THE SECRET OF MEMORY 
 
 The Demonstration of a New Theory 
 By A. VICTOR SEGNO 
 
 Copyright 1906 by 
 
 A. VICTOR, SEGNO 
 
 All Rights Preserved 
 
 Los Angeles, California 
 
 Segnogram Publishing Company 
 
 1908 
 
nuT 
 
 0* 
 
THE SECRET OF 
 
 By A. VICTOR SEGNO 
 
 PREFACE 
 
 My dear reader, I have written this course of instructions for 
 the men and women who are ambitious, and desirous of acquiring and 
 retaining greater knowledge than they now possess those who have 
 begun to realize the great losses they sustain as a result of 
 being unable to remember the right information at the right time, 
 
 - Believing that you have been attracted toward this study be- 
 cause you are in need of the information it contains, I am going 
 
 218548 
 
to talk to you Just as I would if you consulted me personally. I 
 have an entirely new theory to explain, and I shall try to do it 
 in the most simple language that will make my meaning clear to 
 you. 
 
 I believe that the ability to recall information when needed is 
 one of the most valuable assets anyone can have and that it will 
 do more toward creating success and happiness than any other one 
 faculty possessed by man, 
 
 Several years ago I became convinced of the need of a better 
 understanding of the mental process called Memory, or remembering. 
 Therefore, I commenced on a line of investigations which have 
 yielded most gratifying results. Having tested my theories for 
 the past three years and found them true in every case I am now 
 ready to give you the benefit of my labors. All I ask of you is 
 that you give these theories an honest test. Having done that, I 
 am satisfied to abide by your decision as to their merits. 
 
 A. VICTOR SEGNO. 
 
 Los Angeles, 
 August 1, 1906. 
 
LESSON I. 
 
 "Oh, what would I not give if I 
 could only remember that name?" 
 
 Ohl I forgotl Is there another sentence in our language that 
 represents as much loss, disaster, and suffering as these two 
 words? Think of the broken engagements, the friendships sacri- 
 ficed, the lives lost, because someone "forgot." 
 
 There is no single mental or physical deficiency so disastrous 
 to progress, economy and success as an imperfect memory. It is 
 the most expensive misfortune anyone could be burdened with. It 
 loses for its possessor every year a thousand times as much as he, 
 with all his other powers, can succeed in saving. It forces him 
 to study and work hard and then only allows him to retain a very 
 small part of what he has acquired. It robs him of his greatest 
 powerknowledge-- just when he needs it. most. It forces him to do 
 his work over and over again at a great loss of time and money 
 because of errors and omissions. 
 
 Many men and women remain slaves to laborious work all their 
 lives because they are unable to recall the things they see and 
 hear each day. They remain uneducated because they forget what 
 they read and what is told to them. They remain in unpleasant 
 
localities and associate with undesirable people because they are 
 unable to remember the lessons which would elevate their position 
 and purify their surroundings. 
 
 Our power to cope with the affairs of life are represented by \ 
 the amount of information we retain and not by the number of 
 subjects we have attempted to study. What value would there be in 
 studying twenty subjects today if we have no means of retaining 
 the knowledge and must forget it in a day or a week or a month? 
 What use would there be of earning a large salary if one let it 
 all slip out of a hole in his pocket before he reached home? What 
 would be the use of - a lawyer studying the details of his client's 
 case if he were unable to recall the facts when the case was called 
 into court? What would be the advantage to a man if he should 
 take up the study of medicine and disease and when called in on a 
 case be unable to remember what disease was indicated by the 
 symptoms shown by the patient or if he should forget what he 
 should prescribe? The chances are he would make a mistake that 
 would cost the patient his life. 
 
 Every few days we read of some train dispatcher who started a 
 passenger train on its journey and then forgot to send a message 
 to an incoming train telling it where to wait and pass the out- 
 going train result, great loss of life and property and all 
 because of an imperfect memory. 
 
You cannot have failed to observe the vast number of apparently 
 bright business men who have met with failure. They did not fail 
 because they did not know how to succeed but because they allowed 
 themselves to forget to do the necessary thing at the right time. 
 Their memories were either naturally defective or they allowed 
 something else to occupy their attention at the time their 
 business needed their advice. They simply forgot the time and the 
 necessity of certain action which would have made success for them. 
 
 Look at the failures many men and women maKe of their lives! 
 It is not because they do not know better but because they have 
 forgotten to use^at the right moment, either tact, politeness, 
 patience, kindness, truthfulness orcperseverance. It is the 
 things they have forgotten that rob them of success. 
 
 You can set it* down as a fact, that the more successful a 
 person is the more perfect is his memory, and likewise the greater 
 the failure one has made, the more he has forgotten that he should 
 have remembered. 
 
 As an example measure your own accomplishments for a few days 
 and you will readily see where you could have done very differ- 
 ently if you had only been able to recall certain information, 
 facts and figures at the right moment. Some important matter 
 comes up that demands prompt action, yd'u must decide at once and 
 on your decision depends the success or failure of the proposi- 
 
tion--what would, you not give to be able to recall with promptness 
 all the information .connected with the subject so that you might 
 be certain of making the correct decision? You make the decision 
 and in twenty-four hours after, when it is too late, you remem- 
 ber certain facts which if you had recalled them at the right 
 time, would have changed your decision. Too late now. Behold the 
 disappointment and possible loss to yourself and others and all 
 because of an imperfect memory. 
 
 The people who forget to sign their name or address to business 
 letters cause much loss of time and annoyance to themselves and 
 to others. The people who forget to pay their bills on time lose 
 their credit and the confidence of their fellowmen. The man who 
 forgets his umbrella usually gets wet. There are thousands of 
 ways in which a forgetful person retards his own success by at- 
 tracting from others criticism and unkind and unhelpful thoughts. 
 Do you not know this tc be true i^ your own experience? 
 
LESSON II. 
 
 Memory to most people means remembering--the opposite of 
 forgetting. Beyond that they know very little about It. It Is 
 not surprising that the public should be so uninformed, for even 
 men of science have overlooked the secret. 
 
 Ask the average well-educated man how we remember the things 
 we see, hear and feel, and he will most likely answer you that 
 they are in some manner either printed, impressed or photographed 
 on certain brain cells and that we sort out the pictures we de- 
 sire to review. He will not tell you how we locate and recall 
 the particular scene or knowledge we need, because his knowledge ' 
 regarding memory is limited to what he has read or heard, and 
 "beyond that all is vague. He possibly does not know that the 
 so-called memory cells, or seat of memory, of which he speaks has 
 never been found in the brain of man. 
 
 Let us consider the theory of memory cells in the brain and 
 see what results we arrive at. If all the different scenes, 
 sounds, words and feelings which we experience each day of our 
 lives were stored up in a separate cell in our brains, allowing 
 that these pictures be ever so small, how could they be contained 
 in so small a space as that occupied by the brain. Stop and 
 consider what passes before your observation in one day, 
 
 8 
 
then multiply that by 30 and see what an enormous amount of space 
 would be required to contain the experiences of one month. Then 
 think of the twelve months in each year and you will find it 
 beyond your comprehension. 
 
