and other fraternal       
organizations2 when ,freedom  from ,fear

 becomes the slogan of ,reform1 and when
 ,appreciation1 ,love  and ,altruism are
 admitted to the councils of men1 then1 
and only then1  will famine end1        
selfishness fade1 strikes become        
unnecessary1 misery  depart1 and        
,happiness become enthroned as the ruler
 of a joyously  industrious and         
universally prosperous people4          
,increase is prodigal1 and accumulation 
is already prodigious1 so that  it is no
 longer a question of physical means1   
but a question of wise  distribution and
 adjustment1 to accomplish all that     
society requires  to insure it          
unremitting happiness4    ,churches     
there are1 clubs there are1 lodges there
 are1 guilds there  are1 and many other 
fraternal organizations whose aims are  
practically  the same1 but whose members
 are attracted together into separate   
groups by sympathies of traditions1     
race1 occupations or general            
trend-of-thought4 ,it would be a useless
 iconoclasm to separate from  these or  

to attempt to dismember them4 ,they are 
all good organizations1  wherein they   
conserve the principles of brotherhood  
and promote  practical altruism2 and are
 only imperfect wherein they tolerate   
slavery to the fears1 slavery to wealth1
 slavery to the harmful  conventions1   
and slavery to the antagonisms1         
intolerances and other  evil passions   
that prevent economic co-operation1     
harmony and happiness4    ,the          
contention of this book is that1 with   
means already secured1 there  is a way  
to individual happiness1 even under     
existing conditions2  and also1 that the
 present acceleration of progress1 and  
certain  already accomplished tests of  
possible industrial and economic reform1
  coupled with an optimism that has for 
its motto1 ,all can be1 and1  therefore1
 shall be well1 not only promise1 but   
assure1 to mankind1  in a not remote    
future1 equal opportunities for securing
 happiness by  means altogether honest  
and altruistic4    ,to all who will     

follow me through this volume1 ,i       
promise to show  ways and signs that    
will assist the weak to become strong1  
the poor to  become rich in appreciation
 of their opportunities1 and the rich to
  better enjoy their good fortune       
without impoverishing others to do so4  
,my special desire is to enlist general 
aid in eradicating deterrents to        
growth1 and in the acceleration of      
progress4          ,,hypothesis4        
,the object of ,life is ,growth4        
,harmony is the condition favorable and 
necessary to growth4    ,harmony is the 
normal condition of ,nature1 as proven  
by the unfailing  and immediate response
 of growth to its influence4            
,harmonic conditions are created by the 
removal of deterrents to growth4        
,mind is the first essential in the     
growth of ,man4 ,a healthy mind  insures
 a healthy body1 and a rational         
cultivation of the mind cannot  fail to 
result in the attainment of the highest 
ideals4    ,all of the processes of     

,nature are consistent1 and ,man and    
,mind are no  exception to the rule     
regulating the growth of other things1  
except  that their functions as chief   
assistants in evolution are unique1 and1
  therefore1 involve greater            
responsibility4    ,unselfishness is    
necessary to the harmonic condition in  
,man1 and  service to fellow-man is     
essential to his growth4    ,happiness  
is the evidence and fruit of ,growth4   
,there can be no real happiness except  
in ,growth4    ,acts are thoughts       
materialized2 or--thoughts realized4    
,forethought is an essential aid to     
,growth4    ,fearthought is the cause of
 all deterrents to growth in ,man4      
,forethought minus ,fearthought is the  
ideal ,mind ,equipment4    ,fearthought 
serves no useful purpose2 neither is it 
a necessary  infliction of intelligent1 
civilized manhood or womanhood4         
99       99       99       99       99  
,culture is necessary to the best       
growth4    ,mind-culture1 or            

menticulture1 is the most important of  
all  the divisions of culture2 for1 out 
of ,mind thoughts spring1 and           
accomplishments grow2 but it has been   
the last to receive the same  scientific
 and reasonable attention that the other
 cultures have  received1 and had not   
even been given a distinctive name until
  ,menticulture was published4    ,in   
,agriculture and in ,horticulture1      
plants that seem to have no  profitable 
nor agreeable use1 but are deterrent to 
the growth of useful  plants1 are       
denominated weeds1 and are not allowed  
to retain root  in the same soil2       
animals and other living and moving     
things that  are not serviceable1 and   
can not be domesticated1 are            
exterminated  from civilized            
environment2 the air that ,man breathes 
is cleared of  poisonous malaria by     
draining the swamps in which the bad air
 forms2  and friction is minimized in   
machines1 in order that the energy      
applied  to them may meet with least    

resistance1 and suffer the least waste4 
,but no such care is commonly given to  
the mind4    ,fearthought is the element
 of friction1 as expressed in anger2 it 
is  the predatory element1 as expressed 
in waste of energy--the result of       
worry2 and it is also the weed element1 
as shown by the uselessness of  it in   
any form4 ,it is1 however1 permitted to 
encumber1 muddy and prey  upon divinely 
ordained forethought1 as weeds encumber 
good soil1 as  mud clouds pure water1   
and as savage and venomous things prey  
upon the  comfort and life of animals   
useful to ,man1 and even upon ,man      
himself4    ,man's place in the process 
of evolution is that of assistant only4 
,man  selects1 arranges1 brings         
together1 separates1 waters1 fertilizes1
  waits upon and otherwise cultivates   
,nature2 but he has not been able to    
add one cell to growth2 neither has he  
succeeded in drawing an atom of  color  
from the sunlight and in infusing it    
into the sap of any growing  thing4     

,by ,man's attention in removing the    
deterrents1 the skimpy little wild      
flower that grows upon the hillsides of 
,china1 that ,i gathered when  ,i was a 
boy--of less importance than the common 
field daisy--has  become the royal      
chrysanthemum of the ,flower ,shows2 by 
,man's care in  the breeding1 feeding   
and training of the primitive horse     
described  by ,professor ,marsh1 the    
almost-human ,kentucky thoroughbred--the
  ,black ,beauty of our pride--has been 
evolved2 and the clumsy effort  of the  
first inventor of steam applied to      
machinery has become the  wonderful     
quadruple-expansion engine of the       
present1 by the harmonizing  adjustment 
of parts1 and the reduction of friction 
to the point of  noiseless efficiency1  
through the genius of invention4        
,mind is the great machine behind all   
other machines and out of which  all    
accomplishment comes4 ,fearthought and  
what grows out of it1 under  the class  
names of anger and worry1 are like rust 

and sand in the  journals1 and wear out 
the bearings of the machine4 ,they are  
also like  the impurities in water that 
cause foaming in a boiler and prevent   
the  accumulation of energy4 ,they are  
productive of nothing but wear and      
waste1 wear and waste1 as long as they  
are permitted to encumber the  splendid 
man-machine and its source of power4    
,the creative--the growing part--of     
,nature never fails to do her part  if  
the deterrents to growth are removed4   
,what she does for the growth  of plants
 and of animals1 and for the creation of
 power from the use  of her forces      
called steam and electricity1 she will  
also do for the  growth and development 
of the mind of man4 ,if fearthought and 
its  various expressions are eradicated2
 or1 more correctly speaking1  are not  
sought and nursed1 as they always are1  
nothing can prevent  ,growth and        
,service and ,happiness from occupying  
their own2 and if the  carbonic-acid-gas
 of passion is kept out of the mental   

atmosphere1 a  vitalized1 altruistic and
 spiritualized energy will take its     
place4  ,good comes to whatever is      
prepared for it4    ,it is an easy      
matter to separate fearthought from     
forethought if it is  known that they   
are separable2 not by suppression1 nor  
by process of  gradual repression2      
because1 as long as a spark of          
fearthought remains1  any excitement or 
draft of surprise may revive the flame  
to destructive  proportions2 but by     
absolute eradication1--determination not
 to suffer1  nor permit1 nor tolerate4  
,the method of eradication is1 by the   
way1 the method that is easier  than    
not1 as soon as conviction of the       
possibility of it is nursed into  a     
belief4    ,effective methods are always
 easy methods4    ,repression           
acknowledges1 and therefore strengthens1
 the evil to be  repressed1 is          
never-ending and altogether ineffectual4
    ,eradication is the simple method of
 ceasing to import or admit evil        

counsel or report1 and is the only      
effective method in menticulture4       
99       99       99       99       99  
,while the future is the field in which 
growth must take place1 the now  or1    
rather1 the immediate-next-future1 is   
the only time for action4  ,are you     
possessed of fearthought1 or anger1 or  
worry1 or suspicion1  or jealousy1 or   
envy1 or malice1 or indifference at this
 moment8 ,no6  ,you cannot be1 for two  
distinct thoughts cannot occupy the mind
 at  the same time1 and your thought is 
occupied with the subject matter  of    
this hypothesis4 ,the next time you have
 any of these poisons you  will have to 
import them afresh in response to the   
invitation of so  mean a liar as        
,suspicion1 or at the command of so     
silly a coward as  ,fear4               
,habit-of-thought-of-evil--the          
devil--will return to you for the  usual
 easy conquest1 but newly-acquired      
knowledge of his impotency to  harm can 
aid ,determination to resist him until  

,habit-of-,thought is no  longer        
,bad-,habit-of-,thought and will1       
therefore1 no longer assist in  the     
materialization of the spook4 ,and then1
 and only then1 will you  be free--free 
to grow1 eager to serve1 and altogether 
happy4    ,all time--all eternity--is   
made up of a succession of nows4 ,if    
you are free in the present now1 you may
 more easily be free from  temptation in
 the succeeding nows until emancipation 
shall be  complete and the very         
atmosphere of your freedom shall        
exorcise all  evil before it can come   
near enough to attract your             
consciousness4    ,you are free this    
moment2 you can be free in the          
succeeding moments2  you can be free    
forever6 ,,it ,,is ,,easier ,,than      
,,not6          ,,theory4      ,the     
perfect man is the harmonious man4      
,perfection in man is attained when he  
is doing his best4    ,symmetry of face 
or of form1 quality of voice1 or        
strength of mind  or muscle at birth are

 the responsibility of the ,creator and 
of  progenitors4    ,the birth of the   
body of man is accomplished when it     
attains  consciousness of its physical  
requirements4    ,the birth of the soul 
of man is accomplished when he attains  
consciousness of what is good1 of what  
his functions and duties are  relative  
to his own best growth1 and also        
relative to his uses and  duties as a   
member of society4    ,man is not fully 
born until his mind is conscious of his 
body and  conscious of his soul1 and    
knows the functions and duties of each  
relative to the best growth4    ,until  
man is fully born1 as described above1  
the responsibility of his  perfection or
 imperfection rests with his teachers   
and their teachings4    ,everything that
 man is conscious of is his teacher4    
,you are the teacher of every person who
 sees or is otherwise conscious  of you 
or of your example4    ,it is unmanly1  
and especially unchristian1 not to seek 
the greatest  possible enlightenment    

relative to the functions and duties in 
growth1  not only for your own sake1 but
 as an example for others2 and1 being   
enlightened1 not to do all possible to  
assist growth4    ,whoever reads and    
assents to the above1 takes upon himself
 the  responsibility of his future      
growth1 and will be respectable or      
not-respectable insofar as he seeks     
enlightenment and assists growth1  or   
neglects to seek enlightenment and      
thereby retards growth4    ,happiness1  
the evidence1 fruit and reward of       
growth1 rests in  self-respect first1   
and1 incidentally1 in the measure of    
respect held  by others4    ,no one is  
respectable who is not doing his best4  
,when a man finds fault with the        
material with which he has been         
furnished--with his form1 with his face1
 with his mind1 with his  muscle1 with  
his equipment of wealth1 or other means 
or tools of  growth1 at the time of his 
being fully born1 he puts blame upon1   
and  thereby blasphemes1 his ,creator1  

as well as discredits his progenitors4  
,whoever reads1 and assents to1 the     
foregoing is fully born1 in that he  has
 learned and now knows what is best4    
,the question then is3 ,what  will he do
 with it8    ,in highly-civilized life  
it is not-respectable not to be fully   
born4    ,the fully-born is not doing   
his best1 and is therefore              
not-respectable when he suffers himself 
to retain or cultivate the              
habit-of-fearthought4    ,the fully-born
 is not doing his best1 and therefore is
  not-respectable1 when he entertains   
and nurses worry4    ,the fully-born is 
doing his worst when he allows himself  
to be angry4    ,the fully-born is      
unmanly1 especially unchristian and     
altogether  not-respectable when he is  
not doing his best1 and is always a     
subject  for pity1 and frequently a     
subject for contempt1 when he is doing  
his  worst4    ,the                     
fully-born-and-entirely-respectable     
individual knows that  fearthought is an

 unprofitable element of forethought1   
knows that it  can be eliminated from   
the habit-of-feeling by persistent1     
intelligent  habit-of-thought1 and1     
knowing this1 prepares the field of his 
mind for  unhampered growth by          
eradicating all of the expressions of   
fearthought1  as well as all other      
deterrents to growth4    ,the           
fully-born-and-entirely-respectable     
individual is the one to  whom come     
health1 strength1 memory1 inspiration1  
love1 preferment1  altruistic impulses1 
and the appreciation necessary to find  
the  greatest enjoyment in them all4    
,the fully-born-and-entirely-respectable
 individual needs not symmetry  of form 
nor beauty of face nor accumulation of  
wealth to make him  happy1 for the light
 from within will give grace to his     
form1 reflect  beauty from his face1 and
 attract all of the things that         
constitute  wealth4    ,the             
fully-born-and-entirely-respectable     
condition is the condition  that is     

easier than not1 pleasanter than any1   
and in which only true  happiness       
dwells4    ,out of the                  
fully-born-and-entirely-respectable     
habit-of-being  and habit-of-thinking1  
nursed within our professedly-altruistic
  organizations1 will the impulse spring
 which will so shape conditions  that   
unhappiness can no longer exist1 except 
as the result of  perversity4           
,,prefatory ,,definitions4      ,much   
misunderstanding arises from the various
 interpretations of the  meaning of     
terms4 ,so different are the            
interpretations given to some  words1   
that a large part of the dictionaries is
 taken up with synonyms  whose varied   
applications are nearly as wide apart as
 the limits of the  greatest            
misunderstanding4    ,many of these     
different applications of words are the 
result of  corruptions of the original  
meaning1 but they are none the less     
misleading1 and furnish an excuse for   
agreeing on specific definitions4    ,as

 an example of corrupt uses given to    
words that should be held to  convey    
only a sacred meaning1 take the word    
love1 as promiscuously  applied1 for    
instance4 ,it should be removed from all
 selfishness1  and attach only to such  
holy application as that implied by the 
expression1 ,god is ,love4 ,in its      
application to individuals1 as in       
mother-love1 child-love1 love between   
husband and wife1 or between  brothers1 
it should only have spiritual           
significance1 unalloyed by any          
suggestion of liking1 approval1 desire1 
or lust2 and should even extend  its    
mantle to spread alike over all created 
things4    ,love had already been so    
corrupted in its uses in the time  of   
,comte1 that he was impelled to coin a  
new word to express  unselfishness      
between brother-men1 and hence gave the 
word  altruism--7other-self7--to the    
world4    ,altruism1 also1 in its turn1 
has suffered by contact with the        
selfish habit-of-thought of the present 

time1 until it does not longer  express 
the highest quality of love--the        
spiritual--but rather the               
socio-commercial quality that seeks and 
expects reward of praise or  material   
emolument4    ,although it is some time 
since altruism was first used--and it is
  a word of most important meaning to   
sociology--there are few who can  define
 it4    ,probably the material rush of  
the time has allowed little opportunity 
for acquaintance with it4 ,it is rarely 
seen in the magazines1 and  almost never
 in the daily papers4 ,this is probably 
the reason why  the author was able to  
find only three1 out of thirty persons  
asked1  who could define altruism4      
,these thirty were met haphazard1 and   
represented a fair average of city      
intelligence4 ,it follows1 by           
inference1 that there is not as much    
altruism as there should be in          
existence among us1 for1 if there were1 
the word chosen by ,comte to  express it
 would be more widely used and known4   

,in presenting a set of definitions1    
there is no intention of calling  into  
question the intelligence of any reader4
 ,the idea was suggested  by the wide   
difference of understanding of the      
meaning of the word  worry4 ,this       
difference of understanding became      
apparent in the  discussion of          
,menticulture4#a    ,it was found that  
many persons defined worry as any       
consideration of  the future1 whereas   
only apprehensive consideration of the  
future was  intended to be meant by its 
use in ,menticulture4    ,reference to  
the origin of the word revealed that it 
was first used to  express the barking  
of a small dog1 probably in             
contradistinction to  the biting of a   
large dog4 ,it was first worrit1 and    
became worry1  as now1 later on4        
,picking and nagging were its synonyms  
in slang  until they were taken into the
 language as sober expressions4    ,in  
the attempt to separate worry from      
forethought1 the word  fearthought was  

coined1 and hence our present title1 and
 also the  definitions hereunder1 whose 
object is to render misunderstanding as 
nearly impossible as possible4    ,only 
a few of the words relative to our      
treatise are defined--only such  as have
 been found to cause discussion in      
consideration of the subject4           
,,god4    ,no definition of the         
,christian conception of ,god can be    
adequate4  ,god is the source of all1 in
 all1 and around all4 ,the ,absolute1   
,father1 ,creator1 ,jehovah1 ,source and
 other terms are used for  euphony and  
to express separate ,god-qualities4     
,whoever attempts to  define ,god1 shows
 pitiful limitations thereby4 ,we may   
feel ,god1 but  we cannot define ,god4  
,appreciation of ,god is the measure of 
man's  possibilities of growth and the  
key to power and happiness4             
,,appreciation4    ,even in its material
 application1 appreciation is a word of 
greatest  importance1 and should mean   
the highest form of intelligence4 ,it   

is commonly used to express only a      
simple knowledge of value1 but it       
should have a larger significance1 by   
conveying the idea of fullest           
cultivation and enjoyment as well as    
knowledge4    ,wealth1 for instance1 can
 be measured only by appreciation4 ,the 
child in appreciating a toy is richer   
than a drowning man with a  thousand    
dollars in gold in his pocket4 ,we will 
therefore understand  appreciation to   
mean knowledge and full cultivation and 
enjoyment4    ,appreciation might justly
 be given first place in the language1  
as1  in its spiritual application1 it   
implies the knowledge of ,god that      
gives birth to ,love4    ,our           
definition1 knowledge--or               
understanding--cultivation and full     
enjoyment1 conveys the largest and      
highest meaning of appreciation1  but   
the realization of it is not complete   
until every ,god-expression is          
included1 even to the smallest wonder of
 the universe4    ,neglect of the       

cultivation of appreciation of          
everything--of the  commonest things in 
our surroundings--is loss of opportunity
 to  conserve the greatest aid to       
progress and growth2 because1           
appreciation  of lesser things insures a
 better appreciation of the most        
important  things4    ,cultivation of   
appreciation is cultivation of the germ 
of all good  and the opening wide of the
 spiritual flood-gates4 ,even the       
complete1  yet simple1 dignity of the   
,lord's ,prayer can be epitomized within
 the  prayer1 ,father1 teach ,thou us   
,appreciation4      ,,love4    ,in its  
pure form1 as ,christ meant it1 ,love   
makes no distinction between  creatures 
nor between things2 its merit is in the 
act--or thought--and  not in the object 
loved4    ,the divine quality in man1   
growing out of appreciation1 finds first
  expression in love2 not the passive   
principle1 the opposite of hate1  but   
the growing1 active principle1 which is 
constantly flowing forth  from the      

spiritually blessed to bathe with warmth
 of unselfishness the  just and the     
unjust alike4 ,love begets altruism4    
,as perfect love casteth out fear1 so   
does the eradication of fear  insure the
 wooing of perfect love4                
,,altruism4    ,next in the scale of    
importance is ,comte's word altruism1   
which was  coined to suggest the        
,christ-like attitude of unselfish      
service between  fellow-men4 ,it is1    
however1 as before stated1 now commonly 
understood  to be the social or business
 application of the principle of love   
which  needs and expects to be          
reciprocal4 ,men were asked to become   
altruists  when they were asked to do   
unto others as you would that others    
should  do unto you4 ,growth towards    
divinity is the fruit of perfect        
altruism4  ,perfect ,love begets        
,perfect ,altruism4 ,christ is the      
,perfect ,altruist4      ,,spontaneous  
,,altruism4    ,any degree of altruism  
is good and is sure to lead to higher   

degrees1  but the perfect type is best  
kept in view by the use of the qualified
  form expressed by the adjective       
spontaneous--meaning voluntary1  without
 reward1 except as found in the act     
itself4 ,this qualification  is almost  
necessary to prevent the lowering of the
 value of the term1  as perfect was     
required to express ,christ-,love1 in   
contra-distinction  to worldly love4    
,,optimism4    ,optimism is forethought4
 ,christianity1 pure and undefiled1 is  
perfect  optimism4 ,christ is the       
,perfect ,optimist4#b                   
,,forethought4    ,forethought is the   
logical1 trustful1 hopeful1 ,christian1 
and  therefore stimulating1             
consideration of the future4            
,forethought cannot be contrasted as the
 opposite of fearthought for the  same  
reason that a tree cannot be contrasted 
as the opposite of its  shadow2 one     
being the growing1 fruit-bearing        
substance2 and the other  being the     
unsubstantial1 unillumined simulation of

 the living reality4      ,,environment4
    ,surroundings which impress         
themselves upon the mind and assist to  
influence and form character and        
opinions4      ,,spiritual              
,,cerebration4    ,sometimes called     
unconscious cerebration2 intelligence   
not derived  from experience2           
principally obtained during undisturbed 
sleep1  and1 seemingly1 supernaturally  
clear to consciousness on awakening  in 
natural manner2 ,spiritual ,cerebration 
is man's best partner1 if  confidently  
listened to1 heeded and followed4       
,,natural ,,selection4    ,unconscious  
physical attraction2 assisting          
sustenance1 protection1  development and
 reproduction2 attribute of all life4   
,,divine ,,selection4    ,attribute only
 of ,man2 distinguishing ,man from the  
rest of ,creation2  exercised in        
modifying the brute law of the survival 
of the fittest1  or strongest1 by       
cultivating harmonic conditions favoring
 growth and  producing happiness2 ,god's

 ,higher ,law of ,harmony executed      
through ,man4      ,,happiness4    ,the 
evidence and fruit and reward of growth 
as involved in ,altruism4      ,,nature4
    ,as commonly used1 nature means     
creation apart from man4 ,the accepted  
definition is creation1 and as such     
includes man and all created  things1   
and also the processes of               
creation--generation1 degeneration  and 
regeneration--as involved in growth4    
,the common use of the word  nature is a
 convenient one1 and hence let us make  
use of it as  meaning creation other    
than man4      ,,egociation4            
,egociation is1 ,appreciation of self as
 a creation of ,god and as an           
instrument of ,altruism--to be          
cultivated to its greatest possibilities
  in order that it may render           
,altruistic service in the execution of 
the  ,higher ,law of ,harmony4    ,there
 are two distinct kinds of ego--self3   
,the ego that is  physically and        
intellectually born only1 and whose     

tendencies are  egotistically selfish1  
and therefore1 animalesque3 ,and the ego
 that  enjoys ,appreciation1 realizes   
,god1 loves spontaneously1 understands  
the  ,higher ,law of ,harmony and serves
 with enthusiasm in the execution of    
the ,law by the exercise of ,divine     
,selection1 and thereby attains ,true   
,happiness4    ,the mental equipment of 
the unthinking is dulled by a confusion 
of  these two egos1 and hence they      
cultivate egotism1 believing it to  be  
,egociation2 as they cultivate          
fearthought1 believing it to  be        
forethought2 and as they tolerate       
license1 believing it to be an          
attribute of liberty4    ,the           
desirability of separating the lower1 or
 animal1 self from the  ,higher ,self1  
warrants the coining of a term1         
sufficiently new to  attract attention  
and sufficiently allied to well-known   
words to  explain itself4 ,with this    
object in view ,i have empirically      
selected  a combination of ego and      

appreciation1 and in so doing1 have     
coined the euphonious term ,egociation  
as an antithesis of egotism1  especially
 useful in inculcating a general        
understanding of the ,higher  ,law of   
,harmony and in securing recognition of 
the place of the ,higher  ,self within  
the ,law4    ,in the cultivation of     
,egociation1 man recognizes and asserts 
an  individuality1 or responsibility1 as
 a part of the whole1 the  result of    
appreciation1 opposed to personality or 
separateness1  which is an attribute of 
egotism4           99       99       99 
99       99    ,words that carry good   
suggestion with them are less liable to 
do harm  by being variously understood  
than those that convey bad suggestion4  
,these latter should be defined in such 
a manner as to clearly suggest  their   
badness2 in fact1 war should be waged   
upon them by every possible  means4     
99       99       99       99       99  
,,egotism4    ,egotism is separation    
from ,god4 ,the fruit of egotism is     

selfishness4      ,,selfishness4    ,in 
the list of the deterrents1 selfishness 
holds bottom place4  ,self-forethought1 
self-carefulness1 self-culture1 and     
self-respect1 are  in no way related to 
selfishness1 but are provision of       
strength towards  useful purposes4      
,selfishness is the mark of animal      
origin4 ,we will  therefore define it as
 relic of animalism remaining in man4   
,selfishness is the opposite of         
altruism4 ,while a suggestion of        
altruism is found in some animals1      
especially in dogs1 it is not an  animal
 characteristic4 ,selfishness is the    
predominant animal trait and  therefore 
excuses the otherwise unkindly          
comparison4      ,,fear4    ,fear is    
also a relic of animalism1 and a child  
of selfishness--a  deformed child of an 
ill-formed parent4 ,it is not a physical
 condition1  but simply an expression of
 fearthought4 ,we will therefore define 
fear as an expression of fearthought4   
,,fearthought4    ,fearthought is the   

self-imposed or self-permitted          
suggestion of  inferiority4 ,it is both 
a cause and an effect of selfishness4   
,it  is the tap-root of evil4           
,fearthought was coined by the author in
 order1 if possible by  suggestion1 to  
separate from divinely ordained         
forethought any element  of apprehension
 or weakness that might be masquerading 
under the name  of forethought in the   
minds of the unthinking4      ,,worry4  
,worry is fearthought in                
contradistinction to forethought4       
,,anger4    ,anger is the brutal and    
self-inflicting expression of           
disapproval--brutal1 because it is      
ungodly1 unchristian and  unaltruistic2 
self-inflicting1 because the ill-effect 
of it reacts  upon the person enangered4
    ,there can be no righteous anger4   
,disapproval there must be1 because  man
 has been endowed with the faculty of   
,divine ,selection1 and  thereby shows a
 divinity denied to all other living    
things whose  preferences are called in 

