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Health and Suggestion

Health and Suggestion:

The
Dietetics of the

Mind

BY

ERNST

von

FEUCHTERSLEBEN

(Sometime Professor of Medicine in the University of Vienna)

TRANSLATED AND EDITED BY

LUDWIG LEWISOHN,

M.A.

NEW YORK
B.

W.

HUEBSCH
IQIO

Copyright, 1910, by
B,

C\

V-

W. HUEBSCH

PRINTED IN U.

S.

A.

CI.A265712

PREFACE
The wave of human thought
cedes and advances,

advances, re-

doubtless, but rarely adventuring

rection

wholly

making some headway, upon a dinew. Hence it does not

in-

greatly surprise us to learn that the vivid

terest

taken in mental healing in America

within recent years, was shared by another

generation and in another land.

Any

ex-

haustive study of that other and foreign move-

ment would be out of place here.

o

It suffices

mark
It
is

its

existence

and

to say a

word

con-

cerning

its

chief representatives.
early, in

hard to say how

Germany,

the facts of

common

experience which seem

to point to a curative

power
any

in the

mind of
doc-

man,
trine.
less

crystallized
It
is

into

definite

worthy of

note, however, that

no

man

than Goethe dwells upon phe-

[5]

Health
nomena of
Others, at
this
all

and
kind
in

Suggestion
his

autobiography.

events,

followed in fragmen-

tary fashion in his wake, until, at the end of the eighteenth century, the well-known novelists

and

satirists

Hippel and Lichtenberg took

number of essaylike writings and insisted upon the influence of the souPs temper and development upon These varithe physical organism of man. ous currents of thought were concentrated by
a fairly definite stand in a

Huf eland
its

in

his

Makrobiotik

turn,

drew from Kant

in the

movement

which,

in

the greatest

name
by a morex-

his brief essay

on " that

faculty of man's soul through which,

mere

act of willing, a mastery over our

bid sensations

may

be gained."
is

Kant's

little

treatise

practical

and

traordinarily modern in its attitude to the phenomena of mental healing. It had, of course, in its day and country, a wide influence which grew with the fame of its author.

Thus,

in the first third

of the nineteenth cen-

[6]

Health
tury,

a n'd

Suggestion
at

we

find

mental therapeutics a recognized

the University of
that
it

subject of instruction

Vienna, and

may assume
it.

became one

through the dignity which the great name of

Kant had

lent

The
ing,

typical

German
is

classic

on mental heal-

however,

not Kant's essay but the

Didtetik
cian,

der Seele by the Austrian physi-

Ernst von Feuchtersleben, a translation

is

of which
lic.

here offered to the American pub-

To

call this little

book a

classic in its

specific field, is not, in

any degree, an exagthose ad-

geration.

It has
it is

passed through innumerarepresented in

all

ble editions;

mirable

series
is

of inexpensive books in which

Germany

so rich, (Reclam,

Meyer,
it is

Biblio-

thek der Gesamt-Litteratur) ;

gift-book to this day;
its

a favorite

vogue, in a word,
signifi-

has been wide, lasting and therefore

cant.

Without clamor or
in

insistence the es-

sential facts of psychotherapeutics

have been

present

Germany, as they are

every-

[7]

Health

and
But

Suggestion
there, as in

where and always.

America

to-day, they were thoughtfully reflected

upon
to

and

interpreted.

Nor have
touch.
lxxviii, p.

the

two movements
tells

failed

Dr. Worcester

us (Century: vol.
his

426) how, during

all

arduous prepat
to

aration for the remarkable

last

work which he

took up, he read

books pertinent

his subject in various languages " with the ex-

ception of Feuchtersleben's Diatetik der See-

some way," he continues, " this inimitable work escaped me, and I have become familiar with it only during the last
le."

" In

year.
project,

It contains the principles

of our whole

and expresses many phases of our

it."

thought better than we are able to express

enna in
806.

Ernst von Feuchtersleben was born in Vi1

He

obtained his preliminary

training at the " theresianische

Akademie,"
success as

and took

his degree

(M.D.)

at the university

of his native city in 1833.

His

a practitioner and teacher of medicine was

rapid,

and from 1840

until his

premature

[8]

Health
tics

and

Suggestion
In 1848

death in 1849 ne lectured on psychotherapeuat the university of Vienna.

he declined the portfolio of education, but

accepted

an

undersecretaryship

of

state.

The immense
tailed broke

labor which the complete reor-

ganization of the Austrian school system en-

down

his health,

and he resigned

from

office

too late to regain the vital energy

in the state's service.

which he had spent

character
is

His

said to have been one of singu-

lar beauty, his

temper of exquisite serenity

This
is

and

gentleness.

especially apparent
little,

in his poetry of

which he wrote not a

nor any that

tion

is

not marked by both distinc-

and grace.
of the

He
song,

is

the author,

for inin

stance,

universally

known

Germany
" In God's high council
'tis

decreed

That from our dearest We're parted,"

and of many
excellent

at

our need

gnomic poems one of

[9]

Health
follow here:

and

Suggestion
may

which, in a somewhat free rendering,

" All things create observe thou, a

the skies,

poem

as

The

babbling of the foolish, the silence of the

wise.

Know

that man's eye can bear not heaven's

ray undimmed and bright, That without dreams our waking hours could

reach no full delight.

Be glad of what
dost lack,

is

given, yet

know what thou

Do

each hour's nearest duty: halt not and

turn not back.

Let thought not be thy master,

hesitate,

in sloth to

A hero he who,
of
fate.

falling, fights

'mid the storms

Close not thy heart in anger, love on until

break,

it

Forget and hope and fear not: remember

and

awake!

"

[IO]

Health
A
the

and
translation
all

Suggestion
of
the

word must be
following

said of the character of

Diatetik

der Seele.

Like

but the greatest Gerfar

man
prose.
fact,

writers

Feuchtersleben was

more

felicitous in his use

of verse than in his use of

the

His prose style is, as a matter of amorphous, wordy and professorial in old-fashioned German way. But an
public

English-speaking

demands,

rightly,

clearness of outline
pression.

and

definiteness of ex-

Hence

the present version, though

to

conscientiously
sense, has

faithful

Feuchtersleben's

been almost entirely recast from

the point of view of form.

the translator has

By

this

method
his au-

hoped to gain for

thor a wider and

less hesitant appreciation.

L. L.

New

York, January, 19 10.

t]

CONTENTS
PAGE

Introduction
I.

15

The Power of the

Imagination

Spirit

21

II.

Beauty and Health

38 48

III.

IV.

The Will
Reason and Culture

66
79

V.
VI.
VII.
VIII.

Temperament and Passion

....

96
108 119 133
147

The Emotions

The Law of Contrast

Hypochondria

IX.

X.
XI.

Truth and Nature

Summary
Leaves from a Diary

155 164

INTRODUCTION
Our time is swift, stormy and frivolous. Hence to direct the attention from the discouraging
life

of the present, from the

still

more discouraging spectacle of a literature wavering amid a thousand meaningless tendencies, to the

calm regions of the inner man,

the contemplation of ourselves

this

is

to

render a genuine service to the public mind.

In such reflections
connection

we become aware with the sum of things,

of our of our

purpose and of our duty.

peace

Serenely resigning
little,

the world, which can grant us but

feel that the

we

we

had thought

lost takes

up its dwelling with us again and that a second innocence sheds its soothing light over
our being.

The game

of rimes to which

only the hand of genius can lend a pregnant

symbolism

may employ the [is]

youthful hours

Health
even of the

and
less gifted
:

Suggestion
maturer years should
concerning

be

dedicated

to

reflection

our

deepest and most sacred relations with the

universe.

In doing so

we
it is

exercise our true

business

upon earth: a business within the

all,

capacity of

since

the duty of
in a

all.

"

Our

writers," says

von Sternberg

bril-

liant essay, " write in the market-place rather

than

in the quiet study.

Hence

it is

that the

noise,

dust and coarse reality of the street

pervade their works, and that the depth and

clarity

of our older authors have almost van-

ished.

This
in

is

due to the haste by which we

are all so driven to-day.

hind

the race

Not
is

to be left be-

that

our aim.
state,

The
the

philosopher hurls his ideas at the

poet his emotions at society.

tent

Both are conto achieve a momentary but violent

effect.

Who,

in this age,

has time to grow

old and to write books that shall never

grow

old?"

To- meet such just complaints and

is

counteract such tendencies

the following pages.

the purpose of
are written in a

They

[16]

Health
spirit

and
for the

Suggestion
refreshment and
In a similar
faculties.

of repose,

collection of
spirit

my own

they must be read in order to transmit

the
reader.

their significance to

By
tetics,

means of a blending of ethics and diestrange perhaps at

first

sight, I

have

sought to exhibit

in its practical

bearing the

healing power of the spirit over the body of man. " The profession of medicine, " to quote the voice of the general public, " is violently averse to a popularization of
its arts,

to

any medical

self-study.

The

physician

apparently fears that to become aware of the

uncertainty and insufficiency of his knowledge

confidence.

and methods means, for the public, a loss of Hence it is to his advantage to In some such way the foster a delusion.'
!

public reasons,

supported, unhappily,

by

recent medical writer.

Let us grant the contention for a moment.

Suppose the delusion to be
vantage you equally?
real.
it

Does

it

advantage only us doctors, does

not ad-

If faith has cured you

[17]

Health
is it

and

Suggestion

less a

cure than one effected by iron or

Is

quinine?

not this faith a real power?

May

it

not, without quackery, serve in place

of a physical method?

This power of

self-

delusion, capable of such wonderful effects,

should one not rather desire to awaken

it

and

to possess

it

for one's

point out

how
is

can be learned
this

far that be possible,

own welfare? how

To
faith

that

is

the purpose to which

book

to contribute.

My
is

expressions
as-

are tentative.

For the larger part of the

life,

similation of any doctrine that

to be trans-

lated into the actual practice of

left I

must be
of

with the individual himself.

have sought to be,

in the best sense

the word, popular.

A genuine

appeal of this

kind does not degrade the writer to a vulgar

level;
his
it

exalts the general understanding to

own.
of

The purpose
the

my

frequent quotations of

words of eminent men is to exhibit the unanimity of sentiment which the subject of this treatise has always enjoyed among minds

[18]

Health
is

a n

Suggestion
Little that I say
it is

of experience and insight.

new

except in that

unhappily unknown

to the

many.
life as

One may

assert fearlessly that

no art becomes so rarely the business of a

human
first

the art whose practice I preach

the art of ruling oneself.

And

yet

it

is

the

and

last

of

all

the arts.

[19]

Health and Suggestion

THE POWER OF THE

SPIRIT

THE
health.
this great

expression " dietetics of the

mind

"

will be at once

understood as the

sci-

ence of the preservation of the soul's

This
all

science

is

ethics.

All

the
to

knowledge,

end

the efforts of

man combine
and

to cultivate
is

foster the

moral being which

the fine flower of life

and the purpose of

will deal here

existence.
specifically

We, however,
with that
to
it.

more

fac-

ulty of the spirit

which has power

guard

the body against the evils that assail

existence

The
ef-

of this faculty has scarcely ever

its

been called into question,

fects

remarkable

have been recounted with astonishment,

laws have been rarely investigated, nor
often been

but has

its
it

summoned

to take

its

true

[21]

Health

and

Suggestion
life.

place in the practical business of

But

every power that flows from the sources of

our

spirit's life

may

be cultivated, may, in a
art.

word, be converted into an

is

Every

art

but the result of some trained faculty of

man.
life
ics

He
life

not, then,

has made an art of life itself, why make one of health which is the
!

of
of

Such a training
soul

the

I call the dietet-

science

which

can-

not exhaust but to which I venture to contribute.

In a well digested essay Kant himself has

treated of that

power of the

spirit

by which

(through an act of pure determination) one

may become master

of one's morbid feelings.

We
The

go farther, for we desire to subdue not

if possible,

only feelings but,

soul
is

disease itself.

often helped by
is

means of the

body, and this process

versed.

capable of being re-

This

is

a point of view to which

physicians, myself included, have not always

given the attention that

it

deserves.

How

the soul, then, can guard the body

[22]

Health
against illness
I

and

Suggestion
is

that

my

subject.

Again

must caution

my

readers not to expect the

completeness of an exact science in the treat-

ment of a matter which, like nomena of life, is subtle and

fact,

all

the phe-

elusive.

In

am

quite willing to sacrifice the hol-

low

satisfaction of

having constructed a

sys-

tem, and incur for these sketches the reproach

of mere rhapsodizing.

There are
too

subjects

concerning which
really to

to

demand
little.

much

is

demand

too

Such, perhaps,

was the
ter,
its

science of

physiognomy.

Like Lavacontent with

originator,

we may be

fragments.

But

let

us guard against the er-

ror of that fabled academy of sciences which

spent

its

time in marvelling
fishes

why

a tank of

water containing

weighed no more than

with the
us seek

one that held no living thing, but dispensed,

throughout
its

lofty speculations,

use of scales.
first

In other words,

let

to establish the central fact of our doc-

trine before

we attempt

to outline processes

and methods.

[23]

Health

and

Suggestion

Speculations concerning the distinction be-

tween, nay, the very existence of, soul and

body, have always been and will always be

dear to the purely philosophical mind.

To

the sane and practical thinker they present

themselves as almost ludicrous.

the

I appeal to

undimmed,

unsophisticated
denies

feeling

of
ex-

mankind.

He who

utterly

the

istence of the soul

need not read on.

is

He,
as-

on the other hand, who

cribe the facts of
exclusively,

determined to

my

experience to the

body

may

yet follow

me and

consider

me

power over the whole it which exercises the so-called soul-functions. Wrong-headed as such an attitude would be, it would invalias discussing the

body of

that part of

date neither the facts of the case nor the conclusions

which

result.

Consider, for a moment, a subtle but none

the less exact analogy.
sleep that

In awakening from

power

in

us which should liberate

us

is

in a state

of bondage.
'

Yet

it

can free
it

itself

gradually, and through practice

can

[24]

Health
achieve this end

a n

Suggestion
effectively.

more rapidly and

Thus

in the life

of the spirit there are vary-

ing degrees of a loss of liberty in impulse and

action.

There

is

the night of the spirit and

is

here no counteraction

efficacious; there
still

is

the twilight of the spirit,

desiring
if

capable of sane

not of willing.

This stage

is

amenable to the help of

tween the two
is

my

a third stage

doctrines.

Be-

the true sick-

ness of the soul.

Here

the will has not died;

is

here, therefore, healing

possible, but not

through the mind of the patient but through

that of another.

To

offer a radical analysis

of

these

conditions

would be

inadvisable.

But even without verging on the dangerous

tain

domain of metaphysics we may master cerpreliminary and fundamental concep-

tions.

The

unsophisticated
lives

man

feels

himself to

be an entity and
scious 'reflection.
spiritual innocence

without further condestroys

this

Speculation

and a division enters

into

our

life.

The

facts discovered

by a trained

[25]

Health

and

Suggestion
from mere sense
are dealing with
this

consciousness of self establish the existence of

a principle not to be deduced

perceptions.

We

call this principle the spirit

but must not forget that

we
its

an abstraction merely.

For on

planet

we know
usage

spirit

only in

inseparable com-

bination with the

calls the

body of man.

sensible

one element of

this

combina-

tion soul, the other body.

Considering

now

that

we know

soul

and body only through

influence

a highly sophisticated analysis of an apparently

indivisible

phenomenon, the

of the former upon the latter should scarcely

stand in need of proof.

To

seek to explain

the nature of the connection of soul and body

would be highly
his

futile.

For the thinker and

entity.

thought are to himself an

The

process of thought can not become objective

to itself, even as the right

hand may grasp

thinking, fur-

the left but never

itself.

Our

thermore,

is

conditioned by space and time.

The

physician

may merely
is

observe that the

nervous system

the most immediately ob-

[26]

Health
I

and
m i ni

Suggestion
i

vious link in the

common

action of soul

body.
idle.

Any

further

speculation

and would be

ceptions

Having established our central conwe may leave these problems without
equally impossible here to examine

another word.
It
is

the genesis of sickness and cure.

necessary.
It suffices us to

Nor

is

it

remark that
two
is

all

diseases are due to one of

causes,

an

outer or an inner one.

Disease

due either
nature

to the development, under external stimulus

no doubt, of

germ inherent
its

in the

of the individual, or else the organism suc-

cumbs

to the hostile forces of

environment^
weak-

The
ness.
all

latter process,

however, also necessitates

in

an innate predisposition conditioned

To

diseases of the

first

order belong
inherited or

those

commonly known

as

constitutional.

Many
also

other

pathological
this

conditions

may

be regarded from

point of view oftener and

more

fruitfully

than has been done heretofore.

The

question

now

is:

whether such con-

[27]

Health
ditions

and
It

Suggestion

may

be mastered through the might

of the
I

spirit.

goes without saying that

do not here refer to such prophylactic

patient's

measures as physicians use either to improve

the
predispositions
influences

or

to

guard
in the

against

harmful

from

without.

Such preventive actions also originate

mind, but not
in that of the patient.

Philos-

ophers and philosophical poets are always

anxious to show us

how

a one-sided

and over-

grown
cedure

ethical

tendency

may

be repressed,

limited, or even eradicated.

similar proin

should be

practicable

our

own
its

special field.

How

does any individual's nature and

disposition

toward

health

manifest

itself

most vividly?

