Evening star., 1923-01-27

forcibly in my contact with Amer
leans than the ceaseless activity of
their minds. Less precise, less un-
erringly logical, perhaps, in its work
ing than the French or Latin mind
in general. the American mind i'm
presses me as more open in character,
more pliable and more imaginative
than the European. In many respects
1t is curiously Celtic in it's manifesto
tons. The Celts have always possessed
strong imagination; their history and
literature have been stamped by it.
May be my own Celtic origin Is re-
sponsible in a measure for my faith
in the principles of autosuggestion.
The Celtic weakness. however. is a
tendency often to sacrifice reason to
Imagination. instead of disciplining IL
as one should do, in order to attain
real self-mastery.
The revelation of the American
mind came TO me through the ques-
tions put to me at my lectures and
in private conversations. In France
few questions are put to me in public,
and those which 1 am called upon
to answer usually have q bearing on
the actual why and wherefore of my
theories. The French mind prefers
first to discuss and argue on the
inquiring into its practical adapt
ability to everyday life.
The American mind, on the con-
trary, Immediately sees the possibili-
ties OF it and seeks. without more de-
lay. to carry the idea further even
ceived. If the idea seems reasonable
the American is ready to take il for
granted. temporarily. at least. that
it's exponent thereof is right, but his
own sWift-working brain and fertile
imagination lead him to perceive a
vista of developments along lines
still untraced.
Adaptation to Business.
To give an example. At a recent
lecture / was asked: Can autoSug-
gestion be adapted to business?" And
at Cleveland peHhaps one OF my most
appreciative and attentive audiences 8
was one composed exclusively of
business men who, fearing they might
not all succeed in getting admission
to the ordinary public ones, had or
ganized a surprise seance, at which
they could have me all to themselves.
I told them what had said in answer
to the question quoted above: or
course autoSuggestion can be adapted
to business. And 1 have reason to
believe that they were convinced. AS
a matter of fact, in business, as IN
everything else, we employ it con-
stantly, though often unconsciously.
The man of business, or the indus
trialist, or the salesman who has in
his mind that he is going to succeed.
that he is going to put through" his
deal, will certainly do so-if 1t be
materially possible. OF course, because
there must necessarily be circum-
stances sometimes quite outside the
control Of one individual.
But, apart from exceptional and un-
II ont inc
the realization of the projects Of a
man or woman imbued with the prin-
ciples Of autosuggestion Such a per-
son has confidence in himself. His
mind dwells on the elements of sue
cess. His imagination is trained in
the same direction. And the idea be-
comes, quite logically, reality.
might speak of another aspect of the
question. and show that a man who
knows the power Of suggestion would
others. but that would carry me too
far. The possibilities of 1t, however.
are obvious, although IL should be
clearly understood that am not al
luding to. anything even remotely
connected with hypnotism.
knowledge OF Force.
Advertising. which is only a manner
of employing the force Of autosug-
gestion, is always more effective
edge of that force. Americans, by the
way, must be gifted with 1t uncon-
sciously. judging by the clever, scten-
tifc welding of 1t manifested on all
sides in the advertising methods over
here.
The handling OF big STATS is also
made easier by aftosuggestion. The
man who knows how to put himself IN
the right frame Of mind to accomplish
the task he has set himself will know
I1~y 49, -kf ~
enthusiasm Of others working for him.
Indeed, even without any conscious ef-
fort on his part. the personality Of such
a man inevitably tunes the minds OF his
collaborators to the same chord OF
achievement.
An unusual query, but typical Of the
American habit Of seeing things from
every angle, was flung to me one day.
Would autosuggestion be Of any use
to the uncivilized tribes of Africa and
Asia? And could they understand, 2,
Now, that question seems at frst sight
whether autosuggestion would beneht
the insane, although very little ref1ec-
tion suffices to reveal the difference.
Whereas the mind Of the insane Is
obviously impervious to a mere idea,
which therefore cannot reach his sub
conscious mind the mind offa healthy
African. incapable as it may be to
analyze an abstract theory, yet is quite
able to understand simple suggestion,
either of a moral or physical charac-
ter. So I replied that, in my opinion.
there is no reason why autosuggesttor
should be less efficacious with the Afri-
can tribesman than with the citizen OF
New York. The missionary who per-
suaded the cannibal that II he per-
sisted in his scheme, Of making a meal
Of him the result would be violent indi-
gestion is a famous illustration Of this.
Practice Can BE Dangerous.
Then I am frequently asked IL the
a "a rfice Of : ai1fnsrI zee estiata can.!fe