Page:The Quimby Manuscripts.djvu/188

184 There is a vast difference between talking a theory, and talking about a theory. Talking about a theory is like talking about a science we do not understand; it contains no wisdom. Wisdom contains no opinion or selfishness; and, like charity, has no ill will towards its neighbor, but like the rays of the sun, is always ready to impart heat to all who will come to the light.

To cure a disease is to understand the law by which that disease was produced. To make it more plain, I will suppose a case. In supposing a case the person you address must suppose himself perfectly well. Now as thoughts contain a substance set in motion by error to form an idea, this substance acts upon another like a galvanic battery, and keeps up a deposit of thought till the idea is formed in the mind. These thoughts may arise from different causes. I will select one. Suppose you become acquainted with a person, the first impression is a shock from his mind, this shock is kept up till an idea is formed in your mind. The motive or disease is in the idea of the person from whom you receive the shock. To you it contains no knowledge. You receive it as a sweet morsel that you can roll under your tongue. You nurse and foster it in your breast till it becomes a part of yourself. You form a strong attachment for it, and as it contains the character of this father, you become attached to the author. When the idea becomes developed and you find what it contains, you see you have been fostering a viper, that will sting you to the heart. Grief, passion, fear and love, take possession of your mind; reason enters into the combination, and a warfare commences. Hatred takes the place of love, truth the place of ignorance, firmness takes the place of weakness, and a battle ensues. As truth works through this error or disease, wisdom and happiness take its place, the evil is cast out, the author or idea is despised, and the mind is changed. You see the deception. Your knowledge is the emancipation of the error, and all that followed it, the Truth sets you free and happy, which is the cure.

Now sensations can be learned before they affect the body or produce disease, so that they [will] fall harmless at your feet. It is necessary that all persons have a teacher, till they can teach themselves. The question then arises, How can a person believe in one whom he has never heard, and