Clearly through that which

we

call the

temperament of a man, using the

vital

meaning of our daily speech and not in accordance with some Man is an entity comlearned analysis. posed of many elements, and the subtlest
term with the
psychologist can but consider a given tern-

[28]

Health
are
similarly

and

Suggestion
thus blending " Every human

perament as made up of such elements as

" tempered,"
into an individual life. being," says Herder, " bears in the form of
his his

body as well
soul the

as in the

endowments of
This

possibilities

of that harmony
his efforts.

which should be the goal of

is

true of all forms of

human
it

existence, of

deformity so feeble that

tain life,

can scarcely sus-

as well as of the divine form of

Greek

demi-god.

Through

lapses

and

errors,
tice,

through cultivation, want, and pracstill

each mortal
his

seeks to attain that

harmony of
which
is

powers which constitutes the

profoundest enjoyment of our being."

And

no

less,

we may

add, the very condi-

tion of health.

Man,
of nature

then, the only being in the

scheme

who
self.

can regard himself objectively,

rise to

should be able to
ception of

such a higher con-

He whom
criterion

Protagoras called

the measure of the universe should be able

to

become the

of himself.

And

[29]

Health
surely no one

and
who

Suggestion

has ever withdrawn into

himself from the confusion of the external

world

will

deny the influence of the soul from

this point of view.

He

will

admit that mas-

tery over self can be gained

and hence over

such disease as
individual.

is

rooted in the self of the

once

The fact of such a procedure established, we shall examine its methods

attribute to the soul, however, a

in future chapters.

To

power

and mastery beyond its own immediate domain will seem more marvellous and more questionable. But the world in which we live is, after all, nothing but a web spun by
our own natures.
of
strife, to

To

the

man

it

is

a scene

the child a play-ground, to the

it is

glad of heart
eye
it

serene, to the tear-stained

is

turbid.

As

it

is

perceived, so

it

works.

The images and

thoughts that have

affected the soul

most potently cause man's

happiness or misery.

And
surely

to control their
in the field

appearance and disappearance

consciousness

of

must

be

within

our

[30]

Health
power.

and

Suggestion
we
darken and to dull our
the heath

The

anxiety and acuteness that

use, so often, alas, to

vision should be used to gain for us a brightly

seeing eye.

The wild storm on

which drenches the companions of Lear to

the skin cannot touch him, for in

him the

storms of grief and indignation silence the

lashing of rain and the roll of thunder.

We

may go

a step farther than the lesson sugIt

is

gested by this illustration.

that those
in

well

known

unhappy beings whose

souls dwell

the

darkness of insanity are often free

evils that assail those liv-

from many bodily

ing about them. centrated upon
its

In this case the soul, con-

own mad

activities,

with-

draws

all attention

from the body and thus

in-

renders the latter impervious to external

fluences.

And

should not a will concentrated

upon the pursuit of sacred and reasonable

ends be able to
effect as

much

as the distorted

power of madness?

British author, discussing the influence

of fog and coal-smoke upon the health of

[3i]

Health
his

and

Suggestion

countrymen,

{Medical Reports: 1830)

" It

communicates the following conclusions of

his investigations.
is

open to question
at-

whether many of the diseases that are

tributed to the atmosphere of our city

may
For

not rather be ascribed to

just as the body,

its

manners.

amid
its
is

all

variations of tem-

perature changes

degree of inner
in the

warmth

but
a

little,

so there

nature of

man

power of

resistance which, in a state of

suffices

healthy activity, usually

to maintain

an

equilibrium

between

himself

and

the

hostile forces in his environment.

Physicians

have not a

little

to say of sick ladies

who,

too feeble to cross a room,

difficulty

dance without
in

through half a night

the

arm

of a favorite partner.

Thus

a desired stimactivity.

ulus arouses the indolent fibers to

The same

principle accounts for the fact that

the idle, the empty-minded and the fashionable suffer most acutely

from the atmosphere

transmuted

of London.

The man whose powers and

are

whose

attention

constantly

[32]

Health
into activity

and
It
is

Suggestion
state of

knows nothing of the

true
is

the barometer.

enough that the

a period of

dreary

month of November

melancholy and suicide; but the drab coloring of the sky cannot overshadow the clear
aether of a serene
logical
spirit.

Even

the patho-

excitement of mania transcends the

influence

of the atmosphere.

Not autumn
has con-

with

its

falling leaves, but the associations

self-torturer,

which man, the great

nected with
sively
its

appearance, weigh so oppres-

upon

us.

The morbid

anxieties

of

the hypochondriac, which rise and fall with

the weather, are in the end due only to an

inner activity or the lack of

his

it

which controls
generally, even

mood.

Such a patient

is

if it

be but at intervals,

weak of

character.
this vital

Let him earnestly lay hold upon

truth
will

and

strive
his

for his

own

welfare.

He

become

own

best physician."
is

What
own

practitioner

not tempted to mul-

tiply similar instances

from the

field

of his

experience?

They

are almost as fre-

1331

Health
great
cities

and
whose

Suggestion
in those

quent as any other kind, especially

darkening

atmosphere
anxieties,

seems to consist of the passions, the

and the thoughts of

figure

their

inhabitants.

A
gain

such as Goethe's Werther

may

from us the sympathy due

itance
gentle,

to misfortune

and
too

disease, but suicidal tendencies are the inher-

of

natures

too

sensitive,

souls

who

cannot hold their

of
life's

own

against

the

harshness

realities.

Stronger

minds are not unassailed, and many an active

physician has

known
to

periods during which

only the most self-sacrificing devotion to his

duties

was able

sunder the clouds that

threatened to obscure his moral and physical

well-being.

In such fateful days his activity

him even from those dangers to which itself has given rise. Thus the wounds which duty inflicts upon us always hold the balm of their own healing.
saves
It
is

instructive to

quote Goethe at this

point.

He

did not feel the impetus that

comes from the fulfillment of professional

C34]

Health
duties,

and

Suggestion

but achieved his end through the sheer " I was exertion of unnecessitated will.
once," he
tells us,

" inevitably exposed to the

infection of a malignant fever,

off

the disease only by

It is

volition.
in

and warded means of determined almost incredible how much,

It

such cases, the moral will can effect!

seems to permeate one's whole being and to

render
the

condition

of

the

body

active

enough
is

to repel all

harmful

influences.

Fear

a condition of sloth in

which any enemy

may

take

possession

of us."
life

To

instance

such facts from the

of Goethe has an

unique value.

For

in the life of that great

is

soul all that in others

mere
true.

self-delusion

was actual and objectively

From

all

these examples
is
is

we may

conclude
in-

that life itself

but that power in the

able to

dividual which

make
thus,

the external

subject to an inner law,

which can assimilate

though conits

that

which

is

alien

and

stantly dynamic,

change only

conditions

and never

its

essence.

bodily

power of

[35]

Health
this

and

Suggestion
its

kind must surely find

strongest sup-

port in the spiritual nature of man.

An

in-

ner activity
tion
is,
;

is

the condition of self-preserva-

the development of the spiritual in

man

again,

the

condition

of inner

activity.

The
is

potency of thought in any

human being
he
is,

the measure of the originality and sponta-

neity of his

own

life.
is

He

lives,

in

proportion as his soul

It
lie in
is

active.

true that a thousand varying influences

wait for the poor mortal, that the whole

is
is

world
of
is

such an influence, but the strongest

the character of man.

all

Character

man.

For

as all beings are but the symbols

of power, so

man

has nothing of his

own

but the energy through which he reveals himself.

And

if

the native energy of his soul

him impose upon himself conditions that demand its expenditure let him seek
flag, let

circumstances in which volition

able
!

is

unavoid-

It

is

an old and true observation that

the traveler and the bridegroom are generally

immune

to disease

and death.

[36]

Health

and
itself

Suggestion

" Rarely or almost never," says Bulwer, " will disease fasten

upon us in youth unless we ourselves dwell upon it and invite One sees men of the most delicate conit.
stitutions

who, amid the imperious claims of

have no time to be
let
ill.

their calling,

Let

them be
they die.
steel.

idle,

them begin
if

to brood,

and

Rust corrodes
even

only

the

unused
if activ-

And

that were not so;

ity

yet the former can

and sloth were subject to the same evils, more readily escape them
,

or at least offer a nobler consolation.'

I

But
I

must not

let

the agreement of an admirable

writer persuade

me

to promise

more than

can perform.

My

concern so far has been

merely an empirical corroboration of the fact

that the spirit has

power

to

ward

off

the in-

fluences of disease.

In the pursuit of that

end

have said too much rather than too

little.

[37 I

II

BEAUTY AND HEALTH

the INpurpose
a
first

of these fragments

it

was

my

to claim

for the spirit of

man

power of

resistance against the forces

It

of the external world.

too, to

was

my

purpose,

go farther and to proceed from the

power of resistance to one of actual influence. Thoughtful mystics have spoken of the secret power exerted by the will resigned to God
as

well as by sin upon our mother earth.

Since, in their view,

our body
is

is

the instrutrans-

ment by which the world

rule the

formed and

formed, they ventured the conclusion that to

body

is

to rule the world.

But

stopped short, fearing the reproach of infer-

By accident, however, a book has come my way in which I thought,

ences too daring.

[38]

Health
fancies that

and
any

Suggestion
reflection

least of all, to find

upon the
In
felt,

we

are here pursuing.

this

book
set

I find expressed

much

that I

but

hardly ventured to put into words.

it

Let

me

down
it

for

what

it is

worth.

" Is

so foolish to suppose that the action

spirit is a

between body and

action,
that,

complete

inter-

therefore, the permeating soul

can

affect the
its

world without us and,

itself?

in

maniwill

festing

highest energy, even

work

its

upon the earth

ences,

To

conclude rigor-

ously, to be dissatisfied with imperfect infer-

would mean the acceptance of this truth. Thus one could suggest the hypothesis that the good man cleanses the earth and air about him, but that evil thought and deed
foul
their

own

habitation.

Think of the

popular belief concerning the scenes of murder.

And

for the perception of truths deeply

rooted

in nature,

popular mythology
it

is

a val-

uable source; for

takes

its rise

in

men and
One won-

women whose

alert

senses

have not been

dulled by the exercise of reflection.

[39]

Health

and

Suggestion

whether a well-known and admirable Berlin physician who diagnoses

ders, in this connection,

dermatological cases by the mere delicacy of

the sense of smell,

could not transfer this

the physical to the

method of perception from

moral world."

This quotation the reader may interpret

for himself.
paths.
I

shall

follow more ordinary

But

let it

be remembered that

when

we have brought the incredible into the realm of probability we have done much toward
rendering the merely improbable certain.

But to proceed
chapter.

to the true business of this

" Persons of our sex," writes a clever woman,* " may retain their health by conceiving a strong disgust for disease and by

embracing the conviction that health

itself is

beautiful and worthy of love and admiration." A true conviction, surely! For the

form of man
well-being.
*

is

the expression of his inner

Rahel Varnhagen von Ense.

[40]

Health

and

Suggestion

In one of the pleasantest of the " Physiog-

nomical Fragments," Lavater seeks to prove

that there
is

a visible

and physical
the Eternal
in a fitting

harmony "between moral beauty and between moral and

This
is

physical ugliness.

as certain as that

Wisdom

has clothed each being

must, of course, con-

form.

One

ceive this beauty not as consisting in

fleeting

charm, but as the

spirit itself

some making

the flesh luminous.

Also one must discount

folly

the ravages
inevitably
all events,

which rooted

and passion
at

inflict.

The

physiognomists,
in

have succeeded

proving that the

organism possesses inherently the ideal form

of
its

own

final

development and that nature

brings this development about by a

that
is

method
purpose

at one

with the necessary procedure

of human thought. we may append as

the fact that,
if

For our

special

a corollary to this truth

the spirit possesses the

power

of working upon the form of the body, this

power may be made manifest as well in beauty as in health. Those habits of feeling and

[41]

Health
tion the

and

Suggestion

willing which produce character also condi-

movements of the voluntary muscles

of those facial

and

are, therefore, the origins

features

which decide the comeliness of any

individual.

Any

frequently

repeated
it

ex-

pression of the countenance, whether

smile, to twitch,

be to

whether

it

be derisive, sortrace

rowful or angry, leaves

delicate fabrics.

its

upon those
It leaves

Nor

is

this all.

memory

of

itself

which leads to increasing

facility

of repetition and finally affects endur-

ingly

and formatively the muscles and the

But
this

cellular tissues.
ficial

apparently superspirit is

exertion of the

power of the

not likely to remain merely superficial and to

leave no

mark upon
It
is

the solid substructure of

the body.

open to question whether the

bony cranium

to

which the muscles adhere

plastic influence

may

not

itself

feel the

of

their continued activity.

Persons of a pas-

sionate nature, at all events, have

kles in

more wrin-

age than those of a quieter temper.

The

epidermis, contracted and expanded so

[42]

Health

and

Suggestion
A
To
process, analo-

often under the stress of emotion, has retained these lasting folds.

gous to
parts

this facial one, takes place in all other

of the organism.

be free from

carking care and to breathe deeply and fully

during a long period will not be without

effect

its

upon the development of the chest and On of the important organs which it holds.
the other hand,
the languishing circulation
spirits will
insuffi-

due to a continued depression of

not
fail to

leave traces of itself in the

secretions

ciency of necessary

and the

dis-

turbance of the digestive organs.

And

in

proportion to their endurance, violence and

conformity to the original nature of the

indi-

vidual, will such processes leave their indelible impress

upon

his organic being, formally

and

functionally.

All parts of the

to

human
circle)

organism
interact

(comparable

living

upon each

other.

The

nature

ex-

pressed in a pale and wrinkled face will be

equally attested to by a low voice, a wavering
gait,

an uncertain hand, an incapacity to de-

[43]

Health
cide, a

and
all

Suggestion
the heralds of dis-

morbid

sensitiveness to changes in the

weather, in a word, by
ease.
else

Thus may
sowing.

the body be poisoned or

fruits

guarded and healed by the

Beauty, then,

of the

spirit's

is

in a certain

sense only the manifestation of health.

A
one

harmony

in the

functions will produce harIf virtue then

mony

of form.

may make

beautiful

and

vice ugly,
fruit

it

deny that the

of vice disease.

of virtue

would be rash to is health and

Nature holds a secret court whose arbitrament is gentle, long-suffering, but ineluctable.
She marks those errors that
flee

the eye of

man and

are not amenable to his law.

eternal
like
all

Her

judgments,

streams of the

primal Energy, extend from generation to

generation.

Man, brooding

in despair

over

the secret cause of his suffering, will often

find
it

in the sins

of his fathers.

That old
conse-

and
ally

tragic

saying of the

inevitable

quences of action holds good, not only mor-

and

legally, but physically.

It will

come

[44]

Health
to be

and

Suggestion
that the

more and more recognized

feebleness

and the diseases of our children

are rooted far

more deeply

in

moral than

in

physical causes.

Not

cold baths will guard

them, not bare throats, not experiments of

this sort

or that, but a culture of a quite dif-

ferent kind

a culture

in ourselves.

bear

nor

whose origin must be Physicians have often had to

always unjustly

the reproach

of a crass materialism, of regarding

man

as

a mere bundle of bones, muscles, viscera, and

skins, set in

motion by the action of the

In

air's

oxygen upon the blood.

this treatise

we

may

repel that imputation.

From our

point

of view the physician sees and proclaims healing in that quarter whence priest and moralist " assert it to arise. can fail to under-

Who

stand," wrote Schiller in his youth, " that a

constitution able to

draw pleasure from every

must
also be

event and to sink every personal sorrow in the

perfection of the universe
profitable to
this

most

bodily
is

machine?"

And

such a constitution

virtue.

[45]

Health
Morality has

and
its

Suggestion

geniuses no less than art.

Socrates,

Marcus Howard, Penn, were what they were and present the images
Aurelius,

of

lives

so exquisitely harmonious, because

kindly nature, by gifting them with organisms

of a native capacity for the highest develop-

ment, met their ethical tendencies half-way.

In

common

mortals

we can

observe, on the

other hand,

how

the agonized wrestling of

the spirit forces

from the clogging body a

All

few sparing blossoms of true freedom.

the

more

gloriously, however, will such stray

gleams of the heavenly light break through

our mortal integuments, and the saying of
Apollonius
beauty will
that

even

wrinkles

have their

fulfill itself

again and again.

For

what
the

is

beauty, after
flesh,

all,

but the spirit break-

ing through the

or health but beauty in

functioning of the

organism?

Where
its
is

the soul finds an instrument attuned to

purposes the ease with which virtue

ticed will often obscure
result
its

prac-

glory.

There the

will

seem

inevitable.

But where a

[46]

Health
single

and

Suggestion
the

harmony must be extracted from manydiscords

jarring

there

miracle

will

stand confessed.

And

as, in

some

great, sol-

emn moment,
a

its

hidden beauty will illumine

good man's

face, so

may

the sacred posses-

sion of health be often achieved

by a

single

bold and deep determination.

" Let no

one,"

exclaims the

enthusiastic

and

prophetic

physiognomist,

" aspire

to

make man
better! "

beautiful

without making him

And

let

no one, we

may add from

the innermost depth of our convictions, let no

one without making

serve his health.

man

better, seek to pre-

1 47 i

Ill

IMAGINATION

THE
man

psychologists of our day are

wont

to

reproach those of an earlier time with

having
spirit

split

up the oneness of the hu-

by the assumption of a number of

segregated higher and lower faculties, such as

reason, understanding, desire, will, imagination

and memory.

So far as these faculties

are thought of as being independent powers

working out the laws of

their individual na-

ture the critics are right in their objection.

For the

spirit

of

man

is

single,

whole and
to

indivisible,

and the only

distinction

be

made

is

one

among
activity.

the varying forms of

an identical

But these forms can

really be discriminated from each other and

the process has

its

undeniable practical value.

[48]

Health
And

and

Suggestion

such distinctions have always served the

cause of knowledge better than any indis-

criminate lumping together.