,science natural selection4 ,disapproval
 in  the interest of harmony--,divine   
,selection--and disapproval in the      
creation of discord--anger--are1 the one
 holy1 and the other unholy1  uses of   
the faculty of selection4    ,there may 
be1 then1 righteous disapproval1 but    
there never can be  righteous anger4    
,,envy4    ,envy is anger of            
non-possession4    ,envy is sometimes   
wrongly used to express appreciation1   
as1 ,i envy  you your good fortune1 but 
we will give it the one meaning of anger
  of non-possession4      ,,jealousy4   
,jealousy is the homage that inferiority
 pays to merit2#c or1  recognition or   
confession of inferiority2 or1          
fearthought4      ,,tap-,,root4         
,tap-root is the chief root4 ,it is the 
main support of the tree1 of  nearly the
 size of the trunk1 and without which   
the tree must fall and  die4 ,the       
tap-root strikes deep into the soil1    
while the surface-roots  reach out along
 the surface4 ,for example2 egotism is  

the tree of evil1  either selfishness or
 fearthought is the tap-root1 and anger 
and  worry in all their phases are the  
surface roots of the tree4 ,the tree  is
 known by its fruits1 which are1        
separation1 paralysis1 disease1         
unhappiness and death4      ,,trouble4  
,trouble does not really exist4         
,fearthought of trouble is as near as   
one ever gets to the condition1 for the 
reason that whatever has come  has      
already ceased to exist1 except in the  
memory4 ,the reason for so  fine a      
distinction is made clear under the     
caption of ,the ,impotence  of ,pain1   
and is emphasized in order to place     
merited responsibility  on fearthought4 
,what is called trouble1 however1 can be
 defined as  unwelcome conditions1 but1 
if analyzed1 the chief elements of the  
conditions will be found to be          
fearthought of still more unwelcome     
conditions4 ,the tap-root1 then1 of     
trouble is fearthought4                 
,,pessimism4    ,pessimism is           

fearthought4 ,pessimism is the devil4   
,,nervousness4    ,nervousness is       
generally an effect and not a cause4 ,it
 is the  immediate or reflex result of  
fearthought4      ,,temperament4        
,like nervousness1 so-called1           
temperament--habit-of-feeling--is       
generally an effect and not a cause2 and
 is frequently used as an  excuse for   
self-indulged weaknesses4               
,,footnotes3    #a ,menticulture is the 
title of a book by the present author1  
whose  mission is to declare a theory of
 the possible and very profitable       
eradication of the germs of all evil1   
and consequent unhappiness1  which are  
commonly assembled under the class names
 of anger and  worry1--anger            
representing the aggressive1 and worry  
representing  the cowardly passions4    
#b ,note3 ,the motto of ,optimism is1 as
 elsewhere stated1 ,all can be1  and    
therefore shall be1 well4    #c         
,,note--,i take this apt definition of  
jealousy from that excellent            

periodical--the organ of the ,league of 
,american ,wheelmen--,the ,bulletin  and
 ,good ,roads4 ,many good suggestions in
 menticulture accompany the  excellent  
suggestions relative to good roads in   
this paper4 ,good  thoughts are good    
roads to good action4          ,,the    
,,value ,,of ,,simile4      ,christ     
taught almost entirely by parable4      
,apropos of the value of simile is an   
experiment about which ,i have  recently
 heard4    ,an experimenter wished to   
measure in some way the strength of     
certain  vibrations and their effect    
upon vibratory things4 ,a large steel   
comb1  such as is used in music-boxes to
 produce sounds1 was constructed4 ,each 
tooth was made as nearly as possible    
just like every other tooth4 ,they  not 
only seemed to measure alike1 but when  
set in motion the vibrations  seemed to 
be alike to the sense of hearing4       
,there was also constructed a huge      
tuning-fork1 large enough to be  struck 
with a bar of iron1 and whose           

vibrations1 when it was struck1  came   
forth in big undulating waves like the  
pealing of a temple bell4    ,the object
 of the experiment was to observe1      
through the effect of  powerful         
vibrations on the teeth of the resonant 
comb1 a possible  difference1 too slight
 to be measured by calipers or by       
striking the  teeth separately4 ,the    
sound-waves1 coming alike to all1 would 
affect  all alike unless there should be
 a difference in the receptivity of  the
 teeth owing to differing density of    
metal1 size1 or some other  condition   
not measurable by other means4 ,by      
listening attentively near  to the comb1
 the effect of the vibrations on the    
separate teeth could  be heard4    ,the 
tuning-fork was placed about forty feet 
away from the steel comb1  and was      
struck a heavy blow with the iron bar4  
,only three of the twelve  teeth        
vibrated in response4 ,the others were  
not in sympathy4 ,they did  not hear the
 sound4    ,i did not see the           

experiment1 but it will serve to        
illustrate the  value of simile4    ,all
 knowledge is measured by comparison4   
,the most effective teaching  is done   
through parable or simile4 ,a so-called 
magnetic orator or  writer reaches his  
hearers or readers by aid of apt simile4
 ,in this  the orator has the advantage4
 ,if one simile does not convey the     
point he wishes to make1 he tries       
another and yet another until he  has   
detected sympathetic signs of approval  
in the majority of his  audience4 ,if   
there are present a hundred listeners1  
it may require  ten stories or ten      
similes to reach the entire hundred1 as 
there may  be ten kinds of interest or  
sympathy present to be reached4 ,farmers
  and gardeners may not be familiar with
 the terms that describe the  experience
 of the mariner2 mechanics may not      
understand the language  of the counting
 room or of the various exchanges2 and  
men may not  appreciate the special     
accomplishments1 sympathies1 weaknesses 

or  foibles of women4 ,each individual  
is a separate tooth or string in the    
instrument called society4 ,heredity and
 environment have tempered and  shaped  
each individual differently from his    
fellows4 ,truth is always  the same1 but
 the vibrations that carry it must be   
regulated to suit  the conditions and   
understandings of each person1 or group 
of persons1  to be harmonized by it4    
,in an attack upon offensive and evil   
things1 offensive similes are  best     
employed4 ,it is an application of the  
principle that a thief can  best catch a
 thief4 ,the object of this little book 
is to wage war upon  fearthought and its
 brood of evil children4 ,this is the   
excuse for  writing under such offensive
 captions as ,don't ,be a ,sewer1 and   
,thou  ,shalt ,not ,strike a ,woman1 and
 also such ungrammatical caption as ,i  
,can't ,not ,do ,it4    ,it is the      
opinion of the author that we are in the
 habit of taking  evil too seriously4   
,evil is usually ridiculous1 and while  

it thrives  under the stimulation of    
serious consideration1 it cannot stand  
ridicule4 ,shrewd politicians know this1
 and hence depend more upon  the        
political cartoon to kill the political 
enemy1 than upon all the  reading matter
 possible to be printed4    ,what the   
terms ,god1 ,appreciation1 ,mother1     
,love1 ,altruism1  ,egociation1         
,forethought1 ,happiness1 etc41 stand   
for1 should  be reverenced and          
glorified2 while the devil1 egotism1    
selfishness1  fearthought1 anger and    
worry1 and all of their various         
expressions1  should be ridiculed out of
 respectability4    ,there is no intent 
to make vulgar excuses for the method of
  presentation of the simple and aged   
truths which are the subject of the     
present book4 ,for the same reason that 
,i have asked my readers to agree  with 
me as to the meaning of terms in        
connection with the discussion1  ,i ask 
them to allow me to state my reasons for
 the method of the  presentation1 if it 

should seem unusual and1 perhaps1       
undignified4          ,,analysis ,,of   
,,fear4      ,professor ,angelo ,mosso1 
the eminent physiologist of ,turin1     
,italy1 who  has experimented with the  
condition and results of fear to a      
greater  extent than any one else that  
,i know of1 has published a volume      
entitled ,fear4#d    ,professor ,mosso  
writes of much regarding fear that we   
can all  corroborate from personal      
experience as to the uncomfortableness  
of  the emotion1 and also informs us of 
much that is instructive as to the      
baleful effects of the mischief it      
produces upon the tissues of the  body4 
,he states that1 unconsciously or       
consciously1 the effect of fear  is     
found to be disarrangement1 which allows
 or causes inflammation1  fever and     
other unhealthy conditions that are     
favorable to the nesting  of the        
microbes of special diseases1 such as   
are sometimes found in the  air or in   
the water that we take in1 and which are

 ever waiting for a  chance to nest and 
breed4    ,an eminent ,english physician
 has also communicated to a leading     
,english magazine a belief that fear    
directly attacks the individual         
molecules of the body and causes a      
disarrangement1 a relaxing1 a           
letting-go condition of the molecules in
 their relation to adjoining  molecules1
 and that the relaxed condition is that 
in which disease  originates4 ,he states
 that there are means of communication  
within the  body that are as direct and 
distinct as are the wires that convey   
the  electric fluid from point to point1
 and that they connect the brain or     
nervous centers with each pair of       
molecules4 ,by these means the sense  of
 fear travels1 weak or strong1 in       
response to every pulse of its          
activity4    ,within our visible        
experience1 we know how completely the  
emotion of  fear1 or any of its various 
expressions can upset the stomach1      
suspend  the appetite and even cause    

instant death4 ,so evident are the bad  
effects of fear1 that it is necessary   
only to refer to them before  suggesting
 a remedy2 but there are some powerful  
illustrations that  are interesting1 and
 which will be found under the caption  
of ,baleful  ,effects of ,fear4    ,in  
this connection1 what we are most       
interested in is1 how to rid  ourselves 
of the habit of fear4 ,fear is not a    
physical thing4 ,it is the  result of   
fearthought1 and1 being fearthought1 has
 no more substance  than other thought4 
,in animals it is an attribute of       
instinct1 and is a wise provision of    
protection4 ,in the human young1 it is  
not so4 ,in the helplessness of  human  
foetal existence and infancy1 we find a 
perfectly clean1 but  wonderfully       
impressionable1 thought-matrix1 into    
which are to be  impressed the          
suggestions whose sum constitutes the   
intelligence in men  which takes the    
place of instinct in animals4    ,fear  
is no constituent part of the           

composition of this thought-matrix4     
,susceptibility to fearthought1 as it is
 susceptible to any and all             
suggestions1 is the nearest approach to 
inherent infliction of fear  that the   
unfolding soul is burdened with4 ,if the
 race-habit-of-thought  were indelibly  
pock-marked by fear1 and stamped its    
roughness on the  thought-matrix of all 
mankind1 there would be no one free from
 it2 but1  as many are born into1 and   
live1 a life of great strength and      
courage1  free from any taint of        
fearthought1 this assumption is         
disproved1  and is as absurd as would be
 the assumption that man must always do 
whatever1 and only what1 his ancestors  
did4    ,all of the fear-impressions    
received are the result of either       
pre-natal  or post-natal suggestion4 ,it
 is within the power of parents and     
nurses  to keep the delicate            
susceptibility of their charges free    
from the  curse of fearthought2 or to   
cause or allow it to be scared and      

bruised  by the claws of the demon4     
,president ,g4 ,stanley ,hall1 of       
,clarke ,university1 ,editor in ,chief  
of the  ,american ,journal of           
,psychology1 and ,dr4 ,colin ,a4 ,scott1
 ,professor of  ,psychology and ,child  
,study at the ,cook ,county ,normal     
,school1 ,chicago1  ,ill41 ,u4 ,s4 ,a41 
have rendered greatest service to       
humanity by searching  out and analyzing
 fears in children1 exposing the        
absurdity of them1  showing the sources 
from which foolish fears are derived1   
and thereby  dragging from ambush the   
worst enemy of mankind1 whose strength  
is  developed by means of secret        
toleration1 but can easily be overcome  
if  uncovered4    ,the method of        
securing information was by means of the
 questionaire1  the answers to which1   
although unsigned and unidentifiable1   
and  savoring of exaggeration or        
romance1 furnish splendid texts in a    
crusade against the toleration of the   
habit-of-fear in a civilized  community4

 ,one can scarcely imagine1 before      
reading the answers to the  fear        
questionaire1 the unreasonable and      
absurd fears that warp the  lives and   
ruin the health of many of the people   
among whom we move1  and by whom1 in    
some measure1 we and our children are   
unconsciously  influenced4    ,if it    
were the community-habit-of-thought that
 fear was an unnecessary  thing and an  
evil thing1 and not respectable and not 
,christian1 many  of these fears would  
not exist1 owing to the proneness of all
 persons  to imitation and their        
acceptance of community-of-habit-thought
 as law  and gospel4 ,fear is a very    
insidious thing4 ,it will enter the     
smallest  opening1 and ferment1 and     
increase1 and permeate whatever it      
attacks1  if it be permitted foothold in
 the least degree4    ,we have too      
little time in life personally to       
investigate all of the  causes of things
 that are pertinent to our living and   
working1 or  to learn the reason for    

their leading to observed results4 ,we  
are  indebted to ,professor ,mosso1 ,dr4
 ,hall1 ,dr4 ,scott and other           
painstaking  scientists1 for observing  
the habits of our enemies1 and for      
giving  the results of their            
observations in such agreeable forms as 
are the  intimate and frank analyses of 
fear given in ,professor ,mosso's book  
and other treatises on the subject2 but 
what we are most interested  in is1 how 
to kill or how to escape fearthought    
within ourselves and1  ultimately1 how  
to protect our children against the     
evil4    ,to digress somewhat1 and as an
 excuse for using the terms of parable  
and homely experience instead of the    
terms of science3 ,it is said that  the 
use of alum for the settling of         
impurities out of water was an old      
housewife's remedy for a very long time 
before any scientist studied  the       
chemical change that effected the       
result4    ,the old housewives knew by  
experience1 as well as did the doctors1 

that  alum would settle water1 but it   
was left to the latter to say why  it   
did so4 ,we are1 therefore1 mainly      
indebted to a chance discovery1  and to 
the preservation of the formula by      
housewives1 for our ability  to purify  
water by means of alum4    ,in the same 
manner we have discovered1 perhaps by   
accident1 that  certain suggestions will
 purify our minds1 by eliminating       
special fears  by which we have been    
dominated4 ,we also have learned by     
experiment  that all fear is eliminable 
by use of sufficiently powerful         
suggestion  made to fit the particular  
fear experimented against4 ,i know that 
the  deterrent passions can be          
eradicated2 and1 easier than not4       
,others  know this also1 and are living 
lives of beautiful strength1 freedom    
and happiness1 who once were slaves to  
fearthought2 and many such  there       
already are1 and their number is        
increasing very rapidly under  the      
influence of the observation of         

unfailing1 profitable results in        
consequence4    ,if we know that        
anything can be done1 it is not vitally 
essential  that we should know why it is
 possible4    ,experience1 in conveying 
the suggestion1 has taught that there is
  some way to reach1 and to dispel1 any 
special fear4    ,science will some     
time1 undoubtedly1 be able to tell us   
just how to  treat each form of fear in 
a scientific manner1 but in the meantime
 we  know that it is possible to cure   
all of the separate forms of fear  by   
rooting out the basic fear--the fear of 
death--and by conveying the             
all-powerful suggestion that all fear is
 needless and unprofitable4             
,,footnote3    #d ,messrs4 ,e4 ,lough   
and ,f4 ,kiesow1 pupils of ,professor   
,mosso1  translated the fifth ,italian  
edition of ,fear into ,english1 and     
,longmans1 ,green and ,company published
 it in #ahif4          ,,baleful        
,,effects ,,of ,,fear4      ,in the last
 chapter ,i stated that the bad effects 

of fear were so well  known to every one
 that it was not necessary to dwell upon
 them1 but  second thought suggests     
stating a few special cases that have   
been told  me by physician friends who  
are interested in the lay experiments ,i
 am  making4    ,in the ,southern       
,states of the ,united ,states of       
,america1 where the  black race comes   
into closest touch with ,caucasian      
civilization under  conditions of free  
expression1 is probably the best place  
to study fear  and its opposite1        
chivalrous courage4    ,dr4 ,william ,e4
 ,parker1 of the ,charity ,hospital of  
,new ,orleans1 was once  called to      
attend a big negro who had been brought 
in by the ambulance1  and whom the      
students in charge of the ambulance had 
frightened nearly  to death by telling  
that he was badly wounded in the        
stomach1 and would  probably die4       
,the negro was big and burly and black1 
and yet1 livid with fear4  ,both pulse  
and temperature indicated serious       

trouble within1 and the  convulsive     
tremors that shook him from time to time
 revealed a state  of collapse that     
might end in death at any time4 ,there  
was no outward  flow of blood1 but the  
probable inward flow seemed more        
dangerous in  consequence4    ,the      
account of the case1 as related by the  
students1 told of a shooting  affray1 in
 which the negro had been hit in the    
abdomen1 as evidenced by  a bullet-hole 
in his clothing4    ,dr4 ,parker began  
an examination by ordering the clothing 
of the patient  removed1 and during     
which a bullet1 much flattened1 fell    
upon the  floor4 ,this bullet had done  
no serious injury1 of course1 but there 
might have been two shots and two       
bullets1 one of which had penetrated    
the body1 and hence the bullet that fell
 upon the floor caused no  special      
attention1 till search had been made in 
vain for a hole in the  skin4 ,complete 
examination revealed the fact that the  
negro had been  hit1 but that the bullet

 had struck a button1 causing a bruised 
place  behind the button1 but had lodged
 in the clothing1 in harmless inertia4  
,as the doctor held up the bullet1 and  
told the patient of the slight  extent  
of his injury and the wonder of his     
escape1 good1 warm blood  returned to   
the livid countenance1 the pulse and the
 temperature  assumed their normal      
condition1 a grateful sparkle lit up the
 almost  glassy eyeballs1 and the       
broadest possible grin spread over the  
face of  the erstwhile dying man4       
,the negro got down from the            
operating-table1 arranged his clothing1 
and1 after apologizing for the trouble  
he had caused1 and after  thanking the  
doctor and the students for their       
attentions1 went out  into the street as
 well as ever4 ,he had been1 half an    
hour before1 at  death's door4    ,dr4  
,henry ,a4 ,veazie1 one of the          
student-heroes of the yellow-fever      
epidemic of #ahgh1 who had splendid     
opportunity to witness the effects  of  

fear during an epidemic1 asserts that   
fear is a certain cause of  attack of   
yellow fever4    ,i will say1           
parenthetically1 in the way of right    
information relative  to the ,south1    
that there has been no epidemic since   
#ahgh--twenty years2  that it has been  
proven that yellow fever does not       
originate in any  part of the ,united   
,states1 and that it is very effectively
 barred out  at quarantine1 or1 if      
accidentally admitted1 that it is easily
 killed  by present means of treatment1 
and that an epidemic is no longer       
mentioned as a possibility--only as     
quite a remote memory--in ,new          
,orleans1 or elsewhere in the ,south4   
,doctor ,veazie's story is corroborated 
by an able brochure on ,the  ,influence 
of ,fear in ,disease1 by the            
much-beloved1 the late ,dr4  ,william   
,h4 ,holcomb1 of ,new ,orleans2 and1 so 
helpful are the suggestions  contained  
in it1 that ,i have secured the         
privilege from the ,purdy  ,publishing  

