"Plainly, sir, that a man who believes himself cured of a disease is surely on the high road to recovery."
"But a belief in the efficacy of that rascal's bread pellets cannot make them anything but bread pellets."
"No," said I, "but it may effect great things with the disease."
"Young man, don't tell me that you are a believer in Faith Healing, and such-like tomfoolery; disease is a great and terrible reality, and must be met and overcome by a real means."
"On the contrary, sir, may it not be rather the outcome of a preconceived idea—of a belief that has been held universally for many ages and generations of men? I do not deny disease—who could? but suffering and disease have been looked upon from the earliest days as punishments wrought out upon a man for his sins. Now, may not the haunting fear of this retributive justice be greatly responsible for suffering and disease of all kinds, since the mind unquestionably reacts upon the body?"
"Probably, sir, probably, but since disease is with us, how would you propose to remedy it?"
"By disbelieving in it; by regarding it as something abnormal and utterly foreign to the divine order of things."
"Pooh!" exclaimed my venerable companion. "Bah!—quite, quite impracticable!"
"They say the same of 'The Sermon on the Mount,' sir," I retorted.
"Can a man, wasting away in a decline, discredit the fact that he is dying with every breath he draws?"