The mirror., 1923-02-22
COUEISM
By Mr.. Fl. W.

"Hark! Hark! How the dogs do bark;
The beggars are coming to town;
Some dressed in rags, some clad in
tags,
And some in velvet gowns!"
l assure you, despite the exclamation
points, that the foregoing quotation es-
capped my lips only as hoarse whisper;
and l pass it on to you in purely con-
fdential manner, trusting that, you who
read, shall so receive it. 1t came tumb-
ling out, from amongst the store of
ancient acquisitions to my mental attic,
as I sat thinking of the many notables,
who, of late have braved the dangers of
the briny deep in an effort to bring en-
lightenment to the inhabitants of our
fair land, and relieve us of some of the
huge stores of yellow metal with which
our pockets are supposed to be lined. On
they come! When one is done, then an
other one. Tweedle dee, tweedle dunn!
Oh boy! Surprising; the number of
friends man has, when he's got the
dough.
And now comes Emile Coue. Barnum
must have known what he was talking
about; or perhaps they have been read
ing that the Masonic Temple, the Statue
of Liberty, and Central Park, are being
knocked down and sold every week to
some poor fish with more money than
brains. Perchance, tourists have even
volunteered the information that we
Americans are so flush with gold, that we
are erecting million dollar temples in al!
our cities, in which, to teach that all we
are, we have, or we see, is only in our
minds anyway. And so the great French
man has given us another song, to sing
as an accompaniment to our daily dozen,
Every day. in every way, 1 am getting
better and better"
Gosh! That ought to tickle our ribs un-
til we shake so violently that the boarded
dollars will simply roll out of our pockets
into the waiting sack held by our friend
and benefactor. If we faithfully persist
in this magic recitation, until our ego
shall become so inflated that we uncon-
sciously render it thus every day, in
every way, our heads are getting bigger
and bigger" does not matter at all. For
by that time, the great scientist will have
flown safely away, and can rest undis-
turbed by our rawlings.
However, no one with the least inteli-
gence, can, for single moment, dispute
the fact that our minds really are in
Ruenced by the thoughts that we so con-
stantly harbor in them that our every
environment leaves a record, not only
upon the mind and the SOUL but upon the
body as well. No one can challenge the
validity of Mr.. Coue's assertion that the
thoughts and mental attitude which we
maintain toward others, or the feeling
which others may entertain toward us,
whether audibly expressed or not, are
bound to revert back and influence the
mind of the individual who is the sub
ject of those thoughts. One need not ex-
press his mental attitude in words, for
do we not sense his feelings? And do
they not, invariably, arouse in us a re-
sponse corresponding to that which
emanates from him? Whether it be kind
ness or hate, joy or sorrow, helpfulness
or tyrannical oppression, love or anger,
manliness or brutality, inspiration or
detection, charity or greediness, forgive
ness or revenge, courage or fear?
Surely there can be no doubt of all this
But is it not just triAe far-fetched to
assume, that by maintaining a certain
attitude, and reciting certain thought,
however couched in words, that we will
be able to control the mind, the actions,
the health, or the success of the one at
whom they are directed? Would not
such concession imply the potency Of
the once credited powers of witchcraft?
That would seem. to many TO he the bo,-