,company1 of ,chicago1 of reprinting    
largely from it1 and have  added the    
matter copied as ,appendix ,a1 to this  
volume4#e    ,doctor ,veazie also called
 my attention to the unusual fatality   
attending what are called               
frog-accidents4 ,train-handlers and     
yardmen  employed on railroads are very 
liable to these frog-accidents4 ,the    
frog is that part of a switch where the 
rails come together1 forming  a ,v4 ,in 
running about recklessly1 as a train-man
 generally does1 he  sometimes catches  
the sole of a boot in the ,v1 and wedges
 it in so  tightly that the foot cannot 
be withdrawn4 ,if a locomotive1 or a    
car1  happen to be coming towards him1  
and cannot be stopped in time1 cutting  
off of the foot or the leg by the wheels
 upon the rails is a certain  result4   
,if it were done instantly1 and without 
a foreknowledge of the owner  of the leg
 or foot1 the chances of recovery would 
be almost assured1  because of the      
present skill of surgery and the        

efficacy of known  antiseptics2 but with
 the few moments of foreknowledge of the
 impending  accident1 the poison of     
fearthought has time to so unnerve the  
system1  relax the tissues1 and itself  
disease the body by shock1 that the     
wounding usually results in death4      
,there is probably no situation in which
 a person can be placed where  the      
conditions are more horrible than to be 
wedged between the rails1  and to see an
 eighty-ton locomotive rolling on to him
 with irresistible  weight4 ,being      
condemned to be hanged cannot be as     
fearful1 for the  reason that the       
condemned has been led gradually to     
contemplate the  possibility of death by
 this means1 and has come to expect it  
with a  certain amount of complacency4  
,the terror of the frog-accident comes  
with the suddenness of its possibility  
and the helplessness of the  situation4 
,it is like an ice-water bath thrown on 
a sweating person4  ,it is the icy hand 
of death come to clutch at the throat of

 warmest  hope and fondest affections4  
,as such1 it must be fearful2 but1 to   
the  person habituated to fear fear1    
through knowing the deadly effect  of   
it1 the emotion can be prepared for1    
greatly modified and possibly           
counteracted1 by a prearrangement with  
the emotional self--that which  ,hudson 
calls the subjective mind4    ,to be    
effective in case of surprise1 the      
preparation must come from the          
habit-of-feeling1 ,i must not be afraid2
 ,i must not be afraid4 ,no  matter what
 the surprise1 the emotional self must  
instantly assert1  through habit1 ,i    
must not be afraid4    ,i have not had  
experience with frog-accidents to test  
the efficacy of  my theory of schooled  
suggestion1 but ,i have been subject to 
surprises  that have been quite as      
fearful4 ,as it happened1 the incident  
,i speak  of was not perilous1 but it   
had all the appearance of being so to   
me1 when ,i was awakened from sleep1 in 
a hotel in ,new ,york ,city1 by         

suffocation1 to find my room full of    
smoke that poured in through the        
transom and through the cracks of the   
door which was my only means of  escape4
    ,my room was on the fifth floor of  
the hotel1 and the house had the        
reputation of being a fire-trap4    ,as 
soon as my reasoning-self had time to   
take in the situation1 the  probability 
of being burned to death seemed almost  
certain2 but before  that happened--that
 is1 before the reasoning-self had      
analyzed the  situation--the            
habit-of-thought self had asserted many 
times1 and  constantly1 ,you must not be
 afraid6 you must not be afraid2 and1   
as a result1 ,i was not afraid2 and the 
calm of the moment allowed me  to       
measure chances and arrange expedients1 
as if there were no danger  imminent4   
,it was a case of much smoke and little 
fire1 but there were those in  the hotel
 who were made very ill by the fright of
 it4    ,if ,i had always been free from
 the emotion of fear1 and had not been a

  sorry victim to it in some special    
forms1 natural temperament could  be    
urged as a cause of the calm ,i enjoyed 
during the incident related  above2 but 
such is not the case4 ,i have been      
subjected to shocks of  various kinds1  
incident to an adventurous life1 that   
have been powerful  impressions for evil
 upon my emotional self1 and it is      
personal  experience of cure and relief 
that ,i am giving in support of my      
theory4    ,the experience of ,mr4      
,george ,kennan1 the ,siberian traveler1
 and  brilliant writer and lecturer1    
relative to fear and its cure1 is       
singularly like my own1 and was related 
to me in an exchange of  personal       
confidences1 last year4    ,the         
,atlantic ,monthly for ,may1 #ahig1     
contains an excellent account  of ,mr4  
,kennan's case1 and ,i am permitted by  
the publishers1 ,messrs4  ,houghton1    
,mifflin  ,company1 to reprint it2 which
 ,i have done under  ,appendix ,b4      
,fear is rarely general as related to   

different causes for fearthought4  ,i   
have been told of a case of specific    
fear that is interesting because  of its
 unreasonableness4 ,it was the case of a
 filibuster who had been  on several    
raids where death was the almost certain
 penalty for being  caught1 and where   
the chances of being caught were almost 
certain4  ,on the frontier our subject  
was known as a dare-devil1 not afraid   
of anything1 and yet he was always in   
mortal terror of a dark room4  ,in      
infancy he had been scared into         
obedience by tales of goblins in  the   
dark1 and he had never rid himself of   
their influence4 ,anything  on earth he 
could see held no terror for him1 but he
 could not see  the phantoms he created 
in the dark1 and was therefore a slave  
to  fear of them4 ,it is probable that  
the bravado of his active life was      
partly caused by the desire to average  
up on courage1 and1 if so1  the baleful 
effects of fear in this case were very  
far-reaching and  destructive to the    

peace of society4    ,general experience
 teaches that whenever you find a bully1
 you find a  yellow streak of cowardice 
somewhere in his composition2 and1 more 
than  probable1 bravado is assumed by   
him1 in order to square himself with    
his own self-respect4      ,,footnote3  
#e ,two other brochures by ,dr4 ,holcomb
 are published by the ,purdy  ,company4 
,they are ,condensed ,thoughts about    
,christian ,science and ,the  ,power of 
,thought in the ,production and ,cure of
 ,disease4          ,,how ,,to          
,,eliminate ,,fear4      ,it has been   
observed that the rooting out of any    
particular phase  of fearthought1       
weakens the strength of all of the other
 phases4  ,for instance1 suppression of 
anger and worry tends to suppress  all  
suspicion1 and even fear itself1 while  
special attack upon the  fearthought    
called envy will perceptibly diminish   
the tendency to  jealousy and avarice4  
,there seems to be such close           
relationship between  all of the forms  

of fearthought1 that whatever affects   
one1 affects all4    ,fear of death     
undoubtedly underlies all fearthought4  
,fear of poverty1  fear of accident1    
fear of sickness1 all reach further than
 these  calamities1 to the possibility  
of death resulting from them4 ,in  this 
way we can trace all expressions of     
fear1 either directly or  indirectly1   
through the different forms of selfness1
 to fearthought of  death4    ,in       
,menticulture ,i suggested the          
elimination of anger and worry  as the  
roots of all the evil passions4 ,on page
 #ag1 however1 ,i gave  fear as the     
tap-root of the evil emotions1 including
 anger and worry1  and stated my reason 
for attacking the surface roots best    
known and  associated together1 rather  
than the tap-root itself4 ,it was       
because  ,i believed at the time        
,menticulture was written1 with people  
in  general1 that fear was a constituent
 weakness of all consciousness1 and     
only expressions of it were eliminable4 

,i find in my later experience in       
practice1 however1 and in conveying  the
 suggestion to others1 that fear itself 
is possible to be rooted out  by the    
force of counter-suggestion of one sort 
or another1 and that  there is no mental
 habit or impression that cannot be     
counteracted by  some other more        
powerful habit or impression1 and that  
it is best to  attack the bottom cause  
of all weaknesses at once1 and thereby  
wage  warfare upon their innermost      
citadel4    ,as fearthought is the      
parent of all the evil emotions1 so is  
fear of  death the first of all the     
causes of fearthought4    ,it is not a  
difficult matter to eliminate the fear  
of death4 ,it is  first necessary to do 
away with any dread of a lifeless human 
body4  ,there are few who feel dread of 
the flesh of animals as they see it     
hanging in the stalls of the butchers4  
,there is no more reason to have  a     
feeling of fear in connection with the  
sight of dead human flesh  than there is

 to feel uncomfortable in the presence  
of the flesh of a  lifeless lamb or a   
lifeless chicken4    ,there have lived  
people who were as accustomed to seeing 
human flesh  exposed in butchers' shops 
as we are accustomed to see the flesh of
  animals so exposed1 and there is an   
engraving of a cannibal meat-stall  in  
,huxley's ,man's ,place in ,nature1     
copied from an old book of travel  to   
the coast of ,africa1 which ,mr4 ,huxley
 offers authoritatively4    ,the subject
 may seem to be a grewsome one to many  
readers1 and  reference to the customs  
of cannibals may shock their            
supersensitive  habits of thought1 but  
the object is sufficient justification4 
,such  may1 however1 soothe their       
injured feelings by remembering that our
  meat-selling and meat-eating customs  
seem as inhuman to many ,buddhists  as  
do the customs of cannibals to us4      
,if we value essentials impartially1    
soul and mind count above  everything1  
and tissue which they once animated     

counts for nothing  when they have left 
it1 no matter what have been the        
associations1  especially if dread of   
the dead tissue inspires emotions that  
are  detrimental to the welfare of soul 
or mind4    ,my object in suggesting a  
systematic reversal of our feeling      
towards  lifeless human flesh is because
 it is a basic cause of fear4 ,remove   
this dread1 and half of the terror of   
death is removed with it4    ,in this   
connection1 the suggestion should be    
urged1 that separation--as  in death--is
 unessential as compared with the       
privilege of having  known a beloved    
one1 and that appreciation and gratitude
 should always  outweigh regret in      
relation to an inevitable change4       
,all of the observed processes of nature
 teach that every normal change  is for 
the better1 and the change called death 
is as normal as the  change called      
birth4 ,the full term of human life is  
but a pin-point  in the great span of   
evolution4 ,how unreasonable it is to   

protest the  measurement of the breadth 
of a pin-point with ,him who doeth all  
things  well6    ,life is like the      
ticking of a clock2 each passing of the 
pendulum may  be a day or a year2 when  
the clock strikes1 one period only is   
ended1  but a new period is also begun4 
,why mourn at the striking of the clock6
  ,a new and happier hour has begun4    
,why mourn the passing on of a beloved  
one6 ,for to ,christian1 or to          
,buddhist1 as well as to all sentient   
beings1 a new and a better life has then
 begun4    ,the attitude towards the    
separation called death should be such  
as  to induce the thought1 and even the 
expression1 ,pass on1 beloved2  enter   
into the better state which all of the  
processes of nature teach  are the      
result of every change2 it will soon be 
my time to follow2  my happiness at your
 preferment attend you2 my love is      
blessed with  that happiness2 and what  
you have been to me remains1 and will   
remain  forever4 ,amen4    ,sorrow was  

dignified by ,christ4 ,he has been      
wrongfully called ,the ,man  of ,sorrow4
 ,his sorrow was for the evils which men
 suffered1 and never  was caused by any 
of the beneficent decrees of the        
,father4 ,protest  against the decrees  
of the ,father is blasphemy4 ,some forms
 of sorrow  are blasphemy4    ,sorrow   
and optimism do not go together4 ,christ
 was 7and is7 the ,supreme  ,optimist1  
and taught nothing but optimism4 ,tears 
do not always express  sorrow4 ,wherein 
tears express selfishness1 especially in
 the form of  anger1 they are bad4      
,wherein tears are free from            
selfishness1 they may  do no great harm4
 ,in such case1 what may seem to be     
sorrow may be an  expression of loving  
sympathy1 and1 as such1 may be good4    
,without careful analysis of the quality
 of the emotion1 love may be  thought to
 be righteous cause for fearthought4    
,this is a vicious  thought4 ,nothing is
 righteous that is harmful1 and         
fearthought is  harmful4 ,love1 without 

any element of fearthought in it1 is    
infinitely  better than love that is    
tinctured with fearthought4 ,forethought
 is  the necessary accompaniment of     
perfect love1 but fearthought is its    
enemy4    ,separation can be made to    
gladden love through self-sacrifice4    
,separation--as in death--can be made to
 gladden love by supreme  self-sacrifice
 to the beloved one who is preferred by 
death1 and  thereby made to disarm that 
underlying fear of all fears--the fear  
of  death4    ,if1 however1 the fear of 
lifeless human flesh is eliminated1 the 
fear  of death itself will be found to  
be greatly modified4 ,from this point   
the elimination of special pet fears1   
whether of the individual or of  the    
community sort1 will become an easy     
matter1 as the greater is but  the sum  
of the lesser4    ,in looking for means 
with which to attack so great an enemy  
as fear1  either in one's self or in    
another1 any weapon is a good weapon    
that  is found to be effective4 ,logic  

is more respectable1 but such is  the   
foolishness of many forms of fear that  
ridicule is more often  effective4      
,appeal to honor1 self-respect1 love1   
logic1 ridicule1 and to  fear itself1   
may be had in so worthy a cause as the  
vanquishing of  the arch-enemy of growth
 and happiness4    ,old soldiers        
sometimes admit that their courage in   
battle has been the  result of their    
fear of seeming to be cowards4 ,when the
 far-reaching  and poisonous effect of  
the evil of fearthought is properly     
understood1  and the possibility of its 
elimination generally believed in1      
people  will be afraid to be            
afraid--afraid of ridicule and          
criticism1 as  well as afraid of evil   
and unhealthful effects4 ,the cure will 
have been  homoeopathic1 in that like   
has been employed to cure 7or kill7     
like4    ,logic is the most rational    
weapon1 but ridicule is sharper4 ,logic 
may  not cure a robust woman of the     
woman-habit-of-thought that a mouse is  

a fearsome thing1 but reference to the  
fact that it is ridiculous for  a       
five-foot woman to be afraid of a       
two-inch mouse may effect the  result1  
especially when it is known that the    
mouse is more afraid of  the woman1     
according to his capacity for fear1 than
 it is possible for  the woman to be    
afraid of the mouse4    ,acquaintance is
 another effective cure4 ,it may not be 
necessary that  all afflicted ones      
should serve an apprenticeship at       
undertaking in  order to be cured of    
fear of a lifeless human body1 but if   
the fear  of a corpse cannot be         
eradicated by other means1 it is worth  
while to  do that or anything else1 no  
matter how uncanny or disagreeable1 in  
order to accomplish the object4 ,so     
necessary is the eradication of the     
germ principle of fear to the           
cultivation of growth and happiness1    
that  if it is found that fear of the   
lifeless human body cannot be cured     
otherwise1 even a real apprenticeship in

 a hospital dissecting-room  would be a 
profitable expedient as a last resort4  
,to seek the  acquaintance of fearsome  
insects and animals1 through close      
observation  and study of their habits1 
is better than to suffer harm from a    
needless prejudice against them4        
,cure of the fear of one dreaded insect 
or reptile is sure to modify  the fear  
of all other things dreaded1 so that the
 difficult part of  the cure is         
acquiring the belief that it is         
possible1 and making the  resolve to    
attempt it4    ,if parents realized the 
full importance of the eradication of   
fearthought from the minds of their     
children1 they would stop  immediately  
all other occupation1 and rest not nor  
be content until the  germ of           
fearthought in their children had been  
located and killed2 and  those skilled  
in such search and cure would become the
 physicians most  in demand4            
,,how ,,to ,,cure ,,special ,,forms ,,of
 ,,fear4      ,exciting interest in the 

intrinsic beauties and usefulness of    
things  thought to be disagreeable or   
dreadful1 is an excellent way of curing 
fear of them4    ,i once had an         
opportunity of experimenting with this  
method of curing  particular fears by   
testing it on a mother and children     
whose bte  noir was a thunderstorm4     
,i had seen them at the ,world's        
,columbian ,exposition1 wrapt in the    
enjoyment of the great displays of      
fireworks that were operated on the     
lake front of the ,exposition grounds   
each evening4 ,i also happened to  be   
provided with statistics1 showing that  
the chance of being struck by  lightning
 was only one in a great many thousand1 
and that if one were  to seek to be     
struck1 he would have to wait about ten 
thousand years  for his average turn4 ,i
 recalled the greater real beauty of the
 natural  fireworks of the summer       
season1 and their comparative           
harmlessness4  ,this was the logic of   
it1 and modified somewhat the attitude  

of the  children1 as well as the fear of
 the mother1 relative to lightning and  
thunder2 but the real cure came through 
appreciative suggestion and             
acquaintance4    ,on the approach of a  
storm wherein lightning might be        
expected1 and  even before it was       
visible1 the mother had been in the     
habit of  assuming a frightened         
expression1 of gathering the children   
together1  of cowering in a corner1 and 
sometimes in a closet1 in fear and      
trembling1 until the storm had passed4  
,from infancy the children had  been in 
the habit of associating something      
fearful with the idea of  lightning and 
thunder1 and had never had a chance to  
observe their  beauties4    ,i started  
in to correct the bad impressions1 and  
to teach the  attractiveness of storm   
phenomena1 by calling out1 on the       
approach  of a storm1 somewhat in this  
wise3 ,oh6 children1 do you remember the
  beautiful fireworks at the            
,exposition8 ,come here quick6 let's    

watch2 we  are going to have something  
ten times more beautiful1 and1 oh6 such 
big  booms and bangs4 ,watch now6 ah6   
that wasn't much1 but keep a-watching   
and we'll have some beauties4 ,crash6   
bang6 blizzard6 ,my6 but wasn't  that a 
beauty8 ,watch sharp1 now1 or you'll    
miss the best one1--what6  afraid8 ,why1
 ,alice1 afraid of a beautiful thing    
like that6 ,nonsense6  ,come here1 dear1
 and sit in my lap and watch out sharp1 
and then you  can't be afraid4 ,there6  
that's a little lady4 ,splendid6 ,i     
reckon you  know how to enjoy something 
beautiful1 as well as any one4 ,boom1   
boom1  boom6 ,did you ever hear anything
 so grand8 ,great big drums up yonder4  
,i wonder what sort of a ,fourth of     
,july they are having8 ,wouldn't        
,world's-,fair fireworks seem tame      
beside this8 ,and think of it6--they    
don't cost a cent1 and they are clearing
 the atmosphere so that the sun  will   
shine brighter to-morrow than it ever   
did4 ,it will shine for us1  and for the

 plants1 and for the butterflies4 ,my6  
but aren't we lucky  to have good eyes  
and good ears when such things are going
 on6 and  don't we pity the poor little 
blind and deaf children6 ,does lightning
  sometimes strike people and kill them8
 ,why1 yes1 once in a great1  great long
 while2 but when it does1 they say it is
 the pleasantest  sensation possible4   
,don't you mind when you have pleasant  
shivers1 what  a delightful feeling it  
is8 ,well1 they say being struck by     
lightning  is like that--only more so4  
,i have never had the experience of     
being  killed by lightning1 of course1  
but when my turn to enter the next  life
 comes1 ,i hope it will be that way2 but
 the chances of being that  lucky are   
very slim4 ,somebody1 some great        
schoolmaster that knows  almost         
everything1 has calculated that if a man
 wanted to be struck by  lightning he   
would probably have to wait about ten   
thousand years4 ,that  is too long4     
,life is delightful as it is2 but if ,i 

had to wait even a  thousand years or   
even an hundred years more for my       
promotion that way1  ,i think ,i would  
rather choose a more common and less    
agreeable way2  and so on1 governed by  
the interest and the effect upon the    
children4  ,i impressed on them the real
 beauty of the storm1 and taught them   
appreciation1 to take the place of fear4
    ,it is needless to say that that    
family no longer dreads the storm       
cloud4 ,the suggestion reversed their   
way of looking at storms1 and they  then
 found great beauty in them and ceased  
to fear them4    ,another experience3 ,i
 once had the privilege of spending some
 time in  close relations of friendship 
to a family composed of a widowed mother
  and several children1 sons1 daughter1 
nephews and nieces4 ,a sister of  the   
mother1 who was pronounced to be an     
incurable invalid1 had come  from her   
,northern home to seek relief in the    
climate of the ,southland4  ,it is      
impossible to imagine more tender care  

of an invalid4 ,each member  of the     
family vied with the others in offering 
gentle attentions1 so  that the waning  
life was filled with happiness that made
 invalidism  almost a pleasure1 as being
 the cause of so much loving            
consideration4    ,one morning the      
life-light flickered for a little and   
then went out4  ,the usual funeral      
preparations which are the custom were  
attended to1  and the remains were sent 
away to the far-distant home1 and the   
family  burial-lot4    ,while the       
remains were awaiting the appointed time
 of removal1 the  children of the       
family1 of all ages and both sexes1     
passed in and out  of the death-chamber1
 by day or by night1 as if there had    
been no  death1 and there was not a     
semblance of dread1 nor fearthought nor 
mourning4 ,it was such a beautiful      
expression of loving consideration1     
unmarred by dread or fearthought1 that  
one might well choose such a  time and  
such a place and such environment on the

 occasion of one's  passing on to the   
better life4    ,if it be possible to be
 a spirit1 conscious of material        
environment1  and in such guise to      
attend one's own funeral1 which would be
 the  environment of choice8 ,egotism1  
disembodied1 would undoubtedly choose  a
 scene of violent mourning1 long drawn  
out1 and painful to as many  as         
possible4 ,loving ,unselfishness would  
as certainly choose a funeral  scene    
such as ,i witnessed in the house of my 
friends4 ,which would you  choose8 ,and 
if1 as is most reasonable to suppose    
from observing the  sequences of        
nature's processes that show that the   
seed of a flower  has a more nearly     
perfect flower enfolded within itself1  
spirits also  become purer by each      
unfolding through the release called    
death1 and  being made pure and         
unegotistic by the change1 they must    
prefer1 if  they have the privilege1 to 
have their old home remains viewed with 
loving and fearless consideration1      

rather than with fearsome dread and     
ostentatious emotion4    ,then let us   
abjure fear in connection with death1   
and also in  connection with the mortal 
remains of the beloved4    ,if the      
conventional premises relative to death 
be correct1 the common  attitude towards
 it is useless2 and if the hypothetical 
premises be  correct1 as it is better to
 suppose1 even if we cannot assert it1  
the  common attitude is worse than      
useless1 for it is both harmful and     
unjust4 ,if we cultivate fear and       
mourning in connection with death1  we  
are unjust to the dead1 we are unjust to
 the living1 we are unjust  to          
ourselves2 and1 above all1 cruel to the 
tender and impressionable  emotions of  
children1 to whom we are constantly     
leaving legacies of  cowardice and      
ignorant egotism1 or legacies of pure   
suggestion1 love  and appreciation4     
,much might be written about the subject
 of this chapter1 and many              
illustrations could be given wherein    

illogical fears have been1 or can  be1  
ridiculed away1 but inasmuch as some of 
the following chapters  are mainly      
devoted to this purpose1 it is not      
necessary to more than  suggest a line  
of argument under the present caption4  
,,the ,,now-,,field4      ,let us work  
together for a season in the            
,now-,field4    ,we cannot work in any  
other field1 but we can and do waste    
much  valuable time in trying to work in
 the past or in the future1 and in so   
doing neglect the precious now4    ,for 
recreation we may pleasantly1 and       
perhaps profitably1 speculate as  to    
what there may be in the way of atoms   
finer than star-dust1 and as  to the    
possible degree of invisibleness of the 
ultimate ether4 ,we may  also exercise  
and strengthen our imagination by trying
 to give form to  the ,source of it all4
 ,tiring of guessing in these           
directions1 we may  vary our recreation 
by attempts to peep under or through the
 veil which  ,nature so persistently    

holds between the present conscious life
 and  the one we hope for beyond the    
veil4 ,it can do no harm to think form  
into a forgotten past and into an       
uncertain future1 if1 in so doing1  the 
vital and superprecious now be well     
guarded against the things we  know to  
be deterrent to the best growth of the  
life-plant4    ,in considering the duty 
of the now1 let us1 for convenience of  
comparison1 liken life to an            
agricultural season of one year's       
duration4 ,we find1 in ourselves1 that  
the seed from which we have  unfolded   
has already been sown1 and the          
life-plant pretty well  grown before we 
attain consciousness of duty and begin  
to think  independently4 ,if we are     
lucky1 we have been taught early what   
the  real object of life is1 our duties 
in it1 and the true values to be        
cultivated in connection with it4    ,we
 have very sensibly learned to get in   
out of the wet when it rains1  and many 
other useful aids to comfort as well as 

to protection1 but the  most vital      
assistants of growth have been          
neglected1 and many positive  deterrents
 to growth have been cultivated by those
 who have been our  teachers1 and hence 
it behooves us to look to our habits of 
thought and  of action in order to get  
rid of those which are detrimental to   
our  growth4    ,of first importance is 
the care of the ,now-,field4    ,we have
 already suggested1 and it cannot be too
 often repeated1 that  the condition    
favorable and necessary to growth is    
that of harmony--an  harmonious present 
is the living heir and parent of all    
harmonies--that  growth is the evident  
object of life1 and that when anything  
ceases to  grow it begins to die--there 
is no growth except in the present1 and 
no  cultivable field other than the     
,now-,field--that harmony1 through one's
  ability to always furnish the         
concordant note1 one's self1 is within  
the power of each1 regardless of        
environment or physical conditions1  if 

only present conditions and environment 
are considered1 and that  growth is the 
certain result of harmony2 that our     
function relative  to growth is only to 
keep deterrent influences out of the    
present2  that1 if we do this1 ,nature  
never fails to develop better results   
from  the unfolding of each succession4 
,we have learned that all of the        
deterrents we have been able to discover
 and classify are phases of             
fearthought2 that fearthought is no     
creation of the present1 but is  sought 
in the future and nourished on the      
life-blood of the present--an           
excrescent and altogether parasitic     
abnormality1 unnecessary to the  thing  
it feeds on4    ,we have discovered1 in 
our search for deterrents1 that1 if     
encountered  in the now1 they are easily
 routed4 ,we have also discovered that  
the  longest life is but a succession of
 nows4 ,if so1 how easy becomes the     
problem3 ,work diligently in the        
,now-,field4    ,in arguing against the 

potency of anger and worry and other    
expressions of fearthought1 where the   
contention has been persisted in  that  
they were necessary evils1 and amenable 
only to suppression1 not  to            
elimination1 ,i have invariably won my  
point when suddenly asking the          
question1 ,are you angry or worried at  
this moment8 by the admission  of my    
opponent1 ,no2 not at this moment1      
because my mind is occupied  with       
something which has no element of worry 
or anger in it4 ,the  replies vary1 of  
course1 but are to the same effect4 ,i  
immediately  return with the question3  
,is not all time but a succession of    
nows1  and1 if so1 cannot all of the    
nows1 as well as this one1 be exempt    
from  apprehension and irritation1 by   
continuing to think of pleasanter and   
more hopeful and helpful things8        
,each succeeding now is easier of       
control than the preceding one from     
which it learns the habit-of-control1   
and1 if the immanent now is  guarded1   

all the nows that follow will take care 
of themselves4    ,as we have observed1 
we need not think of the growing if we  
are only  diligent in keeping           
fearthought out of our minds4 ,nature   
will do  abundant growing for us1 and if
 we do not seek fearthought beyond the  
now1 we will have nothing to keep out4  
,it is easier than not6    ,does it not 
seem very easy when one thinks          
reasonably about it8 ,if  we confine our
 efforts to the ,now-,field1 we leave   
our enemy out in the  cold by the       
comfortable process of non-invitation4  
,therefore1 let us  work together for a 
season in the ,now-,field4              
,,pertinent ,,pages4                    
,,pertinent ,,pages4      ,,fearthought4
    ,fear is fearthought only4    ,fear 
is caused by the self-imposed or        
self-permitted suggestion of            
inferiority4    ,fear is not a physical 
thing1 but it causes physical           
derangement4    ,fearthought is         
self-imposed1 and is therefore          

unnecessary4    ,fearthought1 being evil
 and unnecessary1 is therefore          
not-respectable4    ,fearthought is a   
habit which is altogether irrational and
 illogical4    ,fearthought is a        
parasite which1 in civilized man1 is    
entirely abnormal4    ,fearthought can  
be eliminated from the mind4            
99       99       99       99       99  
,fearthought is the tap-root of all evil
 and trouble4    ,anger and worry are   
expressions of fearthought4    ,all     
forms of worry are directly caused by   
fearthought4    ,anger is directly or   
indirectly caused by fearthought4       
,all of the evil passions which group   
themselves under the class-names  of    
anger and worry are therefore the result
 of fearthought4    ,fearthought is the 
result of egotism4 ,egotism is the      
reverse1 or1  rather1 perverse1 of      
,egociation4 ,it is caused by           
self-separation from                    
,co-operative-,strength1 from           
,universal-,good--from ,god4            