Hence we

shall

here follow the analytical methods of that

older school.

We

may

analyze ourselves (to use a geo-

metrical analogy) in the directions of as

radii as are conceivable

many

from the

centre of

our innermost being to the circumference of

infinity.

Despite that possibility, there will

all

always be three tendencies to which

imagination and feeling blend)

others

can be referred: thought, emotion (in which

and volition. These three form the whole inner being of man. Thought is the food, emotion the air,
,

volition the gymnastic of the spiritual life.

So

it

becomes our business

to discover

how

by means of each of these three forms of

activity the soul seeks to repel the invading
ills

of the body.

If
there

now among
is

these powers of the soul

in the

to be an

arrangement

order or

rank or dignity, we must assign the lowest

[49]

Health

and

Suggestion

to the imagination, a middle station to volition, the highest to

thought or the power of

at
least,
is

reasoning.

This,

the order in

which these activities develop in the course

of the individual's
life.

The boy

imagines
acts,

or dreams, the youth desires and

the

man

thinks.

And

if

it

be true that nature

proceeds from the lower to the higher, then

our scale of values stands approved.

with the imagination.

But

nature also begins the processes of spiritual

life

From

this point

of view, too,

we may
is

follow her guidance.

Imagination

the

bridge

between the
It
is

worlds of the body and the

strange,

spirit.

changeful and mysterious

to assign

faculty.
it

One hardly knows whether

to the

body or the soul; whether we rule it or are But for that very reason it is ruled by it.
eminently powerful in transmitting the energy
of the soul to the body and hence of special

import to us as a mediator.

And some
may

in-

trospection will, as a matter of fact,

strate that neither

demonbe

thought nor desire

[So]

Health

and

Suggestion

immediately embodied, but need the touch of

the imagination before they can truly appear.

Imagination

is

the mediator

among, the mov-

ing power behind, the various

spiritual organism.

members of the Without it the power of

all

representation stagnates, all concepts remain

torpid and dead, and

sensual.

emotion crass and

Hence

the

vitalizing

magic

of

dreams, the dear children of imagination,

hence the might of genius, of poetry the
art,

and of poetry the

endeavor.
Imagination,

spirit

of

all lofty

human

we may

add,

is

the least exall

plored and the least explicable of

faculties

the

of the soul.
it

As many

curious dis-

eases show,

seems to cohere with the very

seems to be not only

structure

of the body, primarily with the

It
all

brain and nerves.

the foundation of
ties

the

more

delicate facul-

of the soul, but, in truth, the connecting

link

between

soul

and

body.

Kant,

the

philosopher par excellence,

the

who was

hardly

man

to sing a

hymn

to that goddess " ever

[SO

Health
the

and

Suggestion
is

changeable and ever new," yet observes that

power of the imagination

deeper seated

than any other.

A man,

he was wont to say,

deeply penetrated by a sense of social pleasure, will

have a keener appetite than one who

has been on horseback for two hours, and

cheerful reading
nastics.
is

more healthful than gympoint of view he con-

From

this

siders

dreams

as nature's

method of

sustaining

the vitality of the soul even in sleep.

in his

And

profoundest work he asserts that the

pleasures of congenial society are due to the

increased peristaltic action of the stomach and

looks upon the resultant increase of health as

the justification of social wit and merriment.

Another thinker

fittingly

called

the
it,

imtoo,

agination the climate of the soul.

the diseases of the soul

In

(in a strict sense)

have their

For if they inhered in the soul alone, they would be errors and vices, if in the body, they would not be ailments of But in the twilight of the imaginathe soul. tion where soul and body meet, where the
seat.

5*1

&:

Health
body throws
the soul
infirmity

and
its

Suggestion
across the light of

shadow

there arises that final terror

and
the

of

man whose

destruction

is

ultimate end of spiritual healing.

tion
is

Imagina-

ever a tendency toward the unreal and

in such a

tendency there are the seeds of both

If
it

happiness and misery.

take root and

grow rank

so as to produce

waking dreams,

we

are already on the

way

to madness.

And

does
by

even " The poet's eye in a

it

fine

phrensy rolling,"

not often, as by some unholy magic,

summon
beauty?
external

the
its

demons which
up:

it

can only repel

fixing

gaze on the eternal star of

To sum
is

What

the world of

phenomena with all its potent into the outer man, the world of Hence it is clear imagination is to the inner. how the quality of its activity must be a decisive factor in questions of disease and
fluences

health.

When

I said, a

moment
it

ago, that feeling

and imagination blend,

was not said

to

[53]

Health
in truth feeling

and

Suggestion
finer distinction.

avoid the necessity of a

But

and imagination are but the

practiced in introspection will

passive

and

active sides of a single element.

is

Any one who

recognize here far more than a play on words.

We

suffer

when we

turn the sensitive surface

of our emotions toward the harsh world;

liberate ourselves

we
So

from

suffering

if

we

offer

the resistance of an active imagination.

here, as always,

man's sorrow and joy flow

from the same source. That which has power to hurt must equally have power to
heal.

How
is

destructive the imagination

may

be,
vic-

sufficiently

well-known.

The unhappy
fail

tim

of a monomania will not

finally

to create the evil he has so long feared

and
is

invited.

The

story of Boerhave's pupil

apposite.

This youth, while pursuing

his

course of medical studies,

was so profoundly

impressed by the great teacher's description

of diseases, that, in due order, the symptoms

of each declared themselves

in

him.

Having

[54]

Health

and

Suggestion

endured, in the order in which the science of each was taught, fever and inflammation and

nervous weakness, he

finally

gave up a course

of study that had brought him to the brink

of the grave.

Again:

In September, 1824,
in a

an English waiter read been bitten by a

hydrophobia.

newspaper an

ac-

count of a certain John

Drew
fell

who, having
a victim to

mad

dog,

In the very act of reading, the

unhappy fellow was overtaken by the same dread disorder and scarcely saved by the physicians at Guy's hospital. Very striking is
the frequent instance presented by those un-

happy persons who are troubled by remorse for a youth spent in debauchery and by a
fear of the lagging but as they imagine certain

consequences of their errors.

In

the
evils

truest sense

do they create the bodily

that they fear, and induce disease

and

debility

through mere worry.

Every practicing physician must have observed analogous phenomena in others and in
himself.

Many

a medical student, specializ-

tssl

Health
ing

and
diseases

Suggestion
of
the
eye,

on the

sees
his

the

mouches volantes
and
extreme
cataract.
cases,

floating before

retina

so really impairs his sight; or even, in

lives
in

constant

fear

of a

raged

in

During the frightful epidemic that Europe some years ago one often
social gathering, so

heard the members of a

soon as the conversation struck that fatal subject,

complain of and really exhibit symptoms

of the evil that terrorized their imaginations.

I

have purposely taken instances from the

facts

living

of

contemporary

life.

Much
from

that

is

more wonderful could be

But the point
I desire to

cited

books.

make must now be clear. If the imagination can make man sick, can it not make him well? If I can grow ill because I imagine myself to be
so,

must

not be able to preserve

my

health

by the aid of the same faculty?

Let us consider now such cases as answer
this

question in the affirmative.

is

do not

care to repeat here all that

said

and can

be said of the influence of confidence, music,

[561

Health
merely
intimate

and
that

Suggestion
I

sympathy, and hope upon disease.

may
heal

whatever

can

organs that have begun to disintegrate must

be
all

the

more potent

to

keep them whole.

All such methods of cure belong to the realm

of the imagination, but as time progresses,

our children will learn to attribute to the

same source many

derstood to-day.

results that are

but

ill

un-

Nor

does

that

fact

rob
For,

such methods of any dignity or value.

because the imagination has cured me,

not follow that

it

does

my

cure

is

an imaginary one.
asked

patient, to take a typical instance,

his physician to give

latter

him certain pills. The considered them useless in the specific

urged constantly,
gilded
finally

instance but, being

gave

the

sick

man

bread

pellets.

After the lapse of a few days the patient declared that the pills
sults

had not only had the

powerful emetic!
it

re-

which he had hoped for and desired but

also

had

worked

as a

Was

the result less real because

was, in a sense,

imaginary?

An

English physician desired to

[57]

Health
test the

and

Suggestion
It

value of a

new instrument of which

was
to be ef-

he entertained great hope.

fectual against a paralysis of the tongue of

long standing.
a
clinical

First,

however, he introduced
into

thermometer

the

patient's

mouth.
ter to

The

latter, believing

the thermome-

be the new instrument, at once declared

with ecstatic pleasure that the paralyzed mus-

had regained their power. Were the movements of his tongue less real because, in
cles

a sense, imaginary?

This
of these

is

not the place to consider

how many

effects are

due to hypnotic influence.

That the body can be affected by imagination and will consciously directed toward a certain
end
tion
is

one of the oldest observations of huPractices based

manity.

upon

this observa-

have been common

ages.

in the Orient for

many

The
at

Eastern peoples are unques-

tionably

more

imagination than
practical

home we of
which,

in the

world of the

the harder and

more

Western temperament.
in

Neverthelife,

less the influences

our daily

we

[58]

Health
see powerful
delicate

and
and

Suggestion
upon
all

positive natures exert

and undecided ones, are

referable

to similar causes.

Even

the reasoning of a

distinguished individuality does not

become
has

ours wholly until the individuality

itself

touched our imagination.

aff ects

The man
is

of genius

the world long before he

understood.

He touches the
them
tions.

imagination of

men and draws

into the circle of his spiritual percep-

These phenomena are symbolic of the

iest

loft-

manifestations of

human

life.

spirit-

ual atmosphere, comparable to the physical

one, surrounds the

world

surrounds

each

century and even each day.

is

This atmosphere

the combined result of the influences of

the individuals in a given epoch.
it

all

formed, however,
unit in the
tions

reacts again

Once upon each

human mass.
float
in,

Thoughts, percep-

and images

unseen about us.

We

breathe them

assimilate

them and com-

municate them again without being conscious

of any of these processes.

One

could then
i

[59]

Health
call

and
spirit

Suggestion
is

this

atmosphere the outer soul of the

world.
its

The

of an age (Zeitgeist)

historical manifestation; the curious phe-

nomenon of fashion
its

Fata Morgana within

smallest social groups

wide domain.

The

are permeated the

by

this spirit

of the world and

are

age;

our most intimate thoughts

it.

touched by

We
in his

may now

consider

how

the individual

narrower sphere of
this world-spirit.
itself

activity helps to

shape

The

hero's courage

communicates
his

potently and at once to

half-paralyzed comrades; the tremor of

is

fear

involuntarily

infectious.

hearty

laugh, the sign of an invincible cheerfulness

of heart, will change the

spirit

of a whole

company and force an answering smile to the lips of the most disgruntled. The yawn of boredom will pass from face to face and work
like the presence

of a traitor

Thus

it

has never surprised

among friends. me to hear that

honest and intelligent persons declare them-

[60]

Health
selves to

and
by

Suggestion
In
is

have really seen the ghosts which the

his questionable art.

exorcist banished

good sense
and

as well as in
it

an

evil,

faith

still

omnipotent;
still

can

still

bring miracles

to pass

move mountains.
is

Assume

that your brother

good, and he will be

good;
more.

trust the

erring and he will err no

Believe that your pupil has gifts and

he will develop them; consider him a dunce

and he
spirit

will prove
is

your assertion.

The whole

of nature

but an expression of the divine

highest law
is

and

its

this: to translate

the real into the ideal, so that the Divine

Idea

may

at last shape the

world

in its

own

image.

Volumes could be written on

this subject.

What
ever,

I desire especially to point out,

is

howinits

that

where the imagination of an

dividual has

grown too

feeble to exert

healing power, the imagination and will of

another

may

be used as a source of health

and

strength.

feeble

imagination

be-

[61]

Health
imagination
the spiritual

and
may
life.
it

Suggestion

tokens a hectic condition of the soul; for the

be likened to the lungs of

The
inine in

imagination,
its

may
it

be added,

is

fem-

nature; from

result that endur-

ance and that high degree of physical soundness that

is

often observed in the delicacy and

purity of the female frame.

How

often do
ap-

we

not see such tender natures,

woven

parently of air and light, outlast, by the power

of fair imaginings, the coarser-fibered brothers of the race.

Is not hope, even according

to Kant, the soberest of the prophets of reason, the true protecting genius of

human

life ?

And hope
fair

is

the daughter of imagination,

the sister of dreams.

Hence
is

the

power of
But the
hands of
of our
fitting

and noble imaginings

lives, too,

not the least of

the forces that produce longevity.

beauty of our

is

in the

the imagination.

famous

woman

own day

asserts that

along with the

maturity of age she has been able to preserve

the flexible energies of youth.
c

That, surely,

62

Health
i.s

and
in

Suggestion
The
catastro-

due to the imaging imaginative power

her works.

which we enjoy
Kleist
place,

phies that destroyed such natures as Novalis,

or Heine, would never have taken

had

the

fire

of their imaginations been

ills

used to ward

off

the
it

which, by a prodigal

and violent
mate.

use,
this

served rather to consum-

And

brings
is
it

me

to a desired point
side of the

the imagination

the
is

dreamy

emotive faculty,

feminine and should

It
is

never wholly lose a certain passivity.

soft

and virgin

flame

which

if

carefully
it

guarded illumines and warms.

Let
will

break

from such wise bondage and

the world.

it

consume
wit

We

should not forget that

humor and

are both the children of imagination

wit

and humor that free us from pretense and

hollowness in the moral world, and, in the
physical,
act
as

sources of infinite refresh-

ment and

strength.
is

Finally there

art,

the noblest daughter

of imagination, the loftiest of the efforts of

[6 3

Health
man.

and
creates those

Suggestion
waking dreams that
lives.

Art

console us for the contrast between the real

and the
tic arts

ideal in our

human

The

plas-

and the

arts of

music and eloquence

appeal half to the body, half to the soul.

Music, especially, as an acute observer points

out,
is

directly related to the health of

is

man.
fac-

The

reason

as follows:
all his

human

being,

happily conscious of
ulties, is in a state

powers and

itual health.

of high physical and spirMusic spreads such a vitalizit

ing

harmony throughout our organs,

its

com-

municates

vibrations to the nervous sys-

tem and the whole man sings and sounds,

however
needs.

silent, in

the direction of his deepest

emotions

Music embodies the harmony of our all the arts strive after a harmony
:

of relations not found in the real world.

Hence

it

is

that they are guardians of the

highest health, but they must be guided by

a virile spirit that leads to peace
onciliation with life

and

to rec-

and with the universe.

Their lovely light will illumine for us the

[6 4

Health
path of
life,

and
and
in

Suggestion
Boehme

death they will surround

us with harmonies, such as Jacob

heard
with

harmonies

that will blend at last

the ineffable

music of the spheres.

[65]

IV

THE WILL
speaking INfaculty of of the will do not mean the desiring, whether a higher
I

in

or a lower sense.

mean

that active enall

ergy of our being, regnant over

ers,

other pow-

which

is

more

easily felt

and recognized
fitly

than defined, but which

the
practical

may
man.

be called

faculty of

Every one,

even the weakest, knows that he possesses

this faculty to will

which the strong man deThis power

it

velops

into

character.

is

the

essence of the individual;

puts reason and

imagination in motion and thus reveals the

marvels of man's spiritual

life.

It

is

this

power which the

moralist, the lawgiver, the

all,

teacher, the physician and, above

tetitian of the soul seek to utilize.

the die-

Through

[66]

Health
it

and

Suggestion
body
Consider the woninstinct,
it

the mastery of the spirit over the

must be consummated.
ders that
it

performs when, as

dwells
Shall
will,

in
it

the night of unconscious minds.

not equal those marvels when, as

rises into the clear field

it

of the con-

sciousness of

man?

In vain does one seek to reason a

madman

out of his delusions, the monomaniac out of

his fixed idea.

But

if

the patient's activity

be appealed
ful

to, if

the will be stirred, a hope-

change

is

discerned at once.
as a rule,

Such a stim-

ulus
if

must come,

from without.

But

he

who

is

sick in soul

and body could sum-

mon

a portion of this energy

from the depths

would be correspondingly great. Let it be remembered that the will can be trained and developed, and that there was never greater need of that process than in our day when reason and imof his
being, the benefits

own

agination are in the highest state of cultivation

but the

faculty
if

of action in frequent

abeyance.

And

character be, as Harden-

[6 7

Health

and
is

Suggestion
a perfectly definite
alienated, emotion

berg, says, a completely cultivated will, then

the building of character

process.

Reason can be

waver amid the claims of various

tory impressions; not so the will,
ible
ity.

contradic-

if it

be

flex-

without weakness, strong without rigid-

The

inner

man

is,

in the last analysis,

in the

one and expresses himself

terms of one faculty.
faculty

world

in the

To

strengthen that

and turn

it

to righteousness
in

that

is

our

task.

With Goethe

Clavigo

one

too curiously would exclaim: and your soul will languish and your very Will, and you are freed from deeds be sick.

"Consider

sorrow.
in

The most wretched condition is that which we cannot will. Rouse yourself and
will be all that

you
be
!

you were,

all

that you can

"

Body and

soul languish in an
indestructible.

hundred

bonds which are

But there

are an hundred others which a single act of

determination will tear asunder.

the bonds with which
call

These are
and
indecision,

we bind

ourselves

by the

traditional

names of

[68]

Health
inattention,

and

Suggestion
We

moodiness and moroseness.

seek to excuse in ourselves these undermin-

ing demons of soul and body against which

the healing soul should direct
forts.
its specific ef-

Indecision
easily ends in
is

is

cramp of the soul which

complete paralysis.
;

Not death
For

cruel to

man man

is

cruel to himself.

he does not envisage his certain end calmly,

but with half-closed eye and hesitant steps.