 If in the brain there were a cell for each thought, picture 
 and experience that passes before our mind's eye, Nature must 
 have constructed within our brain millions of cells and be holding 
 them in readiness, waiting for the pictures. We know that all 
 cells are physical and that it is a fact that in the physical 
 body any unused part wastes away. This being so, cells made in 
 advance would as a result of inaction die and disappear. Then 
 Nature never makes anything unless there is use for it. Neither 
 does she make cells instantly to accommodate a thought or a pic- 
 ture, for this would require a process of instantaneous physical 
 construction. This ws know could not be so, for Nature does not 
 perform miracles. All development is the result of growth, and 
 all growth is the result of use and exercise. 
 
 Let us consider this further by means of an example: Two boys 
 who had spent some months together parted and never met again for 
 twenty years. Each had forgotten the other until one day they 
 were brought together again. Instantly the experiences of the 
 few months spent together came back to them as vividly as though 
 it had been but yesterday. What I wish you to decide is: Did 
 
 9 
 

tnose memory calls lie idle and useless, occupying valuable space 
 in each boy's brain .for twenty years and then suddenly start up 
 from inactivity and reveal the boyhood scenes imbued with life- 
 like naturalness? Do you think physical cells could do this? 
 Could you close your eyes for twenty years and then expect to see 
 with all the clearness of youth? Could you tie up your arm and 
 leave it inactive for six months or a year and then instantly put 
 it into action and find it strong and reliable? Have you ever 
 spent from three to five days in bed? Then you know how weak your 
 legs and body were when you got up and tried to walk. If so much 
 weakness is produced in a few days of non-use of the strongest 
 muscles of the body, how much would be left of a tiny cell after a 
 year's inactivity and non-use? I am sure you will need no further 
 comparisons to convince you that memory is not dependent upon phy- 
 sical cells. 
 
 The theory of memory cells and recorded pictures therein is 
 incorrect, in fact impossible, because the brain is not made up of 
 sheets or pages on which the mind photographs pictures, neither 
 is it made up of cells such as bees construct for holding honey; 
 each cell filled with a record of some specific scene or word of 
 knowledge. This separate cell system, if true, would limit our 
 intelligence to the number of memory cells provided in our brains. 
 When these were all filled it would be necessary for us to start 
 
 10 
 
a mental housecleaning and empty some of them before we could take 
 in new knowledge. Did you ever try to forget some certain thing? 
 I will wager that those things you tried hardest to forget you 
 remember most clearly today. Am I not correct? 
 
 If the memory cell theory were correct it would be necessary 
 for us to have a separate cell for each word in our language and 
 should we study other languages another like number of cells would 
 be needed, and all these to be kept within the small space occu- 
 pied by the brain. People acquire a thousand times more informa- 
 tion after they pass their twentieth birthday than before and yet 
 it is noticeable that our heads do not enlarge to any extent after 
 that age. Then where do we store the mental pictures? No one can 
 answer this question because no one knows. No one has located any 
 such system or organs in the brain. 
 
 Scientists have never been able to locate the memory cells or 
 the seat of memory in the brain, although they accept the state- 
 ment that it is there, somewhere, because they observe its action 
 there. They did not find it, because it is not there. I cannot 
 tell you what memory is, because there is no such thing. This may 
 appear to be a strong assertion and so it is. No stronger asser- 
 tion has ever been made regarding physical or mental science. 
 However, I know i can prove to your satisfaction that it is so. 
 
 11 
 
LESSON III. 
 
 It is not my intention to pull down a theory to which the peo- 
 ple have clung without giving a better one in its place. 
 
 In my researches I have examined the human brain and studied 
 its formation and have found that it is not composed of cells as 
 is erroneously believed, but instead, is made up of a great number 
 of fine threads, each being distinct in itself, but closely asso- 
 ciated together as are the threads in a skein of silk, a strand of 
 rope, of as are telegraph and telephone wires when bound together 
 to form a cable. I found that these threads or cords lead to and 
 are connected with the nerves of sensation which are intimately 
 associated with the sense of sight, * hearing, smell, taste and 
 feeling. In further tracing these brain threads I lound that they 
 passed to the back of the head and neck, and there entered an 
 opening in the spine. There they are known as the Spinal Column. 
 From there they diverge at various points and connect with the 
 system of nerves that lead off in all directions, connecting with 
 all the internal and external organs and muscles of the body. Thus 
 forming a connection between the organs located in the head and 
 those in the body. This physical fact, which any student of anat- 
 omy can prove for himself, if he cares to examine a dissected 
 human brain, had a new meaning for me. It convinced me that the 
 
 12 
 
brain was not a storehouse for memory, where scenes and experi- 
 ences were gathered together and left to wait until called for. 
 I knew that Nature was too economical to waste space in that way, 
 so I began a series of experiments which lasted several years and 
 finally resulted in my finding the Secret of Memory. 
 
 This secret, like all discoveries of great value, seems a very 
 simple thing after it has been explained and you will no doubt re- 
 mark: "Welll Why did not some one find that out before?" 
 
 Did it ever occur to you that the language you speak is not a 
 language composed of thousands of words as you speak them but a 
 language of twenty-six letters. That all the beautifully expressed 
 sentiments of the poet, and the 'powerful eloquence of the orator, 
 are constructed from these twenty-six letters. That all the beau- 
 tiful music you have ever heard was composed from seven notes. 
 That every message sent over the telegraph is composed from the 
 code of signs which correspond with the twenty-six letters of our 
 alphabet? 
 
 The Telegraph instrument does not contain in storage each word 
 in our language, yet it can receive and transmit them all. The 
 piano, violin or other musical instrument, does not contain within 
 itself a single chord of music, yet with its seven notes any con- 
 cord of sounds can be produced, recalled and reproduced again and 
 again at the will of the operator. 
 
 13 
 
Man discovered these simple methods of production and repro- 
 duction and yet he did not realize that in this discovery he had 
 found the system by which his own brain operated. 
 
 The gray matter called brain is composed of minute threads, or 
 chords, each tuned to respond to a certain vibration as is the case 
 with musical instruments and the wireless telegraph instrument. 
 Touch a certain string on a violin and it vibrates and gives forth 
 a certain sound, this sound travels through space. Touch the key 
 of a telegraph instrument and a vibration is created that without 
 human assistance travels to its destiny and records the message. 
 The result is the same whether sent over the wires or without 
 them. 
 
 The brain is not a storehouse of knowledge but is a dispatching 
 and receiving instrument. Its complete system of wires between 
 the mental organs and the physical is so perfect that if you 
 hurt your foot the vibration is instantly conveyed to the head. 
 If the eye, ear or nose discovers something pleasant or unpleas- 
 ant the corresponding sensations (vibrations) are instantly 
 transmitted to some part of the body. If the nose detects the 
 odor of appetizing food, thoughts are set in action and the in- 
 formation goes at once to the stomach. If the eye detects a 
 beautiful scene or the ear hears music or other pleasant sounds 
 
 14 
 
thought vibrations of ecstasy pass over the entire body. Thus the 
 body is kept as well informed as the head. 
 