,selfishness is the fruit and the       
evidence of egotism4    ,fearthought is 
the first expression of selfishness4    
,fearthought is1 therefore1 the tap-root
 of evil and consequent  unhappiness4   
99       99       99       99       99  
,forethought invites success4           
,fearthought invites failure4    ,the   
future is the vital part of life--the   
dead past furnishing only  food for     
reminiscence and experience4            
,consideration of the future must       
partake of either forethought or        
fearthought--it cannot partake of both  
at the same time4    ,fearthought is in 
no way related to forethought except as 
the shadow is  related to the tree      
behind which it hides from the          
light--the light of  right-thinking4    
,forethought stimulates1 aids1 fosters1 
encourages1 and insures success  of     
honest aims--its child is growth4       
,fearthought relaxes1 hampers1          
strangles1 and thereby retards growth1  
to  the end of dwarfing1 if not killing1

 it--its children are paralysis1        
disease1 unhappiness and death4         
,forethought is a producer4             
,fearthought is a robber4           99  
99       99       99       99           
,forethought is constructive4           
,fearthought is destructive4            
,forethought suggests the building of   
houses for shelter wherein there  can be
 no fearthought about storms4           
,fearthought fusses and worries over the
 possibility of not getting the  shelter
 ready in time to protect against       
inclement weather1 and thereby  wastes  
the available energy1 and delays the    
completion of the shelter4              
,forethought calmly proceeds to perform 
a useful task without  fearthought of   
the extent of it4 ,it does all that it  
can do--it can do  no more4             
,fearthought wrings its hands1 and      
wastes its time in saying1 ,how can ,i  
ever do it8    ,there is no difficulty  
in determining between forethought and  
fearthought4    ,whatever thought is    

constructive1 is forethought4           
,whatever thought is destructive or     
wasteful is fearthought4           99   
99       99       99       99           
,fearthought is the devil4              
,fearthought is the arch-enemy of man1  
whose influence can be traced in  every 
form of calamity and unhappiness4       
,fearthought is the cause of indecision1
 suspicion1 apprehension1  jealousy1    
envy1 indifference1 self-degradation and
 all other forms of  weakness which     
separate the afflicted from the tide of 
success and  happiness1 and which       
condemn them to the whirling and        
restless eddy of  isolation and         
non-progression4    ,fearthought is     
blasphemy1 because it gives the lie to  
the fixed  promises of ,god1 as         
evidenced by experience4    ,fearthought
 is like carbonic-acid gas pumped into  
one's atmosphere4  ,it causes mental1   
moral and spiritual asphyxiation1 and   
sometimes  death--death to energy1 death
 to tissue and death to all growth4     

,fearthought is a liar1 and the father  
of lies4           99       99       99 
99       99    ,quarantine against      
,fearthought first4    ,fearthought is  
more contagious than any other disease4 
,fearthought is the chief distributer   
and promoter of other contagious        
diseases4    ,fearthought can be guarded
 against by anti-toxic means1 just as   
smallpox and diphtheria can be guarded  
against4    ,the serum to be used       
against fearthought is intelligent1     
persistent  right suggestion4           
,fearthought can also be quarantined    
against1 the same as other  contagious  
diseases4    ,society can quarantine    
against fearthought by refusing to      
tolerate it  as a necessity of civilized
 life--by classing it as                
not-respectable1  and by refusing to    
feed it with sympathy4    ,quarantine   
against fearthought in the individual is
 an easy matter to  any one who will    
learn that it is only evil and never    
good4    ,fearthought should be kept    

without the gates4           99       99
       99       99       99             
,forethought for others is the most     
intelligent altruism4    ,forethought is
 the natural condition1 but can exist   
only in the absence  of fearthought4    
,forethought growing out of disagreeable
 or disastrous experience is a  useful  
and worthy fruit2 but fearthought taken 
from the same experience  adds to the   
evil4    ,if a child be guarded against 
fearthought1 he will enjoy immunity     
from it during life--a life twice or    
thrice prolonged in consequence4        
,parents should note the responsibility4
           99       99       99       99
       99    ,the consensus of the      
experience of parents1 of physicians1 of
  biologists1 and of everyone who has   
observed child-life1 is that the        
premises and deductions here given are  
correct1 but as yet there has  been no  
systematic effort made to eliminate     
fearthought out of the  atmosphere of   
children1 as there has been to eliminate

 weeds1 malaria1  contagious diseases1  
and other evils4 ,society should unite  
for defense  against1 and the           
extermination of1 childhood's worst     
enemy4           99       99       99   
99       99    ,fearthought is the most 
pregnant cause of disaster and death4   
,whoever teaches fearthought to a child1
 by either legend or example1  may be a 
murderer by so doing4    ,whoever       
permits or nurses fearthought within    
himself1 sows the seed of  suicide4     
,whoever robs a child of the freedom of 
mind with which nature prefers  to endow
 it1 whether it be through pre-natal    
suggestion or through  suggestion given 
after birth1 is more a thief than one   
who robs it of  its patrimony of goods  
or lands4    ,whoever teaches or permits
 a child to suffer fearthought may never
 know  the end of the disturbance caused
 thereby4 ,lying1 stealing1 avarice1    
suicide and murder may lie within the   
wake of its influence4    ,if parents   
have wronged their children unwittingly1

 they may  yet correct the infliction by
 right example and by right             
counter-suggestions1 lovingly1          
patiently1 persistently and religiously 
given until the evil has been           
eradicated4    ,fearthought is the seed 
of ,suicide4           99       99      
99       99       99    ,freedom is a   
,birthright4    ,civilized ,society     
insures ,freedom4    ,the author has had
 much experience within the past few    
years which  teaches that fearthought   
itself1 and tendency to fearthought1 are
 bad  habits of the mind1 that can be   
entirely counteracted if so desired1    
and if the desire be accompanied by     
reasonable assistance on the part  of   
the afflicted ones4    ,fearthought is  
the last relic of animal suspicion to be
 located1  analyzed and dispelled4 ,when
 it is entirely killed2 then1 and only  
then1 will man become free--free to     
grow1 free to appreciate his divine     
inheritance and free to enjoy it as     
ordained4 ,as in agriculture and in     

horticulture1 so in menticulture1 and   
its contingent1 physiculture1  will it  
be found that deterrents to perfect     
growth can be eradicated1  and that if  
attention to the germ-eradication of the
 deterrents is  intelligent and         
persistent1 ,god will surely develop    
perfect growth and  the perfect fruit of
 happiness4    ,freedom is easier than  
not4           99       99       99     
99       99    ,fearthought is the      
result of ignorance or perversity4      
,fearthought which is perverse is       
criminal4    ,fearing for others is     
criminal1 because it not only depresses 
and  weakens them1 but because it robs  
them of some part of the strength  that 
encouragement and hopeful thought would 
give them4    ,parents who do not wish  
to poison the natural energy of their   
children  by depression and weakness1   
should learn the effect of telepathic   
influence for good or for evil1 and     
thereby know that all of the            
expressions of fearthought are rank     

poisons4    ,parents hold the key to    
character4    ,whenever parents allow or
 teach their children to have           
fearthought1  they foster in them the   
temptation to lie and steal4    ,crime  
lurks in fearthought4           99      
99       99       99       99           
,ignorance is not bliss4    ,ignorance  
can no longer be accepted as an excuse  
for the toleration of  fear4    ,thought
 precedes every emotion and every act of
 life4 ,it must have no  element of fear
 in it1 if it is to lead up and on4     
,habit-of-thought asserts itself on all 
occasions4 ,habit-of-feeling  is the    
truer description1 for the reason that  
it is the emotional self  and not the   
thought-self that first responds to     
surprise4    ,habit-of-thought or       
habit-of-feeling can be trained to      
respond to  surprise with ,i must not be
 afraid1 as easily as it is permitted to
  respond with the cowardly dictum1 ,i  
am afraid4    ,if one have the          
habit-of-fearthought in any form or     

degree1 surprise  may cause it to       
inspire rash action which may end in    
disaster4 ,more  lives are lost through 
jumping into danger under the impulse of
  fearthought1 than are ever saved by   
it4 ,calm forethought is the better     
friend in a case of peril than quaking  
fearthought4    ,i must not be afraid6  
99       99       99       99       99  
,fearthought is a dissembler4           
,fearthought is a very dangerous enemy1 
because it habitually  masquerades in   
the garb of forethought4    ,many       
earnest persons who desire to cultivate 
only the best thought1  believe that    
fearthought is forethought1 and invite  
and nurse it as  such4    ,the          
lexicographers even1 have failed to     
separate fearthought from  forethought1 
and hence it does not appear in the     
dictionaries under its  specific        
descriptive appellation4           99   
99       99       99       99    ,let   
fear be disguised no longer4 ,it is a   
child of ignorant or perverse           

imagination4 ,it is fearthought only4   
,it is always irrational and  illogical4
 ,it has no element of good nor of      
protection in it4 ,separated  from      
forethought1 fearthought causes only    
paralysis and death1 and  neither       
energizes nor saves life4 ,it is the    
devil4 ,it is the result  of false      
premises or impressions1 but can be     
counteracted by logical  premises and   
right impressions4    ,fearthought is a 
masquerader4           99       99      
99       99       99    ,the timid are  
the most impressionable1 and can be     
cured of fearthought  by intelligent1   
persistent1 counter-suggestion4         
,impressibility is as powerful an aid to
 good or right suggestion as it  is to  
bad or false suggestion4 ,differently   
used1 an element of weakness  becomes an
 element of strength4 ,in a matter of   
mind-accomplishment no  one need say ,i 
can't1 for mind is what it most         
earnestly wishes to be4    ,limiting    
weaknesses there are1 at present1 but   

these are generally  found in asylums4  
,a crusade against fearthought would1   
within one  generation1 make asylums    
unnecessary4    ,average intelligence   
can be cleared of fearthought4 ,a       
crusade against  fearthought would      
immeasurably raise the average of       
intelligence4    ,let no one deprecate  
himself or his fellows as to his or     
their  possibilities4 ,the timid may    
become courageous2 the weak may become  
strong2 the sick may become well1 and   
the unhappy may become happy1 by  the   
reversal of the attitude of their energy
 toward life's problems4    ,courage is 
a birthright4           99       99     
99       99       99    ,fearlessness of
 death insures the strongest love of    
life4    ,no one can know what it is to 
appreciate life at its best until he has
  ceased to have any suspicion of dread 
of death4    ,no one can realize the    
keenest enjoyment of life until he has  
grown  to feel--appreciate--that this   
life is an important stage of an        

evolutionary process1 in which the      
dawning of spiritual possibilities      
opens up the realm of divine existence  
to him1 and introduces to his           
consciousness that appreciation of ,god 
which gives birth to love1  growth and  
happiness4    ,when fearthought is      
entirely eradicated from the mind by the
  elimination of the basic fear--the    
fear of death--man begins to feel  the  
responsibility of growing his best1 of  
ripening in natural manner1  and of     
dropping into the lap of ,mother ,earth 
only when he has instilled  into himself
 the richest and sweetest juices of an  
appreciative and  altruistic life4      
,fear not ,death if you would know and  
love life4           99       99        
99       99       99    ,mother-thought 
is the strongest of all thought4        
,voluntary motherhood is the bravest of 
all acts common in life4    ,whoever    
teaches a child to be fearless1 builds  
greater than she can  ever know1 for    
fearlessness in one inspires courage in 

many2 and as  courage inspires strength 
and causes action1 there is no end to   
what  may grow out of the fearless      
influence of the frailest and physically
  weakest of women1 and any young       
mother1 in the quiet and seclusion of a 
modest home1 can set in motion          
vibrations of strength and fearlessness 
that may result in the building of a    
great city or the invention of  some    
world-emancipating tool of progress4    
,all great accomplishments can be traced
 back to mother-influence4              
,mother-muscle may be wanting1 but      
mother-thought rules the world4         
,mother-thought is always brave-thought 
in one emergency1 and  therefore can be 
strong in all emergencies4              
,mother-thought rules the world4        
,mother-thought blesses life4           
99       99       99       99       99  
,all water is pure water4    ,it is     
impurities within water that muddy it4  
,all men are innately good4    ,it is   
the presence of false impressions1 the  

result of false  suggestions1 that makes
 men selfish and bad4    ,there is no   
impurity in water that cannot be removed
 by some means  within the reach of     
chemistry1 and there is likewise no bad 
suggestion  impressed on a sane human   
mind that cannot be counteracted by some
  right and good suggestion4    ,in your
 judgment of men1 judge the sum of their
 opportunities and  the quality of their
 environing atmosphere1 and not the     
individuals  themselves4 ,it will aid   
you to a more just appreciation of the  
possible  goodness of your neighbors1   
and greatly help to conserve your own   
happiness1 through the diffusion of the 
warm blood of charitable  impulse4      
,mould conditions aright1 and men will  
grow good to fit them4           99     
99       99       99       99    ,the   
perfect man is the harmonious man4      
,the perfection of anything is dependent
 upon the perfection of all its  parts4 
,good society is made up of good        
individuals2 individuals are measured   

by their qualities of mind and          
character2 and mind and character are   
pure and good according as their        
constituent elements are pure and good4 
,fearthought is a weak element of mind  
and its influence on character is       
blighting4    ,in chemistry and in      
mechanics we analyse and test with      
greatest care  the material we use1 to  
learn its value as related to our       
purpose4 ,if  it have any element of    
weakness we discard it4    ,measure1 and
 weigh well1 thought about the future2  
if it partake of  fearthought1 expel it 
from the mind1 for it is evil2 if it be 
filled  with strength1 and hope1 and    
confidence1 nurse it tenderly1 for it is
  good4    ,harmony is strength4        
99       99       99       99       99  
,forethought is strong thought4         
,fearthought is weak thought4           
,nervousness is frequently              
discreditable1 and1 therefore1          
not-respectable4    ,nervousness is the 
scapegoat for much cowardice1 ignorance 

and  perversion1 sometimes of prenatal1 
but generally of post-natal1 origin4    
,it is not as respectable as scrofula1  
for the reason that scrofula may  have  
been inherited or contracted by the     
accident or evil doing of  another1 and 
can be corrected only by process of     
regeneration2 while  nervousness is an  
expression or reflection of fearthought 
which can be  corrected by one's own    
right-thinking4    ,whoever is not      
nervous when he is asleep need not be   
nervous when he  is awake4    ,eminent  
physicians have recently authorized the 
above assertions  relative to           
nervousness4 ,if it is evil and         
unnecessary1 it is1  therefore1         
not-respectable4    ,when nervous1 seek 
within the habit-of-thought for a cause4
           99       99       99       99
       99    ,attraction rules the      
universe4    ,the rivalry between       
attraction and counter-attraction is    
friendly4    ,evolution is the result of
 being attracted to increase and to     

growth1  and not the result of being    
pushed to growth4    ,all plant life    
inclines towards the light and the sun4 
,plant life that is strong enough to    
withstand the storms1 turns its  back in
 protest to the wind4    ,pessimists    
snarlingly assert that attraction is the
 pushing of desire  for change1 but     
pessimists are diseased themselves1 and 
therefore call  things by wrong names1  
and give the wrong construction to      
everything4    ,appreciation and        
resultant ,love are caused by           
attraction1 and not by  fear4           
,whatever is attracted forward or       
upward1 will remain in advance or       
above4    ,forethought is eagerly       
receptive and seeks progress through    
attraction4    ,fearthought pushes to   
action by its own cowardice1 and        
accomplishes  nothing useful4           
,altruism is a powerful magnet2 good men
 are as true as steel4           99     
99       99       99       99           
,consideration is practical altruism4   

,consideration for others is evidenced  
by desiring to do for them what  is most
 desired by them1 or1 what is best for  
them4 ,it assumes no  superiority4      
,consideration is catching1 and the     
easiest way to accomplish one's  own    
desires1 in connection with others1 is  
to suggest consideration by             
consideration4    ,no one ever lost a   
trick1 or missed a meal1 by being       
considerate2 and  simple1 unaffected    
consideration has often been the means  
of adding  great possessions to its own 
richness4    ,after you1 will unravel a 
crowd quicker than any pushing to be    
first4    ,fearthought1 and the         
selfishness growing out of it1 are the  
origin of  all lack of consideration for
 others2 and contact with others1 and   
the  every-day amenities of life furnish
 constant opportunity for attacking  one
 of the strongest expressions of the    
disease of fearthought by  practice of  
altruistic consideration4    ,the first 
requisite of gentility is consideration4

           99       99       99       99
       99    ,happy ,day6    ,good      
morrow1 good day1 good morning1 and good
 evening1 were  originally intended to  
have the same significance as our       
opening  salutation1 but now they have  
generally become stale and mean no more 
than how are y-- how d'y and other      
perfunctory greetings that are          
ridiculous when rendered with an        
inflection that resembles a grunt4      
,elsewhere it is related how happy day  
is used in some families to  greet the  
morning4    ,what humanity is suffering 
from is a restriction of affections1 and
 an  effusion of fears4    ,people are  
afraid of being frank and therefore     
cultivate the sulks1  suffer and become 
ill from the repression4    ,if you     
cannot greet the morning and likewise   
every living thing and  every inanimate 
thing that there is with ,happy ,day1   
you had better  take medicine for the   
trouble1 for you are really ill4        
,happy ,day6           99       99      

99       99       99    ,forethought is 
,optimism4    ,all good men are         
optimists4    ,the contrastive          
definitions of optimism1 and pessimism  
and  content1 as given by ,rev4 ,dr4    
,newel ,dwight ,hillis in an address  on
 optimism1 which the author had the     
pleasure of hearing1 are in  themselves 
an epitome of good suggestion relative  
to the profitable  attitude toward the  
past1 the present and the future4       
,said ,dr4 ,hillis1 ,the pessimist      
cries1 'all is ill1 and nothing can be  
well'2 the idle dreamer assumes that    
'all is well1' but the optimist         
declares that 'all has not been ill1 and
 all has not been well--all is  not ill1
 and all is not well--but all can be and
 therefore shall be  well4'             
,appreciation of ever-present           
blessings--the sun1 the birds1 the      
perfume  of the flowers1 the mist1 the  
constant changes in the aspect of       
nature1  the love of friends1 the       
hurdles that are met and cleared at a   

bound1  and even the obstructions that  
,providence places in the wrong road1   
make them all seem to chant in          
chorus1--,no matter what has been2 no   
matter what is2 all can be and shall be 
well4    ,optimism is life4           99
       99       99       99       99    
,fearthought inspires ,pessimism4       
,pessimism is a false prophet4    ,it   
would certainly seem to be in the       
interest of freedom if the  utterances  
of evil foreboding and pessimistic      
prophesy were frowned  upon1 if         
pessimists were avoided as lepers are   
avoided1 and if their  effect on growth 
and development were to measure the     
merit or demerit  of thoughts or        
teachings1 as well as of actions4       
,society's duty toward the individual is
 wisely to prevent him from  doing harm1
 either to himself or to others4 ,all   
experience teaches that  pessimism is   
generally lying prophesy4 ,to prohibit  
false prophesy1  that can only injure   
both the maker and the hearer of it1    

would seem1  then1 to be not only the   
right1 but the duty1 of society4 ,to    
prohibit  bad suggestion as well as bad 
action1 when action is known to be but  
materialized or realized suggestion1    
would seem to be a duty of society4     
,pessimism is poison4           99      
99       99       99       99           
,perfect ,love ,casteth out ,fear4      
,but3    ,perfect ,love cannot exist    
until ,fear is first cast out4          
99       99       99       99       99  
,forethought is essential to cultivation
 and happiness4    ,but3    ,fearthought
 in forethought prevents cultivation and
 kills happiness4           99       99 
99       99       99    ,fear is        
,habit-of-,fearthought only1 and is     
self-imposed1 or imported4    ,it is1   
therefore3    ,unnecessary4           99
       99       99       99       99    
,fearthought1 being unnecessary1 is a   
weak1 or a cowardly1  self-infliction4  
,it is1 therefore3    ,not-,respectable4
           99       99       99       99

       99    ,fearthought1 the          
arch-enemy of mankind1 can be eliminated
 from the  ,habit-of-,thought--can be   
entirely eradicated4    ,but3    ,,not  
,,by ,,repression4           99       99
       99       99       99    ,man1    
equipped with divine selection1 is the  
only cultivator in  ,nature4 ,nature    
does all growing herself1 and assigns   
all cultivating to  ,man4    ,but3      
,he cultivates only through removing    
deterrents to growth4           99      
99       99       99       99    ,man's 
value1 as assistant in evolution1       
consists in his ability to  create      
harmonic conditions favorable to growth 
through the exercise of  divine         
selection4    ,but3    ,he secures      
perfect harmony only by first           
harmonizing himself4           99       
99       99       99       99           
,happiness is the aim and the end of    
existence4    ,but3    ,happiness can   
rest only in ,harmony1 ,appreciation1   
,love and ,altruism4           99       

99       99       99       99           
,happiness is ,the ,greatest ,thing in  
the ,world4    ,but3--,if sought aright1
    ,,it ,,is ,,easier ,,than ,,not6    
,,suggestions ,,in ,,menticulture4      
,,stop ,,importing2 ,,or ,,eradication  
,,versus ,,repression4      ,the        
attitude of ,man towards his weaknesses 
is commonly that of  repression4 ,he    
assumes that fearthought1 and fear1 and 
anger1 and  worry1 and all of the evil  
passions are inherent things that may be
  repressed but not eradicated2 modified
 but not eliminated2 kept under  partial
 control but not gotten rid of2 and cut 
down below the surface1  so as not to be
 exposed to the world1 but not rooted   
out entirely4    ,by some persons it is 
even thought to be an accomplishment of 
great  merit to acknowledge strong roots
 of carnal weakness and to then  succeed
 in hiding any outward expression of    
them4 ,in others1 equally  well-meaning1
 the aggressive and consumptive passions
 are nursed  and exhibited as evidences 

of unusual sensitiveness and virility   
appertaining to fineness1 goodness and  
greatness4 ,it is not long  since it was
 the custom of clergymen in some        
denominations to assume  unworthiness   
for themselves in order to glorify the  
redeeming power  of the ,saviour1       
notwithstanding all of ,christ's        
teachings inculcated  that true         
forgiveness consisted in the simple     
process of ceasing  to have--ceasing to 
admit1 or import4 ,when1 in former      
times1  priesthood was degraded to a    
business--an occupation for a living1 or
  for convenience or power--it was      
natural that the difficulty of the      
service rendered the laity by the       
priests should be exaggerated so as  to 
command the highest respect1 the        
greatest power and the largest          
compensation4 ,sin was made to seem     
powerful and ever-present in order  that
 the service rendered in keeping it in  
check might seem important  and         
everlasting4 ,under such circumstances1 

and especially when the one  great      
unpardonable sin against the church was 
that of doubting the  teachings of these
 teachers1 how almost impossible must it
 have been  for the laity to rise       
superior to evil1 when those whose      
profession it  was to combat it1 found  
it so potent an enemy1 and who1 thereby1
 filled  the atmosphere of thought with 
dense clouds of evil suggestion4    ,it 
is fortunate for the present generation 
that such shadows of  suggestion do not 
hopelessly oppress it4 ,there are many  
churches  now where appreciation1 and   
love1 and purity1 and the delights of   
unselfishness are offered as the        
attractions towards religion1 and  where
 the teachers in them stand for examples
 of pure thinking1 pure  living1 and    
spontaneous altruism1 practiced as a    
result of natural  impulses that are    
both agreeable and profitable1 and not  
to save from  hell or to fit for a      
remote heaven4 ,but the shadow of the   
old method1  that so long hid the       

