Health And Disease
How They Work |
Dr. Phineas Parkhurst Quimby
"The Father Of True
Health And Disease"
The Philosophy Of
P. P. Quimby
With Selections from his Manuscripts and a Sketch of his Life
By Annetta Gertrude Dresser
"Dedicated To the
Sick Everywhere"
© Annetta Gertrude Dresser 1895
Reproduced byThe Builders Press
The Church Of The Truth
Nine East Fortieth St.
NEW YORE 16, N.Y.
Boston
Geo. H. Ellis,
141 Franklin St.
1895 |
| Table Of Contents |
CHAPTER
PAGE
I. HISTORICAL SKETCH
2
II. EXTRACTS FROM THE PRESS, 1857—65 .
7
III. REMINISCENCES
17
IV. AN EXPOSITION OF DR. QUIMBY’S PHILOSOPHY
23
V. SELECTIONS FROM THE MANUSCRIPTS OF
P.P. QUIMBY
32 |
| Preface |
The rapidly growing interest in the philosophy
and practice of mental healing in its various forms has created
a desire to know more about the man to whose discoveries this
new development is due, and to know wherein his teaching differed
from the prevailing systems of thought. The facts concerning
the discovery were published in 1887, in a pamphlet entitled
The True History of Mental Science," by Julius A. Dresser,
in which quotations from Dr. Quimby’s writings were then
made public for the first time. By kind permission of those
who have the manuscript in charge, the author of the present
volume is enabled to make further quotations from these writings,
and also to republish a number of articles which were written
for the press during the last years of Dr. Quimby’s practice.
In this way the facts are made to speak for themselves, and
to show, without further comparison, the scope and scientific
value of the parent philosophy.
A. G. D.
481 Beacon St.
Boston, MASS.,
May 1,1895. |
| Historical Sketch |
It frequently happens in the progress of
invention and discovery that the man through whose genius and
labor some great work is begun passes away from public notice
with scarcely a word of recognition in gratitude for what he
accomplished, while others receive not only the benefit of his
researches, but the credit of the discovery or invention. Nearly
all great movements originate in the pioneer work of some man
of genius, struggling in isolation for a time, amid the opposition
of established modes of thought, until an army of lesser intellects
scatter the new thought broadcast; and it becomes a permanent
factor in human thought.
But the time comes when people are eager to know all that can
be learned about the few original thinkers to whom human progress
is mainly due. Every detail is interesting; and there is no
more fascinating record of achievement than the stories of genius
caught working at its task.
All this applies with unusual emphasis to the movement which,
originating in the researches of P. P. Quimby more than half
a century ago, now numbers among its followers many thousands
of people in this country and abroad. The new philosophy has
gradually won its way, despite all opposition, to a recognized
place among the educational factors of our time. It has its
literature, its army of workers, and its organizations. It has
brought untold relief to suffering humanity, and opened the
way to the final mastery of the many diseases and afflictions,
which hold mankind in bondage.
Yet the new thought has been brought forward mainly by those
who dwelt on the outskirts of its central truth. Erroneous conclusions
derived from Dr. Quimby’s sound premises have passed current
as a genuine philosophy, which others have claimed to discover.
His method of cure has been adopted by thousands who never heard
of its real originator while only the few have known of the
patient effort, and the years of unsparing devotion to truth,
whereby Dr. Quimby sought to build up a science of life and
happiness which should destroy all disease, — a work which
was but half finished when his earthly career came to an end.
It would seem well, then, now that Dr. Quimby’s teaching
in its derived form has won a permanent hearing, to make more
generally known what he really taught, and to distinguish his
philosophy from this derived teaching.
He was one of the few profoundly original men.