There

is

no more

significant instance
effect

on

rec-

ord of the corroding

the healing

of uncertainty and

power of a

decisive attitude than

one communicated by Herz.

tient in the last stages of a

He

had
felt

a pafever.
it

consuming
with

The hope which

duty
tient's

the physician

his

to

hold

out,

coupled

the

pa-

consciousness of his desperate state,

fed and redoubled the ravages of the disease.

And
was
sued,

so

Herz determined upon an

heroic

measure.

He

told the

patient that

death
en-

inevitable.

terrible

excitement

then

sorrowful

resignation.
]

That

[6 9

Health
ing the night
less
it

and
was
quiet.

Suggestion
The
fever grew

evening the patient's pulse was regular; dur-

from day

to day; at the
well.

end of three
course,

weeks the patient was

Of

Herz

must have known

ment.

his

man

to risk the experi-

But the foundation of that experi-

ment is deeply rooted in the general nature of man. Incapacity to decide often grows from the unhappy thought It is too late But that very thought should aid decision.
:

If

it is

really too late, determine to

meet your
late,
is

certain fate calmly.

If

it

be not too

make your
worth
in that
it.

effort at once, for

your success

There
in the

is

a beautiful significance

touch

old legends that the knight

who would win

back!
Inattention,

the treasure must not look

which

is
is

but an indecision of
a

the mental

faculties,

condition of the
It

soul analogous to tremors in the body.

is

an oscillation indicative of the fact that the

soul
is

power of the
steady

insufficient to

assume
that

and certain

direction,

so

rest,

[7o]

Health
necessary.

and
Experience

Suggestion
teaches
us that
a

change and entire cessation of activity are

strong volitional impulse

finally

remove bodily weakness.

effectual will
it

may moderate and How much

in

more

be in controlling the
I

motions of the mind.

have observed

my
as

own

case that those

wavering spots before

the eye called

mouches volantes, as well

the dancing of the letters

upon the printed

fix

page, both disappear so soon as I

a con-

centrated attention upon the objects before

me.

Thus an
life.

act of the will can direct, sup-

port and strengthen the phenomena of the

inner

For

this

reason

have always held diver-

sion to be a
diseases

more than questionable cure for both of the body and the soul. The
of
all

collection
trary,

the

faculties,

on the conhave seemed

and

a wisely directed will,

to

me

truly beneficial in such cases.

For

life

works from within outward, but the attack of

death
urges
is

an external one.
objection

If

the

patient

the

that

he

has

not

the

[7i]

Health
strength to
faculties
in

and
summon

Suggestion
engage
advice
his
is

his will, or to

a given direction,

my

that he place himself in a situation that forces

exertion

upon him.

Granted that you have

nor the inclination to
still,

no

definite occupation

engage
of your

in one.

You may
you may
situation

in the service

own good,
state,

offer yourself to
still

another

or to the

bind yourself
dictates

and enter -upon a

healing work.

where the

of honor will force your will to take up the

And do
that counts.

not hesitate

long
It
is

among
the

the possible objects of choice.

step

first

Act counter

to

your inclination

in the first instance

and the

inclination will come.

Plunge into the move-

ment of life. The social duties will soon become pleasures and the dreary thoughts take their leave. In diseases of the mind and
nerves, reason
is

ineffectual, the

passage of

time only palliative, but resignation and activity

omnipotent.

It is

an unfailing law that a stronger stim-

ulus will displace a weaker.

Permeate soul

[72]

Health
and
all

and

Suggestion
power of the will of life become feeble
all

and body with the

and of no
ful, tiring,

diffusive

the alien forces

avail.

To

shun

that

is

harm-

possible.

tensely in
definite

and body is imBut to turn one's whole being a definite direction, to embrace a
injurious to soul

aim

that

is

a possible

ening the attack of hostile influences.

way of weakThe
latter

aim should be an
templative one.

active rather than a con-

But even one of the

if

kind can work wonders

its

the soul but

plumb

own

depths,

if

time and space disappear

and

eternity be contracted into the spiritual

experience of a

moment.
the detestable

Moodiness
tion.

is

demon

that

pretends to an aesthetic elegance and distinc-

To be
woe be

sure,

we

all

have varying moods,

but

to us if our

The
of

poet should use his

moods have us moods as the sculp-

tor uses a block of marble

art.

as the material

You and

can not do that.

life,

But we

can use our moods to shape

which may
the works

be the noblest and completest of

all

[73]

Health
of
art.

and

Suggestion
ethical dis-

Lavater has written an

course against "ill

humors";

to write a medical one.

am tempted No man can avoid

I

sadness, but every one moroseness.

In sad-

ness there

is

a certain magic, an element of

is

poetry; but moroseness

the prose of life

It
is

and akin to ennui and

sloth.

sin

against the holy spirit in man.

The
we

source of this poison

its

is

custom, " the

If

nurse of man," and

resultant vices.

were accustomed from childhood on to

seri-

shun idleness, and always to exchange the

ous business of
life

for

some cheerful and

refreshing occupation,
the meaning of

we would not know ill-humor. If we had never

to

grown accustomed
serene

sleeping through the

hours of early morning,

in that state

never awaken
lence

of

we would moody indo-

which usually follows a recognition of

If

the lateness of the hour.

insisted
finer

we had always
about
us,

on order

in the things

harmony would

rule our souls.

well

ordered room strengthens the morale of the

[74]

Health
inner
life.

and

Suggestion

Above all, we must use our moments rightly. One is not, at any given moment, inclined to everything: always, however,

to

something.

And
us.

that

one

thing
is

should employ and satisfy

the law of
life.

For change

Isolation produces moroseness and, accord-

ing to

Plato,

self-will.

Conversation with
effects: it is

the world

may have the same

wise admixture of the two that will

spirits

make our
all,

healthy and serene.

Above
from
all

how-

ever, will a recognition of the Divine

Love

that guards our steps free us

evil

moods.

good life holds will bear the evil with hope and patience. And if any mortal be so unhappy as to have brought with him into the world a native heritage of ill-humor, let him not think himself wise, but sick, and let him not
nature truly grateful for
the
refuse the
spirit

most

drastic curatives to free his

from
turn

torture.

To

humor to

phenomenon of illthe methods of its cure, to the power

the

now from

[75]

Health
rooted
in

and

Suggestion
man.

of the will over conditions which are deeply

the nervous organization of

Instances of this
I

have read of

power are not far to seek. man who by mere willing

Similarly there are peo-

could produce inflammation on any desired

part of his body.*
ple

who have

learned to regulate voluntarily

the action of the heart.

certain tribe of

The

savages of a
if

American Indians,

they beearth
is

lieve that their necessary

work on

done,
:;ii

lie

down, although they may be

vigor of bodily strength

and
are
tells

in the

die.

The
in-

victorious errorrs of

Demosthenes over an
in

herent

physical

disability"

well-known.
his

An American named Brown

moirs
his

me-

how
art.

the ventriloquist Carvin acquired

Physiologically,

psychologically
a

and ethically the process was

First there

curious one

and highly symbolic of the nature of human

effort.

was

presentiment of the
still

* Feuchtersleben might have added the

more

strik-

ing instance of the physical stigmata of Christ actually appearing in many authenticated cases upon the bodies

of nuns.

Translator.

[76]

Health

and

Suggestion
by mere accident; next
first

latent power, stirred

by apparent success, then by failure. Then came bitter strife to recapture the fortunate moment, a real success next, and then untiring practice
a mild attempt followed
until

an ultimate
into habit.

facility

was reached that

modifications

merged

Thus many

of muscular action that are almost unknown

may

be revived or learned anew by a

voli-

And in the whole marvellous organism of man many other powers are latent which an iron will may awaken and
tional activity.

reveal.

The
purest

doctrine of the stoics, the loftiest

and
the

of pre-Christian teachings
its

certainly

proved, through

numerous
It

disciples,

potency of the will.

was not the force

of an arid syllogism that steeled the souls of

the stoa's followers

it

was the might of the

human will that effected the highest ethical movement of the pagan world. Experience
precedes ratiocination, nor has the latter ever

produced the

former.
.

It

was no formal

[77]

Health

and

Suggestion
who
his doctrine, as Cicero

demonstration which inspired that stoic

proved the might of

" Pain

relates, in the presence

is

of the great Pompey,

philosopher declared,

no

evil " the

and conquered,

in the presence of onlookers,

a violent attack of gout that befell him.

It

was no formal demonstration that inspired him, I repeat it was the living emotion

of his

faith's significance that

urged on the

will of the

man

to a miracle.

The

stoa

first

taught

its

disciples to will.

Having learned
and philosophize
:

that, they

began to

reflect

and so
wills

left us that great

saying

The

spirit

and the body must.

teaching nor reflection nor yet enthusi-

Not

asm, shining upon

above, can

man

like

light

from

warm

or vitalize.

Deeper than

that must be the source of salvation.

To

translate into living action the doctrines ab-

stracted

from the experience of the ages and

here set down that is a we have of strength and

task,

task requiring
nobleness, but

all

with God's help, not impossible of

ful-

fillment.

[78]

REASON AND CULTURE

WE

have delivered a eulogy upon the

will,

might of the
it

we have

insisted

that

be exercised untiringly in a

given direction.

The

question

what are we
must answer

to will?

what
It

direction shall

now comes: wc
knowledge,

give to our efforts?

is

knowledge that

this vital question,

the fairest fruit

upon the

tree of life ripened

under the light of reason.

lost
in

Imagination
will

is

wandering dreams, the

behind
both.

leaves

chaos stand

still

unformed, unless the directing soul

This
spiritual

is

our

loftiest
cul-

theme

to

show how

and mental

ture can avail over the dark forces of our

material nature, and establish the health not

only of

men

but of

Man.

[79]

Health
The

and

Suggestion
human
nature
is

investigator of

met
over

by no more wonderful phenomenon than the

power of purely

intellectual conceptions

the bodily organism.

That

is

the great pre-

rogative of man's nature, that in

him

ideas

can be transformed into emotions and that

through such a process the

the body,
late

spirit

may

rule

even as ordinary emotions transaction

the

of the body into spiritual

terms.

In the possibility of such intellectual-

ized emotion
stance

the ethico-religious,

for in-

lies

the differentiation of

Humanity
and
a

from

all

else.

Lower

beings do not think

the causes of their emotions conceivable,

purely rational beings cannot share our emotional life.

fact of

In

man

alone the blending

is

consciousness.

No

further meditais

tion concerning the fact that such

is

the case
it.

needful here.

It

is

our duty to apply

7

He

whose

cultivation has been in the right

will

direction

acknowledge
accustomed

the

might

of

thought over his entire being.

Anyone who

is

in his psycho-

[80]

Health

and

Suggestion
and

logical thinking to regard the spiritual

the bodily life as one, will have no difficulty

in

grasping the trend of

my

argument.

Not

so he
as

who

is

wont

to think of

two

entities struggling in

body and mind the bonds of an

a

unnatural union, and

who

shares the opinion

is

that every gratification of the senses

deadly attack upon the spirit which can be

cultivated only at the expense of the body.

This unfortunate asceticism condemns

man

to certain failure, for every energy that lives

in

him must

slay one part of

It

him

for the sake

of another.

may be thought
this

that the fre-

quent instances of delicate scholars and stout

ignoramuses

confirm

wretched notion.

We
The
ture.

are asked, similarly, to contrast the stalcity-

wart countryman and the narrow-chested

dweller.

But these

facts are really delusive.

is

point really at issue

one's conception

of the true nature and ends of

human

cul-

certain scholar, for instance, has spent

life in

half his

the contemplation of geomet-

[81]

Health
rical

and
else,

Suggestion
he has delved into the

figures,

and neglected the contemplaleft the

tion

of man; or

mines of history and

gold of the presSeeking the

ent lying untouched at his side.

kernel of things, he has not touched the husk.

Yonder

stout fellow,

on the other hand, may

not be as foolish as our scholar thinks.

But

he has made the art of enjoyment his study.

The
quite
ties

so-called

country bumpkin
fulfill his

may know
civic du-

no

enough to

moral and
not

small equipment for any man.

The

arrogant townsman

may

know

so much.

True
of
all

culture

is

the harmonious development

It will

our powers.

make

us healthy,

good and happy.

it

It will teach us to

know

the sphere of our talents and their nature;

will

show us how

to subordinate, without

destroying, the imagination of childhood and

the impetuous will of youth to our mature*

reason.

Here, then,
will
lives.

is

that part of the soul's

healing which noonday of our

Is
it

culminate in the sunny

possible to distinguish the cultivation

[82]

Health
of the
will,

and

Suggestion
The
enis

which we have already discussed,

from that of the faculty of knowledge?

qualities

of will and emotion result directly

from the point of view with which we

visage
life,

and that point of view, again,

in ourselves

the direct result of our culture.

are dread
dise

In ourselves
para-

and consolation,
hell.

and

To

the clear eye the world

will be serene,

and our convictions, originaas they must, are at the foun-

ting our

moods
all

dation of
true, if

our being.

That, at

least,

is

our intellectual view of the world

is

truly native to our soul

and has become one

In that case
it

with our entire being.

will

be a support to the weary, a pillow of rest

to the suffering, a source of the strong.

new

strength to

The

frail

body of Spinoza would

it

have failed long before

during might of
is

did but for the en-

his lofty convictions.

That

the great secret.

Think of
ends

the universe

in its oneness,

and your soul

will be serene.

Consider the ultimate

process,

of the

cosmic

and the evils of this world will disc 8

Health
appear.

and

Suggestion

Have no

regard for the approval

of man and its lack will not wound you. Think of the complement somewhere in
life

of

all

that gives you pain and strive

to serve the necessary

harmony of

the All.
evil,

If the Egoist

is

most keenly aware of

because so few things contribute to the ends

he

desires,

he reaps the just punishment of

lies

the narrowness of his attitude in which

his undoing.
live

To

broaden one's

with great thoughts

is

attitude, to
is

that

healing
it is

Life

a gift, but

it is

more than

that:

committed to our
to rule
it,

care.

We

have the right

but only in the service of duty.

main cause of half the valetudinarianism we observe be a morbid attention

If the
fixed

on the processes of our own body, how

can
the

we

better meet the evil than by rising, in commerce with lofty thought, above the
It is

pettiness of personal preoccupations?

pitiful to see

wretched folk so anxiously con-

cerned over their material well-being that

they are in the best

way of undermining

it.

[84]

Health
The
filled
tile

and

Suggestion
whom
They
they consult
is

very physician

with contempt.
life.

perish of a fulack that

liberate

yearning after

For they

culture of the spirit

which alone can

man from

such miseries by freeing the imit

mortal part of his being and giving

concerning the
rest.

charge
said

No

more need be
stoic's life.

concerning the glory of the

attributed
it

We

rather to the will than to the

spirits,

But observe that those from Pythagoras to Goethe, have reached in the fullness of power the utmost
sources of the will.

limits

of the

life

of man,

who

have lived

ceaselessly in the presence of high

and im-

personal thoughts.

Only

a serene envisag-

ing of the All can give us true health; only

insight can give us that serenity.
est

The

acut-

of thinkers and he

the abysses of the spirit;

who plumbed deepest who through calm

life

contemplation prolonged a

the natural

measure of which was of the

shortest,

and
his

who

has ever been thought of as brooding

and dark

Spinoza

himself utters,

in

[85]

Health

and

Suggestion

formally geometrical fashion, this saying: " Serenity can never exceed its just measure
it is

always of good.
is

Sadness, on the other

hand,

always an

comprehends,

Such

is

the

The more our spirit more blessed are we." high and calm might of true phievil.

the

losophy, that

it

can assign a station to

man
ut-

from which, not without sympathy, but

the shifting pictures of the

terly devoid of struggle, he can contemplate

phenomenal world.

From

the fullness and unity of his truly cul-

tured soul the philosopher will regard the

past as a sacred inheritance, the future as the
certain goal of a clearly recognized effort, the

present as a possession entrusted to his care

a possession

which he alone can truly

eval-

uate,

whose

benefits

he alone can store up,

whose pleasures he alone can enjoy with the

keenness of unending youth.

That

is

the

might of philosophy.

Not of
It

such philoso-

phy, however, as makes the head glow but

leaves the heart to freeze.

must proceed
soul

from

the

thinker's

innermost

and

[86]

Health
irradiate
his

and
whole

Suggestion
being.
it

It

must

not

merely have been learned;

lived!
Its

must have been

end must be

beginning and

its

the

proving and the knowing of oneself.

foolish, then, to

How

yearn for a happiness

Only in the of which we know nothing. mind can happiness be found, for happiness is itself but a conception of human thought. Whoever has contrasted, in his own experience, the dull state of mere sensual well-being
with the emotion that attends spiritual
ity

clar-

such an one will

know
is

that a profound

and

living reality underlies

my

words.

Such

clarity of the spirit, then,

the guardian and

the cure of our being.

The most important

is

result of all culture

the knowledge of self.

To

each

human

being

God

has granted a certain measure of

power, and a certain relation of the faculties

among themselves. This measure of power, when neither overstepped nor undeveloped,
conditions the integrity and health of the
dividual.
in-

To

have recognized

its

nature and

[87]

Health

and

Suggestion
:

extent is the crown of human wisdom. Beyond that no man can go the inscription upon the temple at Delphi required but that.

And

the

man who

can

fill

this

measure of
is

his ca-

pacities

with such true culture as

not only

he
state,

a possession, but a condition of his whole soul

will be able to

guard

his life

and

his

health.