 There is equally as much gray matter or brain in the body 
 (note the blind man's fingers) as we find in the head. The head 
 is only the central receiving and dispatching station through 
 which all messages pass. 
 
 15 
 
LESSON IV. 
 
 To make this explanation as simple as possible, I must state 
 that intelligence is universal; that it exists everywhere j has 
 always existed and will always exist, and that it is as free as 
 the air we breathe; that each and every person is entitled to 
 call upon the Great Storehouse of Knowledge for all the informa- 
 tion he needs and that he will receive all he is prepared to 
 understand and use. It is not my intention to go into an explan- 
 ation of this subject of Universal Intelligence, as I covered that 
 fully in my book, ' 'The Law of Mentalism, ' written some years ago. 
 In these instructions I am dealing with memory. 
 
 As I said before, the brain is an instrument for receiving and 
 dispatching thoughts -- vibrations of intelligence. It has its 
 code of vibrations which correspond with all the lights, colors 
 and sounds in the universe. Every brain uses and recognizes the 
 same code, no matter what language the person speaks. We neither 
 see, hear, feel, smell nor taste until the existing conditions set 
 into action the thought vibrations which enter the brain and are 
 transmitted to those particular faculties. 
 
 Just as the telegraph operator can draw upon the Universal 
 Intelligence and send it over the wire so that every operator 
 along the line can recognize it, so you or I can send forth a 
 
 16 
 
thought vibration and it will reach every brain that is ready to 
 accept it (is tuned in harmony) if that brain is not too busy with 
 other things when the message is passing. 
 
 Every vibration of intelligence (thought) that you recognize 
 and entertain is transmitted to all parts of your body and its 
 influence directs either the construction, destruction or recon- 
 struction of certain parts, and thus prepares the body so it will 
 act in harmony with the thought, making it a part of the thought 
 and tuning it so that it will attract and respond more easily the 
 next time that particular vibration reaches it. 
 
 The mental code of one mind being the same as that of all 
 others, when a thought goes forth it vibrates the same wires in 
 some other brain and that person immediately recognizes the 
 thought and what it refers to. All light, color and sound being 
 a specific number of vibrations, when we behold a scene it calls 
 forth in our brain a variety of vibrations according to its 
 lights, shades and colors, and thus enables us to see the picture. 
 
 To make the explanation simple we will take an example and 
 allow that the brain has a code of twenty- six vibrations (in 
 fact it has a code covering thousands of vibrations, so finely and 
 accurately is it adjusted) and twenty- six brain wires, each cor- 
 responding with the sound vibrations of the letters of our 
 alphabet. Now when the thought of love comes to you it indi- 
 
 17 
 
cates that the wires which give forth the vibratory sounds of 
 L.O.V.E. are vibrating, that the thought of love is passing 
 through the air, and that you are in a receptive condition and 
 have attracted it to you, or that someone has sent you the thought. 
 This thought passes over your system of nerves, makes its pleasant 
 influence felt and passes on through space to arouse similar 
 pleasant vibrations in the brains and bodies of all who are 
 prepared to receive them. If you think of hate the action is the 
 same, but ydu are injured by the unpleasant vibrations instead 
 of being benefited. 
 
 Had your brain been entirely occupied with other work and 
 thought, neither the thought of love or hate would have reached 
 you. Therefore, the secret of keeping injurious, unpleasant and 
 unhealthful thoughts away from you lies in keeping your brain busy 
 attracting and using pleasant, desirable thoughts. You have a 
 will and you can select for yourself the character of the thoughts 
 you will entertain. It rests with you to select those that will 
 be of benefit or those which will destroy you. 
 
 Thoughts and intelligence do not exist within our brains any 
 more than the music of an opera exists in the instruments used by 
 musicians, or the message in the telegraph instrument, or the 
 written letter in the typewriter. Our brains are simply instruments 
 through which intelligence is brought to us. The brain wires are 
 
 18 
 
tuned by the passage of intelligence (thoughts) just as the 
 wires or strings of a musical instrument are tuned by the tension 
 or pressure exerted by the player. 
 
 Thousands of thoughts pass by us every hour and we know 
 nothing of them because we do not attract them to us. Others 
 reach us, pass over our system of wires, and pass out, leaving 
 little or no impression, because we either have no immediate use 
 for them or for other reasons do not hold them until they have 
 created a change in us by becoming a part of us. Many people gain 
 very little intelligence because they are indifferent, and allow 
 the thoughts that come to them to pass away without holding and 
 using them. 
 
 After a brain wire or set of wires have been tuned by the 
 holding of some particular thought vibration, the wires will at- 
 tract the same thought and picture it before the mind's eye over 
 and over again, and each time with greater ease. You can strike a 
 note on the piano and the vibration will cross the room and cause 
 a tuning fork or the string on a violin to vibrate in unison. A 
 vibration once created never dies; it goes on forever. The 
 string will cease vibrating, and the sound will melt away, but 
 that is the proof that it travels. If it does not stay, then it 
 must go forward. If it did not travel you could not hear it, for 
 your ear does not reach out to the sound; the sound comes to your 
 
 19 
 
ear. Likewise your eye does not go out to the mountain seven 
 miles away, but instead the vibrations of light and color from 
 the mountain come to your eye, affect the nerves and you see it. 
 In the case of the person who is termed deaf, it is because the 
 vibratory drum of the ear is thickened and does not vibrate easily, 
 so that only the louder (stronger) vibrations can be heard by him. 
 In the case of the person who is near-sighted or partially blind, 
 there is a physical defect in the vibratory nerves of the eye, 
 hence only strong vibrations from things which are near make an 
 impression. 
 
 The same law applies to taste, smell and feeling. There- 
 fore, it is not possible that the same scene, sound, taste, etc., 
 will appear the same to all people. It all depends upon the 
 acuteness of the senses. The person with acute sight will see 
 several times as much in a scene as will the person whose sight 
 is dulled, and his description is, of course, much more to be 
 relied upon. The other person, however, through not being able to 
 observe all, might deny that it existed. The person with acute 
 hearing will get many times the pleasure from listening to 
 music that the average person would. The people with the most 
 acute senses get a more perfect mental picture and, therefore, 
 have a better memory- -that is, they can call back to them, when 
 they desire it, all that they have seen or heard. 
 
 20 
 
When we recall a picture of the past (all experiences appear 
 as pictures before the mind's eye) we mentally run over the brain 
 wires as one would Over the keys of a piano, and when the cor- 
 rect combination is touched the system of nerves responds and we 
 draw it to us again where we may review it in all its details, 
 and hold it until we wish to let it go and call some other in 
 its place. By this power of thought we can call to us unlimited 
 knowledge and constantly pass through any scene or part of the 
 world we have ever visited. 
 
 21 
 
LESSON V. 
 
 What we have learned to term ** thoughts'* are flashes of intel- 
 ligence which we have attracted to us. 
 