Working wholly alone, without aid from ‘books, and according
to methods of his own, he not only regained his own health after
being condemned by the medical faculty; but saved the lives
of thousands of others during his twenty-five years of practice,
and founded a philosophy which, combining, as it does, theory,
practice, religion, and the science of health, has wrought a
transformation in a vast number of lives. It is no exaggeration
to say, in the light of what is coming to the world as the result
of that one life, that few men ever lived who, working single-handed
in a new field, have accomplished as much as he. As we turn,
then, to a consideration of the main facts in his life, it is
with the feeling that we are studying the career of a man who
is still with us, and whose great work is even now but in its
inception.
"Phineas Parkhurst Quimby" was born in the town of
Lebanon, N.H., Feb. 16, 1802. When about two years of age, his
parents immigrated to Maine, and settled in the town of Belfast.
His father was a blacksmith, and the subject of this sketch
was one of a family of seven children.
"Owing to his father’s scanty means and to the meager
chances for schooling, his opportunity for acquiring an education
was limited. During his boyhood he attended the town school
a part of the time, and acquired a brief knowledge of the rudimentary
branches; but his chief education was gained in after life from
reading and observation. He always regretted his want of education,
which was his misfortune rather than any fault of his.
George A. Quimby, New England Magazine, March 1888.
"He had a very inventive mind, and was always interested
in mechanics, philosophy, and scientific subjects. During his
middle life he invented several devices on which he obtained
letters patent. He was very argumentative, and always wanted
proof of anything rather than an accepted opinion. Anything
that could he demonstrated he was ready to accept; hut he would
combat what could not he proved with all his energy rather than
admit it as a truth.
"With a mind of this combination, it is not strange that,
when a gentleman visited Belfast about the year 1838, and gave
lectures and experiments in mesmerism, Mr. Quimby should feel
deeply interested in the subject. Here was a new - to him at
least - phenomenon; and he at once began to investigate the
subject, and on every occasion when he could find a person who
would allow him to try, he would endeavor to put him into a
mesmeric sleep. He met with many failures, but occasionally
would find a person whom he could influence.
"At that time Mr. Quimby was of medium height, small in
stature, his weight about one hundred and twenty-five pounds;
quick-motioned and nervous, with piercing black eyes, black
hair and whiskers; a well-shaped, well-balanced head; high,
broad forehead, and a rather prominent nose, and a mouth indicating
strength and firmness of will; persistent in what he undertook,
and not easily defeated or discouraged.
"In the course of his trials with subjects he met with
a young man named Lucius Burkmar, over whom he had the most
wonderful influence; and it is not stating it too strongly to
assert that with him he made some of the most astonishing exhibitions
of mesmerism and clairvoyance that have been given in modern
times.
"Mr. Quimby’s manner of operating with his subject
was to sit opposite to him; holding both his hands in his, and
looking him intently in the eye for a short time, when the subject
would go into that state known as the mesmeric sleep, which
was more properly a peculiar condition of mind and body, in
which the natural senses would or would not operate at the will
of Mr. Quimby. When conducting his experiments, all communications
on the part of Mr. Quimby with Lucius were mentally given, the
subject replying as if spoken to aloud.
"For several years Mr. Quimby traveled with young Burkmar
through Maine and New Brunswick, giving exhibitions, which at
that time attracted much attention and secured notices through
the columns of the newspapers.
"It should he remembered that at the time Mr. Quimby was
giving these exhibitions, over forty-five years ago, the phenomenon
was looked upon in a far different light from that of the present
day. At that time it was a deception, a fraud, and a humbug;
and Mr. Quimby was vilified and frequently threatened with mob
violence, as the exhibitions smacked too strongly of witchcraft
to suit the people.
"As the subject gained more prominence, thoughtful men
began to investigate the matter; and Mr. Quimby was often called
upon to have his subject examine the sick. He would put Lucius
into the mesmeric state, who would then examine the patient,
describe the disease, and prescribe remedies for its cure.
"After a time Mr. Quimby became convinced that, whenever
the subject examined a patient, his diagnosis of the case would
he identical with what either the patient or some one present
believed, instead of Lucius really looking into the patient,
and giving the true condition of the organs; in fact, that he
was reading the opinion in the mind of some one rather than
stating a truth acquired by himself.