He will live

in a free

and unfettered
in-

belonging only to himself and able to

nature to purge each alien or

command

fected drop of blood from his bodily frame. " The highest good," says Herder, " which

God

has given to

all his

creatures

was and
If that

remains the individual's existence."

be so, then culture
treasure.
is

the key to our greatest

set for us the natural

Nature has
life

space of

by giving us an innate power But we can

soul.

of resistance and self-renewal.

lengthen this space and strengthen those qualities

by the influence of a trained

If the cultured

man
it is

achieves a knowledge

of

self,

however,

by learning

to under-

stand himself as a part of the great Whole,

[88]

Health
With
this vital

and

S u g g e

o n

and by cooperating with the other parts.

conception indeed, a truly hubegin.
If

man

culture

must

From

it

alone

springs spiritual content.

you observe the

that, in the last

hypochondriac you will learn

analysis, the evils that beset a

murky egoism.
whose
all

He

him spring from lives, thinks and sufhis

fers
self

wholly for the sake of

interests

wretched

little

he

fancies

threatened.

Blind to

the sources of beauty and good-

ness that nature

and man

pa thy for the joy and

what

oiler,

without
is

worse

the sorrows of his kind, he

the least

lies

in

wait for

phenomenon
and
life.

in the

dark corners oi
throughout the

his timid heart

dies daily

span of
his envy.

Others are but the objects of

himself he
is

To

source of anxlife.

iety that ceases only with his

own

Life,

he constantly pursues and which, as

constantly, escapes him. at last

becomes
into

indif-

ferent to

him and he lapses

an almost
sa;.

animal condition.
:':.t

He

can no longer

ith

sane and health":

man: nothing human

['89]

Health
is

and
me,
for,

Suggestion
everything
is.

alien to

in truth,

In Orestes-like desperation he clings to the

bit

of mortality that

is

himself.

What
is

to

him

are nature, humanity, culture?

is

Hypoalways

chondria

egoism and egoism

coarse and crude.

Direct the spirit of such

there
still

an unfortunate,

if

be time, toward
Present to his

a contemplation of the All.

befogged vision the

fate

of his race: in a

word, cultivate him, and the demon which

no medication was strong enough

will hide
its

to attack

face

from the

light of day.

If a sense of community with the world

and the race

it

is

curative in so high a degree,

in exercising a pre-

must be equally potent

ventive function.

From
arise.

such a humanitarian

point of view, in fact, the most important

practical
results

Self-abnegation,

re-

nunciation, temperance in the largest sense,

in brief,

the conditions of true health, fol-

low

in its

wake.

If

it

is

important to exert

the strength of an energetic will at the right

moment,

it

is

even more important to

know

[90]

Health
in

and

Suggestion

what hour to curb it. Such restraint, which shows that the spirit has risen to a true conception of law and abhors the fortuitous, can only be gained

through culture. The

is

stimulation of the will

most

effective

in

temporary
while

illness

of the soul, but reason con-

quers those that are chronic.

it

Even

so, joy,

strengthens vitality for a moment,

it

exhausts

at last.

Serenity,

on the other

hand,

is

constantly healing, supporting, and,

in a sense, nourishing.

genuine elevation
is

of feeling,

it

has been said,

the best

way

of avoiding collisions both with society as a

whole and with individuals.

the daughter of reason.

But man may

thoughts of

elevate himself only through contemplation,

The

God

fill

the immeasurable All, and man, in

developing his

own
life

thoughts, blends his

life

with the divine

and becomes a part of the

through creation.
his soul in a
his will with

spiritual springs that flow

The Brahmin who submerges

sea of contemplation

and blends

the Will of

God

lives

temperately and hap-

[91]

Health
1

and
IHH III
III

Suggestion
IMIIlll

Ill

[I1M1IIH1II Ml

IM|

pily

through a length of years which no EuSimilarly

ropean, busied with a thousand nothings, can

attain.

Kant,

so

imperfectly
life,

equipped by nature for the struggle of

draws strength and the power of extreme

longevity from great and impersonal thoughts

and seems to corroborate the theory which

origin of the Indie and was not alone the power of imagination which shaped the harmony of Wieland's life; it was the equal cultivaasserts the

common

Germanic

races.

It

tion

of every faculty, the directing of his

bright understanding toward the laws of the

universe

these, aided

by a happy temperain the annals in

ment, gave him that blithe old age which

shines like

some friendly legend

literature.

of

German
is

fact,

truly

High meditation, human and truly blessed.

and helps him
life.

It

leads

man

gently on to the highest point of

in the practice
is
it

his destination

of his mortal
attain to

How

beneficent

to

an insight into that great concatena-

tion of the world's forces that seems to point

[92]

Health
to
is

and

Suggestion
How
excellent

some
it

final

divine unit}'!

to

regard reverentially those

shining
frailty
like

souls

who have conquered mortal

spirit
in the

through the might of the

the images of gods

and stand

temple of history.

Plato

learned

and
in

taught

though

in

his

eightieth year, Sophocles

composed the

CEd'i-

pus Coloneus

his

old age, Cato in years

equally advanced felt no distaste of life; Isocrates shone as an orator in his ninety-fourth

year, Fleury as a statesman in his ninetieth.

Meditations which wrung from nature the

secret of the archetype of her creatures
ac-

companied Goethe far beyond the ordinary

limits of

man's

life.

Let no one

assert that our

own

time con-

tradicts the beneficent effects of spiritual cul-

ture on the body.

It

may appear
intellect

to

many
rather

that the refinement of the understanding, the

enlightment

of

the

have

tended to produce a feeble and sickly generation.

But, in the

first

place,
is

mere refinement
true
culture.

of

the

understanding

not

[93]

Health
ter,

and

Suggestion
the
lat-

Wherever our century has produced

evidence.

the happiest results have surely been in

Wherever,

in addition, a

prema-

ture tension of the intellectual life has

the body,

it

has brought with

it

the

harmed means of

healing the

wounds

inflicted

by

itself.

Do
reflec-

not reading, conversation, individual

tion,

open the sources whose streams renew and refresh us? It is not the question here
of the transformation of a feeble organism.
the function of the imagination and

That
of

is

faith.

But observe bright, clear-headed

will not find that they

men and you

complain

of ill-humors and constant indispositions as

do they whose bodily functions, ever present in an otherwise empty field of consciousness,

mar
tion

the whole of
then,

life.

If,

we have refreshed our imaginaour characters by moral

by

art, steeled

aims, enlarged our horizon by culture

if

we have done

these things

we

will easily conis

quer the hostile forces which the universe

constantly sending out against us.

Thus we

[94]

Health
perceive,

and
profound

Suggestion
satisfaction,

with

that

bodily and spiritual activities and efforts of

every kind unite to fortify and complete our

happiness; and that
are but
art and knowledge beams of the same universal sun.
life,

[95]

VI

TEMPERAMENT AND PASSION

THESE

fragments would be entirely too

incomplete

and

too

fortuitous

in

method, did we not devote some space

to a discussion of the

temperament and the

given temperament, to

passions of men.

be sure,

is

too often beyond the reach of any

influence,

tempering

the passions have been

discussed both
ately

and

passionately

and

dispassion-

they rule us

still.

Much,

too,

concerning this side of our subject can be

inferred from
point.

what has been

is

said up to this
a virtue

Yet, as explicitness
readers,

prized
for
a

by many
space.

we may proceed

Essentially there are but

two general types

all

of temperament of which

others are but

[96]

Health
modifications
tions.

and
or

Suggestion
of modificapassive.
active
all

combinations

These are the

and the

Into these two classes

links of the

the innumerable

human
is

chain are readily grouped.

As
will,

character

the expression of the trained

is

so temperament
inclinations.

merely the sum of

given
inclination
is

native

the crude material on which the will works.

If successfully, the inclination too will
into the building of character.

merge
if

But
it

the

emotional tendency
passion.

is

recalcitrant,
is

becomes
root

Thus temperament

at the

of our passions of which, also, there are two

great classes.
sicians

Acute psychologists and phythis truth

have always recognized

and

have hence, as was said above, distinguished

temperaments
choleric

as active or passive, passions

as exciting or depressing.

The

sanguine and

temperaments are active; the mel-

ancholy and phlegmatic are passive.

it

Nor

is

true, though- it has often

been asserted, that

the inert temperament has an easy task in

dealing with the problems of practical

life.

[97]

Health
The
it

and
in nature
is

Suggestion
powerful; in

inertia

man

is

far

more

difficult to

conquer than the

is

opposite excess.
sary,

But

this conquest

neces-

for true

wisdom demands
It
is

dynamic
Indiffer-

not a static condition of the soul.

ence
is

death.

this vital truth that robs

of

all validity

an arid prejudice against the

passions as such.
tensified

For the

latter are but in-

inclinations

without

which
to

there

would be no

living interest in the life of

man.

The
ory
is

ancients

fabled the

Muses
must

be the

daughters of memory: the mother of

love.

membefore

An

inclination

exist

wisdom can temper and

ence arises where there
is

direct

it.

Indiffer-

no

inclination

and

from
"

it,

in turn,

proceed boredom and sloth.

exclaims a lively

A man

who wounds me,"

author, " injures

me slays who bores

after
all,

my body only, he who bores my soul." And what of the man

himself?

Love and hate

life.
is

these,

are the foundations of

It

mat-

ters little that hate

but a hidden love as

life.

death

is

but a hidden

Attraction and

[98]

Health

and

Suggestion
Indignation
it-

repulsion are equally necessary expressions of

a state of complete health.

self is a living force as necessary to the soul

as the gall to the body.

In a

word

the pas-

sions

are

powers.

You
it.

cannot

persuade

yourself into courage, but a degree of indig-

nation will

arm you with

And

no powers

are to be neglected or eradicated.

to be

They

are

studied, trained,

ordered.

Does not

Lessing even speak of a passion for truth?

Is

not

all

enthusiasm impassioned?

And

is

not enthusiasm the very flame that nourishes

the life of
culation
is

man?

It helps us
it

where cool
all

cal-

impotent;

develops

unsus-

pected powers of preservation and healing.

Persons of ability always desire some move-

ment
elder

in the soul or in the

world.

Cato the
tells

so his

Greek biographer
life,

us

was happiest when Jove thundered.

does not an unimpassioned
it

But

will be

asked, save waste of time and energy?

May

not an insect hidden in

served alive for years ?
[

its

chrysalis

be pre-

Do
]

not plants grow-

99

Health

and

Suggestion
life

ing in a cellar possess a longer

than those

that, in the free sunshine, suck

up the moisabout

ture of their

mother earth?
life at
life,

And what
the core of
is

toads living a secular

some

stone?

long

I answer,

not there-

fore a healthy one,

and man

And

if

the passions

clinations

had no

is

not a toad.

these intensified in-

other purpose, yet they

can fight each other, the good pitted against

the evil.
Reflection alone will never be able

to deal with any passion.

however
as love

violent, can be balanced

But one passion, by another,

etc.

by pride, or vice versa, indignation

rage by laughter,
all

by

friendship,

Na-

ture,
best,

the wisest of
lea.ds

pedagogues and the

his

man through

inclinations

Nature who understands the treatment of her

children.

As
cites

to the specific passions:

*Swift joy exserenity,

and exhausts; enduring

on the

* Feuchtersleben does not distinguish passions and emotions properly so called with any stringency. The fact does not invalidate his argument. Translator

[IOO]

Health
life.

and

Suggestion

other hand, nourishes the plastic processes of

The former
and

overstimulates, the latter

strengthens

heals.

Violent

rage

and

noble indignation sustain the same relation

to life
ness.

and

to each other as joy

and cheerfulfire

The

flame of age eats into the struc-

ture of the organism; the steady

of

in-

dignation

sustains

it.

And

the

degree in
in

which these passions are present

an

indi-

vidual depends upon character, that

is,

finally,

upon the

ethical element.

Rage

is

a vulgar

passion directed to vulgar ends and sinks to

the level of
its

object.

When we
is

are en-

raged our enemy has reached his aim, for

are in his power.

we

Indignation

a moral
us above

emotion, a noble passion which

lifts

the vulgar, and by rendering the latter con-

temptible protects us against

voiceless,

it.

It

is

this

lofty scorn which, an unconscious

sign of divinity, plays about the lips of the

Apollo Belvedere. Plato called the passions " fevers of the soul " because they are crises
during which, as during the fevers of the

[IOI]

Health
body, the soul

and
is

Suggestion
evils

healed of long-rooted

by

a process of purification.

If such benefits

we need

from the passions commonly called evil, scarcely repeat the same arguments concerning the good. Only this must be added: that of all the emotions hope is the
result
life-giving,

most
It

and

so,

for our purpose, the

most important.
must not be thought, however, that we
can defend the passidns unqualifiedly.

The

good that we have said of them applies to them only so long as they do not exceed a
certain measure, so long (strange as the re-

mark may seem)

in

as they are active.

For the
relates
it-

passions, exceeding a decent measure, become,

our sense, passive.

Whatever

self to the reasonable side of

man's being
activity
is

is

active, because a truly

sible

human

pos-

only in the sphere of reason.

Whatpassive.

ever,
ality

on the other hand, succumbs to sensualone

a
is,

humanly speaking,
rule.

For

man

is

then in the grip of crude forces

Violent rage,

which he can no longer

[

102]

Health
for instance,
tive.
is

and
not, as
in

Suggestion
one would think,
ac-

It

is

demon

whose grasp the ob-

sessed individual suffers, becoming thus passive in his noblest parts.

passions, paradoxical as
to the
ally

it

And may

so all violent

seem, belong

domain of weakness. They are usuawakened by some misfortune that

crushes our primal spiritual strength.

The
col-

boy weeps and rages, the man, earnestly

lecting his powers,

works toward the

future.

His passions cheer the horizon of his being; move him without exhausting him, and warm
without consuming his heart.

Such passions

are the insignia of true strength.

Reflections of this character,
in the

were no doubt,
the distinc-

mind of Kant when he made

between
" strengthening

tion

and melting
con-

emotions."
cerning a "
great

remark of Saussure's
melancholy "
Saussure,

trite

inspired the

philosopher.

he

said

to

himself, tacitly contrasts a trite with an interesting

and noble melancholy.

one that

And

truly

there

is

may
[

be reckoned with the

103]

Health
emotions.

and

Suggestion
!

strengthening rather than with the enfeebling

That thought goes deep

it

The

pain of a great soul, whether

loss sustained,

be for some
it

or

wrung from
futility

by a concir-

templation of the
cling of

human
It is

life

of the eternal

such pain, such sorrow,

are not depressing, but elevating and strengthening.

such suffering pride that alone

conquers the might of fate.

But

little

need be added concerning the

It is poseffort to equal violent

physical effects of the emotions.

sible for

any voluntary
in

emotion
Is

shocking the organism of man.

not that a fact within the experience of

all?

Who

does not

know

the gleaming eye,

the vigorous pulse, the deep breathing, the

smooth front of the man inspired by joy?

Who
ing,

does not
shivering,

know

the trembling, stammer-

the rough skin, the beating

heart, the sunken pulse, the pallor

and

dis-

comfort of the coward?

Equally

familiar

are the difficult breath, the cold, pale, wrin-

kled skin, the hesitating step of one

[

who

is

104']

*j

Health

and

Suggestion
Consider the blush of

abandoned by hope.

modesty, the pallor of envy, the bright face

of happy love, the yearning in the eyes of

unrequited passion.

Think of
of rage

the iron bands

of jealousy literally throttling us, the torrential

blood

in the veins

its

red face,

laboring breath and wild glances!

Passion knocks in no figurative sense at the

gate of the heart.
Its first result
is

always

an interference with the circulation of the

blood.
physical

Hope
results

deferred or utterly lost has

that

no thinking physician

can

fail

to

consider.

Ramadge

indeed

is

inclined to assert that such psychical causes

are often at the root of

pulmonary

disease.

And
sion,
cies

it

is

likely

enough that frequent congesdue

to

tions in the breast,

prolonged depres-

may

develop otherwise latent tenden-

of a consumptive character.

Remorse,

the bitterest

and most

futile of
in

human emoways equally

tions, effects the

body of man

deleterious.

The dangers

of one's temperament and of

c

105

Health
one's passions
I

and
are to be

Suggestion
counteracted

have pointed out above

by
by
that

as

other pas-

sions,

by reason and,
the

finally,

habit.
is,

A
uses
It
is

capacity for the formation of habits

surely,

kindest device

Providence
creatures.
life

for the

preservation

of

its

by the formation of habits that

its

holds
its

own and

turns

alien
is

forces

to

use.

To form

right habits

the beginspirit-

ning and the end of ethics as well as of

ual healing.

Reason
tional
tellect

is

never active at moments of emo-

excitement.

But the well-trained

the

in-

prevents

occurrence

of

such

moments by
garded from
is

subjecting the inclinations and

passions to the rule of rational habits.

this point

Re-

of view, composure

not an absence of emotion but a state of

life.

equilibrium in the emotional

I

have indicated how the passions may

allay each other.

also as stimuli

They may, however, act among themselves. Take a

given individual and arouse in him a passion

[106]

Health
and
all

and

Suggestion
mood and
like

consonant with his present

temper,
corre-

the other passions,

the

sponding strings of a musical instrument, will

begin to sound and the essential harmony of
the man's life will sing itself to the spiritual
ear.

For not
;

silence but

harmony

is

the law

of

life

not indifference but calm.

[107]

VII

THE EMOTIONS

THE
to
its

majority of those

who have

dis-

cussed the emotions seem to have con-

ceived them as being in some sense

outside the order of nature and not subject
laws.

or contemn

They bemoan, deride, admire man: they do not study him.

as a matter of fact,
it
is

But nature,

is

not subject

to our reproaches:
one, all-inclusive

always indivisibly

and governed by changeless

law.

Hate, rage and envy, therefore, have

their place in the eternal

economy of

things.

Definite causes have given rise to them,

and

they have definite qualities as worthy of con-

templation as

many

other things the study

of which fascinates

us.

When

an inner or outer change occurs of

[108]

Health

and

Suggestion
i.

which we are the true cause,

ing

e.

which

fol-

lows necessarily from the nature of our be-

we may be
own
affects

said to act.

When

a given

change, on the other hand,

to our

natures

we

is

only partly due

suffer.

And

every

emotion
that our

our body
action

in
is

such a manner
either increased

power of

or diminished.

When,
otherwise

therefore,
it

an emoexpresses
passion.
suffers.

tion arises immediately within us,

itself in action
;

its

result

is

Alternately, then, our spirit acts

and

When

wholly
it

itself,

i.

e.

when guided by
it

clear

conceptions,

acts; erring,

suffers.

It fol-

lows that the more our

error, the

spirit

be subject to
suffer.

more keenly

will

it

But

a soul trained to the contemplation of truth

will enjoy a high degree of activity.

Joy
the

is

the emotion that raises the soul to

a higher degree of perfection; sadness, on

contrary,
is

robs

it

of

its

power

to

act.

Love

nothing but joy accompanied by the

is

representation of an external object, hate

sorrow

conditioned
[

in

the

same manner.

109]

Health
The

and

Suggestion

similarity of an object to one that has

been the cause of joy or sorrow to us will

awaken
love

in

us those undefined emotions of

or hate which

we

call

sympathy or
to

antipathy.

The
govern
rights

powerlessness of
his

man

check or

emotions

deem

true servitude.
its

In such cases the

to

spirit

has abandoned
It

external

influences.

approves

good and follows evil. And since spirit and body are so intimately at one, the latter too is delivered into the power of external nature
of which
it is

a part.

I attune

my

spirit to

joy for this reason, that tears and terror are

the signs of a

weak

soul

and hence hindrances

In proportion to
enable the

to both virtue and health.

its

health will the

human frame
means simply
But

spirit to

develop and to increase

its

power.
to act ac-

To

act reasonably

cording to the necessities of our nature

properly understood.
it is

when

the essential
its

nature of every being to preserve

existence.

truly free

human being

thinks of nothing

[no]

"

Health
so
in
little

and

Suggestion
His wisdom
one
consists not
in

as of death.

the
life.

contemplation oi death, but

that
lives

of

For

free spirit

is

who
its

reasonably,

not ruled by fear, but striving

activities to preserve

by ever new
It

being.

seeks

to

know
to

the

essential

nature
to

of

things,
all

and by such true knowledge

joy

rob
their

hindrances

and action of
derive

power.

Hence

this

studv or the emotions.

All our efrorts and instincts

nature,
either immediately,

from
in

or mediately

the sense in which

we

ourselves are part of

the natural order of things.

These

instincts

that result immediately from our

own being
other

are related to the spirit in so far as the latter lives

by the light of

clear

ideas

instincts are related to the spirit only in pro-

portion to
these
is

its

own

turbidness.

The power

of

not truly

human

at all,

for they are

utterly

dependent upon the external.

Hence

the former class of instincts gives rise to activities,

the latter to passions.

The former
mixed nature,

are ever good, the latter of a

[in]

Health
good and
tice
evil.

and
Hence
our
first

Suggestion
in

the actual prac-

of

life it is

duty to cultivate the

reason.

Thus and
is

thus only can man's true

happiness be brought to pass.

happiness

And

his true

but that peace of the soul which

comes from the contemplation of God.

in a recognition of It

But

again, the cultivation of the reason consists

God

in the

laws of nature.
fortify

must be man's highest aim, then, to

those emotions which conduce to a knowledge

of the true nature of things, and to

let

them

curb and govern their more lawless brethren.

An

emotion which has grown to be a pas-

sion ceases to be such so soon as

to a clear conception of
its

we

attain

nature.

For

at

the root of passion

is

a turbid thought.

And

fortunately there

is

no emotion of which we

cannot gain a clear conception.

a clear conception of anything I

By gaining mean such a

conception as connects the individual phenom-

enon with the economy of the universe, and

judges
justice.
it

according to the laws of eternal

Such

reflection

is

instructive in

two

[112]

Health
ways.

and

S u g g e

s t

o n

It teaches us first that

is

man

can diminits

ish the suffering that

emotional in

origin,

and, further, that the action and passion of

man have but a Mortal man is

own

single source.

For

instance

so constituted that each one

arcs all others to live in conformity to his

notion of right and harmonious living.

In an unreasonable

man

this

desire,

when
But
in

thwarted, degenerates into suffering.

the reasonable man's soul this desire grows

into active virtue.

So

all desires,

so long as

they spring from imperfect knowledge, are

passions;
rightly

looked

upon,

rooted

in

clear cognition, they blossom into actions.

To comprehend
most
efficient

the emotions

is,

then, the

bounds.

method of keeping them in no other method seems to For the be within the limits of our power.

At

least

forming of clear conceptions

source of the powers of the

is

the

single

human
in

soul.
all

As

the

reason

succeeds

ordering

things under the conception of their neccssi

our passions are mastered and our sufferings

[113]

Health
decreased.

and

Suggestion
life,
illu-

Each phenomenon of
this insight, heightens

minated by
sorrow
one

our energy.

Experience confirms this truth amply.

Our
a

over

any

loss

decreases

with

recognition of the loss's inevitableness.

pities

No
But

an infant because
is

it

cannot speak
itself.

or walk and
if

not conscious of

the majority of
all

men came

into this

world

with

faculties

mature, and only occasion-

ally in

an infantile condition, then infancy,

being no longer looked upon as necessary and

inevitable,

would be considered

pitiable, be-

cause exceptional, and not necessitated by a

changeless law.
If

we

cannot, at all times, rise to a clear

cognition of the nature of our inclinations,

we may
ing

yet arrive at right action by assumtruths

certain

dogmatically,

absorbing

them

as far as possible,

and adapting them

life.

to the varying circumstances of

Among
if

such truths

is

this

that hate can be mastered

by

love.

If

we

dwell upon this truth,

we

consider the blessedness of love and the

[ii4]

Health
that

and

Suggestion
human
action, the evil

inevitable impulses of

men do and

that incites our anger will

play but a small part in our imagination.

This warning, however^ must be sounded:

that in the ordering of our thoughts

we
in

give

prominence to the element of good

thing considered; for only so
is

each

that feeling
If the deis

of joy born that leads to action.

sire

of fame incite you, consider what

noble

and genuine
true

in what you desire, and how fame may become your portion; do not
its

think of fame's misuse or

transitoriness.

Such thoughts torture him whose hopes are

wrecked and who thinks to seem wise when

he
sire
is

but venting his bitterness.

Those

de-

fame most ardently who are forever proits futility.

claiming

Thus

the impoverished

miser

is

never tired of babbling of the mis-

use of wealth and the vices of the rich; the

rejected lover bewails the inconstancy of the

female

sex.

Both succeed only

and
it

in increasing

their misery

in

showing that they can

neither bear

in a

manly

spirit

nor refrain

[us]

Health

and

Suggestion

from looking upon

others' happier fortunes

with a jaundiced eye.

One emotion

can only be conquered by an-

other and stronger one.

And
the
is,

those active

emotions are the stronger that are related to

the spirit of

man.

And

the activity of the spirit

more inclusive the more potent

it

to concentrate

all life

upon

a single end, the

rules.

stronger will be the emotions which

Now
at

the spirit of

man may
all

reach a point

which the forms of

phenomenal appearof God.

ances are

merged

in the idea

At
all

that point there arises in the heart the love

of God, the purest, best and strongest of

emotions.

In

it

all

others fade.
will

Lay hold
actively
all

upon
sions

this feeling

and you

walk

in a clear light,

having conquered

pas-

and

all

extreme desires.
like

But
one,
is

this emotion,

every other active

rooted in knowledge.
the nature

to

know

we learn of many things we apFor

as

proach gradually to a knowledge of the highest.

From

this

knowledge flows the deepest

[H6]

Health

and

Suggestion
And
its

happiness of the soul.

as love

is

but

joy or happiness accompanied by an imaginative

representation of

cause,

it

follows

that this joy springing

from a knowledge of

the universe, will lead us to that love of

God

which conquers
querable.

all things,

being

itself

uncon-

Our

happiness, our liberty, our health,

rest finally

all

upon the changeour mortal weal To be less and unchanging love of God.
sure, the majority of

men

think differently.

Obedience to their

lusts

they esteem freedom

and hold themselves enslaved when yielding to eternal laws. They do not realize that blessedness is not the reward of love, but love itself. We gain blessedness not by curbing
our passions; we curb them because
blessed.

we

are

And

so I have

come

to the

end of

all

desired to say of the mastery of passion and

the freedom of the

spirit. It is clear how much more powerful the wise man is than the The latter is driven around the circle fool.

[H7J

Health
tion, reaches

and

Suggestion

of external things, attains no inner satisfacthe world or

ceases to

no consciousness of himself, of God, and ceases to be when he suffer. No storm can sway the wise
Conscious of the eternal necessi-

man's
ties

soul.

of things and of God, he can never cease

The road which I have here mapped out may seem a hard one, yet is it to be found. It must be hard, for how else
to be or to act.

should
so

it

have been found and followed by

few?

But

all

things lofty are as difficult

as they are rare.

[118]

VIII

THE LAW OF CONTRAST

THE
There
in
is

life

of man,
is

like

the

whole of

nature,

subject to laws that follow,

accompany and condition each other.

a law of equilibrium in the universe
all

an etermerge nal pulse-beat of nature which propels life

which

contradictories

through the veins of the world.

Even

in

the

growth of
law,

plants,

these tender children

still

of

peace and silence, nature,

hides
a

true to this

profound contradiction.

For

plants

grow by the systematic development

power takes place
at each

of one knot or center of force after another.

concentration of

of these knots, only to spread out again and

shoot forth in the processes of plant formation.

This method

is

typical

of

nature's

[119]

Health
working.

and

Suggestion
is

In the whole of creation there

no advantage without a corresponding

lack,

no gain without loss, no rise without a fall, no contradiction that does not somehow end in reconciliation. So in the little world of
man's
life

there

is

a constant interchange of

tension

and

slackness, sleep

and awakening,
lives

joy and sorrow, like the systole and diastole

of our living breath.

circle

Our

move

in a

conditioned by such oscillations.

in this

Ac-

tion

and reaction

system are propor-

tionate to each other's strength.

A
"

naturalist offers the following remarks

pertinent to the subject.

He who walks too fast must soon slacken his pace. He who moves about too much must soon seek proportionate rest. He who
exhausts in one day the emotions and activities

of two, will soon be forced to a day of

inactivity

and

dullness.

The more

violent

the

excitement of

our waking hours,

the

deeper will be our sleep.

will

Equally a sensation
its

fade rapidly in proportion to

vio-

[120]

Health
lence,

and
its

Suggestion
is

and the impetuousness of a desire

briefness.
its

the measure of

point of rage

is

usually

The extreme end. And thus

too the freest and most self-sufficing soul will

be capable of the profoundest self-abnegation in the service of the

good of man."

If these living contrasts follow each other

swiftly
forces

and violently, it is plain that the vital must soon be exhausted. If, on the
life inclines

other hand,

too steadily in one

is

direction, the contrast,

tion, is lost.

which

also

its

condi-

Hence

learn to treat wisely

contrasts in our lives.

it must be our aim to and balance duly these Happy that man who,

at the brink of dissolution, can

summon

the

old vitalizing battle to his soul!

Equally

happy he

in

whom

the battle,

raging too

strongly, can be silenced

by voluntary repose.
oppose the varying

Thus

it

is

possible to
life to

elements of

each other and regulate

contradictory tendencies

among

themselves.

And

this is the

healing.

fundamental law of the soul's But no one can fulfill or even

[121]

Health
learned to

and

Suggestion
who
has not
first

learn to understand this law

know and

to rule himself.

It

is

not enough to be wary of meat and drink,

to alternate in
rest

proper order and proportion

or even to read

and

action,

my

reflections

on the influence of

feeling, willing or think-

ing upon man's health.

lence to yourself, if necessary;

self, train

You must do vioknow yourand

intellectually.

yourself, morally

Then and

then only will

you recognize the

meaning of that
nature which
is

integrity of the individual's

health.

Nor

let

any one
is

affirm that strength for such an effort

not

given him. The spirit is mighty: its command will create the power to obey. The necessity for joy and recreation after
periods of earnest activity or suffering need

not be insisted upon.

felt,

It

makes

itself

duly

even as the kindliness of nature comthe

pels
sleep.

weary body to gently

scholar,

irresistible

Only the

restlessly

delving

in the

mines of knowledge, needs a warning

not to transgress this

[

law of nature.

If

122]

Health
ice

and

Suggestion

Mephistopheles had rendered Faust no servbut a temporary release from brooding

activities,

Goethe's

hero

need never have

despaired.

Thus
it is

it

is

with

sleep.

With awakening
the strong

very different.
is

Here
its

hand

of compulsion
out each man's
for

often present.
iron

Life points

way with
it

wand.

Well
its

him who seeks

at once

and follows
it

wise direction before fate applies

to his

writhing back.

For

it

takes a high grade

of inner and spiritual culture to remember

the necessity for seriousness, even for pain,
in the ecstasy

of sensuous delight.

"

What

is that mysterious power? poet Salvandy, " which causes some

" asks the French

affliction

to arise
in

from our most vivid

were

joys, as if

man,
des-

tasting them,

faithless

to

his

tiny?"

The

truth that a sensitive soul has

here perceived in the moral world extends

itself to

the physical.

Pain
its

is

not only the

seasoning of pleasure but

very condition.
first

Thus night must have

existed

or there

[123]

Health
task,

and

Suggestion

could have been no day.

Nature knows its and never gives a loveless gift. It has added thorns to the rose and he who would
life

rob

of every sting would also rob

it

of

every joy.
often
free

A little
us

accidental annoyance will

from an hitherto incurable

melancholy.

Rich, satisfied and idle person^

are the usual victims of hypochondria.

inner warning compels
torture, for there
lives
is

Some

them to constant selfthe profound gap in their

fill.

which pleasure cannot

The

wise

man

prevents such painful feelings and seeks

even the inevitable shadow upon the garish

road of

life.

Twilight broods over the nor-

mal

fate of

man.

In the glaring light of

darkness of misfortune

happiness

as in the

lurk equal temptations.

And

he

who

has

known both
of joy and
sorrow.

will listen gladly, in the midst

light, to the still

small voice of

In the capacity to do that the art

of
is

life

culminates and the healing of the soul

perfected.

Upon

the

first

appearance of
[ 1

this

little

24

Health
book
it

and

Suggestion
who were
of
in

was the above paragraph that aroused

with

the antagonism even of those

agreement
"

my
the

general

argument.
Southern
asked a

What makes
woman,

thought

countries so immensely attractive,"

brilliant

" but that they present the

fair

image of an eternal Spring?

life

And

do we
not an

not conceive of a better

under some such

Is there
in a

symbol of lasting serenity?

element of monkish asceticism

view that
life?

makes pain

an

essential

of

human

Nay!

We

are here in order to be happy,

and our aim should be to make beauty and

goodness prevail over the earth."

How
tion

gladly would I agree to this conten-

of a beautiful soul.
its

Who

would not

desire to share

dreams?

But, alas,
in the

we
as

must work out our salvation

it
is.

world

If,
it is

for a space,

we

forget that fair

dream,
longing

but that

it

might return the sooner

us.

and remain the truer for

is

For man's

given him that he

may approach

the height of the ideal, not that the ideal

[125]

Health
Our dreams
us.

and

Suggestion

should be brought

to the level of life's reality.

are to guide our efforts, not be

realized and thus cease to be as stars above

All this the clear-seeing Greeks beauti-

fully

symbolized

in

the

myth of Zeus and

Semele.
if it

The

highest ceases to be the highest

be dragged down by a too constant use.

Reflect

upon our destiny with true thought,

not with idle wishes, and you will be reconciled.

You

will leave the

gorgeous heaven

of the oriental imagination to those

who

are

content to paint without the use of shadow.

If

more
us

perfect worlds await us, a

more

per-

fect or, at least, a different organization will

fit

for them.

In this world pleasure

is

is

conditioned upon pain which

at the root

of

life

and

its

activity.

And who,
heart
is full

after

all,

will

work

best

earthly lot

he whose
who
is

toward an amelioration of our

of futile
conscious of the reality

dreams, or he

of things as they are ?

Who to

matter on a lower plane

put the
life

will enjoy

most?

He,

surely,

who [126]

takes

the

world

Health
as he finds
it

and
and
Joy
is

Suggestion
himself to
it.

reconciles

Life

is

activity.

the emotion that acit is

companies

this activity

when
exist

unhindered.

But hindrances must

and must have

be.

existed in order that joy

is

may

And
Pain,

that

only repeating our former argument conin

cerning the necessity of pain.

word,
life,

is

the necessary spur without which

is

as

it

now

constituted, could not

go

on.

Nor
in

is

this

view a melancholy one.

It is
illu-

conformity to our true condition and

minates our destiny.

The blending
lot
is

of joy

and pain

in

our mortal

symbol of

the divine intention.

Without
nor,

suffering char-

acter cannot be shaped,

on the other
the end

hand,

can the spirit be cultivated without

pleasure.

of man.

Not comfort but duty The flat monotony of

is

indulgence

ends in a satiety that teaches us the blessedness of labor, and our

desires urge only the

own heaven-storming
folly to despair;

mind of

they attune a wise

[

man
127]

to

temperateness.

Health
The whole
life

and
of

Suggestion
be, but for the

man would

spur of pain, a blank page upon which he

should write the noble

if difficult
is,

record that

he has suffered, that

that he has lived!

is

And

the writing of this record

man's true

happiness.

We,

at least, can

have no conYouth,
full

ception of happiness but this.

of

its illusions,

can scarcely

rise to this reflec-

tion.

To

the mature
it

man who

has suffered
If
it

disappointments

is

an old story.
it

seems to rob
sates

life

of value, surely

compen-

by giving our earthly struggle a higher

Happiness
is

significance.

is

uncertain

and
Pain

transitory; duty
exists

assured and eternal.

its

but to bring forth

this

own

consolation.
life is
is

And
seal

very contradiction in our

its

the

of

high destiny.

No

smile

so

beautiful as one that struggles through tears,

no yearning
that

loftier

and more
satisfied.

lasting than one

can never be
truly

He who
cross,

re-

nounces,

enjoys.
still

The

wound
life.
is

with roses, will

be the symbol of our

The

contradictory element in our lives

[128]

Health
now
remains to seek
tical business

and
it

Suggestion
It
its effects in

established by an effort of thought.

and

the prac-

of existence and to inquire how,

in

each instance, the necessary equilibrium

may
the

Joy and sorrow are expressions of man's most sensitive side, namely,
be established.
emotional.

But

rest

and work follow

Activity
is

the same law of alternation.

the

condition of man's

life.

But an

activity ex-

cessive in duration or intensity

less

may

neverthebeing.

jeopardize the
is

harmony of our

Nor

the

same

rule inapplicable to the physi-

cal organism.

The
by

alternation between nouris

ishment and the expenditure of energy

be
regulated
is

to

temperance.

steady

oscillation

equally necessary in the highest

regions
subtlest

And of human thought. thinkers, who have tried to

finally

so

the

project

their
ing,

minds even beyond the

have
rests

limits of reason-

concluded that the weal of

man
It

upon an alternation of consciousness

and unconsciousness.
would, of course, be mere pedantry to
[

129]

Health

and

Suggestion

attempt to force a necessary spiritual and

physical equilibrium

attempt to regulate
a watch.

man

upon ourselves and to as though he were

is

By no

conscious act

conscious-

ness to be escaped.

Only a mood may be voluntarily summoned. Most favorable to

is

health and happiness

the acquisition of a

thoughtful and comforting attitude toward

life.

Such a

state, half-voluntary, will pre-

serve the golden

mean between
its

too intense an
It will deflect

absorption and
attention

contrary.

from ourselves and

with those

healthily blend

our

activities

of the universe.
cul-

This condition can only be attained by a

tivated soul;
it

cannot even be wholly ex-

pressed, possessing, like all the conditions of

man, a mystical, inexplicable residuum. On this subject Schelver has some pregnant reflections.

"Let each man consult

his

own

experience as to

when he has been most

blessed.

Surely in his activity, in a state not

of being but of a constant becoming.

then lost in the happiness of
life,

He

is

and his

[130]

Health
intention,

and

Suggestion
artifice

works, originating in no

or conscious

blossom from

his soul like leaves

fibers

and

fruits

from the tough

of wood.
seeks too

And

indeed

we know
them

that he

who

eagerly to grasp and hold the objects of his

desire will lose
illusory success.
in the

moment

of his

He

errs in trying to grasp

what he should receive. For all things are, and it only remains for them to be for him. Let him quietly receive and the gates of life For this reason memwill be open unto him. ory and with it true comfort return to the heart when age has dulled the edge of immoderate
desire
desire.

From

the conflict between

and

dissatisfaction

man

returns to the

holy instinct of

life itself."
is

Here, then,

an aim for the art of

and for the

soul's healing

life

to be ever clear-

sighted concerning oneself, but to avoid a

scrutiny too meticulous; to be able to regard

and objectively all the phenomena of being, within and without; to receive all
serenely
influences, assimilate

them, and yet to remain,

[131]

Health
amid
all

and

Suggestion
own

the shifting flux of things, oneself!

He who
teacher,
cian.
fall.

achieves this aim can be his

friend,
life is

adversary, protector, physi-

All

rhythmic, having

its

beat and

As our very

gait consists in a continual

falling forward, so all

rounded progress

rests

upon a harmony of alternating contradictories. This harmony differs for each individual.
It is

not to be found by reflection,

life.

but by practice in the battle of

achieved

It

is

when man

is

conscious of no organ

of his body and no activity of his soul as a

separate

organ or a separate

activity,

but

feels the functioning

of the former and the

projection of the latter to be

merged

in the

general expression of himself.

scious of an
is

To

be con-

organ

is

a sign that the organ

awry; to be conscious of none

that

is

health.

[132]

IX
HYPOCHONDRIA

THE
and even

healing power of the soul

applicable
foolish
to

is

di-

rectly

the

saddest and
infirmities,

most

of

human

hypochondria.

Reason,

morality,

humor,
in their

religion have attempted,

various ways, to combat this demon.

But

of late he has taken to affecting cleverness,

and no one who pretends to subtlety or distinction will repel him. To call him egotism
is

but a vain attack,

for

egotism

is

no^v

thought to be the
fulness

infallible sign

of thoughtto

and

liberality.
is

Let us attempt
a

show

that this monster

mere nothing, and

a

our attempt will be more

effective.

When Wieland
speaking at his
[

died,

venerable voice,
"

bier, said:

When man

be-

133]

Health
he usually
all afflicted

and

Suggestion
be
ill.

gins to examine his physical or moral being,

finds himself to

We

are

with a disease called

life."

There

was

a true definition of hypochondria, of that

species, at least, against

which the healing of

is

the soul can prevail.

There

another kind

which the physician must

mer, however,
is
it is

treat.

Of
is

the forit

not enough to say that

an imaginary disease.

There
of
it.

suffi-

cient reality at the basis

All of us

mortals are only relatively healthy.

has prescribed for him the
must, at
last,

Each
he
this

way by which he

go down to death.

And

needs but to scrutinize himself too closely or

with imperfect knowledge to recognize

way and
essary.

to travel

it

faster than

was

nec-

So long as

we

are well enough to

do

our day's work and to enjoy the

lows
it,

rest that folciti-

so long, I say,

it

is

our duty as

zens and men, to take no further thought of

our body.
nize
it

Pain
it

is

presumptuous.

Recog-

and

will

grow

apace.

But many

[134]

Health
men
is

and
it

Suggestion
until
it

pet pain and cosset

grows unPain

wieldy and threatens to destroy them.

great only in proportion to our littleness.

Imagine a Themistocles or a Romulus gaping at his tongue before a mirror or feeling

his pulse
!

go farther and

assert that fear,

which

is

the source of this evil,

may

be used

as a curative motive.

For does

fear heal?

Does anything

so precipitate the

coming of
life is

old age as the fear of it?

sian speaks of five

An
in

ancient Per-

ways by which

com-

monly shortened:
disease,

Want
and

old age, long

immoderate wandering, the constant

thought of death,

fear.

Is

it

not

true that the hypochondriac dies daily of his

fears?

He

is

the type of those wretched

creatures
cian,

who
who

are ever calling

upon a physi-

who

read deeply and morbidly in mediseek for infirmities in their

cal lore,

bodies and who, as has been well pointed

out, are as likely to die of a printer's error

in a medical

book

as of anything else.

These

[135]

Health
are
the

and
ciphers

Suggestion
whom
Plato banished

human

from
" Is

his

Republic and whose diagnosis he

not shameful/' asks Socrates, " to

gives so perfectly.
it

run to a physician not because an inevitable

disease has attacked us, but because idleness

and luxury have induced conditions

pains to invent names?

in us for

which the descendants of iEsculapius are at

If a carpenter be
it
ill,

he has a physician cure him, whether

be

by some purgative or an
ization.

incision or a cauter-

But

if

the physician were to give

him
dred

a long diet-list
little

and recommend a hun-

precautions, the

man would

at once
it

say that he has no time to be sick and that

would
over
miss

profit

him

little

to be ever concerned

and abandon the business by which he earns his bread. He would dishis condition

the

physician

and,

returning

to

his

wonted manner of life, continue to be healthy, to live and to work. But if his vital energy
be too weak to admit of
take leave of
life

this process,

he will

upon terms

so pitiful.

Thus

[136]

Health
would
the plain
calling lies

and
man
act.

Suggestion
Shall he

on a

whose higher plane think more

there's
in

meanly?

By

Zeus,

nothing

in

the
de-

world so hinders us

making a proper

mand upon

life

as an exaggerated anxiety

over our bodies.

Such an anxiety makes

affairs,

hard the conducting of domestic

de-

stroys the strength of the warrior

and prescience
ren-

vents the citizen from fulfilling his duties to

the state.
It
is

the death of art

and

and, dreaming ever of imaginary

ders comprehension

ills,

and

reflection impossible.

Wherever
proofs
of

it

be,

it

prevents

man from
healed

all

virtue.

iEsculapius
It
is

the

wounds of
that,

heroes.

nowhere reported
and

by long devices, he sought to extend the

existence

miserable

of

valetudinarians

thus permit them to beget a posterity as

weakly and as wretched as themselves.

man

weak and ruined by intemperance he deemed worthy of life neither for his own sake nor for that of his fellow-citizens, nor did he think his art given him for
congenitally
[

137]

Health
as

and

Suggestion

the sake of such an one though he were rich

Midas."
If this point of view seem to us not only
yet enough

antique but antiquated there

truth in
it

is

to

Intelligent
species of

make it worth our consideration. men have always -considered that

I

hypochondria of which
these

am

speakintel-

ing as a mere nothing.

lectual

of

One of the most

himself
a

victim

namely, Kant, proceeds like a true

German
upon

philosopher, and annihilates the obstacle in his

path.

He

asserts all

men who

insist

the reality of hypochondria to be unreasoning.

" If morbid fears attack him he seeks

If he find none or find that the
real,
is

their cause.

cause,

though

beyond the reach of

lets

his activity,

he turns boldly to the necessary

life.

business of
as

He

the anxiety

lie

by
his

though
to

it

did not concern him and promatters

that
constitute

ceeds

those

duty."

This determination has our complete

approval.
in

And we know
it

that

Kant succeeded

carrying

out.

For the sage of Koenigs-

[138]

Health
really caused

and
by

Suggestion
was
an

berg, in spite of the hypochondria that

flat-chestedness, attained

" There are grave diseases," unusual age. says Lichtenberg, " of which it is possible to
die.

There are

others, not so fatal, that

may

nevertheless be discerned without particular

study.

Finally there are those that cannot

be seen without a microscope through which,

however, they look horrible enough.

the microscope
is

hypochondria.

If a

And man
the

cares to use that instrument he will find himself

ill

daily.

Of

especial frequency

is

hypochondriacal existence of an imaginary

consumption.
ish

This notion

is

fed by the fool-

symptoms dwelt upon by romancers.

;

The

consumptive coughs, to be sure

but not every

Similarly

one

who coughs

is

consumptive.

are other

symptoms
left to

to be regarded.
a

In a

word, the diagnosis of

should be
alone."

complex condition

the physician

and

to

him

As

the hypochondria which

is

we
it

are here dis-

cussing

not even a disease,

[

may

be ne-

139]

Health
real distemper.
let

and
Make the

Suggestion
hypochondriac
ill;

gated and hence expelled by the attack of a

him

see,

for a space,

and he
this

will be cured.

what real illness is, And, finally, whether

wretched state be weakness, imagination,

dullness,

sloth,

egoism, disease or incipient

is

insanity, there

still
it

one angel whose flam-

ing sword will keep

man's
this

life,

from the Paradise of and that angel is activity. For

I

reason the hypochondriac deserves no

see

sympathy.
mania, and
the

no reason

why

social

stigma should not be attached to this wretched

its

willful victim be excluded

from

ranks

of the polite.
effective

Such a method

would be more
cal panaceas.

than any philosophi-

If society has ever the right

is

to attack the individual, this

an occasion

on which that right

hard put to

may

be exercised.

For
is

the hypochondriac will soon be cured if he

it

to live at

all.

Where, however, the

healing powers which
in
this
treatise,

soul has applied those

we have

attributed to

it

hypochondria cannot
[

exist.

140]

Health
I

and

Suggestion
path by the

should like to see the man, who, surrounded

fair imaginings, directing his
will,

by

might of a trained
ers

serenely regarding

the great world, and cultivating all his pow-

harmoniously

should like to see a

man
dria.

of such a temper attacked by hypochon-

To

elaborate that statement

merely to repeat myself.

enon of hypochondria
here.

itself
is

would be But the phenomhad to be treated

For the ailment

symptomatic of our

age.

There are three

especial predispositions to

hypochondria that concern the physician of

the soul, not the apothecary.
are
:

These three

egoism, idleness, pedantry.

Of

the

first

two we have spoken

at sufficient length.

The

third should be noted, the

more

so, as in life

qualities are often misinterpreted as

pedantry
it.

that have nothing

orderliness

in

common

with

Not
hardly

and punctuality,
It

qualities

conceivable in a state of excess,

constitute

pedantry.

is

the spirit of littleness that

forgets the end in the

means and

falls a

slave

[141]

Health
Not

and
who

Suggestion
name.
comin the better

to conventional idols that deserve the

the quiet scholar

pany of books neglects the noisy world, not he is the pedant, but rather that scholar who,
in the

world of books, forgets the world of

the spirit, to

whom

the letter, ceasing to be

a symbol, becomes a reality.

is

Such an one

concerned over the editions of Aristotle

careless of the Stagirite's thoughts; he

and
is

interested in the records of the past, but

life

unconscious of the

they express or the

Finally there
is

purpose which they served.

the pedant

who would

be the last

man

to

think himself one, namely, the gilded fop of

the drawing-room

who

has raised the social

observances that are mere means to pleasant

human Thus he

intercourse

into

serious

end.

esteems the trivial as serious, and

the truly serious issues of life as trivial.

And

these forms of pedantry are analogous to the

one with which

cerned.
tleness of

I
is

am
is,

here especially conlit-

What

more symptomatic of
142

mind, that
[

of pedantry, than to
]

Health

and

Suggestion
life in a

forget the true aims of

constant con-

cern over the minor ailments to which our

flesh
is

heir.

This hypochondria

is

a kind

of vanity of health.

It leads, in the end, to

it

spiritual death in proportion as

seeks, with

childish anxiety, to escape the death of the

body.

And
its

this

hypochondria
in

is

full

of

self-

satisfaction

and has even

closely.

our days em-

bodied

ideals in

an idol which we must exof famous

amine more
been

The melancholy
remarked.

men
of

has often
Aristotle

The

saying

that lofty and thoughtful souls are inclined

to

sadness needs

little

proof.

Camoens,
before us

Tasso,

Young and Byron appear

is

clothed in

an atmosphere of ideal gloom.

a distinction
first

But there

among

these.

For
cannot

the sadness of the

two

edifies us,

but that
I

of the others
fittingly

we

affect to

share.

pursue the immediate subject.

Great

men may embody

they choose.

their feelings in verse as

as
is

But of modern poetry

it

whole we may boldly declare that

not

[143]

Health
an
affair

and
men and
is

Suggestion
great sorrows, but

of great

of sickly conditions.
spiritual
letters,

Wretched, banal, unthe nurse of

hypochondria

and the appreciation of a

modern young poet

rather

will soon

need the physician rather than the

reviewer.

young

fellow,

spoiled

than trained
experience,

in the parental

home, without
all

knowledge or purpose, void of

of
certainty

power
of his

to

work or

to enjoy, becomes conscious

contemptible lack

and

healthy development.
to the theater

He
his

reads novels, runs

and writes

verses.

On

a sud-

den he perceives that

moral

vacillation

and

intellectual

boredom

are really an aching

void and an ideal yearning.

He

plunges his

hand

into the sea of

melancholy phrases with

last decenia

which the poetic streams of the

have well-nigh overwhelmed
in these waters
us.

He
in

bathes

and mirrors himself

them.

Camoens and Byron

But
his

are his fellow-sufferers.

since the

hour of modernity has advanced

sorrow

strikes

him

as

more

interesting
its

than theirs and he looks forward toward

[

H4]

Health

and

Suggestion
Thus
the poor

passing into a second edition.

wretch wears out his puling youth.

the stern
his

When

hand of
himself

life is really at his

is

throat

helpless

misery nor

complete.

Knowing
he
grasps

neither

the

world,

vainly at his poetic images which can help

him no
seek a

longer,

and he and
grave.

his

tawdry

glories

common
is

Such

the fate of the untalented.

But

the true poet himself

soul.

may

similarly

For he

loses himself even

wreck his more thorcre-

oughly

in the abysses of

ego-mania, mistakes

hypochondriacal moon-gazing for poetic

ation

and

at last suffers that frightful cleavlife

age of his inner

only pretend.
publics

to

which the tyro can

attract their
a

But such poets

everyone
is

and

since

member of

the reading public nowadays,

essary not to neglect these

it seemed necphenomena here.

We

must protest against the pseudo-Youngs and pseudo-Byrons, for we must cleave to life.
need courage, not despair.
Literature

We

of a different order

we have

ourselves- dwelt

[145]

Health
upon
But
is

and

Suggestion
means by
which
there
its

as

among

the most effective

which the soul may achieve

in addition to art

healing ends.

and to

activity,

the alpha and

still

omega of our method,

two things to be mentioned in our next chapter which are of more import to
are

the hypochondriac than anything that ever

was written

in

any book.

146

X
TRUTH AND NATURE

THE
istence

first

curatives as well as preventaall

tives

of

human
lead.

ills

are truth and

nature.

An

utterly pure

and

free ex-

we cannot
Here
is

We

are forced into

social
inter-

the

inevitable

conventions

of

course.

a restraint which
rule,

we

can-

not avoid and which, as a

to esteem.

we

are forced

But to add the coercion of an-

other untruth, another convention, and, above

all,

from within

this

would be
is

folly

deis

servedly punished by destruction.

There

but one morality and that

sin
life

truth, but

one

and that

is

untruth.

The former means

and

health, the latter

a secret
truth

means decay. Like poison do social pretense and unat

gnaw

our

vitals,

but we have ceased

[147]

Health
Never was
into

and

S u g g

e s

o n

to be conscious of their destructive

this evil greater

power.
So-

than to-day.

phistication of every kind has entrapped us

constant untruth of which

we

are as

proud

as city-women of their pallid cheeks.

Even

so the incurable invalid rejoices at the

cessation of pain.

Hope

illuminates his face

with a smile that strikes his physician as a

bitter

and

pitiful irony.

That
is

is

symbol of

our world.
himself.

No

one has the courage to be

nothing but the

And

yet health

opposing of our true and strong and sincere

selves to the hostile forces of the world.

The
" Be

thinker

is

not unconscious of this

evil.

true to yourself! " he calls out to a conven-

tionalized generation.
in truth
!

"

Your

salvation lies

"

And

this

warning should be ad-

dressed to every individual.

To

play a part

throughout the course of one's

it

life,

even

if

be played so gracefully that

of the

we may echo

the plaudit e

Emperor Augustus

even so

it

must wrench and exhaust the

vital

forces before their time.

And why

should

[i 4 8]

Health
we
as

and
Is
it

Suggestion
not easy to be sincere?

play a part?
it

Does

take any exertion to

really are?

we

there

is

show ourselves I would say: no strength without truth; and to

To men

women: without

truth

there

is

no charm.

And

genius

is,

in the last analysis, the

power

to be true.

The

original writer
sets

is

he who,

without consulting books,

has truly found
in his

down what he
self.

innermost

He

produces work which strikes the most erudite

His words have a freshness and immediacy which every poet envies
with astonishment.

him.
if

We

would, therefore, be better

truer men.

artists
in-

we were

Our

miseries

and

competencies grow from our falseness.

Let

us take courage to deceive neither others nor

ourselves.

To

have the source of

all bless-

edness within oneself, could there be a happier fortune?

Ourselves are the sources of

truth, of imagination

and of the pure

sides?

will.

And what
nature.

can save us from the falsity that

all

surrounds us on

deep joy in
at-

The

study of nature produces an

[

H9]

Health
selves can be

and

Suggestion
If the

omosphere in which our deepest and subtlest

born and developed.

is

tender plant which

our

spirit shrivels

and

seres in the hot-house of society, transplant

it

to an austere wilderness

and

it

will revive.

Even the Epicurean who has

must
soul.

tasted every joy

finally confess that those joys are the

highest which do not trouble the peace of the

And

these joys are two: the contem-

plation of the soul and the contemplation of

nature.

Nor

is

there any fact of loftier

and

deeper significance than this: that when the

greatness and loveliness of nature refresh the
senses,

the spirit

is

elevated and enlarged.

You may
ciety.

say what you please in favor of soit

Assuredly
is

teaches

man

his duty

and

there

nothing higher than that.

But only
eye that

solitude will give

him

content.

The

gazes upon the immeasurable blue of the

heaven or contemplates the glories of the

manicolored earth, loses sight of the mean
anxieties that harass

man

in the market-place.
all

The

thoughts of nature are

lofty,

and

[150]

Health

and

Suggestion

man's contemplations

may become like them. The ego becomes aware of its own littleness
and
yet,

with thoughts fixed on

infinity, finds

its

happiness in the eternal harmony of things.

It learns justice

of nature's changeless laws

nature which loves even

when

it

destroys, in

which alone are

sane spirits
a

truth, repose

and health.

All

who have

given

man

the fruits of

pregnant solitude,

have flourished amid

such feelings and will ever think of nature

with a deep reverence.

no feeling for nature

of a foolish paradox.
ists

is

That Lessing had myth that grew out It is among natural-

that you will find those scholars

who

at-

and serene old age. As the intimate study of nature, if it is to prove fruitful,
tain a great
necessitates a certain childlikeness of attitude

(such as

we
it

find in

Howard and

Novalis)

even so

creates this quality in those

who

pursue
youth.

it

and gives them the boon of

effort

a second

Every

of the spirit

is,

in a sense,

but

the study of nature.

And [151]

he

who

has the

Health
power and the
this point

and

Suggestion
from
sane
spirit

insight to treat all things

of view will keep his

and happy. Like the faithful rotation of day and night will his inner life move in the
circle

of law and he will at last and blessedly

his feeling for the
is

comprehend that
of the universe

harmony
itself,

that

harmony
it is,

of
it-

which the mind that thinks

self

of course,

but a part.

To

teach this truth, nature

its

implants a feeling for

loveliness in the

heart of the Savage and the child.

trate
this

To

illus-

truth

Newton

investigates

the

laws of the universe.

of

And

thus the purpose

man

is

attained

to

comprehend the moving

af-

spirit

of Creation and to rejoice in his knowlit.

edge of

The

consolation that this

fords can not be overstated.

He who
who

has

not experienced emotions of this order

consider

may

my

phrases empty: he

will at-

tempt to enter that lofty region of feeling

and thought will soon

least,

see

an adumbration, at

of the truth of what I say.

is

For every
in con-

man

an Antaeus and grows strong

[152]

Health
tact with his

and
mother the

Suggestion
earth.

Nature

af-

firms the individuality of each

human

being,
lit-

but
tle

in

her great and austere presence the

passions of the flesh and the world are

stilled.

Converse with nature

effects

all

that

we

have demanded of man

pages.

in

the

foregoing

man.

For nature works upon the whole fills his imagination with noble and refreshing images; it circumscribes and
It
its

strengthens his will;

mighty

silence

calms

him

its

workings,

infinite

yet curbed by eter-

nal law, induce thoughts that are vital and

energetic; the circling regularity of
its

appear-

ances establishes the equilibrium of his soul;

the multiform glory of
in leaf or star, puts
its

loveliness,

whether

mean
to

anxieties
its

and morgreatness
feeling,
in

bid preoccupations
raises us

flight;

above

ourselves until all

our

our thinking,

and our desire merge

religion
life is

submission to the divine order of the All.

Thus nature becomes

and
loftiest synthesis

and the
complete.

last

of

[153]

Health
It will

a n d

Suggestion

the

now be clear that all the efforts human spirit are essentially one
social

of

whether expressed through philosophy,

ethics,

art,

culture

or

spiritual

healing.

Nevertheless, this recognition of the oneness

of

life

must not deter us from the cultivation

specific fields

of our particular and

ests

of inter-

which will

finally merge, if but faithfully

tended, into the

harmony of

the universe.
if

These
pursued

reflections
in

could become endless

every direction possible.

I con-

recommending, as commentary upon this chapter, a book that truth, nature and religion seem themselves to have written, namely, the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius. All that remains for me is to summarize as briefly and practically as
tent myself, however, with
a

may

be the reflections of the foregoing pages.

[154]

XI
SUMMARY

REFLECTIONS
in the twilight

concerning that which,

of self-analysis,

we

call

the connection between soul

and body,
end
in

are futile or even dangerous unless they are

consciously

view.

made with some From this standpoint

unwelcome
in

practical
it

will not, per-

haps, be

marize

to our readers if

aphoristic

form

we sumresults

the

of our investigations.
First,

however,

it

will be well to offer a

fittingly,

few remarks that could not,

been

have

made before. The first condition of man's

and energy of

soul gaining

a mastery over his

body and thus preserving

his life
is

the integrity

that he

believe in the possibility of such a process.

[155]

Health
Theoretically

and
its

Suggestion
may, no doubt,
to

possibility
It

be demonstrated.
let the

seemed better to us

proof be a practical one.

instances
cited.

In addition
others might

to

the

given

many

have been

few of these may be

added now.

Mead
suffering

records the case of a

woman who,

from an abdominal dropsy com-

bined with marasmus

cal
affliction
!

was

a thoroughly physi-

cured by having her

thoughts energetically directed toward a certain object.

He

records another case of a

woman who,
izing,

in a state of decline,

from her most

distressing

was freed symptoms by realits

with a deep sense of

sinfulness, the
It

misguided conduct of her youth.

true triumph of learning
terests

was a
in-

and of learned

when Corning was healed of

a violent

fever by the pleasure he took in conversing

with a fellow-scholar.
stances
scious
treatise

Most of
is,

these in-

happen by chance, that

forethought.

without coninvaluable

In

Herz's

on dizziness, however, various exam-

Health
pies are

and
in

Suggestion
results

adduced

which similar

were

gained by the physician's wise forethought.

Nor

is

this all.

ventured to attribute to the

life

spirit

power even over

and death.

And

I can quote at least one authenticated case

where that power was exercised. It is given in the Austrian Medical Year-books (XIV.4.)
according to the relation of the British physician,

Dr.

Cheyne.

The

case

is

that

of

a certain Colonel Townshend who, at

lay

will,

down and suspended

all

signs of life.

His

pulse ceased beating; a mirror held be-

fore his face recorded no respiration.

Half

an hour
go.

later his heart

would begin

to beat,

his pulse to throb, his* breath to

come and
desire, at
re-

In a short while he would converse with

the attendant physicians.

this point,

But we

not to multiply proof, but to

capitulate.

The

belief in the healing

power of the soul

once thoroughly established, the next step for

the individual must be to learn to regard himself objectively.

difficult

problem!

For

[157]

Health
we

and

Suggestion

are not to practice the meticulous self-

observation of the hypochondriac, but to turn

upon ourselves a serene look, even one of good-humored irony, such as results from any true philosophy and from any healthy ethical
view-point.

When we come
manner
lead to active

analyzing

to regard ourselves in this

the stimuli in us that

self-expression

we

discern

something
thinks.

in us that wills,

and something that

This method of analysis we have

pursued and have discovered certain necessary

principles of a healthy life.

Turn your im-

agination toward the beautiful and joyful;

nourish your emotions on what

serene
art.
;

train both

is lofty and by a contemplation of great

Cleanse, strengthen
let
is it

and ennoble the

will

and
that

impel the ego.

Self-restraint

the great discipline which moral and

physical health demands.

And

self-restraint

can be achieved only by the law that

forces

man

en-

upon himself.

He who

desires to be

healthy, spiritually

and

physically, must, in

[158]

Health
rule himself

and

Suggestion
to
to this dewill experi-

some deeply earnest hour, have determined

and he must be true
life.

termination throughout
ence
relapses,

He

without doubt.

But steady,

willing and steady practice will

step easier, until the final victory

make each
is

gained.

Hence
this

it

is

man's duty to lay

this categori-

cal imperative

upon himself, and

to

oppose

new and stronger may come upon him.

state of the soul

I to the indecision that

Similarly a distraught
a collection
a slave of

must be met by

of

all

the faculties.

He who

is

evil habits
is

must tear himself

free,

and he who

at the

mercy of the moment

in

let

him
of

turn stringently to the habit of righteousness.

Let us develop
thought and
let

ourselves

the might

the understanding be fixed that knowledge of self

upon the ego.

which
is

Thus

analogous to the restraint of the will

can come into being.

To

these should be

added such genuine and

vital science as will

teach us the divinity of knowledge.

highest knowledge, teaching us to

And

the

merge the

[159]

Health

and

Suggestion
bosom of
that living

conception of self into the idea of the All,

leads us finally to the

faith wherein alone are enduring serenity

and

cloudless health.

small in his
is

Only he who has become own esteem can feel that which
it.

lofty

and can be reached by

Therefore

let

us hold in our hearts that beautiful prayer " for a clean spirit and great thoughts."

Repose, inner and outer,

is

the

first

and
ills.

most indispensable curative of human

In
it

many
all
it

cases

it

alone will suffice

in the rest

will be

an invaluable aid of other means;

will

in

prove the best preventative.

is

And

this repose

of the
it

spirit.

The
to be

study
for

of nature will induce

most
is

certainly,

which reason that study

ate zest

more

com-

mended to sensitive natures than the passionand partisanship engendered by the

to

contemplation of history.

One's temperament

is

be curbed and

balanced by the corrective of conflicting preoccupations.

Thus

the

active

strive to think; the thoughtful

man man

should
to act.

[160]

Health
The
life

and

Suggestion

passions should not be smothered and

with them the hidden seeds and essences of

and health.

They should

rather be bal-

anced, moderated, and ruled.

Let the active

passions and emotions be given free rein, but

the

depressing

ones

be vigorously curbed.

Courage, joy and hope

of health.
Culture
is

this is the trinity

to be achieved by the

tone and the direction

tions.

we

give our inclina-

This

is

the

method of God.
spirit.
is

And

our purpose has been to achieve the culture

of the body through the

The proper
brought

tempering of our natures

to be

about by a proper balance of contrasting conditions.

Thus joy

is

to alternate with sor-

row, tension with relaxation, thoughtfulness

with that appropriate

folly

which Horace

commends.
relieve

These states and activities will and complement each other like the

colors of a skillful painting.

itual illness will assail

And
is

no

spir-

him who

so pene-

trated by a sense of this necessity of change

that he will 2 if need be, call even painful
[

mem-

161 ]

Health
ories

and
itself

Suggestion
to
his
I

and sorrow

aid.

This
dis-

would be the

place, too,

where

might

cuss the changes of

mood

induced in the soul

by the alternation of universal phenomena, by the change of day and night, of morning,

noon and evening.

suffice.

But here a hint must

To him who

has already fallen a prey to

hypochondria we can only repeat the counsel

to turn his attention

from the

close

narrow-

ness of himself to the spectacle of the race's

universal joy and sorrow.

his

In sympathy with
or, at

kind he will cease to pity himself

least,

learn to deserve the sympathy of his

fellow-men.

In view of the great developis

mental processes which society

the dignity of a sacred duty.
ficult

now
is it

under-

going, this other-regarding attitude rises to

Nor

as dif-

of achievement as the confirmed egoist

think.
into

would have us
enter
utterly

For

so soon

as

we
it

another's

condition,

ceases to be alien

and becomes our own.

And

finally:

In the loveliness of nature,

[162]

Health

a n'd

Suggestion
him
the healing

the everduring and lifegiving, let every unblessed soul find or prepare

balm that
and

is

denied to no creature.

Amid

the

boundless multiformity of
fate let

him

find the

human character norm which it is

it,

his to

reach.

And, having discerned

and
to
truly,

let

him but

strive to be

remain himself
as
is

sincerely,

immediately,

the

Deity's creative word.

1 163

LEAVES FROM A DIARY

HE who
fairs

desires to keep

body and soul

in perfect health

must learn early to

concern himself with the general af-

of mankind.

Often

observing

myself

have

found

thought, even in the most turbid mood, free

and clear and forever unassailable by the

external.

But

could not translate

it

it

into

emotion or project

in

an action.

You
life?

desire to learn the art of prolonging

Let us rather teach him who truly

life

knows

the art to endure

it.

To

continue to observe, to think, to learn

[i6 4

Health

and

Suggestion

that alone can arouse our sympathy for

the life of
rent

man; of our own

that alone can keep the curlife in its course.

In the bosom of each soul slumbers the

rible seed of

ter-

madness, and
to

we must
keep
it

use

all ac-

tive

and serene powers

from awak-

ening.

The

dreary and ignoble skepticism of the

is

worldling

mere weakness.
fights

For every one

against

can resign himself to those

difficulties

which the strong man

alone

but which faith

can

conquer.

Imperfectly

educated

physicians are usually skeptics.

Cultivate the beautiful.

Beauty nourishes

both goodness and health.

Seek such society as leaves you stronger to

continue your chosen work.

The

society that

[165]

Health
leaves you
like a contagion.

and

Suggestion
fled

weak and empty should be

A moderate

optimism not only

life,

results

from

every sound view of

but

is

also the con-

dition of the soul's healing effort.

If you

are dissatisfied with the universe and hence

with yourself, your soul will be corroded by

wretched brooding and your inner health will

be
lost.

We
sician

should treat ourselves as a certain phyis

said to have treated his patients:

those

who were

incurable lost their lives

they

never lost hope.

" I don't

know why,

but I should regard

a black poison with

this clear liquid."
girl

more horror than I do Thus Merrimee makes a

about to poison herself.

speak

who

is

The remark

holds a weighty lesson.

Pain

[166]

Health

and

Suggestion

and pleasure depend upon the colors which

our souls lend the unavoidable.

A
death

philosophy which always contemplates

is

false.
life

dom

of

True philosophy is the wisand takes no account of death.

Given time, man can become the master of

any circumstance, be
sion or absorption.
it

through comprehenis

This process

analo-

gous to the body's becoming used to poisons.

The human
ment of
its

soul can not deny that

its

hap-

piness depends, in the end,

upon the enlarge-

innermost essence and possessions.

If any cultured person be asked

when he was
to

most happy, he
in the season

will confess

it

have been

of his youth

added new worlds

this

to his horizon,

to his intellectual heaven.

when every day new stars As one gets old,

blessedness

is

more sparingly granted.

[167]

Health
limit.

and

Suggestion
all,

Mortal knowledge

has, after

a definite

Thus our age must seek strength and content in meditating on what lies beyond.

Life

is

not a dream.
guilt of

It

becomes a dream

through the

man's soul which will

not heed the cry of the awakener.

"
is

How

shall I will, dear doctor, since

it

the very

power to will that I lack? " If you are lacking to yourself, dear pa-

"

tient,

what am
"

I to prescribe for

you but

yourself ?

[168]

wESSSL 0F CONGRESS

021

101 208 n