 Thoughts or intelligence are not contained within a book; it 
 is made of paper and ink, but the signs or letters therein act 
 upon your brain through your sight, just as when you look at a 
 flower 'or at the sky, they stimulate thought vibrations; therefore, 
 when you read the works of an author, though his body may be dead, 
 your senses vibrate the responsive chord in your brain and you 
 are at once in tune with the intelligence he drew upon when he 
 did the writing. 
 
 No one, no matter how intellectual he may be, can take from 
 humanity one particle of knowledge when his body dies, for no 
 man has any intelligence within himself. If all the people in 
 the world but one should suddenly die, that one would have at his 
 command just as much intelligence as any man ever had before. 
 
 In reading a "book, you virtually read between the lines- -you 
 get more than is printed on the page. That is why it creates 
 the various sensations and emotions. It is not the words but the 
 thoughts which you attract to you that make you feel- -that make 
 an impression. Sometimes but a word is necessary to put you in 
 harmony- -one chord is struck and instantly all the associated 
 
 22 
 
thoughts rush in. They come to your brain for the first time. 
 From where? Not from within but from the Great Source of all 
 intelligence . 
 
 Have you not had thoughts come to you which were seemingly 
 not the result of anything you had done, seen or heard? They 
 just came to you without desire or effort on your part, and yet 
 they seemed so vivid, so real, that you felt they were a part of 
 you. Those same thoughts have returned to you again and again. 
 It was not from the brain memory these thoughts came the first 
 time, or you would have recognized their connection with your 
 past life. Then why should they come from memory the second or 
 third time? Where they came from once it is reasonable to 
 believe they can come from again. The means that carried them 
 to you once could do it the second and third and the hundredth 
 time. There would be no reason for using two methods of doing 
 one thing when one was sufficient- -one for the thought when it 
 first came and another for its future visits. The process and 
 faculty that brings one thought picture to you brings them all. 
 All that is necessary is a like condition to produce a like r>. 
 suit. The same cause must always produce the same effect. 
 
 You know that all the things which you recall to you come in 
 thought and that these thoughts are represented in your brain by 
 pictures. If they did not come as pictures, you could not under' 
 
 23 
 
stand them. When you see the word * 'horse'' you at once see with 
 your mental eye the picture o'f a horse. While it is true that 
 you can recall pictures you have seen before, it is also true 
 that you can retire to a dark room, and by the same mental action- 
 bring to you scenes" and thoughts that you have never experienced 
 before. These could not have been stored away in cells in your 
 brain, or if they were how did they get there without your 
 knowledge, without your having experienced or seen them? 
 
 If our brains had^to depend upon what we see and hear and 
 upon the amount of it we are able to store away in that unlocated 
 part called memory, our opportunities for education would indeed 
 be very limited. If such were so, then how could we account for 
 the new ideas that come to us; for the natural musicians who have 
 never taken a lesson from a teacher, the brilliant ideas of 
 geniuses --the men who do great things which have never been done 
 before and for the fact that all men/do their best work, that 
 is, attract the best ideas for their' purpose, when alone in se- 
 clusion away from the outer worldv How are we to account for the 
 facts I am setting forth in these instructions, when almost 
 every person who considers the subject at all accepts the theory 
 that we ha-ve a place in our heads set apart as a storehouse for 
 memory? 
 
 The facts I am giving here are certainly not the result of 
 
 24 
 
anything I have heard or read, but instead are in direct op- 
 position to the ideas held by the general public. The first of 
 these thoughts came to me one day while I was making an examina- 
 tion of the construction of the gray matter of the brain of a 
 dissected subject at a medical clinic. The thoughts were only 
 a few at first, but they interested me and as a result have re- 
 turned to me repeatedly, and each time bring additional facts 
 with them. 
 
 If it were a fact that each thing we see prints its picture 
 upon the brain, and that memory is the recalling of these pictures 
 again before our mental eye, what do you suppose would occur 
 when we wished to recall the picture of our mother, our father, or 
 some ornament or piece of furniture which we had seen hundreds and 
 perhaps thousands of times? When we called for the brain 
 picture, would we not be confronted by a hundred, or, possibly, 
 a thousand pictures all alike or differing very slightly? 
 Would we not be forced to look at the picture of one hundred 
 chairs instead of one? If I looked at my pencil one hundred 
 times in one hour, what wisdom or economy would there be in Nature 
 if it made one hundred separate pictures of that pencil in my 
 brain; and yet, if the brain records pictures at all, it must 
 take all the pictures or there could be no memory. It is very 
 
 25 
 
evident that the old theory of memory has not a single fact to"" 
 rest upon. It is illogical and impossible. 
 
 Another fact we must not overlook is that if the so-called 
 brain cell is to retain a scene to act as memory, to be recalled 
 at some future date, that cell must be indestructible; it must 
 not die or be in any way altered. The cells of the brain are 
 of physical construction, made of the same materials as other 
 parts of the body, built up by food and torn down by exercise 
 and wasted by inactivity. It is a fact that any cell tissue or 
 muscle left unused for a few months will disintegrate and dis- 
 appear. Then how about recalling by memory something we ex- 
 perienced several years ago? Where would the unused cell be and 
 where the picture? We know that we can recall clearly things 
 which happened in our childhood and yet there are none of the 
 cells of those days in our brain today. Science tells us that 
 the brain cells are destroyed and built up again about every sixty 
 days. The more we consider it the more impossible the theory 
 becomes, and the more we wonder how the public could have be- 
 lieved it for so many years. 
 
 26 
 
LESSON VI. 
 
 How much of what you look at during a day do you see? Do 
 you know that you see but a very small part of what comes before 
 your eyes? Have you ever passed people on the street and, while 
 you must have been looking directly at them, did not see them? 
 It is a very common occurrence for us to be looking directly at 
 some object, or some scene, and at the same time have our 
 occupied with thoughts belonging to some other subject and not 
 see that which is directly in front of us. Under these con- 
 ditions the brain does not record the picture for future refer- 
 ence. This should prove to you that the brain does not photo- 
 graph the scenes that pass before the eye. 
 
 It is only when we are conscious of the vibrations that come 
 to us that we respond and allow them to become a part of our- 
 selves. Consequently, everything which attracts our attention, 
 has found ^ responsive vibration and is, therefore, exerting an 
 influence on us, and is helping in shaping our lives for good 
 or ill, for success or failure, for health or sickness. 
 