"Becoming firmly satisfied that this was the case, and
having seen how one mind could influence another, and how much
there was that had always been considered as true, but was merely
some one’s opinion, Mr. Quimby gave up his subject, Lucius,
and began the developing of what is now known as mental healing,
or curing disease through the mind.
"In accomplishing this, he spent years of his life, fighting
the battle alone, and laboring with an energy and steadiness
of purpose that shortened it many years.
"To reduce his discovery to a science which could he taught
for the benefit of suffering humanity was the all-absorbing
idea of his life. To develop his ‘theory,’ or ‘the
Truth,’ as he always termed it, so that others than himself
could understand and practice it, was what he labored for. Had
he been of a sordid and grasping nature, he might have acquired
unlimited wealth; hut for that he seemed to have no desire.
He used to say, Wait till I get my theory reduced to a science,
so that I can teach the Truth to others, and I can make money
fast enough."
"Each step was in opposition to all the established ideas
of the day, and was ridiculed and combated by the whole medical
faculty and the great mass of the people. In the sick and suffering
he always found staunch friends, who loved him and believed
in him, and stood by him; but they were but a handful compared
with those on the other side.
"While engaged in his mesmeric experiments, Mr. Quimby
became more and more convinced that disease was an error of
the mind, and not a real thing; and in this he was misunderstood
by others, and accused of attributing the sickness of the patient
to the imagination, which was the very reverse of the fact.
‘If a man feels a pain, he knows he feels it, and there
is no imagination about it,’ he used to say.
"But the fact that the pain might he a state of the mind,
while apparent in the body, he did believe. As one can suffer
in a dream all that it is possible to suffer in a waking state,
so Mr. Quimby averred that the same condition of mind might
operate on the body in the form of disease, and still be no
more of a reality than was the dream.
"As
the truths of his discovery began to develop and grow in him,
just in the same proportion did he begin to lose faith in the
efficacy of mesmerism as a remedial agent in the cure of the
sick; and after a few years he discarded it altogether.
"Instead of putting the patient into a mesmeric sleep,
Mr. Quimby would sit by him; and, after giving a detailed account
of what his troubles were, he would simply converse with him,
and explain the causes of the troubles, and thus change the
mind of the patient, and disabuse it of its errors and establish
the truth in its place, which, if done, was the cure. He sometimes,
in cases of lameness and sprains, manipulated the limbs of the
patient, and often rubbed the head with his hands, wetting them
with water. He said it was so hard for the patient to believe
that his mere talk with him produced the cure, that he did his
rubbing simply that the patient would have more confidence in
him; but he always insisted that he possessed no ‘power’
nor healing properties different from any one else, and that
his manipulations conferred no beneficial effect upon the patient,
although it was often the case that the patient himself thought
they did. On the contrary, Mr. Quimby always denied emphatically
that he used any mesmeric or mediumistic power.
"He was always in his normal condition when engaged with
his patient. He never went into any trance, and was a strong
disbeliever in Spiritualism, as understood by that name. He
claimed, and firmly held, that his only power consisted in his
wisdom, and in his understanding the patient’s case and
being able to explain away the error and establish the truth,
or health, in its place. Very frequently the patient could not
tell how he was cured; but it did not follow that Mr. Quimby
himself was ignorant of the manner in which he performed the
cure.
"Suppose a person should read an account of a railroad
accident, and see, in the list of killed, a son. The shock on
the mind would cause a deep feeling of sorrow on the part of
the parent, and possibly a severe sickness, not only mental,
but also physical. Now, what is the condition of the patient?
Does he imagine his trouble? Is it not real? Is his body not
affected, his pulse quick; and has he not all the symptoms of
a sick person, and is he not really sick? Suppose you can go
and say to him that you were on the train, and saw his son alive
and well after the accident, and prove to him that the report
of his death was a mistake. What follows? Why, the patient’s
mind undergoes a change immediately; and he is no longer sick.
"It was on this principle that Mr. Quimby treated the sick.
He claimed that ