Or will you choose the universe of the subconscious, our racial past
locked up in the secret chambers of our mind? Or will you choose the
universe of the superconscious, the infinity of genius manifested in the
arts? By the device of art man not merely creates new life, he tests it,
he weighs it and measures it, he tries experiments with it, as the
physicist with the molecule and the astronomer with light. He finds out
what works, and what does not work, and so develops his moral and
spiritual muscles, training himself for his task as maker of life.
Written words can give but a feeble idea of the wonders that are found
in these enchanted regions of the mind. Here are palaces of splendor
beyond imagining, here are temples with sacred shrines, and
treasure-chambers full of gold and priceless jewels. Into these places
we enter as Aladdin in the ancient tale; we are the masters here, and
all that we see is ours. He who has once got access to it--he possesses
not merely the magic lamp, he possesses all the wonderful fairy
properties of all the tales of our childhood. His is the Tarnhelm and
the magic ring which gives him power over his foes; his is the sword
Excalibur which none can break, and the silver bullet which brings down
all game, and the flying carpet upon which to travel over the earth, and
the house made of ginger-bread, and the three wishes which always come
true, and the philter of love, and the elixir of youth, and the music of
the spheres, and--who knows, some day he may come upon heaven, with St.
Peter and his golden key, and the seraphim singing, and the happy blest
conversing!
PART TWO
THE BOOK OF THE BODY
CHAPTER XVIII
THE UNITY OF THE BODY
(Discusses the body as a whole, and shows that health is not a
matter of many different organs and functions, but is one problem
of one organism.)
The reader who has followed our argument this far will understand that
we are seldom willing to think of the body as separate from the mind.
The body is a machine, to be sure, but it is a machine that has a
driver, and while it is possible for a sound machine to have a drunken
and irresponsible driver, such a machine is not apt to remain sound very
long. Frequently, when there is trouble with the machine, we find the
fault to be with the driver; in other words, we find that what is needed
for the body is a change in the mind.
If you wish to have a sound body, and to keep it sound as long as
possible, the first problem for you to settle is what you want to make
of your life; you must have a purpose, and confront the tasks of life
with energy and interest. What is the use of talking about health to a
man who has no moral purpose? He may answer--indeed, I have heard
victims of alcoholism answer--"Let me alone. I have a right to go to
hell in my own way."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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