 That part of any scene or experience which does not arouse 
 in us thoughts to translate and express it cannot be recalled 
 or remembered. That is why when two or more persons view the 
 same subject, no two ever describe it exactly alike --neither saw 
 
 27 
 
it just alike. They are only able to tell of the particular 
 parts that made an impression on them- -the vibrations from which 
 reached their brain- -but are unable to describe the other parts 
 
 Some people can look upon evil and not see it and yet in- 
 stantly find the good in everything; while others can see only 
 the evil and the good escapes them entirely. Again, I repeat, 
 it is not what you look at that you see, for you can at any 
 time close your eyes and still see more than you could with 
 them open. No one can see what he is not prepared to understand. 
 The person who sees the evil does so because of his previous 
 thoughts and experiences, and likewise the person who sees the 
 good. The same can be said of those who see failure in every- 
 thing. They are to be pitied, for they can see only the weak 
 points and are blind to the greater possibilities which sur- 
 round them. What we see comes to us because we have attracted 
 it. The wisdom to be learned from this is that it pays to be " 
 an optimist. To become an optimist one must be hopeful, look 
 for and see only the bright and useful in life. If you are not 
 already an optimist, make up your mind that you will be one. 
 As soon as you have arrived at this mental state, you will 
 begin to draw to you the thoughts and ideas that will assist 
 you in becoming just what you want to be. 
 
 The Secret of Memory lies in understanding how to think so as 
 
 28 
 
to attract information when it is needed and not in storing up 
 millions of pictures in our brains that we may never again have 
 use for. 
 
 The method used in our schools for * 'training the memory* '(?) 
 is extremely crude. It attempts to make an impression on the 
 brain by repeating a subject from ten to one hundred times. If 
 the brain registered or recorded impressions, would there not 
 be from ten to one hundred separate impressions of the same 
 subject recorded instead of one? It is possible, however, for 
 a child (or in fact anyone) to repeat a subject in which it is 
 not interested, one hundred or one thousand times and still be 
 unable to recall it twenty-four hours after. The reason! It 
 failed to arouse a responsive thought, consequently it did not 
 become a part of the person. Such methods waste valuable time, 
 and instead of educating they dull the intellectual machinery 
 and rob it of the power of attraction and keen perception. They 
 destroy the student's originality and initiative, and make him 
 a slave to a plodding system. That is why self-educated people^ 
 are more successful than those educated in colleges. 
 
 To train the brain to recall our thoughts and experiences 
 we must train it to think correctly, to be receptive, to be quick 
 in action, responsive to the dictates of the mind, keen in 
 perception and accurate in its observation of details. In other | 
 
 29 
 
words, it must be sufficiently acute and sensitive to all that 
 comes before its vision to look sharply at x every picture and 
 analyze carefully every thought that comes before the eye of the 
 mind. For that which we analyze and think"bver becomes during 
 the process of analyzation a part of our very being. The fact 
 that it has aroused our attention indicates some degree of har- 
 mony existing between it and us. Therefore, the vibrations are 
 transmitted through our brains to the particular parts of our 
 bodies that would be interested in the thought, and these vi- 
 brations stimulate the circulation of the blood in those parts, 
 creating new life and action there. Next, these newly aroused 
 parts, cells or organs send back a response to the brain, and 
 from the brain it goes forth to be taken up again by other 
 brains, or by the particular brain for which it is intended. 
 By this process the brain-wires are tuned to correspond with 
 the physical needs and desires. As soon as this process is com- 
 pleted, other thoughts of the same character, or those related 
 to it, can enter the brain, travel over the body, leave their 
 impression and depart without effort on the part of the person. 
 It is no trouble to attract a line of thoughts after we are 
 mentally and physically tuned by the vibrations of the subject. 
 In fact, after the action has continued for a certain length of 
 time, it becomes a habit and we find it almost impossible to 
 
 30 
 
prevent them re-occurring or, in other words, we can't forget. 
 
 The thoughts that do not correspond to the vibrations of some 
 part of our body are not attracted to us. Therefore, you can 
 set it down as a fact that every thought that comes to you 
 strongly has a significance for you. It may be for your good 
 or for your destruction; that you must determine, and then learn 
 where and how to draw the line between the good and the harmful. 
 
 Did you ever have a person attempt to explain some plan, 
 method or scheme to you, and although you paid strict attention, 
 and the language used was good and the argument seemed mathe- 
 matical and logical, yet when he had finished you were unable 
 to understand it, or to understand why you could not grasp his 
 meaning? You realized that he had seemingly given a very de- 
 tailed explanation, and, therefore, you disliked to ask him to 
 repeat it. I will tell you why you did not understand it. 
 The elements and conditions concerned in the plan were new to 
 you. Your brain had never entertained the particular combina- 
 tion of thought vibrations before. Therefore, the statements 
 could not attract a responsive vibration from your brain be- 
 cause it was not tuned in accord with them. However, the mortifi- 
 cation of not understanding would in such cases act as a force to 
 make you concentrate your attention on the subject and cause you 
 to think of it, at it and around it, until your brain finally 
 
 51 
 
formed the correct combination of vibrations, that would bring 
 you in touch with and give you light on the subject. 
 
 While the person was with you trying to explain the points you 
 failed to understand him, but after being left alone your brain 
 kept on running over the brain-wires until you struck the right 
 combination and the knowledge flashed in upon you. It came, not 
 from the words he had spoken, but from the thoughts (knowledge) 
 you attracted to you by concentration. What you learned about 
 this subject did not result from what you remembered, as you did 
 not understand the points to remember, but it came from the intel- 
 ligence you attracted to you while alone. 
 
 In support of this statement we can look back in history to the 
 records of the many philosophers and scientists who, through 
 close application and concentration, had evolved and advanced 
 ideas that were so new to the people that they could not under- 
 stand them, and therefore called the exponents cranks or fanatics 
 and ridiculed their teachings. Without exception later genera- 
 tions recognized the wisdom of their words and sang their praises 
 and erected monuments in their honor. It is common to hear these 
 great minds referred to as having been born ahead of their times. 
 Most of these great men died unrespected and misunderstood by the 
 people, for it .is a peculiarity of human nature that each man sets 
 himself up as a judge, and without authority measures the knowl- 
 
 32 
 
edge of all mankind by his own standard of mentality. If any 
 other man's intelligence rises above his ability to comprehend, he 
 discredits it and terms him a crank and a fit subject for an in- 
 sane asylum. The person who criticizes the logic and wisdom of 
 another because he cannot understand it, by that very act con- 
 fesses to a lower state of intelligence. 
 
 33 
 
''Mind is the master of the man.' This sentence contains more 
 truth than appears upon the surface. The mind (usually termed 
 the Soul) is the life or the Divine part, while the man is the 
 physical part- -the machine used by the mind in promoting its 
 development --through and by which it communicates with the things 
 of the earth. 
 
 It is a common occurrence to have people ask, ''If my soul is 
 immortal and has existed in the past, then why cannot I remember 
 what has occurred in my life before I took possession of the 
 present body?'' As the body is only an instrument used by the 
 mind and as there is no such thing as memory, and as specific 
 knowledge cannot be owned and controlled by anyone (it is ours 
 only to use) , why should we expect to carry it away when we depart 
 and then bring it back to another body? As the body is only a machine 
 used by the mind in acquiring knowledge for its development, how 
 could we expect it to have a memory? If it had, what would 
 become of it when death came? And if the mind had a memory for 
 detailed events it would have no use for the brain in the body. 
 Each is essential to the other but neither possesses a memory. 
 