,christ-method of true thinking and     
living1 still  has an influence in      
giving strength to evil to afflict the  
weaker  sons of our civilization4 ,this 
shadow1 however1 cannot long remain4    
,the light of the present awakening is  
too strong--too electric and too        
penetrating--to permit it to remain4    
,it is even looked upon now as a        
curiosity--a relic of antiquity--to     
hear the old fears given expression from
 the pulpit1 but root  eradication of   
them is not yet insisted upon as the    
first and most  important teaching1 as  
it should be4 ,it is a common thing now1
 also1  to hear altruistic teaching and 
optimistic preaching from the pulpits   
of all denominations1 and to hear from  
the teachers and preachers the          
assurance that it is easier than not and
 more profitable in every way  to be    
unselfish and not to tolerate evil1 the 
new good suggestion of  which1 is the   
inspiring assertion that1 it is easier  
than not4    ,it would be a rare thing  

now to find a religious teacher of      
intelligence who would not agree with   
the assertion that1 when a  person is   
angry1 he cannot be1 at the moment1 a   
,christian1 for being  angry is as      
unchristian as profanity4 ,the same     
condemnation applies to  worry1 which is
 especially commanded against1 and      
which1 in the light  of the observed    
promises of ,god as expressed by the    
preponderance of  the prevalence of     
good1 is not less than blasphemous in   
its exhibition  of lack of confidence   
in1 and appreciation of1 the ,giver of  
,all ,good4    ,a most helpful thought  
in connection with the easy subjugation 
of the  animalesque expressions of      
fearthought is1 that they are not       
inherent  things1 and that they are     
imported whenever suffered4 ,the        
tendency to  import is inherent1 and the
 tendency to entertain evil is the      
shadow  of past error in the race which 
is called race-habit-of-thought1 and it 
is that which has to be replaced by     

right-habit-of-thought before one  is   
entirely free1 but tendency is easily   
overcome when its parents are           
discredited and made not-respectable    
thereby4    ,the spiritual awakening of 
the present era that is reclaiming      
,christianity from the supernatural1 or 
unnatural1 and applying it to  everyday 
affairs1 may be called practical or     
business ,christianity4  ,a business man
 who has an occupation wherein it is    
possible for him  to be altruistic1     
after reading the theory that is the    
contention of  ,menticulture1 wrote a   
commentary in which he said3 ,on these  
precepts  not only 'hang all of the law 
and the prophets1' but1 also1 common    
business sense and all of the profits4  
,as an illustration of the difference   
between eradication 7or  filtration7 and
 repression 7or gradual dilution or     
reform7 ,i will cite  a common example3 
,suppose a vessel to be filled with     
muddy water which  we wish to make      
clear1 so that it will perfectly reflect

 the ether  above1 which we call the    
sky2 the easy and effective method is   
first  to pass the water through a      
filter and thereafter to protect it from
  contamination4 ,on the contrary1 the  
difficult1 expensive1 endless and1      
therefore ineffective method is to pour 
unlimited clear water into the  vessel1 
in order to gradually replace the muddy 
water with the excess  of pure water4   
,while it is true that perfect love     
casteth out fear1 it also is  true that 
there can be no perfect love until there
 is first perfect  freedom from fear1 so
 that the right way to approach the     
problem of  creating the harmonious     
condition in the human mind wherein     
growth  ripens in happiness1 is to take 
the mind when it is returned to us at   
the moment of awaking from sleep1 when  
it has been purified by contact  with   
,spiritual ,cerebration1 and protect it 
from that time forth through  each day1 
by refusing to import suspicion1 anger  
or worry into it1 a  process that is    

easier than not1 and pleasanter and more
 profitable  than any4    ,each day1 the
 tendency to import1 which is the only  
part of the process  of eradication that
 is in any way real1 will become less   
strong1  and1 with even the weakest     
attempts to discourage it2 but if you   
are  sufficiently in earnest to say1    
,begone1 you tempter1 and thereby slam  
the door in his face1 you will          
accomplish freedom at once4    ,the     
self-infliction of fearthought is a     
shoveling-in process--all  that you have
 to do to become free from it is to stop
 shoveling4 ,it  is easier to stop      
importing fearthought1 and anger1 and   
worry1 and  suspicion1 than it is to    
import them2 therefore1    ,stop        
importing6          ,,the ,,impotence   
,,of ,,pain4      ,during the           
,japanese-,chinese war1 two ,japanese   
students were arrested  in ,shanghai on 
the charge of espionage1 and were taken 
to ,ningpo and  tortured to death4      
,the method of torture was the most     

cruel known1 and included a slow        
crushing of the most sensitive parts of 
their anatomy4    ,the young patriots   
displayed such heroism under the torture
 that the  incident gave rise to        
considerable discussion as to the       
relative  sensitiveness of the          
,mongolian and the ,caucasian races to  
pain4 ,the  consensus of the opinion    
that ,i saw expressed1 which was1 by the
 way1  ,caucasian opinion only1 was that
 the ,oriental was less sensitive1 and  
therefore was not entitled to as much   
credit for withstanding pain as  the    
self-adjudged1 more-sensitive           
,westerner4    ,the truth of the matter 
is1 that there is a limit to actual     
pain within the power of any one to     
endure1 if the element of               
fearthought-of-more-pain is eliminated1 
so that the absorbing  heroism of the   
patriot--almost courting torture for the
 honor of his  cause--puts the element  
of fearthought out of the case1 and     
leaves only  the actual sensation to be 

suffered4 ,pain is undoubtedly intended 
as a  warning of disordered conditions1 
and not as a punishment1 and1 having    
performed its mission1 is relieved by a 
kind paralysis before the shock  is too 
severe for human endurance4    ,this is 
the beneficent provision of the natural 
law1 but when it comes  to the exercise 
of unnatural fearthought1 there is no   
limit to the  torture a victim may      
impose upon himself1 and1 on a basis of 
a very  little real pain1 build up most 
terrible suffering4    ,the author has  
tested the truth of this assertion      
personally4    ,being condemned to      
submit to a dental operation of unusual 
severity1  the opportunity to experiment
 was gladly availed of1 even at the     
expense of comfort4    ,one special     
aggravation of the operation was the    
prying open of the  mouth1 in order to  
build up from the root one of the teeth 
located  farthest back in the mouth4    
,the mouth was not large enough to suit 
the facile convenience of the dentist1  

and hence he made use of  all the skill 
and power he possessed to enlarge the   
cavity1 and  having stretched it to the 
utmost1 firm wedges held it open1       
without  possibility of protest1 for    
three hours on a stretch2 and on these  
instruments and conditions of torture ,i
 had ample opportunity to  experiment2  
so sufficient--for all practical        
purposes--that ,i do not  feel it       
necessary to repeat the experiment1 even
 in the interest of  scientific         
investigation4    ,the experiment       
proved1 however1 my contention1 that    
even the greatest  possible pain is of  
itself not very severe1 and that it     
requires but a  slight diversion to make
 one forget it1 for the time being1     
entirely4 ,i  was able1 at any moment of
 the combined irritation1 to concentrate
 my  mind upon some subject or object1  
and to lose the sense of pain out of  my
 consciousness altogether--and at will4 
,major ,general ,o4 ,o4 ,howard1 ,u4 ,s4
 ,a4 7retired7 has recently             

corroborated1 to the author1 out of his 
own experience1 the possibility  of     
forgetting pain through slight          
diversion4 ,he lost an arm during  the  
,civil ,war1 and in the process of      
recovery some of the nerve-ends  were   
not properly cicatrized1 so that ever   
since the wound healed the  ,general has
 not been free from the sensation of    
pain1 whenever his mind  has reverted to
 it1 and yet he is able at any time to  
forget it by  change of thought4    ,in 
like manner1 fear-of-trouble is the     
major part of all the so-called  trouble
 that is experienced4 ,as intimated in  
the definitions1  under the caption of  
,trouble1 there are few real conditions 
that  are very uncomfortable1 if        
apprehension of still more uncomfortable
  conditions is not imported to         
exaggerate the existing discomfort4     
,fear  of freezing to death or of       
drowning may be made very terrible1 for 
instance1 whereas the end in freezing   
and in drowning is known to be  so      

comfortable1 and even blissful1 that    
those who are on the point of  passing  
out of life by those means dislike to be
 called back to life  again4    ,the    
heroism of mothers in the event of      
child-birth is too well known to  call  
for reference1 but there is the greatest
 difference in the ease  or in the      
discomfort of the condition attending   
the process1 which  is largely          
influenced by the feeling of welcome or 
the attitude of  aversion with which the
 new-comer is greeted by the mother4    
,the point-of-view has much to do with  
the sting of pain4 ,whoever has         
suffered that severest of all spankings1
 the water spanking incident to  a      
clumsy dive1 or a wrongly-calculated    
somersault into the water from  a wharf1
 or from a natatorium springboard1 will 
remember that the pain  of it is not    
half so hard to bear as the form of     
parental correction  called by the same 
name1 that in itself is not nearly so   
severe4    ,sensitiveness to pain is    

largely due to the fear of pain1 and a  
reversal of the accustomed attitude     
towards fear will have an immediate     
effect upon the severity of pain by     
mitigating much of its sting4           
,christian scientists1 mental           
scientists1 spiritual scientists1 faith 
curists1 and all others who practice    
mental therapeutics in physical         
diseases1 escape much suffering in this 
way1 and the happy result of  this      
attitude towards pain serves to         
strengthen their faith4    ,whatever the
 cause of the relief1 it is good1 for it
 teaches1 in a most  practical way1 the 
potency of thought in overcoming1 or1   
dismissing1  real pain as well as all   
imaginary evil1 and also the possibility
  of eliminating fearthought from the   
mental equipment1 by showing  how       
impotent to harm are the realities that 
inspire it1 when it is  prevented from  
exaggerating them4          ,,unhappy   
,,unless ,,miserable4      ,there are   
some persons1 in fact1 a great many     

persons1 who are not  happy unless they 
have real or fancied cause for          
complaint4 ,martyrdom  is the recreation
 of such people and they are liable to  
be more greedy  for recreation than     
those whose recreation is of a joyous   
sort4    ,it is certainly a misplaced   
kindness to impose unwelcome attentions 
on  any one4 ,in the category of        
nuisances unwelcome attentions are      
perhaps  the most disagreeable1 and to  
cram joy down the maw of one who has no 
taste for it1 is as rude1 and even      
vulgar1 as insisting that he shall  eat 
something that is nauseating to him4    
,it is true that persons who gloat over 
misery2 who love to mope about  in      
grave-yards2 and are forever telling    
grewsome tales for the  supposed        
delectation of their victims1 are not as
 agreeable to others  as they seem to be
 to themselves1 and their presence at   
festivals and  other ostensibly joyous  
occasions may be looked on as           
discordant1 and1  as such1 out of place4

    ,in these times of license1 which   
are sometime mistaken for times of      
unusual liberty1 it is not for anyone to
 define what is altogether  bad1 nor to 
confine good1 nor good taste1 within too
 narrow limits2  neither is it generous 
to prescribe anything that shall be     
universally  eaten or worn2 and1 above  
all liberties1 the liberty to wear a    
smile  or a frown should prevail2 but it
 is within the province of organized    
society to put its stamp of approval or 
disapproval on the time and  place for  
appropriate use of them4 ,certain       
costumes are suitable in  certain places
 and not suitable in others4 ,for       
example1 the bathing  suit and the      
night-robe have uses that are           
appropriate for their  special purposes1
 but they would not be tolerated on the 
street by the  police1 and it would be  
no greater curtailment of liberty to    
order that  frowns shall be worn only in
 dark places and not be permitted to    
cloud  the sunlight1 than that undue    

levity should be tabooed on occasions   
considered to be serious4 ,if such      
prescription were to be imposed1 it     
would be necessary1 of course1 to       
furnish dark places at appropriate1  or1
 rather1 convenient intervals1 for the  
use of the miserably  inclined1 in the  
same way that spittoons are provided for
 the use of  those who must expectorate 
sputum4    ,liberty is so precious a    
thing that it must be protected as the  
holiest  of our possessions1 and even if
 it lap over into the debatable ground  
sometimes called license1 it should yet 
be protected1 and therefore  the        
permission to wear frowns in appropriate
 places and to enjoy being  miserable in
 the privacy of one's own chamber should
 be respected2  on the street1 or       
anywhere in public1 however1 they should
 not be  tolerated1 for they are harmful
 generally1 and particularly injurious  
to children4    ,as individuals1 those  
of us who accept ,god's promises as     
truths1 who  prefer to live in the      

sunlight rather than in a cave1 who     
glorify  ,appreciation as the first and 
best suggestion in the language1 who    
believe that growth is the object of    
life1 that its fallow field is  harmony1
 and that its fruit is happiness1 and   
also those of us who1 by  comparison of 
conditions have learned to believe that 
our pessimistic  friends can be happier 
than they are1 and can become better    
companions  and citizens by a change of 
attitude towards life1 although we may  
not pass laws of restriction against the
 frown-habit or against the             
misery-habit1 can use the gentle method 
of counter-suggestion to good  effect1  
and even go so far as to laugh at and   
otherwise ridicule the  misery-habit1 if
 by thus doing we may possibly correct  
that which logic  has failed to cure4   
,from long observation it has become    
evident that the misery-habit feeds  on 
sympathy4 ,children1 who are the best   
examples of honest expression  that we  
have1 whereby to see ourselves in an    

unartificial light1 will  not continue a
 mad or a surly crying spell if they are
 sure it is not  producing a sympathetic
 effect4 ,if they think they are not    
heard they  will at once cease crying4  
,in the same way1 grown persons who     
practice  the misery-habit in public    
take a rest when they are unobserved4   
,they try to hide it1 but they are      
frequently caught in the act of         
unbuttoning their pouts1 and thereby    
allowing their faces a rest1 as  soon as
 they have thought themselves out of    
sight4 ,we must believe1  if this       
observation be correct1 that the object 
of pessimism1 or1 the  misery-habit1 is 
generally to secure1 by dishonest means1
 selfish  attentions that are not       
earned1 and for which no value is given4
 ,there  are cases no doubt where the   
misery-habit has been acquired by       
contact  with respected ones who have   
been the cause of perverse suggestions  
too  strong to be resisted1 and for such
 there can only be pity1 and in the     

cure of whom gentle and loving          
suggestion should be used1 but to the   
perverse and the chronic practicers of  
the misery-habit1 no toleration  is     
good1 for it is on that1 and unmerited  
sympathy1 that they live and  thrive4   
,on such1 all of the misery possible to 
be scraped up from the  discords of life
 should be dumped1 and they should be   
condemned to herd  together1 and if it  
were possible1 they should be isolated1 
as lepers  are isolated1 from healthy   
society4    ,sometimes the victim of the
 misery-habit practices the habit only  
within the family4 ,this is especially  
severe on the family1 and is  much more 
difficult to treat4 ,the family is at   
once the seat of the  greatest liberty1 
and the home and breeding-ground of the 
greatest  tyranny4 ,the family is       
supposed to be under the holy protection
 of the  divine principle of love1 but  
if that principle is not a possession   
of the family1 there is no protection   
whatever from most inhuman  practices1  

but instead a license to the cultivation
 of most discordant  passions4 ,it is in
 the family that mollygrubs are grown   
and tolerated4  ,it is in the family    
that one cannot get rid of them by      
running away1  for the family1 like the 
poor1 you have with you always4 ,and who
 would  have it otherwise8 ,the whole   
tendency of civilization is to          
appreciate  the family more and more1   
and to cultivate respect for the family 
model  as the basis of good government4 
,but it is the very security of the     
natural1 and therefore indissoluble1    
bonds that gives the selfishly  inclined
 opportunity to practice the            
misery-habit without fear of being      
thrown out1 left behind1 cremated or    
otherwise gotten rid of1 as dead  and   
disagreeable matter is usually treated1 
in civilized communities4    ,the       
symptoms of the misery-habit1 or        
martyr-habit1 are easy to  detect1 for  
while they may be cultivated and        
laboriously practiced  in private1 they 

are intended to be seen1 and are        
displayed at times  when they are       
calculated to be most conspicuous4 ,the 
victim of the  martyr-habit is usually  
an industrious person4 ,he1 or possibly 
she1  will perform any amount of        
necessary1 and even unnecessary1 manual 
labor1 in order to exhibit martyr-like  
fatigue2 is always hanging  behind in   
order to be slighted2 condemns          
attentions honestly intended  as        
perfunctory politeness2 interprets      
praise as being patronage2  finds any   
part of a chicken served him at the     
family table the worst  piece1 and at   
the same time assures the carver that he
 has been unduly  partial or            
over-generous--but1 with a tone of voice
 or an expression  of countenance that  
belies the utterance4 ,a common phrase  
of the  afflicted martyrite is1 ,don't  
mind me1 and hysterics is the favorite  
amusement1 while pain and trouble are   
the chief stock in trade4 ,and is  there
 a remedy8 ,yes4    ,if ,christianity   

were to be measured by the optimism of  
the ,master1  if the gauge of optimism  
prescribed by the ,master were to be    
used  to measure professing ,christians 
for the name2 if cause and effect  were 
to be placed in their true relation to  
each other1 and the  ills we cultivate  
were to be classed as self-imposed      
causes and not  effects2 and if the     
unnecessary and unprofitable were to be 
ranked  as not-respectable2 the         
misery-habit or martyr-habit would cease
  to be fashionable1 mollygrubs would   
disappear1 and the principal            
breeding-ground of pessimism--the       
family--would be purified1 as  becoming 
to its holy office4          ,,thou     
,,shalt ,,not ,,strike ,a ,,woman4      
,if a queer sort of human being1 dressed
 in a costume we had never  seen before1
 and hailing from some island we had    
never heard of1 were  to land on our    
shores and ask our protection and the   
privilege of  teaching the religion of  
his people2 if he were to learn our     

language  sufficiently to convey his    
ideas to us2 if he were to have printed 
the  formulas of his religion1 and1     
among them1 his deity's commandments  to
 men2 if the first of these commandments
 were to read1 ,thou shalt  not strike a
 woman1 what would we say to such a     
commandment8 and  what would we think of
 a people who found it necessary to have
 such a  formula8    ,our question would
 naturally be1 ,do the people of your   
country ever  strike women8    ,in our  
particular state of chivalric           
civilization1 striking women  is one of 
the things so entirely out of the       
question that we do not  consider it    
even a possibility1 except in cases of  
insanity or of  drunkenness1 where the  
brute of the moment is not responsible  
for his  action4    ,the very fact of   
its being an impossible1 and therefore  
unmentionable1  crime is the strongest  
suggestion against it4    ,if ,thou     
shalt not strike a woman were listed in 
the category of  commandments1 and were 

constantly repeated as something hard to
 resist1  and hence commanded against1  
,i believe the crime would become common
 in  circles where it is not thought of 
as possible now4    ,the best thing to  
do with a condemned thing is to cover it
 up1 seal  it up1 and relegate it to the
 custody of the awful1 unwritten law of 
unanimous disapproval4    ,it is said   
that when the ,jesuit fathers went to   
,japan at the end of  the sixteenth     
century they were warmly welcomed1 and  
not only were  permitted but invited to 
teach their religion4    ,one of the    
first things they did was to have the   
ten commandments of  the old ,mosaic law
 printed in ,japanese1 in the form of   
what we call a  tract1 and distributed  
among the people4    ,reading was then1 
as now1 a common accomplishment with the
 ,japanese1  and they were interested in
 the tract4 ,they did not quite         
understand  its purport1 however1 and   
one of their number was delegated to ask
 for  an explanation4    ,japan is the  

land1 above all others1 where poetry and
 flowers and  idealism and art and other
 refinements are cherished and          
appreciated4  ,poetry1 in ,japan1 is    
sometimes so idealistic that it is      
somewhat vague  to any but the poet4 ,it
 is the custom1 therefore1 to consider  
that  anything not quite comprehensible 
must be poetry2 and not understanding   
the tract of the fathers1 the ,japanese 
naturally thought it to be a  specimen  
of ,portuguese poetry4    ,approaching  
one of the fathers1 the spokesman of the
 people bowed with  accustomed          
politeness and said3 ,i trust you will  
pardon the wretched  ignorance and      
dullness of my humble self1 but the     
great interest of my  companions1 as    
well of myself1 in your poem1 impels us 
to ask you to  interpret to us the great
 depth of its beauteous crystalline     
sweetness1  in order that we may enjoy  
it as it is worthy of being enjoyed4    
,the father was shocked to hear his     
sacred commandments classed as  worldly 

poetry1 and1 drawing himself up to the  
full impressiveness of  holy            
indignation1 replied1 ,that is not      
poetry2 that is what our ,god  commands 
that we must not do4    ,sayo de go     
zarimasu1 gomen na sai1 answered the    
spokesman in the  polite idiom of his   
country2 but--do the people of your     
country ever  do these things8          
,whether the ,japanese are1 or were     
three hundred years ago1 as exempt  from
 evil as the enquiry about the ten      
commandments would imply1  matters not4 
,the rebuke was well merited and taught 
a great1 good  lesson4 ,we are the sum  
of our impressions1 and the suggestions 
we  receive from experience are the     
source of our impressions4 ,some        
suggestions are so respected that they  
make deep impressions1 notably  the     
suggestions given us by our parents at  
our most impressionable age2  but all   
suggestions have some weight1 and to    
such purpose that a thing  we know to be
 untrue becomes a reality to us by      

constant repetition1  as attested by the
 common expression1 ,he has told that   
story so many  times that he has come to
 believe it himself4    ,there is       
scarcely any difference of opinion about
 the justice of the  ten commandments2  
but the constant repetition of you must 
not is  like shaking a red rag before a 
wild bull1 to many self-assertive       
children2 whereas1 if the things to be  
commanded against were  understood to be
 impossible1 and therefore              
unmentionable1 the  commandments would  
come to fit crimes that had become as   
much out of  date to us now as is the   
crime of striking women4    ,we have    
constant evidence of the fact that      
beliefs1 or1 rather1  habits-of-belief1 
follow persistent assertion1 and that   
character is  largely molded by existing
 formulas as well as other influences of
 our  environment4    ,without desire to
 criticise the formulas of any creeds1  
except in the  way of                   
counter-suggestion1 ,i would ask1 ,what 

would be the probable  effect of        
teaching the constant repetition of the 
eleventh commandment  in place of the   
older ten8--',a new commandment ,i give 
unto you1 that  you love one another4'  
,it is impossible to love and to hate at
 the  same time4 ,it is impossible to   
obey the eleventh commandment and       
disobey any of the ten at the same time4
 ,is it not better practice of          
suggestion1 in order to form            
habit-of-thought1 to repeat the eleventh
  commandment eleven times1 than to     
repeat each of the ten once and the     
eleventh only once8    ,it is true that 
the easy way to attain good is to cease 
to have evil1  but1 it is a poor way to 
cease to have evil to nurse it in the   
memory  as a thing difficult not to     
have4    ,if there is to be repetition  
of anything1 it is better that it should
  be of such suggestions as             
,appreciation and ,love4    ,the mind is
 as amenable to the force of habit as   
are any of the  physical members of the 

body4 ,the soul is much more amenable to
  suggestion than either1 for it is much
 more impressionable4 ,if you  were     
teaching a child to play the piano1     
would you have him run all  the scales1 
or1 rather1 combinations of notes that  
do not form scales1  that are to be     
avoided in music1 in order to teach him 
the habit of  not playing them8 ,would  
it be good teaching to have him         
habituate his  fingers to the sequence  
of false scales as well as to the       
sequence of  true scales8 ,may not the  
constant repetition of the commandments 
that  refer to lewd practices suggest   
thoughts about lewdness that never      
would come to young minds by other      
means1 and therefore taint pure         
thought1 in brutal fashion1 by vile     
suggestion8          ,,the              
,,point-,,of-,,view4      ,suppose two  
men of equal physical strength were to  
start in a  thousand-mile bicycle race4 
,suppose one of the men were to greet   
the passing of each mile-post in this   

wise3 ,only nine hundred and            
ninety-nine miles more2 only nine       
hundred and ninety miles more1 or       
whatever the distance covered might be  
at the time4 ,suppose the other  were to
 greet the same mile-posts otherwise1 as
 only one mile2 or1  hang it1 only ten  
miles4 ,which racer would win8    ,in   
effect1 one of the men would be going   
down hill and the other would  be going 
up hill1 and just that difference of    
approach would win the  race for the    
person who was rolling down from one    
thousand miles to one  mile1 from the   
person who was struggling along the     
upward course from  one mile to a       
thousand miles4    ,suppose two men were
 to each feel a pain in the joint of his
 big toe4  ,suppose one of the attacked 
ones were to greet the pain as follows3 
,well6 ,i suppose that means the gout1  
and ,i am to be afflicted for the       
balance of my life with that horrible   
disease4 ,what have ,i done to  deserve 
such a fate8 ,i suppose some of my      

ancestors are responsible  for this1 but
 ,i will have to suffer for it all the  
same4 ,suppose the  other victim were to
 greet the same symptom in himself      
differently1  as follows3 ,hello1 old   
fellow1 what does all this mean8--too   
much  rich food1 too much rich wine1 too
 much of everything that is good to  the
 taste and bad for the stomach4 ,well1  
,i might have expected it4  ,am ever so 
much obliged to you1 ,mr4 ,pain1 for    
having warned me so  promptly2 ,i'll    
take the hint and correct the error     
before the trouble  gets seated4 ,keep  
me well posted1 ,mr4 ,pain4 ,if the     
disorder does not  disappear1 please    
keep on prodding me so that ,i will know
 if ,i am  doing the right thing or the 
wrong thing towards it4 ,which of these 
men would recover more quickly1 and     
which of them would suffer more         
discomfort8    ,there are always        
different points-of-view and different  
attitudes  towards every problem of     
life4 ,the different points-of-view are 

always  in competition1 and1 other      
conditions being equal1 winning or      
losing is  a question of attitude4 ,the 
attitude that is directed by            
appreciation1  gratitude1 hope1 trust1  
or any of the attributes of             
,forethought1 will  always win1 as      
against the attitude that is handicapped
 by any shade of  ,fearthought4    ,life
 may be filled with disappointments or  
with successes merely by the  choice of 
point-of-view1 the pessimistic          
point-of-view leading from              
disappointment to disappointment1 and   
the optimistic point of view  leading to
 a succession of successes4 ,as a man   
thinks1 so does he act1  and so does the
 world help him to act4    ,evolution   
never places obstacles in the right     
road4 ,a seeming  obstacle may be but a 
hurdle1 the clearing of which may win a 
prize in  the life race4 ,some one has  
said that the supreme obstacle in life  
is  surmounted by aid of the            
progressively difficult smaller         

obstacles that  are overcome with       
increasing ease1 and which1 if their    
beneficent uses  are known1 become only 
hurdles instead of obstructions4    ,set
 'em up again2 they are all down but    
nine1 said1 in the spirit of  hopeful   
determination1 has won games for many   
contestants4    ,it is the point-of-view
 that determines whether an obstacle is 
a hurdle  or an obstruction1 or whether 
the obstruction1 if it be such1 is in   
the wrong road or not4 ,if a traveler on
 life's road starts with an  optimistic 
point-of-view he will enjoy obstacles as
 hurdles1 or he  will greet obstructions
 with pleasure1 as being ,providentially
 placed  in the wrong road4 ,in any case
 he will be happy about it1 and his     
happiness will be the best possible     
stimulant in aiding him to clear        
hurdles or to seek new paths to pleasant
 places4    ,the optimistic and         
pessimistic points-of-view are the means
 by which  the concordant and discordant
 notes in life are sounded4 ,the merit  

or  demerit of things lies less within  
the things themselves1 as far as the    
observer is concerned1 than in his      
ability to accept them complacently1  if
 inevitable1 and to mould or to shape   
them to profitable and  agreeable uses1 
rather than to suffer them as           
unprofitable and  disagreeable4 ,for    
example1 it is profitable to look upon  
all persons  and upon all experiences as
 teachers1 but to reserve the           
superiority  of choosing to be guided by
 them or warned by them according as the
  quality of the teaching is good or    
bad4    ,there are proverbs in all      
languages that teach the preference of  
the optimistic point-of-view1 but they  
will avail little as long  as           
fearthought is tolerated as a necessary 
and respectable thing4  ,experience     
endorses the proverbs and discredits the
 necessity and  respectability of       
fearthought4    ,the ,japanese have a   
proverb1 born of the optimistic         
point-of-view1 that  is very useful to  

them1 inasmuch as the light             
wood-construction of  their houses      
invites frequent fires and sweeping     
losses in consequence4  ,after a fire it
 is fashionable in ,japan for sufferers 
to greet each  other in sympathy with   
the truism1 always accompanied by a     
smile1 ,not  much trouble to move1 and  
then they all pitch in to assist as much
 as  possible to rehabilitate each other
 through kind attentions that really    
make the fires but hot-bed nurseries of 
altruistic sympathy1 in which  there is 
more joy than in the greatest           
accumulation of possessions4    ,after  
the war--the recent sectional dispute1  
whose theater of  destruction was in the
 ,southern ,states of ,america--many of 
the  families of the ante-bellum slave  
aristocracy were mainly reduced in      
possessions1 and deprived of some of the
 means of ostentation1 and in  rare     
instances1 of the necessary means of    
comfort2 but they had been  defeated in 
their ,cause1 and many of them settled  

into a state of  depression that was    
more cruel to them than all the reverses
 of the  war4 ,nature continued to be as
 kind1 the seasons smiled on the crops  
with unvarying regularity1 and the      
physical scars of war were soon  healed 
and overgrown1 but the disappointed ones
 heeded not the return  of material     
prosperity4 ,they focused their         
point-of-view upon the past1  and       
refused to see the smiles and the warmth
 of the present and the  promise of the 
future4    ,property aristocracy always 
creates a false pride1 in which the     
point-of-view is distorted4    ,it will 
undoubtedly be the same with the        
name-proud ,greeks as it  was with the  
property-proud ,southrons1 and bespeaks 
little for the  respectability of a     
pride that afflicts its victims more    
seriously than  the destruction of      
property4    ,it is a meritorious pride 
that rises superior to defeat1 and after
  saying ,thy ,will ,be ,done adds1     
,teach ,thou ,me ,appreciation1 and     

begins the pursuit of peace anew with   
the point of view directed by  optimism 
and not by pessimism4    ,i have seen   
whole families1 suffering from          
self-imposed humiliation  and           
depression1 leap into new life1 new     
growth1 and new happiness at  a change  
of the point-of-view4 ,the ,southerners 
are1 above all other  ,americans1       
chivalrous and loyally ,american in     
their natures4 ,they are  also generally
 religious1 and cling to the teachings  
of their parents4  ,in focusing their   
point-of-view upon the past1 and1       
nursing the  sting of defeat1 they have 
thought that they were conserving filial
  regard1 chivalry and religion1 and    
they have held to the distorted         
point-of-view with loyal purpose4 ,a    
change of the point-of-view1  rising    
superior to disappointment1 more nearly 
satisfied filial  pride1 while          
,christian optimism and gratitude more  
nearly became  the profession of        
religion than the fault-finding dictated

 by the  antiquated point-of-view4      
,finding fault with the happenings of   
the past  is as much blasphemy as any   
other disapproval of the ,almighty1 and 
yet  blasphemy is regarded as the       
wickedest of sins in religious          
estimation2  and1 at the same time1     
loading up with a burden of depression  
and  self-humiliation is the most       
unprofitable form of self-abuse known to
  economics4    ,it is better to have an
 intelligent and optimistic command of  
the  point-of-view and hold title to    
nothing1 than to have possessions       
valued at millions1 and not count this  
as the richest possession of  them all4 
,if anything seem to be wrong with you1 
first examine the  point-of-view4 ,if   
you do this conscientiously1 you will   
probably find  the fault therein and    
seek a remedy by changing the           
point-of-view4          ,,don',t ,,be ,a
 ,,sewer4      ,a sewer is a channel for
 the conveyance of disagreeable matter4 
,any person who receives and carries    

mean report or suspicion of his         
neighbor is therefore a human sewer4    
,a good sewer is a good thing4 ,it      
receives disagreeable matter and        
carries it along1 hidden from sight and 
away from the other senses1 to  some    
remote place1 and discharges it there4  
,a leaky sewer is an abomination4       
,human sewers usually leak4 ,they take  
delight in letting out the  disagreeable
 matter they are carrying1 at every     
street corner1 in every  parlor1 and in 
the midst of the multitude1 wherever    
they may chance to  be4 ,the            
characteristic of the human sewer is    
that it is a leaky sewer4  ,by its leaks
 it is known4    ,human sewers          
themselves generally create much of     
their sewage4    ,i once had a friend1  
an otherwise good fellow1 who had       
acquired the  habit of collecting and   
distributing social sewage4 ,he was not 
amenable  to logical suggestion against 
the habit4 ,he held the idea that a     
spade  should be called a spade1 and    

that if disagreeable things existed1    
honesty required that they should be    
discussed4 ,one day1 when my friend  was
 carrying an unusually heavy load of    
sewage1 and was distributing it  freely1
 this thought came into my mind1 and ,i 
gave it utterance4 ,you  remind me of a 
sewer1 said ,i4    ,there might have    
been a serious impairment of our        
friendship as the  result of my         
utterance1 for my friend is full of     
so-called spirit1  had ,i not           
immediately followed my offensive remark
 by an apology1 and a  brotherly        
explanation somewhat in the vein as     
above4    ,the good effect of the       
comparison on my friend is my excuse for
  introducing it here4 ,what logic and  
persuasion had not been able to         
accomplish1 offensive comparison        
accomplished4    ,my friend is too      
self-respecting to allow himself to be  
in any way  related to a leaky sewer1   
and has reformed beautifully4 ,a short  
time  since1 in speaking of the         

incident1 he acknowledged its           
effectiveness  by saying1 ,every time ,i
 think of anything mean ,i fancy ,i can 
smell  it4          ,,call ,,suspicion  
,a ,,liar4      ,it is an excellent rule
 to follow to call ,suspicion a liar    
five times  before basing judgment upon 
its testimony4    ,if you will take the 
trouble to investigate the average      
accuracy of  your suspicions1 you will  
note that they are wrong in so many     
cases  that they are not a safe guide1  
and are generally unjust accusers4      
,while the person who harbors the       
suspicion is the worst sufferer in the  
end1 when the accusations have been     
proved to be groundless1 there is       
always a possibility of injustice1 that1
 falling on servants or others  holding 
inferior positions1 is exceedingly      
cruel4    ,how often1 in the household  
or in the hotel apartment1 is a         
carelessly  mislaid ring the cause of   
great unhappiness to both mistress and  
maid1  because of the ready mischief of 

,fearthought and its attendant imp1     
,suspicion4    ,it is an axiom of the   
detective service1 that untrained       
suspicion  generally takes the wrong    
scent1 and that it usually saves time to
 look  in some other direction for the  
culprit1 than in that pointed out by    
the accuser4    ,the elimination of the 
seeds of ,fearthought from the mind1 the
  possibility of which is the contention
 of my theory1 will carry with  it      
suspicion1 and relieve one of endless   
chance of doing and suffering           
injustice1 but if emancipation should1  
unfortunately1 not have been            
accomplished1 it is an excellent rule to
 follow1 to meet ,suspicion with        
suspicion1 and call it liar6 five times1
 before making accusation on  its       
testimony4          ,i ,,can',t ,,not   
,,do ,,it4      ,a person more          
frequently lies when he says ,i can't   
than when he says  ,i can4 ,there are1  
to be sure1 more things that one cannot 
do than  there are that he can do1      

because the ability of the strongest and
 most  skillful is comparatively        
limited2 but the person who is in the   
habit  of saying ,i can't usually says  
it about the wrong thing or at the      
wrong time4    ,whenever a person says  
that he cannot do a thing that ,god has 
made it  possible for him to do1 and    
which he knows to be possible1 he is not
  only a liar1 but also a blasphemer4   
,if one is asked to climb a tree or lift
 a very heavy weight1 there may  be     
reason for saying ,i can't1 because of  
lack of ability1 strength or  practice4 
,for the same reason1 difficult runs on 
a piano1 perilous  feats of balancing or
 turning in gymnastics1 and even a great
 many  simple things that are easy to   
the accustomed1 may be impossible to the
  unaccustomed without certain practice1
 and with reference to them it is       
reasonable to say1 ,i can't4    ,if1    
however1 one is asked not to climb a    
tree1 or not to lift a  weight1 or not  
to perform a run on a piano1 there is no

 excuse  for saying1 ,i cannot not do   
it1 for it is as illogical as it is     
ungrammatical1 and as false as any other
 lie4    ,applied to mental             
accomplishment1 it is even more         
illogical and false1  because thought is
 more pliable than muscle4    ,not being
 evil is simply not being evil1 and     
whoever says1 ,i cannot  not be bad1 is 
a liar4 ,when he is asleep he proves the
 lie4    ,there are habits-of-desire    
which seem attractive to perverted      
taste1  that may need a strong          
counter-suggestion to correct1 but there
 is  no habit-of-desire but what can    
easily be corrected by the right        
counter-suggestion4 ,for instance1      
drinking whisky habitually is           
recognized to be a bad habit of         
perverted desire1 but one habitual      
drunkard ,i know of abjured whisky for  
life on account of having  discovered a 
dead fly in his glass4    ,sometimes it 
requires a mania to cure a mania4 ,dr4  
,h4 ,holbrook ,curtis1  the eminent     

throat-specialist of ,new ,york1 who has
 in his care1 during  grand opera       
season1 millions of dollars' worth of   
voices1 and who makes  special study of 
the mental condition of his patients1   
once said to  me1 ,the only cure that ,i
 know of for dipsomania is              
religio-mania4  ,this same assertion is 
frequently made in quite a different    
way1  but to the same effect4 ,dr4      
,curtis did not mean by religio-mania   
religious appreciation2 neither did he  
mean by dipsomania1 temperate  use of   
stimulants4 ,he referred to the         
intemperate emotion and the  morbid     
taste4 ,the practice of drinking unduly 
because of the social  temptation of it 
may be cured by logical suggestion1 but 
a mania may  be amenable only to a      
mania4 ,there is1 however1 no bad habit 
but that  can be corrected by some      
means1 and as there is some remedy for  
every separate phase of evil1 it should 
be considered not respectable  to say1  
,i cannot not do2 and1 as measure of    

respectability is the  highest social   
desideratum in the present age1 the best
 weapon to be  used against the         
toleration of evil in one's self or in  
others is a  general protest against it 
on the score of its being unnecessary   
and  not-respectable4    ,in my         
experiments ,i have used all sorts of   
means of suggestion with  which to reach
 perverse habits of evil thought4 ,as   
stated elsewhere1  offensive comparisons
 and ridicule are more frequently       
effective  than reason or logic1 and1 as
 such1 are often necessary1 in the same 
way that offensive medicines are        
sometimes effective in removing         
indigestible matter from the            
stomach1--for example1 ipecac4    ,i had
 a friend who was in the habit of saying
 ,i can't to almost  everything4 ,the   
habit-of-opposition was so strong that  
it was the  first to assert itself on   
every occasion4 ,the attitude of        
opposition  was strengthened by the     
perverse idea that brutal frankness is  

an  expression of honesty1 and hence    
reference to his honesty or dishonesty  
was a tender point of etiquette with my 
friend4 ,to touch this tender  spot1 and
 administer the strong                  
suggestion--medicine--necessary in the  
case1 ,i hit upon this expedient3       
,whenever my friend said ,i can't to a  
proposition which it did not  fit1 ,i   
immediately ejaculated ,liar6 ,at first 
there was some danger  attending my     
experiment1 but ,i took the precaution  
to be out of reach1  and the fact that  
my intention was good assured me        
ultimate pardon4    ,at first my        
offensive criticism was frequently      
necessary1 but it became  less and less 
so1 till at last the cure is so complete
 that the once  favorite expression1 ,i 
can't1 is as disagreeable to my friend1 
as  must have been the dead fly in the  
glass of the drunkard previously        
mentioned1 that was the means of curing 
him of a deeply rooted habit4           
,a ,,million ,,to ,,one ,,on ,,the      

,,unexpected4      ,one evening1 at a   
meeting of the ,ganglionics1 in the city
 of ,new  ,orleans1 ,i asked the        
president of the club1 ,dr4 ,william    
,benjamin ,smith1  the question1 ,why is
 it that the unexpected generally       
happens8 ,his  reply1 which induced the 
caption to this chapter1 was1 ,because  
the  expected is only one thing1 while  
the unexpected may be a million  things4
    ,this is really1 as well as         
figuratively1 true1 and1 being true1    
what  idiots are we to waste our time   
and paralyze our energies1 by thinking  
fearthought into the future1 on a       
million-to-one chance of its hitting    
the mark4    ,there is one bull's-eye   
that we are sure to hit if we aim at it 
constantly and long enough4 ,death is   
the one universal bull's-eye that       
figures in every life4 ,at the same time
 that we are sure of hitting it1  we    
know by the experience of others that we
 do not realize death when  it actually 
comes1 for ,nature kindly administers an

 ansthetic just  before death1 and      
sometimes long before4 ,then why should 
we fear even  death8    ,persons who    
have been at the open door of the       
unexplored state called  death say that 
a delightful feeling of rest comes over 
the emigrant1  and that entry into the  
next state is like being in a beautiful 
dream4    ,if this be so1 there is also 
nothing disagreeable in death--only in  
the  fearthought about it--and hence the
 one only bull's-eye we have been  sure 
of hitting--the cause of fear of        
death--does not exist1 except in  our   
hopes or our fears4    ,many persons who
 are in the habit of apprehending cause 
for fearthought  about the future1 and  
who spend much of their time in worry1  
would not  like to be put down in the   
category of false prophets1 and yet     
their  apprehension must be false in the
 ratio of chances of a million to one4  
,thought about chance1 as related to    
forethought1 and from the  point-of-view
 of the speculator or gambler1 suggests 

the absurdity of  wasting any good      
coin--calm and happiness--by laying it  
on--betting  on--fear4 ,the chances     
against having coppered the right fear  
are  not only not even1 but are ten to  
one against--an hundred to one          
against--or more--never less4 ,even if  
you should win by correctly  guessing a 
fear1 you would get back again none of  
the happiness that  you had             
sacrificed--would not even get your     
stake back4    ,as a matter of actual   
experience1 the following incident is a 
good  example3 ,a young man employed in 
a publishing house1 where the           
proprietor was afflicted with the       
fuss-and-fret-habit1 contracted the     
disease1 and unconsciously became a     
victim to its toils4 ,robust good       
health began to give way to languor that
 induced dyspepsia and other  contingent
 disorders1 until suicide stared the    
young man in the face  and haunted his  
dreams4    ,one day some one whispered a
 suspicion in the young employee's ear  

that was directed at worry and anger as 
the causes of his ill-health  and       
unhappiness and the thought led his     
systematic habits-of-business  to       
suggest keeping tab on at least one of  
the suspects1 to see if  it were the    
liar and thief1 as charged4 ,each day1  
when worry made its  predictions1 record
 of them was carefully kept1 and at the 
end of the  month the reports were      
checked up by results4 ,only three per  
cent4 of  the predictions were even     
remotely realized6    ,the old          
proprietor of the business1 through whom
 the contagious  poison started1 is     
dead1 and the happy young menticulturist
 owns the  business1 which has become   
very successful by influence of the     
sunny  optimism of its new owner1 which 
attracts trade unconsciously to it4     
,,love ,,cannot ,,be ,,qualified4       
,the merit of loving is in the act1 and 
should not--cannot--be qualified  by the
 merit or demerit of the object under   
consideration4    ,there may be more    

effort required1 perhaps1 in loving     
something that  seems to us unlovely1   
but no more virtue in so doing1 as      
loving1 like  virtue1 is its own reward4
    ,god-love does not discriminate4 ,it
 is1 therefore1 ungodly to              
discriminate4 ,in the performance of the
 ,man-,nature partnership-function  of  
divine selection in the harmonizing of  
things that are  antagonistic to each   
other and to ,man--selecting for        
survival those  things that are not     
deterrent to the harmonious growth and  
happiness  of ,man--if selection is to  
be made1 it should be done in the spirit
 of  calm justice1 and not in the spirit
 of hate1 for1 as love blesses the      
lover1 so does hate react upon the      
hater4    ,we cannot afford not to love4
    ,there are animals and insects that 
seem to us to be undesirable and        
prejudicial to the harmony we are       
seeking to secure1 that may serve  most 
excellent purposes in relation to       
existing conditions4 ,they are          

frequently a warning against unfavorable
 conditions1 in the same way  that pain 
is a warning against diseased conditions
 in the body4 ,in the  same way1 crime  
is a warning against social or political
 conditions  which invite or compel     
crime1 and remedy should be sought in   
change of  the conditions in preference 
to the punishment of the crime4 ,i      
believe  that a change of our           
point-of-view--our attitude towards     
causes and  effects--would find         
punishment generally unnecessary1 and1  
as such1  brutal4    ,there is1 then1 a 
double reason why we should hate        
nothing4 ,in the  first place1 it is    
probable that we are hating the wrong   
thing1 and  thereby are unjust1 and we  
are certainly doing injury to ourselves 
by  nursing the feeling of hatred4      
,disapproval--calm disapproval--is a    
better judge in the exercise of  divine 
selection than angry antagonism4 ,pity1 
as well as love1 is a  divine attribute1
 but hate is an attribute of the devil4 

,pity suggests  change of conditions    
producing inharmonious results4 ,hate   
suggests  punishment of the victim of   
the inharmony4    ,in its relation to   
personal comfort1 the practice of not   
permitting  hate1 nor annoyance1 nor    
irritation1 nor repulsion to possess    
one's  feelings1 will bring greatest    
good results4 ,take the mosquito pest1  
for  instance3 ,one who begins to feel  
irritation at the sound made by the     
wings of the insect1 is already creating
 within himself a condition  favorable  
to inflammation from the effects of the 
bite4 ,many who  suffer by mosquitos    
admit that the buzz is worse1 to them1  
than the  bite1 which is proof of a     
purely mental and unnecessary           
affliction4    ,there was a time in my  
boyhood when mosquitos poisoned and     
annoyed me  beyond endurance4 ,each bite
 represented a great itching welt1 and  
the  buzzing was full of terror in      
consequence1 or1 more likely1 in the    
light of present knowledge1 the buzzing 

inspired fearthought or dread1  and the 
bite was very poisonous in consequence4 
,at present1 mosquito  bites are not    
poisonous to me1 and mosquito sounds are
 no longer  disagreeable4 ,i do not     
remember when the deliverance came4     
,possibly the  cure came through        
intimate acquaintance4 ,i have lived in 
localities  where the mosquito thrives  
all the year round1 and in such numbers 
that he tires his victims into a state  
of non-resistance1 and in the  calm of  
non-resistance1 physical and mental     
irritations cease4 ,this  is sometimes  
called acclimatization1 but it proves   
the contention1  whichever way it is    
interpreted4    ,in the practice of my  
freedom from what was once a great      
affliction1  ,i sometimes brave a swarm 
of mosquitos by sleeping in their       
presence  without drawing the bar4 ,if  
the mosquitos light on me freely1 ,i    
find  comfort in the evidence of my     
popularity1 and in the fact that ,i am  
probably being of service to something1 

or somebody1 by possibly  diverting     
attentions that would not be appreciated
 in like manner by  them4 ,in the       
morning1 when ,i look in the glass and  
note the little  red spots that the     
bites have left1 but of which ,i am not 
otherwise  conscious1 ,i consider them  
as a record of my hospitality1 and am   
proud  of them1 as the ,german corps    
student is proud of the scars on his    
face1  that are a record of equally     
foolish bravery or exposure1 taken out  
of  his university course at ,heidelberg
 or elsewhere4 ,my braving of the       
mosquitos would certainly be classed as 
foolish1 except as a test  of           
superiority1 but the pin-point red spots
 soon disappear and do no  permanent    
harm4    ,mosquitos are said to breed in
 malarial conditions1 and for the       
purpose  of absorbing the malaria4      
,flies do not exist except in conditions
 of  ferment1 and are of greatest       
service in carrying it away4 ,roaches   
are splendid scavengers1 and are a      

result1 and not a cause1 of  unclean    
conditions4 ,our warfare should be waged
 against unclean and  inharmonious      
conditions1 and not against the         
purifiers and harmonizers  of the       
conditions4    ,it is not a difficult   
matter to rid one's self of repulsions  
if the  point-of-view is changed4 ,i    
presume that the most generally detested
  creature that is not altogether deadly
 in its venom is the bedbug4  ,the      
bedbug is more of a tradition than a    
fact1 and many of those who  shudder at 
mention of him have never seen one of   
his kind4 ,i am sure  that none of his  
enemies have much if1 any1 acquaintance 
with him1 as  to the color of his eyes1 
his habits of thrift1 his amiability in 
his  family and other qualities that    
serve to make a creature attractive and 
respectable within his sphere4    ,the  
truth about this much despised creature 
is that he is useful as  a warning      
against unclean conditions1 and his odor
 and his bite are  his notes of warning4