 I believe that the accumulated results of our brain action 
 are preserved and represented in the advancement and development 
 
 34 
 
of the mind, just as our bodies are the accumulated result of 
 the actions of our past; but I do not believe that the details 
 are kept on record. I do not say that it is impossible for 
 us to have any recollections of our previous existence, for I 
 believe that we do very often get glimpses of the past. If not, 
 how are we to account for the flashes of intelligence that often 
 come to us as thought scenes that seem very familiar to us, 
 except that we cannot place the time when they were a part of 
 our experiences? 
 
 I believe that the experiences and thoughts of previous ex- 
 istences have developed our minds to their present degree of 
 perfection, and that the harmony existing between the mind and 
 these thoughts does tune the brain of the new body so that a 
 certain line of thought can come to it- -that therein lies the 
 connection between one life of the body and the next. This, I 
 believe, is the explanation of the early traits shown by 
 children. To me, it accounts for the ' 'naturally bright, ' 
 * 'naturally good,'' and "naturally bad' ' children. The peculi- 
 arities exhibited by children are an index to the development of 
 the mind which has taken possession of the body. 
 
 It is very easy for some children to be good, because only 
 good thoughts are attracted to their brains, and it is equally 
 as hard for others, because their brains are tuned in harmony 
 
 35 
 
with bad thoughts. No child wants to be bad. If you will 
 reason with it, it will tell you that it wants to do right, 
 but it can't help doing wrong. It, of course, does not understand 
 the force that is directing and controlling it. You, dear 
 reader, do, for I have told you. Now let me tell you another 
 little secret, one that will redeem every child (young or old) 
 from evil and make of it a perfect being. 
 
 All knowledge comes through the brain in the form of thought - 
 picture messages. Now no two opposite thoughts can enter or 
 remain in the brain at the same time. The brain cannot enter- 
 tain two separate subjects at once any more than you can speak 
 or write two words at exactly the same time, or a musician play 
 two pieces of music, or a telegraph operator dispatch two sep- 
 arate messages at the same time. The rule is, one thing at a 
 time. Then it is evident that any thought in action has the 
 full control of the brain and body until such time as it volunta- 
 rily gives way to another. Herein lies the secret. Keep the 
 child's brain so fully occupied with noble, elevating work and 
 thoughts that there will be no time or room for the entertain- 
 ment of undesirable thoughts. As the thoughts we entertain leave 
 their impression on the body and generate in it a responsive vi- 
 bration it is made easy to attract that same thought again and 
 again because the brain and body are tuned in harmony with it. 
 
 36 
 
If you would stamp out the evil thoughts from any brain and 
 transform evil into good, be sure never to speak of the evil to 
 the person; for even to mention it is to call it back to his 
 brain, and the more elaborately you picture the evil and the more 
 severely you criticize the wrong the more vividly you bring it 
 back and the more indelibly it becomes impressed upon the entire 
 being. Likewise the discussing of the subject and the picturing 
 of its horrors in your brain will have an undesirable effect upon 
 your morals and your health. 
 
 We cannot even discuss unpleasant subjects without being harmed 
 by them. That is why so many who start out to destroy the evil in 
 the world and reform humanity, soon fall a victim to that evil. 
 It is a common expression that, **It takes a thief to catch a 
 thief.' And it also takes bad people to find the bad in others, 
 for really good people could not find the evil; they would not 
 know what they were looking for, as experience is the only teacher. 
 
 This is the science back of the advice: 
 
 ' * Think you are well and that all is well with you 
 
 And Nature will hear your thoughts and make them true . ' 
 
 To teach children to remember, you have only to teach them to 
 pay close attention to all they do or read. To gain this atten- 
 tion all subjects must be made interesting. There must be object 
 
 37 
 
lessons and a reason or motive shown. Some future benefit must 
 be held out as a premium for learning. Study must never be pic- 
 tured as a duty but as a means of obtaining the power and abil- 
 ity to accomplish, to succeed, to excel. Keep before them the 
 many advantages of education and of right thinking. Point out ex- 
 amples in the lives of men and women that illustrate how they have 
 gained honor or material possessions as a result of education 
 through correct thinking. Inspire them with the desire by enter- 
 ing into the work with them, by keeping up their enthusiasm and by 
 liberal praise of work accomplished. Don't find fault with the 
 failures they make, and don't, scold or nag. Set the example and 
 explain all failures as a misunderstanding of the subject, and 
 proceed to help them find the missing link. 
 
 Teach them the value of thought, and explain where knowledge 
 comes from and how to attract it. Show them the importance of 
 spending one hour of each day in silent concentration. A child 
 brought up in this way will have no need for a memory. He will 
 advance in learning and innate knowledge twice as rapidly as other 
 children and will be able to recall all desirable information 
 when needed. More than that, he will gain such control of his 
 thinking that his wisdom and executive ability will be marveled 
 at by all who meet him. 
 
 The great drawback to the people of this age is, that they do 
 
 38 
 
not know how to think or how knowledge is attracted to them. 
 Therefore, what they do acquire is gained more by accident than 
 by method. I believe that anyone who will follow for one year the 
 instructions set forth in these lessons will acquire more knowl- 
 edge and gain a greater self-control than he has done in all his 
 past experience. 
 
 39 
 
LESSON VIII. 
 
 Concentration is a word much in use but little understood when 
 applied to the mental faculties. Most people think of it as a 
 laborious process of compelling the brain to do certain things. 
 This is where they err, because of their lack of familiarity with 
 the subject. 
 
 Concentration as applied to the brain means to focus the atten- 
 tion on one thing at a time. It means to hold the mental eye 
 steady, and not allow it to wander aimlessly from object to object 
 and from thought to thought. To do this you have but to exercise 
 your will and a little patience. 
 
 So many people drift through life, being tossed first one way 
 and then another, like a boat on the ocean without a rudder, and 
 all because they do not take advantage of their birthright, select_Ju 
 their course and steer their own boat. These people blame fate, 
 when the fault is entirely their own. Many, through the lack of 
 concentration and self-control, allow their brain-wires to be 
 operated by every passing vibration and yet never retain or use 
 any of the thoughts or ideas that flash through their brain. 
 These same people will tell you that they have a very active 
 brain, that there is a constant panorama of scenes and thoughts 
 passing before their vision day and night. Study them, and you 
 
 40 
 
will find that they are generally good natured, but never ener- 
 getic or really ambitious. I never knew one who ever did any 
 great or important work. They simply drift, because they don't 
 understand the necessity of using the rudder. 
 
 The control you have gained over your thinking instrument, and 
 the ability you have acquired for operating it, marks the degree 
 of success or failure that is just ahead of you. 
 
 In my work of instructing sixty thousand students in the Sci- 
 ence of Thought, I have had sufficient actual experience to make 
 me confident of the truth of what I am telling you. These lessons 
 are not based on theory, but upon actual experience, thoroughly 
 tested. 
 
 I know that you would like to be able to recall, when desired, 
 certain of your daily experiences and forget others. Then follow 
 me and I will direct you how to do this. Begin today to pay close 
 attention to all that is said to you or in your hearing, and when 
 the conversation is finished you are to mentally go over it again 
 from the beginning to the end, to find if you have it all clearly. 
 Associate the important points in the conversation with that part 
 of your life it is most likely to affect. Then whenever that part 
 is up for consideration or action you will find the conversation 
 will return to your brain clearly and distinctly. Do the same 
 with all that you read which you wish to recall. Read slowly and 
 
 41 
 
endeavor to attract the full meaning of the writer. 
 
 The things you do not wish to remember you should pass over 
 lightly and make no effort to associate them with your life. A 
 guard against the entrance of undesirable thoughts is a brain 
 filled with desirable, useful thoughts. While the brain is fully 
 occupied, no outside thoughts can enter. Keep your brain busy and 
 unpleasant thoughts will find no place to lodge. 
 
 In looking at a scene or an article, first take in the general 
 outline, possible distance, size, color, etc.; then focus your at- 
 tention on one point at a time, taking in its characteristic de- 
 tails and keeping your thoughts wholly on the subject. It is 
 better to have an accurate knowledge of half of it than to go away 
 with but an indistinct impression of its entirety. The more you 
 concentrate your attention on the subject the easier you will be 
 able to recall the scene. 
 
 The concentration of sight and thought will rapidly develop an 
 acuteness of perception that will make it possible for you to take 
 in more of what you look at and in much less time than formerly. 
 Keep before your brain the fact that you are looking, listening, 
 feeling, smelling and tasting for the purpose of coming into harmony 
 with all you experience so you can recall it when you need it. 
 
 It is the person with the most acute senses that gets the 
 clearest understanding and is able to recall his experiences most 
 
 42 
 
easily, just as the man who looks through clear glass will see 
 more than the one who looks through colored glass. Therefore, 
 when you smell you should analyze the odor; when you taste you 
 should compare it with other things; when you listen it should be 
 with undivided attention, that you may not miss part and arrive at 
 a wrong conclusion. When you look remember that that which is 
 worth the expenditure of time is worth the closest attention you 
 can give it. Take in the color, size, distance, etc. Judge size 
 by comparison, and don't make rash guesses. When you feel, ana- 
 lyze the article, its texture, shape, hardness or softness, so that 
 you could recognize it again with your eyes closed. When speaking 
 ,be careful to say only what you are confident is the truth. This 
 develops accuracy and gives you confidence in yourself, and also 
 causes other 'people to have confidence in you. 
 
 One of the most valuable methods of keeping your brain tuned in 
 harmony with your daily experiences is to make it a practice every 
 night before you retire to review all the experiences of the day, 
 beginning with the first act and following each consecutively to 
 the end. This review just before you pass into sleep will be in- 
 valuable. The vibrations will again be carried to the body, where 
 during the night they will tune it and the brain in harmony; then 
 you cannot forget, for those thoughts can be attracted and re- 
 called whenever you need them. 
 
 43 
 
If you want to forget certain thoughts that are undesirable, 
 cease to review them, and whenever you are conscious that they are 
 returning to you immediately concentrate your entire attention on 
 your work, or on some other line of thought. This will have the 
 desired effect, for no two lines of thought can hold a place in 
 the brain at the same time. If you accidentally hear or see some- 
 thing you don't wish to entertain, or someone tries to tell you 
 something you do not wish to hear, change your thoughts quickly by 
 thinking of some good advice or some motto. Then make your brain 
 * 'get busy'' on important matters, and although you may hear the 
 voice, the conversation will have no effect and you will quickly 
 forget it. 
 
 44 
 
LESSON IX. 
 
 To be able to recall the ordinary things of life is not enough. 
 To be successful one must be able to attract and recall the spe- 
 cial kind of thoughts and ideas he needs --those that will help him 
 in carrying out his life's purpose. To recall such thoughts he 
 must first have experienced them. 
 
 To attract thoughts and ideas that would not ordinarily come to 
 a person, he must know how to think, and, as I have said before, 
 when the law of correct thinking is learned the Secret of Memory 
 is found. 
 
 My advice to you is to select an hour, or even a half -hour, 
 that you can set aside each day for the purpose of concentrating 
 your attention on some particular idea on which you desire to gain 
 a more complete knowledge. Never attempt to concentrate on more 
 than one idea in the same hour. On very important ideas it is 
 often well to concentrate on the same one for several days or 
 until you are satisfied with what you have learned. Always spend 
 the hour of concentration entirely alone. 
 
 To begin, select your subject, be it business, work, litera- 
 ture, music, an invention or any other thing of which you are de- 
 sirous of learning more. Next select a thought that pertains to 
 the subject. Then centralize or focus your attention on that 
 
 45 
 
thought. Keep thinking of it until you have brought your whole 
 being in tune with. it. Then one by one the new ideas you have at- 
 tracted will enter the brain. The longer and more carefully you 
 concentrate, the more rapidly the ideas will come and the more im- 
 portant they will become. New lights will be thrown upon the sub- 
 ject and you will learn much that you could not have found out in 
 any other way, for the knowledge you will attract will come from 
 all parts of the universe --parts to which your body could never 
 travel. What you learn during this hour of concentration each day 
 you will not forget. It will' return to you whenever you need it. 
 There is one thing I must caution you about, and that is to not 
 allow stray thoughts to enter your brain and take your attention 
 from the subject you are concentrating on. To guard against this 
 I have found nothing so useful as a blackboard and a piece of 
 white chalk. Where it is not convenient to secure -a blackboard, 
 a large piece of black paper will do. On entering your room for 
 the hour of silent concentration, write on the blackboard in large 
 letters, with white chalk, the few words which represent the sub- 
 ject of your concentration. Sit at a distance of three or four 
 feet from the words and keep your eyes on them. As long as you 
 actually see those words no thought can come to you that is not in 
 some way associated with them. If some foreign thoughts do enter 
 your brain it is a sign that your brain has strayed from its pur- 
 
 46 
 
pose. The moment you see that you are drifting from the subject 
 bring your eyes and attention back suddenly to the written words. 
 
 Don't expect that you can concentrate perfectly from the first. f 
 If you could you would not need these lessons. Persevere, for 
 after each day's exercise you will find it easier and easier to 
 control your brain and to dictate on what subject it shall or 
 shall not entertain thoughts. Until you can go through this 
 hour's exercise without drifting from the subject you are not yet 
 master of your brain, you have not learned how to think practi- 
 cally and usefully. However, when you have accomplished this not 
 very difficult task you will have gained the power to control not 
 only your own but the brains of thousands of people. You will 
 have learned how to attract knowledge from the Great Source of all 
 intelligence and 'from the brains of those you daily come in con- 
 tact with, and also from those who have already developed the 
 ideas on which you are seeking knowledge. You will have proven to 
 your satisfaction that the mind is the master of men. 
 
 You may offer the objection that you cannot afford to spend an 
 hour or even a half -hour each day for concentration. Let me tell 
 you that you cannot afford not to spend that hour as I have ad- 
 vised. For you could not possibly spend the time as advanta- 
 geously in any other way. There is nothing you can do in the same 
 length of time that will bring you as valuable returns. The 
 
 47 
 
knowledge that will come to you during that hour will make it pos- 
 sible for you to accomplish more in three hours than you ever did 
 before in eight. One new idea executed at the right time will do 
 more towards making you successful than ten years of plodding hard 
 work. I know whereof I speak. My successes, of which there are 
 many, have been the result of confidently carrying out the origi- 
 nal ideas received during concentration. 
 
 Night is usually the best time for concentration. It seems 
 that thought vibrations^ travel with greater ease during the night. 
 There is a reason for this, but it does not concern these lessons 
 beyond the fact mentioned. 
 
 You no doubt have often noticed that the thoughts which come to 
 you in the still hours of the night appear much clearer and make 
 a more lasting impression than those that come in the day time. 
 Personally I would rather depend upon a flash of intelligence that 
 came at night while I was awake, or that wakened me, than upon 
 any other. In fact, when an impoortant idea comes to me during the 
 day time I always hold it in abeyance until evening. Then I con- 
 centrate on it and consider it carefully in all its details, and 
 when I have made my decision it is always the right one. 
 
 After you have practiced concentrating upon special subjects as 
 I have advised, you will most likely have thoughts come to you 
 during the night with such force that they will awaken you. Such 
 
 48 
 
a message is for your benefit; consider it carefully, make a note 
 of it and then turn, over and go to sleep again. The following day, 
 or as soon as possible thereafter, commence making use of the idea 
 you received. If you do not you may lose it. I keep a note pad 
 and pencil attached to the head of my bed for the particular pur- 
 pose of making notes of such messages for reference and action 
 next day. I would advise you to do the same. If you don't write 
 down a note of it it is likely to keep you awake for hours. In 
 the morning as soon as you look at the words you have written in 
 the dark the entire message will come back to you, and if you make 
 use of it you will be able to recall it at any time in the future-- 
 you will not forget it. 
 
 49 
 
LESSON X. 
 
 Do you ever have dreams? Most people do, and many never pass a 
 night that is free from them. Dreams receive more attention and 
 cause more comment than thought messages that come to the brain in 
 the waking hours. And yet there is no difference between them. 
 They result from the same cause and enter the brain in the same 
 manner. If you are subject to dreams it signifies that you have 
 not a good control of your brain; that you do not keep it under a 
 sufficiently tight rein; that on going to sleep you leave the 
 doors of your brain open-, and as a result all kinds of stray, 
 tramp -thoughts enter, play pranks and depart. 
 
 Dreams are only passing thought vibrations that would not reach 
 you if you were awake and in control of your brain. As a rule 
 they are of little or no importance, unless they come with a force 
 sufficient to awaken you, then you should take notice and act. 
 
 It is a good plan to dictate to your brain as you are prepar- 
 ing to go to sleep, and tell it to guard against these floating 
 vibrations, for they are of no benefit to you and they only rob 
 you of your needed rest. People who have the least control of 
 their brains in the daytime will have the most dreams at night. 
 As you follow these instructions you will notice that your dreams 
 become less and less --because your brain will daily come more un- 
 
 50 
 
der your control, until it will cease to waste energy on useless 
 thoughts and will save it and use it only where it can be of 
 service . 
 
 When you have attained to this degree you will have reached an 
 ideal condition, a condition that lifts man out of slavery and 
 makes him the dictator and director of all the affairs of life. 
 It robs him of fear, because it shows him his strength. In doing 
 this it makes failure impossible and success the only possible 
 result of his efforts. Could yoy desire anything greater? 
 Could you have a nobler ambition and one more in keeping with the 
 desires of your Creator than the desire to be a perfectly ad- 
 justed, self -controlled being--a master among men? 
 
 When you have learned and adjusted yourself to the secret of 
 mind control, thought attraction and thought transference, you 
 will hold within your grasp a powerful law and it behooves you to 
 use it wisely- -remembering that it is what you think that makes 
 you what you are. When you have learned how to think you will 
 have the full power to choose whether the thoughts you entertain 
 and send forth shall be good and a benefit to mankind, or evil and 
 an injury to your fellowmen. There will be no excuse for your en- 
 tertaining either evil, failure, sorrow or sickness, for you will 
 be master of them all. 
 
 Do not become impatient if you do not accomplish in a few days 
 
 51 
 
all you now think you should, for remember that impatience is a 
 sure sign of loss .of self-control. Enter this work with a deter- 
 mination to succeed and let nothing stop you. The morV'diTicult 
 you find it at first the more you were in need of just such a sys- 
 tem of mental development. 
 
 You have the courage to work 312 days of each year for the pur- 
 pose of supplying the body with food and clothing. Then there is 
 no reason why you should not cheerfully devote one hour each day 
 to developing the brain until it has reached that perfection where 
 it, by furnishing you with original ideas, will make it possible 
 for you to earn a hundred times more and with less physical effort 
 than you are now forced to use. 
 
 Having read these lessons through, are you ready to begin the 
 system that will develop in you the power to think correctly and 
 to recall or remember at will the knowledge you need? If so, have 
 confidence in yourself to learn and in me to teach you, and never 
 lose sight of this fact, that, by the law of harmony, every time you 
 read, study or think over these lessons you place your brain in 
 tune with mine and you will at that time be able to attract from 
 me any additional information you may need to help you to under- 
 stand the Secret of Memory. 
 
 Now go back to the first lesson and begin over again and don't 
 give up the study until you can honestly say that your Mind is 
 Master of the Man. 
 
THE LAW OF ORIENTALISM 
 
 By- A. VICTOR^ SEGNO 
 
 MENTALJSM is the law of Nature which governs every phase of human existence 
 of life and death. Through it, and by it, our physical bodies are formed and kept 
 in health, our mental faculties developed, our character formed, our environments made 
 and changed, our career marked out and our destiny shaped. It is the law which governs 
 all the phenomena resulting from the control of mind over matter and mind over mind; 
 it is, itself, the controlling force. It is the mental force which is in constant, but often 
 unconscious, operation by every mind (soul), whether in or out of the body. It is the 
 intelligence at the command of man, that makes him a god, and justifies the claim that 
 man was made in the image of his Creator. Within it lies the secret of health, happiness 
 and success; and physical, mental and spiritual progress. Through the exercise of this 
 law man may make of himself whatsoever he desires. It robs death of its sting and the 
 grave of its victory, for it demonstrates conclusively the immortality of man. It ex- 
 plains what the soul is and how it takes possession of the body. It places the responsibility 
 for crime and wrong-doing and teaches man liberality of thought and generosity toward his 
 fellow-men. 
 
 "The Law" is contained in a beautiful cloth-bound volume, printed on fine heavy paper 
 and would be a credit to any library. The price of this volume is three dollars ($3.00), sent 
 postpaid. It may be had in the English, French, Spanish or German language. 
 
 Address, cAMERICAN INSTITUTE OF cTWENTALISM, 
 
 Dept. S. M. Los Angeles, Cal., U. S. A. 
 
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