 ,instead of filling one's self with a  
feeling  of repulsion or anger or any   
other emotion that affects the free     
circulation of the blood1 and relaxes   
and disorders the tissues of the  body1 
at sight or mention of a bedbug1 the    
discovery should elicit  the expression1
 ,thank you for the information4 ,if it 
should happen  in one's own house1 no   
hidden crack nor corner should escape an
  overhauling to get rid of the cause of
 the bedbug's warning2 or1 if it  should
 happen in a hotel1 there should be a   
change of hotel4    ,mention is made of 
mosquitos and roaches and bedbugs in    
this  connection1 not for the purpose of
 degrading the feeling of love by       
applying it to things that are          
disagreeable1 no matter what their      
mission of usefulness1 but to put stress
 upon the fact that one cannot  afford  
to hate anything4 ,it is especially     
useful1 in seeking to change  the       
point-of-view1 to consider the greatest 
of causes of repulsion in  order to more

 easily reach the lesser causes1 for the
 lesser fade of  themselves by the      
removal of the greater4    ,if you can  
learn not to hate a bedbug1 to thank a  
roach for informing  you of unclean     
conditions and to endure mosquitos1 you 
are pretty sure  to modify all          
prejudices by thus doing4               
,,last ,,sometimes ,,first4      ,it is 
my own habit to read the last chapter of
 a book first and if the  summary of its
 contentions and deductions1 which are  
sure to be found  in the closing        
chapter1 interest me1 ,i go carefully   
through the book  with the author to    
learn how he has reached his            
conclusions4 ,i find1  upon enquiry1    
that many others do the same4 ,this is  
made necessary  because of the vast     
number of books that are published and  
the  impossibility of learning by other 
than the easiest means more than a      
small proportion of the ideas that are  
given out each year4 ,there are         
published1 yearly1 in ,english1 twenty  

to thirty thousand volumes of new       
matter1 or new arrangements or new      
editions of old matter1 so that to  read
 carefully only a catalogue of them     
would be a considerable task  for the   
ordinary reader4    ,this being the     
closing chapter of my book1 and being   
especially  possessed of my subject and 
desirous of being understood1 ,i may be 
pardoned for offering a brief syllabus  
of my effort as a benediction4    ,i    
have endeavored to show that fearthought
 is the arch-enemy of  civilized man4   
,through the fears of his progenitors1  
it is the cause  of the weaknesses he   
inherits2 and through his own           
permission1 it is  also the cause of his
 personally acquired ill health1 ill    
success1  discontent and unhappiness4   
,fearthought1 however1 can be eradicated
  from the habit-of-thought of even the 
most timid persons1 who are  cursed by  
the hereditary affliction of fear1 or by
 their own weak  habit-of-thought1 by   
persistent counter-suggestion1 as soon  

as they are  convinced of the           
possibility of freedom1 and have        
thereby1 learned the  profitable        
point-of-view regarding it4 ,i have     
shown that forethought  becomes         
strong-thought as soon as fearthought1  
or weak-thought1 is  separated from it2 
that the condition of harmony which is  
created by  the eradication of          
fearthought1 is the normal condition in 
civilized  nature2 that growth is       
immediate and strong within the harmonic
  atmosphere thus created2 that         
happiness is the certain result2 and    
that fearthought and its various        
expressions are the basic deterrents  to
 growth and happiness in man4 ,that     
,god1 in the process of ,evolution1  has
 developed ,man to the point where he   
executes the ,higher ,law of  ,harmony  
through the exercise of ,divine         
,selection in modifying the brute  law  
of the survival of the fittest 7or1     
strongest71 and thereby  proves the     
superiority of mind over matter4 ,that  

,god has created a  partnership between 
,growth and ,man1 which is properly     
distinguished  as the ,man-,nature      
partnership4 ,that the functions of the 
partners are  clearly defined by rigid  
limitations2 ,nature doing all the      
growing  without harmonizing or         
cultivating anything2 while ,man        
performs all of  the harmonizing or     
cultivating1 but none of the growing4   
,that ,man's  only method of harmonizing
 or cultivating is through learning and 
removing the deterrents to growth4 ,that
 in watering plants1 ,man removes  the  
deterrent1 drouth4 ,that in building    
hot-houses1 ,man removes the  deterrent1
 cold4 ,that in oiling machinery1 ,man  
removes the deterrent1  friction4 ,that 
in refusing to be the bondman of        
fearthought and anger  and worry1 ,man  
escapes the only deterrents within      
himself1 to harmony1  health1 growth and
 happiness4 ,and1 that in cultivating   
,appreciation all  of the possibilities 
of ,happiness are opened to him4    ,i  

have tried to show that one of the great
 deterrents to growth and  the          
acquisition of happiness is nursed by   
focussing the point-of-view  on worn-out
 traditions1 instead of on the present  
accomplishments and  acceleration of    
progress in which all of the elements of
 happiness  rest4 ,that while happiness 
is possible to all under present        
conditions1  indications point to the   
possibility1 within the assured         
possession  of surplus wealth-of-means1 
that ,altruism may soon have an inning1 
during which conditions will be so      
rearranged that dire poverty and        
unhappiness will be impossible to any   
but the perverse4 ,that normal1         
civilized human nature is good nature1  
and that if conditions are              
intelligently arranged most men will    
eagerly mold themselves into  good men  
to fit the conditions4 ,that the        
,material ,age has become so  rich that 
it can now afford leisure to give       
attention to the ,higher  ,self1 and in 

so doing will soon refuse to permit any 
one born under  the prejudices and the  
protection of the ,nation--the social   
family--to  be ignorant nor idle nor    
poor2 that the era of the three great   
,a's--,appreciation1 ,attraction and    
,altruism--is upon us1 and that it  will
 inaugurate the ,age of the ,higher     
,self1 wherein ,man will realize  that  
he is not simply the highest among      
animals1 but is endowed with  divine    
possibilities1 and cannot longer be     
respectable with only animal            
characteristics4 ,that the resetting of 
the gauge of respectability  rendered   
necessary by the ,awakening1 and the new
 conditions that  must grow out of it1  
will be above the toleration of anything
 that  is unaltruistic1 as surely as the
 gauge of the present is above the      
toleration of petty thieving and        
convicted perjury4    ,there is not only
 hope1 but there is assurance1 of       
harmonic  conditions in the signs of the
 times and in the constantly increasing 

acceleration of progress4          ,a   
,,beginning ,,and ,,not ,,an ,,end4     
,it is argued that the ,stoics and other
 philosophers of ancient ,greece        
attained the perfection of self-control1
 and successfully suppressed1  and even 
eliminated1 all of the passions and     
desires which so commonly  dominate man1
 and attained thereby a state of        
happiness that is quite  unknown in the 
present times of ostentation and        
ambition2 but that the  result was a    
state of lethargic indifference1 that   
became more fatal to  growth and        
progress in the end than any known      
condition of tumult and  competition in 
the history of the race4    ,this is    
undoubtedly a just arraignment of the   
result of the ,grecian  philosophical   
teachings but1 at the same time1 the    
reason for so  unhappy a result is not  
difficult to find4    ,the ,greeks      
cultivated self-control and the harmonic
 conditions growing  out of it as an    
end1 and not as a preparatory means to  

growth4 ,they  prepared a weedless and  
wormless soil within the mind1 but in it
  planted poppies1 breathed of their    
poisonous perfume1 and slept the  sleep 
of indifference1 which leads to the     
sleep called death4    ,since the time  
of the ,stoics1 the world has been told 
by the ,god-,man  ,jesus of ,nazareth1  
that living means growing1 that true    
happiness  is gained only through works 
in the service of something1 that the   
necessary attribute of perfect manhood  
is spontaneous altruism1 and  that there
 is no other road towards growth1       
refinement1 spirituality  and happiness 
than along the way made easy by         
consistent altruism4    ,during the time
 that has passed since the power and    
glory of ,hellas  began to wane1 mankind
 has had experience with the forces of  
nature  and the efficacy of machinery to
 teach the great universal law of       
compensation1 which is also the law of  
happiness4 ,this great law  prescribes  
that there shall be no balance without  

support or motion1  no poise without    
alertness1 no life without growth1 and  
no happiness  without service4          
,learning a wise lesson from the law of 
compensation1 man has come  to          
appreciate the value of a wormless and  
weedless soil1 but he has  learned to   
plant in it trees that bear altruistic  
fruit1 instead of the  poppy of sloth   
and indifference1 which is now classed  
as a poisonous  weed2 he has learned to 
clean and polish the journals of his    
engines  and has invented balance wheels
 to regulate1 and ball bearings to      
accelerate1 their power2 but not for the
 purpose of idleness4    ,the decadence 
of ,greek manhood was not the result of 
culture1 but  the result of the uses to 
which it was put1 and hence we should   
not  condemn culture1 nor cultivate     
friction1 as an antidote for decadence1 
because ,greek civilization did not     
defend itself against assault  and      
decay1 but1 rather1 let us emulate the  
good they achieved1 and  cultivate the  

power they attained1 and use them as a  
beginning and not  as an end4           
,,appendices4          ,,appendix ,a4   
,,the ,,influence ,,of ,,fear ,,in      
,,disease4    ,,by ,,dr4 ,,wm4 ,h4      
,,holcomb4      ,our sanitarians are    
doing a good work in exploring the      
physical causes  of disease1 and        
endeavoring to protect the individual   
and the public  health4 ,but there is a 
higher and larger sphere of causes which
 they  have seldom penetrated1 and of   
whose existence even many of them seem  
to be ignorant4 ,i allude to the        
extraordinary influence of affection    
and thought1 or of emotion and ideas1 in
 the causation and prevention  of       
disease4    ,the body is a mirror1 in   
which all the states of the soul are    
reflected4 ,we are familiar with the    
wonderful effects of the will1  the     
passions1 the emotions1 of the          
imagination1 sympathy1 hope1 fear1      
faith1 and confident expectation upon   
the physical system4 ,we are  accustomed

 to regard the phenomena as             
illustrations of the fact that  the soul
 can1 under certain circumstances1 act  
powerfully upon the  body1 with the     
tacit assumption1 however1 as a general 
rule1 that the  body executes all the   
functions by chemical or mechanical law1
 without  the necessary intervention of 
any mental influences whatever4 ,this is
  the great illusion of the materialist4
    ,imagination1 intellect1 will1      
emotion1 faith1 hope1 expectation1      
etc41 are only states or modes of the   
soul's own life1 and they are  in       
perpetual activity1 whether we are      
conscious of it or not4 ,the  operations
 of the soul of which we are not        
conscious1 are almost  infinite in      
comparison with the very small portion  
of them which comes  at any moment      
within the range of our external        
consciousness4 ,the soul  organizes its 
own body in the womb of the mother1     
holds all its parts  together in due    
order and functional activity during    

life1 and when he  quits it at death1   
its material tenement falls into        
dissolution4    ,the mind of man is     
constantly at work1 silently pervading  
every tissue  of his body by its vital  
influence1 repeating itself in every    
function1  throbbing in the heart1      
breathing in the lungs1 reflecting      
itself in  the blood1 weaving its own   
form into every act of nutrition1       
realizing  its own life in every        
sensation1 and working its own will in  
every  motion4 ,the power of the mind   
over the body indeed6 ,there is no power
  in the body1 but in the mind1 for the 
body is the mind1 translated into  flesh
 and blood4    ,when a limb is          
broken--the bones shattered1 the flesh  
torn1 the  blood-vessels severed1 the   
nerves lacerated1 what can the surgeon  
or  doctor do to repair the injury8 ,a  
little outside mechanical work4 ,he     
ligates1 he stitches1 he plasters1 he   
fixes the parts in apparatus so  they   
will remain motionless in the natural   

position4 ,he can do no more4  ,the soul
 which creates the body and keeps it in 
health1 repairs it when  injured4 ,by   
her own occult forces she regulates the 
movement of the  blood and development  
of nerve power1 the chemical            
decomposition and  re-combination1 going
 on in every tissue1 according to ideas 
and models  implanted upon her by the   
,divine ,mind1 the ,over-,soul of the   
universe4    ,the old writers call this 
wonderful power the vis medicatrix      
naturi1  the curative power of nature4  
,swedenborg1 for whom nature has no     
powers  underived from spiritual        
sources1 teaches that this vital power  
is  the soul itself4 ,his view that the 
soul itself acts unconsciously to  our  
perceptions in the development and      
conservation of the body is  advocated  
by ,morell in his ,elements of          
,psychology1 and is highly  spoken of by
 ,professor ,william ,b4 ,carpenter4    
,when we have constructed a true        
psychological pathology1 we shall       

understand clearly why and how it is    
that fear can turn the hair gray  in a  
single night2 that a mother's milk can  
be poisoned by a moment of  terror2 that
 the heart may be paralyzed by a sudden 
joy or sorrow2 that  dyspepsia1         
paralysis1 and many other diseases are  
produced by mental  worry and fret and  
the brain-fag of overwork and anxiety4  
,yea1 we will  understand that away back
 of all physical causation1 the roots of
 our  disease originate in the spiritual
 conditions of the race1 in our false   
religions1 our false philosophies1 our  
false way of thinking1 our false        
relations to ,god and each other4       
,the most extensive of all the morbid   
mental conditions which reflect         
themselves so disastrously on the human 
system1 is the state of fear4  ,it has  
many degrees or gradations1 from the    
state of extreme alarm1  fright1 or     
terror1 down to the slightest shade of  
apprehension  of impending evil4 ,but   
all along the line it is the same       

thing--a  paralyzing impression upon the
 centers of life which can produce1     
through the agency of the nervous       
system1 a vast variety of morbid        
symptoms in every tissue of the body4   
,we have very seldom reflected upon the 
fact that fear runs like a  baleful     
thread through the whole web of our life
 from beginning to end4  ,we are born   
into the atmosphere of fear and dread1  
and the mother who  bore us had lived in
 the same atmosphere for weeks and      
months before  we were born4 ,we are    
surrounded in infancy and childhood by  
clouds of  fear and apprehension on the 
part of our parents1 nurses1 and        
friends4  ,as we advance in life we     
become1 instinctively or by experience1 
afraid  of almost everything4 ,we are   
afraid of our parents1 afraid of our    
teachers1 afraid of our playmates1      
afraid of ghosts1 afraid of rules  and  
regulations and punishments1 afraid of  
the doctor1 the dentist1  the surgeon4  
,our adult life is a state of chronic   

anxiety1 which is  fear in a milder     
form4 ,we are afraid of failure in      
business1 afraid of  disappointments and
 mistakes1 afraid of enemies1 open or   
concealed2  afraid of poverty1 afraid of
 public opinion1 afraid of accidents1 of
  sickness1 of death1 and unhappiness   
after death4 ,man is like a haunted     
animal from the cradle to the grave1 the
 victim of real or imaginary  fears1 not
 only his own1 but those reflected upon 
him from the  superstitions1            
self-deceptions1 sensory illusions1     
false beliefs and  concrete errors of   
the whole human race1 past and present4 
,if fear produces disease1 acute or     
chronic1 suddenly or gradually1  through
 the correlations existing between the  
spirit and the body1 how  can there be a
 genuinely and perfectly healthy man or 
woman in the  world8 ,there is none4    
,that fear does produce all kinds of    
disease1 has been frequently  observed  
and fully substantiated by the medical  
profession4 ,dr4 ,tuke1  in his         

admirable book1 ,influence of the ,mind 
upon the ,body1 cites  well             
authenticated instances of the following
 diseases as having been  produced by   
fear or fright3 ,insanity1 idiocy1      
paralysis of various  muscles and       
organs1 profuse perspirations1          
cholerina1 jaundice1 turning  of the    
hair gray in a short time1 baldness1    
sudden decay of the teeth1  nervous     
shock followed by fatal anmia1 uterine  
troubles1 malformation  of embryo       
through the mother1 and even skin       
disease--erysipelas1  eczema1 and       
impetigo4    ,we observe in this list   
that fear not only affects the mind and 
the nervous and muscular tissues1 but   
the molecular chemical  transformations 
of the organic network1 even to the     
skin1 the hair1 and  the teeth4 ,this   
might be expected of a passion which    
disturbs the whole  mind1 which is      
represented or externalized in the whole
 body4    ,dr4 ,tuke reiterates the fact
 which has been so frequently observed1 

that epidemics owe a great deal of their
 rapid extension and violence  to the   
panic of fear which exists among the    
people4 ,when yellow fever1  cholera1   
smallpox1 diphtheria1 and other         
malignant diseases obtain a  footing in 
a community1 hundreds and thousands of  
people fall victims  to their own mental
 conditions1 which invite the attack and
 insure its  fatality4 ,when the disease
 was new and strange1 as the yellow     
fever was  to the interior in its       
visitation in #ahgh1 when the doctors   
were not  familiar with it1 the nurses  
not trained to it1 the people1 having no
  confidence in its management1 lost    
hope1 their fears became excessive1  and
 consequent mortality was frightful4    
,how does fear operate upon the body to 
produce sickness8 ,by paralyzing  the   
nerve centres1 especially those of the  
vasomotor nerves1 thus  producing not   
only muscular relaxation1 but capillary 
congestions of  all kinds4 ,this        
condition of the system invites attack1 

and there is no  resilience1 or power of
 resistance4 ,the gates of the citadel  
have been  opened from within1 and the  
enemy may enter at any point4    ,what  
determines the specific nature of the   
disease which attacks a  person thus    
prostrated by fear8 ,men are frequently 
prostrated by fear  in storms or fire or
 earthquakes or accidents1 and no       
disease results4  ,it is because they   
have been not thinking and brooding over
 any special  morbid conditions4 ,but in
 an epidemic1 say of yellow fever1 the  
subjects connected with the disease are 
strongly pictured on the mind4  ,they   
are talked of1 read about1 discussed and
 written about1 until the  mind is full 
of images of fever1 delirium1 black     
vomit1 jaundice1  death1 funerals1 etc4 
,when such is the case1 no microbes or  
bacteria  are needed to produce an      
outburst of yellow fever4 ,the whole    
mass of  horrors already stamped upon   
the mind is simply reflected and        
repeated  in the body4    ,as a man     

thinketh1 so is he1 said ,solomon4      
,thoughts become things1  apprehensions 
take form and substance1 and lo6 the    
disease4 ,in the  height of his         
happiness and prosperity1 ,job permitted
 himself to brood  in silent fear over  
the possibility of losses and           
misfortunes1 and he  had at last to     
exclaim1 ,the thing which ,i greatly    
feared has come upon  me4    ,sudden and
 great fears are not frequent4 ,the     
fears of every day1 the  constant       
apprehensions and anxieties of life1    
which are really fears  of impending    
evil1 prey upon our vitality and lessen 
our power of  resisting1 so that any    
passing disease may be photographed on  
our minds  and seen upon our bodies4    
,fear is itself a contagious disease1   
and is sometimes reflected from  one to 
another mind with great rapidity4 ,it   
needs no speech or sign  to propagate   
it1 for by psychological laws we are    
just beginning to  comprehend1 it passes
 from one to another1 from the healthy  

to the  sick1 from the doctor or the    
nurse to the patient1 from the mother to
  the child4 ,thus malignant influences 
may be cast around us by even our  best 
friends and would-be helpers1 under     
whose baleful shadow1 without  our even 
knowing of its existence1 we and our    
children may sicken and  die4    ,the   
summer of #ahhh was signalized by a     
moderately severe epidemic of  yellow   
fever at ,jacksonville1 ,florida1 and a 
very extensive epidemic of  fear        
throughout the ,southern states4 ,the   
latter disease was much more  contagious
 than the former1 and much less amenable
 to treatment4 ,this  mental malady     
visited every little town1 village1 and 
railway station1  and kept the people in
 a chill of trepidation for many weeks4 
,this  causeless and senseless terror   
originated many precipitate and unjust  
measures of self-defense4 ,under its    
influence public and private rights     
were disrespected1 and the panic greatly
 intensified4 ,in a few cases  the      

refugee was driven from the door1 the   
hungry left unfed1 the sick  unattended4
 ,there was exhibited on a small scale1 
here and there1 that  same principle of 
terror which is manifested in a burning 
theatre1 on  a sinking ship1 or in a    
stampeded army1 when brave men suddenly 
become  cowards1 and wise men fools1 and
 merciful men brutes4    ,truly1        
something ought to be done for the moral
 treatment of yellow  fever4    ,i will 
relate an anecdote of ,dr4 ,samuel      
,cartwright1 of ,natchez1  ,mississippi1
 which furnishes an ideal type for the  
mental treatment of  yellow fever4      
,it was away back in the thirties1 and  
yellow fever was prevailing  in ,new    
,orleans1 and the places above it were  
in a state of watchful  fear4 ,a young  
,northern teacher1 trying to return     
home1 started from  ,woodville1         
,mississippi1 and arrived at ,natchez   
about midnight in a high  fever4 ,dr4   
,cartwright was immediately called in4  
,early in the morning  he summoned the  

officers of the hotel and all the       
regular boarders into  the parlor and   
made them a little speech4 ,this young  
lady1 he said1  has yellow fever4 ,it is
 not contagious4 ,none of you will take 
it from  her2 and if you will follow my 
advice you will save this town from  a  
panic1 and a panic is the hotbed of an  
epidemic4 ,say nothing about  this case4
 ,ignore it absolutely4 ,let the ladies 
of the house help nurse  her1 and take  
flowers and delicacies to her1 and act  
altogether as if  it were some every-day
 affair1 unattended by danger4 ,it will 
save her  life1 and perhaps in the long 
run many others4    ,it was agreed to by
 all but one person--a woman1 who       
proceeded to  quarantine herself in the 
most remote room of the establishment4  
,the  young teacher got well1 and no one
 was sick in the house but the          
self-quarantined woman1 who took yellow 
fever from fear1 but happily  recovered4
    ,by his great reputation and his    
strong magnetic power1 ,dr4 ,cartwright 

dissipated the fears of those around    
him1 and prevented an epidemic4  ,for   
this grand appreciation and successful  
application of a  principle--the power  
of mind and thought over physical       
conditions1 a  power just dawning on the
 perception of the race--he deserves a  
nobler  monument than any we have       
accorded to heroes and statesmen4       
,the sanitarians of the present day     
would think on the contrary that  ,dr4  
,cartwright was worthy of condemnation  
and imprisonment4 ,dr4  ,cartwright1    
however1 honestly believed that yellow  
fever was not a  contagious disease4 ,at
 that time the non-contagionists were   
numerous1  learned1 experienced1 and    
respectable4 ,the contagionists1        
however1  finally carried the day in the
 face of innumerable evidences of       
non-contagion1 which1 strangely enough1 
have now about ceased to exist4         
,whether they transformed a             
non-contagious into a contagious disease
 by  repeated and violent asseverations1

 which played upon and hypnotized  the  
professional and public mind1 is a      
subtle point for psychological          
investigation1 not likely to be made by 
the present generation of  doctors4     
,can a non-contagious disease become    
contagious by mental action8  ,the power
 of fear to modify the currents of the  
blood and all the  secretions1 to whiten
 the hair1 to paralyze the nervous      
system1 and  even to produce death is   
well known4 ,its power to impress       
organic  changes upon the child in the  
womb through the mother's mind is well  
established4 ,when yellow fever is      
reported about and believed to be       
imminent and contagious1 fear1 combined 
with a vivid imagination of  the horrors
 and woes of the pest1 can precipitate  
sickness which will  take on the form   
and color present to the thought1 and   
yellow fever may  spread rapidly from   
person to person1 all through the medium
 of the  mind4 ,everything1 said a great
 philosopher1 was at first a thought4   

,we see a non-contagious disease in the 
very process of transformation  into a  
contagious one in the case of pulmonary 
consumption4 ,it was  observed          
occasionally that one of the married    
partners who had nursed  the other      
through the disease fell a victim after 
a while to the same  malady4 ,doctors   
and people began to suggest contagion4  
,the cases of  one attack following the 
other were noticed more and more1 and   
were  reported in the medical journals4 
,it was spoken of1 thought of1 brooded  
over4 ,the confirmatory cases were all  
carefully noted2 the failures to  infect
 were all ignored1 as they always are by
 people who are looking  for contagion4 
,the germ theory has given a great      
impetus to the idea of  contagion4 ,dr4 
,loomis actually classifies tuberculosis
 among miasmatic  contagious diseases4  
,fear will do the rest4 ,in another     
generation the  occasional fact will be 
a common fact1 and in still another1 a  
fixed  fact2 and the contagiousness of  

consumption will be enrolled among the  
concrete errors of the profession4 ,such
 has probably been the genesis  of all  
contagious diseases in the remote past4 
,fear being recognized as a powerful    
cause of disease1 and a direct  and     
great obstacle to recovery1 a wise      
sanitation will exert itself  to prevent
 or antidote its influences4 ,to        
eradicate fear is to avert  disease1 to 
shorten its duration1 diminish its      
virulence1 and promote  recovery4 ,how  
shall we accomplish it8 ,by educating   
the people up to a  higher standard of  
life4 ,by teaching them a sounder       
hygiene1 a wiser  philosophy1 a more    
cheerful theology4 ,by erasing a        
thousand errors1  delusions1 and        
superstitions from their minds1 and     
giving instead the  light1 the beauty1  
and the loveliness of truth4 ,there is a
 mental and  moral sanitation ahead of  
us1 which is far more valuable and      
desirable  than all our quarantines1    
inventions1 experimentations1 and       

microscopic  search for physical causes4
    ,i will draw the picture of a sick  
room in charge of physicians and  nurse1
 by whom this enlighted sanitation has  
been ignored or unheeded4  ,it is a     
chamber of fear1 soon1 in all           
probability1 to be the chamber  of      
death4 ,the room is darkened1 for they  
are afraid of the light1 that  emblem of
 ,god's wisdom which should shine into  
all rooms1 except when  it is           
disagreeable to the patient4 ,the       
ventilation is insufficient1 for        
draughts1 you must know1 are very       
dangerous4 ,the friends have doleful    
faces1 moist eyes1 sad voices1 which    
reveal danger and doubt1 and they       
converse in subdued whispers1 which     
alarm and annoy the patient4 ,the  nurse
 and the doctor sometimes talk of their 
cases before the sick  man1 tell how    
very ill they were1 how they suffered1  
how they got well  miraculously1 or how 
they died4 ,the sympathetic visitor     
regales his  hearers1 the patient       

included1 with his or her knowledge of  
similar  cases1 and their results1 the  
great amount of sickness prevailing1 and
  the success or ill success of this or 
that doctor4    ,they all agree that it 
is dangerous to change the patient's    
linen1  dangerous to sponge the body1   
dangerous to give him cold water2 milk  
is feverish1 meat is too strong4 ,a     
shadow of fear seems to hang over       
everybody4 ,the pulse is counted1 the   
temperature is taken4 ,nurse or  nearest
 friend wants to know aloud the report  
of the watch and the  thermometer4 ,the 
doctor answers aloud1 and all look      
grave4 ,and so  it goes on day after    
day1 thoughts and images of pain and    
sickness  and danger and death being    
impressed and reflected upon the mind   
of the patient1 and the great1 sound1   
glorious spirit within finds  it        
impossible to break through this dense  
atmosphere of material  superstitions1  
fear1 ignorance1 and folly1 and restore 
its own body to  health and happiness4  

,the true sanitarian will remember in   
his treatment the tremendous  power of  
words and ideas upon the sick4 ,he will 
never indicate by his  language1 his    
looks1 or his conduct that he thinks the
 patient is very  ill4 ,he will cleanse 
his own mind of morbid fears and        
apprehensions1  and reflect the         
stimulating light of hope on all around 
him4 ,the  suppression of anxiety1 and  
even sometimes of sympathy1 is          
necessary4  ,his sickness should not be 
discussed before the patient1 or any    
other  case of sickness alluded to4 ,the
 doctor's opinion of the case should    
never be asked1 and never given within  
the patient's hearing4 ,erase1  as far  
as possible1 all thoughts of disease1   
danger1 or death4 ,the  sick-room should
 not be darkened and made silent4 ,it   
should be made  cheerful and natural1 as
 if no sickness existed4 ,it should have
 fresh  air1 and cool water1 and the    
fragrance of flowers1 instead of the    
odor  of drugs4 ,hope1 and not fear1    

should be the presiding genius of the   
place4    ,the mind-curers and the      
,christian ,scientists say that almost  
all acute  diseases can be cured without
 medicine by the simple dissipation of  
fear from the mind of the patient1 of   
his friends1 and of his doctor4         
,whether this be true or not1 it is very
 certain that when an epidemic  is      
threatened or prevailing1 the people who
 are constantly talking  about and      
discussing the disease1 the newspapers  
which daily report its  progress and    
fatality1 and the doctors and nurses who
 ventilate their  experiences1 who      
predict evil1 speak ominously and enjoin
 all sorts of  precautions1 are         
themselves fomenters and carriers of the
 disease1  infectious centers to the    
whole community4    ,education can do   
much1 but it is useless to expect the   
total  eradication of fear without the  
aid and guidance of the religious       
principle4 ,fear is the cry of the      
wounded selfhood for something he  has  

suffered or lost1 or is about to lose4  
,perfect love casteth out  fear--the    
perfect love of ,god and the neighbor4  
,he who is in bondage  to the senses has
 everything to dread4 ,he alone is free 
from all  apprehensions whose heart and 
mind are stayed upon the living ,god4   
,he  truly sits under his own vine and  
fig-tree1 with none to make him  afraid4
          ,,appendix ,b4    ,,mr4       
,,kennan',s ,,apprenticeship ,,in       
,,courage4      ,mr4 ,george ,kennan's  
great work in ,russian exploration and  
in the  investigation of ,russian       
institutions has been due to certain    
qualities  of character which impress   
every one who knows him well4 ,of these 
qualities1 bravery and strength of will 
are not the least conspicuous4  ,in his 
conversations with me1 he has often     
spoken of certain things in  connection 
with his own development and training1  
which are of much  interest4 ,once when 
,i spoke to him of his bravery and      
coolness under  danger1 he said3--      

,many things which have been significant
 and controlling in what ,i may  call my
 psychological life are wholly unknown  
to my friends1 and yet  they might be   
made public1 if you wish4 ,for instance1
 as ,i look back  to my boyhood1 the    
cause of the only unhappiness that      
boyhood had for  me was a secret but a  
deeply rooted suspicion that ,i was     
physically  a coward4 ,this gave me     
intense suffering4 ,i do not know       
precisely at  what time ,i first became 
conscious of it1 but when ,i peered1 one
 day1  through the window of a surgeon's
 office to see an amputation ,i had     
proof of my fear4 ,one of my playmates  
had caught his hand between two         
cog-wheels in a mill1 and his arm had   
been badly crushed4 ,when he  was taken 
to the surgeon's office1 ,i followed to 
see what was going  to be done with him4
 ,while ,i was watching the amputation1 
with my  face pressed to the glass of   
the window1 the surgeon accidentally let
  slip from his forceps the end of one  

of the severed arteries1 and  a jet of  
blood spurted against the inside of the 
window-pane4 ,the  result upon me was a 
sensation that ,i had never had before  
in all my  life1--a sensation of nausea1
 faintness1 and overwhelming fear4 ,i   
was  twenty-four hours in recovering    
from the shock1 and from that time ,i   
began to think about the nature of my   
emotions and the unsuspected  weakness  
of my character4    ,i had a nervous1   
imaginative temperament1 and not long   
after this  incident ,i began to be     
tortured by a vague suspicion that ,i   
was  lacking in what we now call        
'nerve1' that ,i was afraid of things   
that  involved suffering or peril4 ,i   
brooded over this suggestion of physical
  cowardice until ,i became almost      
convinced of its reality1 and at last   
,i came to be afraid of things that ,i  
had never before thought about4  ,in    
less than a year ,i had lost much of my 
self-respect1 and was as  miserable as a
 boy could be4 ,it all seems now very   

absurd and childish1  but at that time1 
with my boyish visions of travel and    
exploration1 it  was a spiritual        
tragedy4 ',of what use is it to think of
 exploration and  wild life in wild     
countries1' ,i used to ask myself1 'if  
the first time  my courage or fortitude 
is put to the test ,i become faint and  
sick8'    ,i began at last to experiment
 upon myself1--to do things that were   
dangerous merely to see whether ,i dared
 do them2 but the result was  only      
partially reassuring4 ,i could not get  
into much danger in a sleepy  little    
village like ,norwalk1 ,ohio1 and       
although ,i found ,i could force  myself
 to walk around the six-inch stone      
coping of a bell-tower five  stories    
from the ground 7a most perilous and    
foolhardy exploit71 and  go and sit     
alone in a graveyard in the middle of   
dark1 still nights1  ,i failed to       
recover my own respect4 ,my             
self-reproach continued for  a year or  
two1 during which ,i was as wretched as 

a boy can be who  admires courage above 
all things and has a high ideal of      
intrepid  manhood1 but who secretly     
fears that he himself is hopelessly weak
 and  nerveless4 ,there was hardly a day
 that ,i did not say to myself1 ',you'll
  never be able to do the things that   
you dream about2 you haven't any        
self-reliance or nerve4 ,even as a      
little child you were afraid of the     
dark2 you shrink now from fights and    
rows1 and you turn faint at the  mere   
sight of blood4 ,you're nothing but a   
coward4'    ,at last1 when ,i was       
seventeen or eighteen years of age1 ,i  
went  to ,cincinnati as a telegraph     
operator4 ,i had become so morbid and   
miserable by that time that ,i said one 
day1 ',i'm going to put an end  to this 
state of affairs here and now4 ,if ,i'm 
afraid of anything1 ,i'll  conquer my   
fear of it or die4 ,if ,i'm a coward ,i 
might as well be dead1  because ,i can  
never feel any self-respect or have any 
happiness in  life2 and ,i'd rather get 

killed trying to do something that ,i'm 
afraid  to do than to live in this way4'
 ,i was at that time working at night1  
and had to go home from the office      
between midnight and four o'clock  ,a4  
,m4 ,it was during the ,civil ,war1 and 
,cincinnati was a more lawless  city    
than it has ever been since4 ,street    
robberies and murders were  of daily    
occurrence1 and all of the 'night men'  
in our office carried  weapons as a     
matter of course4 ,i bought a revolver1 
and commenced a  course of experiments  
upon myself4 ,when ,i finished my night 
work at  the office1 instead of going   
directly home through well-lighted and  
police-patrolled streets1 ,i directed my
 steps to the slums and explored  the   
worst haunts of vice and crime in the   
city4 ,if there was a dark1  narrow1    
cut-throat alley down by the river that 
,i felt afraid to go  through at that   
hour of the night1 ,i clenched my teeth1
 cocked my  revolver1 and went through  
it1--sometimes twice in succession4 ,if 

,i  read in the morning papers that a   
man had been robbed or murdered on a    
certain street1 ,i went to that street  
the next night4 ,i explored the  dark   
river-banks1 hung around low            
drinking-dives and the resorts of       
thieves and other criminals1 and made it
 an invariable rule to do at  all       
hazards the thing that ,i thought ,i    
might be afraid to do4 ,of course  ,i   
had all sorts of experiences and        
adventures4 ,one night ,i saw a man     
attacked by highwaymen and knocked down 
with a slung-shot1 just across  the     
street4 ,i ran to his assistance1       
frightened away the robbers1 and  picked
 him up from the gutter in a state of   
unconsciousness4 ,another  night1 after 
two o'clock1 ,i saw a man's throat cut1 
down by the  river1--and a ghastly sight
 it was2 but1 although somewhat shaken1 
,i  did not become faint or sick4 ,every
 time ,i went through a street that  ,i 
believed to be dangerous1 or had any    
startling experience1 ,i felt an        

accession of self-respect4    ,in less  
than three months ,i had satisfied      
myself that while ,i did feel  fear1 ,i 
was not so much daunted by any          
undertaking but ,i could do it if  ,i   
willed to do it1 and then ,i began to   
feel better4    ,not long after this ,i 
went on my first expedition to ,siberia1
 and  there1 in almost daily struggles  
with difficulties1 dangers1 and         
sufferings of all sorts1 ,i finally lost
 the fear of being afraid which  had    
poisoned the happiness of my boyhood4   
,it has never troubled me1 ,i  think1   
since the fall of #ahfg1 when ,i was    
blown out to sea one cold  and          
pitch-dark night in a dismasted and     
sinking sailboat1 in a heavy1  offshore 
gale1 without a swallow of water or a   
mouthful of food4 ,i  faced then for    
about four hours what seemed to be      
certain death1 but ,i  was steady1 calm1
 and under perfect self-control4        
--,kenyon ,west4                        
,,advertisement ,,of ,,menticulture4    

,menticulture was first issued in a     
sufficiently modest way4 ,it  described 
a personal experience which has been of 
inestimable value to  the author4 ,the  
revelation to him of the possibility of 
the absolute  elimination of the seeds  
of unhappiness has changed life from a  
period of constant struggle to a period 
of security and repose1 and  has insured
 delightful realities instead of        
uncertain possibilities4  ,one hundred  
and fifty copies of the book were       
privately printed1 and  entitled ,the ,a
 ,b ,c of ,true ,living4 ,it also       
carried within its pages  the title of  
,emancipation4    ,the suggestion met   
with such hearty appreciation on the    
part of  personal friends in many       
various walks of life1 that a public    
edition  was proposed1 and the name of  
,menticulture1 a name that had to be    
coined for the purpose1 was chosen for  
it4    ,the aptness of the suggestion   
has been evidenced by the approval of   
the  brotherhood at large by            

appreciative notices in many of the     
leading  periodicals of the country1 by 
the receipt of more than a thousand     
personal letters by the author1 many of 
them attesting to greatest  benefits    
growing out of the new point of view of 
life suggested by the  book1 and by very
 large sales4    ,one                   
gentleman--altruist--whose name is ,w4  
,j4 ,van ,patten1 found the  suggestion 
contained in ,menticulture so helpful to
 himself and  friends that he purchased 
a special edition of two thousand copies
 of  the book for distribution in his   
home city of ,burlington1 ,vermont1  one
 to each household1 with the idea of    
accentuating the suggestion  by         
widespread inter-discussion4 ,the       
special ,burlington edition has  an     
inset page bearing ,mr4 ,van ,patten's  
raison d'tre for the  distribution1     
which reads as follows3      ,,personal 
,,note4    ,some time in the early part 
of the year #ahif a friend sent me a    
copy of  ,menticulture4 ,i read it with 

interest1 and became convinced that ,i  
could apply its truths to my own life   
with profit4 ,experience confirmed  my  
faith in the power of its principles to 
overcome many of the most  annoying and 
damaging ills that are common to        
humanity4    ,i procured a number of    
copies from time to time and gave to    
friends  who ,i felt would appreciate   
it4 ,the universal testimony to the good
  which the little book did1 and the new
 strength of purpose and will it  gave  
to some who were sore beset with the    
cares and worries of life1  increased my
 interest and my confidence in the      
truths set forth4    ,i formed the idea 
of making an experiment by giving the   
book a general  distribution in our     
city1 to see if it would not promote the
 general  good and happiness of people4 
,i wrote to the author1 ,mr4 ,fletcher1 
and he entered into the plan very       
cordially1 and had this special edition 
prepared for me4 ,the object  which we  
hope to gain is to turn the thoughts and

 purposes of those  whom we reach to the
 old truths taught by ,christ1 and a    
determination  to live above those evils
 which do so much to make our lives     
unhappy  for ourselves and annoying to  
those about us4    ,i would ask1        
therefore1 that you would kindly give   
the book careful and  thoughtful        
reading1 and1 when you have opportunity1
 recommend it to  your friends4         
,w4 ,j4 ,,van ,,patten4      ,,personal 
,,note4    ,mr4 ,van ,patten is a       
prominent manufacturer of ,vermont1 and 
was recently  ,mayor of ,burlington for 
two years4 ,he is also prominent in the 
,christian ,endeavorer movement1 having 
been the first president of the  ,united
 ,society1 and being at present one of  
its trustees1 as well as  the president 
of the ,congregational ,club of western 
,vermont4    ,menticulture has found    
favor among physicians1 and also with   
life-insurance companies1 obviously     
because of the live-saving quality  of  
the suggestions contained in it4        

,explanation of ,the ,a4 ,b4 ,c4 ,life  
,series    ,,the ,,essentials ,,and     
,,sequence ,,in ,,life      ,it would   
seem a considerable departure from the  
study of menticulture  as advised in the
 author's book1 ,menticulture1 to jump  
at once to an  investigation of the     
physiology and psychology of nutrition  
of the body  and then over to the       
department of infant and child care and 
education  as pursued in the crche and  
in the kindergarten2 but as a matter of 
fact1 if study of the causation of human
 disabilities and misfortunes  is       
attempted at all1 the quest leads       
naturally into all the departments  of  
human interest1 and first into these    
primary departments4    ,the object of  
this statement is to link up the        
different publications  of the writer   
into a chain of consistent suggestions  
intended to  make life a more simple and
 agreeable problem than many of us too  
indifferent or otherwise inefficient and
 bad fellow-citizens make of it4    ,it 

is not an altogether unselfish effort on
 the part of the author of  the ,a4 ,b4 
,c4 ,life ,series to publish his        
findings4 ,in the consideration  of his 
own mental and physical happiness it is 
impossible to leave out  environment1   
and all the units of humanity who       
inhabit the world are  part of his and  
of each other's environment4    ,it     
would be rank presumption for any       
person1 even though gifted with  the    
means to circulate his suggestions as   
widely as possible1 and  armed with the 
power to compel the reading of his      
publications1 to  think that any        
suggestions of his could influence any  
considerable  number of his             
fellow-citizens of the world1 or even of
 his own  immediate neighbourhood1 to   
accept or follow his advice relative to 
the  management of their lives and of   
their communal and national affairs2    
but while the general and complete good 
of humanity should be aimed  at in all  
publications1 one's immediate neighbours

 and friends come  first1 and the wave  
of influence spreads according to the   
effectiveness  of the ideas suggested in
 doing good2 that is1 in altering the   
point  of view and conduct of people so 
as to make them a better sympathetic    
environment4    ,for instance1 the      
children of your neighbours are likely  
to be the  playmates of your own        
children1 and the children of degenerate
 parents  in the slum district of your  
city will possibly be the fellow-citizen
  partners of your own family4 ,again1  
when it is known that right or  wrong   
nutrition of the body is the most       
important agent in forming  character1  
in establishing predisposition to       
temperance or intemperance  of living1  
including the desire for intoxicating   
stimulants1 it is  revealed to one that 
right nutrition of the community as a   
whole is an  important factor in his own
 environment1 as is self-care in the    
case of  his own nourishment4    ,the   
moment a student of every-day philosophy

 starts the study of  problems from the 
,a4 ,b4 ,c4 beginning of things1 and to 
shape his study  according to an ,a4 ,b4
 ,c4 sequence1 each cause of inharmony  
is at once  traced back to its first    
expression in himself and then to causes
  influenced by his environments4    ,if
 we find that the largest influences for
 good or bad originate with  the right  
or wrong instruction of children during 
the home training or  kindergarten      
period of their development1 and that a 
dollar expended  for education at that  
time is worth more for good than whole  
bancs of  courts and whole armies of    
police to correct the effect of bad     
training  and bad character later in    
life1 it is quite logical to help       
promote  the spread of the kindergarten 
or the kindergarten idea to include  all
 of the children born into the world1   
and to furnish mothers and  kindergarten
 teachers with knowledge relative to the
 right nutrition  of their wards which  
they can themselves understand and can  

teach  effectively to children4    ,if  
we also find that the influence of the  
kindergarten upon the parents  of the   
infants is more potent than any other   
which can be brought to  bear upon them1
 we see clearly that the way to secure  
the widest  reform in the most thorough 
manner is to concentrate attention upon 
the  kindergarten phase of education1   
advocate its extension to include even  
the last one of the children1 beginning 
with the most needy first1 and          
extending the care outward from the     
centre of worst neglect to finally      
reach the whole4    ,experience in child
 saving so-called1 and in child         
education on the  kindergarten          
principle1 has taught the cheapest and  
the most profitable  way to insure an   
environment of good neighbours and      
profit-earning  citizens2 and           
investigation into the problem of human 
alimentation  shows that a knowledge of 
the elements of an economic nutrition is
 the  first essential of a family or    

school training2 and also that this is  
most impressive when taught during the  
first ten years of life4    ,one cannot 
completely succeed in the study of      
menticulture from its ,a4  ,b4 ,c4      
beginning and in ,a4 ,b4 ,c4 sequence   
without appreciation of the             
interrelation of the physical and the   
mental1 the personal and the  social1 in
 attaining a complete mastery of the    
subject4    ,the author of the ,a4 ,b4  
,c4 ,life ,series has pursued his study 
of the  philosophy of life in           
experiences which have covered a great  
variety  of occupations in many         
different parts of the world and among  
peoples  of many different nations and  
races4 ,his first book1 ,menticulture1  
dealt with purging the mind and habits  
of sundry weaknesses and  deterrents    
which have possession of people in      
general in some degree4  ,he recognised 
the depressing effect of anger and worry
 and other  phases of fearthought4 ,in  
the book ,happiness1 which followed next

  in order1 fearthought was shown to be 
the unprofitable element of             
forethought4 ,the influence of          
environment on each individual was      
revealed as an important factor of      
happiness1 or the reverse1 by means  of 
an accidental encounter with a neglected
 waif in the busy streets of  ,chicago  
during a period of intense national     
excitement incident to the  war with    
,spain1 and this led to the publication 
of ,that ,last ,waif2  or1 ,social      
,quarantine4 ,during the time that this 
last book was being  written1 attention 
to the importance of right nutrition was
 invited by  personal disabilities1 and 
the experiments described in ,glutton or
  ,epicure2 or1 ,economic ,nutrition    
were begun and have continued until     
now4    ,in the study of the latter1 but
 most important factor in profitable    
living1 circumstances have greatly      
favoured the author1 as related in  his 
latest book1 ,the ,a4 ,b4-,z4 of ,our   
,own ,nutrition4    ,the almost         

phenomenal circulation of ,menticulture 
for a book of its  kind1 and a somewhat 
smaller interest in the books on        
nutrition and  the appeal for better    
care of the waifs of society1 showed    
that most  persons wished1 like the     
author1 to find a short cut to happiness
 by  means of indifference to           
environment1 both internal and external1
 while  habitually sinning against the  
physiological dietetic requirements of  
,nature4 ,in smothering worry and       
guarding against anger the psychic      
assistance of digestion was stimulated  
and some better results were  thereby   
obtained1 but not the best attainable   
results4    ,living is easy and life may
 be made constantly happy by beginning  
right2 and the right beginning is none  
other than the careful feeding  of the  
body4 ,this done there is an enormous   
reserve of energy1 a  naturally         
optimistic train of thought1 a          
charitable attitude towards  everybody1 
and a loving appreciation of everything 

that ,god has made4  ,morbidity of      
temperament will disappear from an      
organism that is  economically and      
rightly nourished1 and death will cease 
to have any  terrors for such2 and as   
fear of death is the worst depressant   
known1  many of the worries of existence
 take their everlasting flight from  the
 atmosphere of the rightly nourished4   
,the wide interest now prevalent in the 
subjects treated in ,the ,a4 ,b4 ,c4    
,life ,series is evidenced by the       
scientific1 military1 and lay activity1 
in connection with the experiments at   
the ,sheffield ,scientific ,school  of  
,yale ,university and elsewhere1 as     
related in the ,a4 ,b4-,z4 of ,our  ,own
 ,nutrition and in ,the ,new ,glutton or
 ,epicure of the series4    ,the general
 application is more fully shown1       
however1 by the  indorsement of the     
great ,battle ,creek ,sanitarium1 which 
practically  studies all phases of the  
subject1 from health conservation and   
child  saving to general missionary work

 in social reform4        ,,horace      
,,fletcher4          ,transcriber's     
,note3    ,missing punctuation has been 
inserted4    ,the oe ligature has been  
replaced by 'oe'4    ,spelling1 grammar1
 and variation in hyphenation and word  
usage  have been retained as in the     
original publication except as  follows3
        p4 #aih3      on a              
milllion-to-one chance      changed to  
on a million-to-one chance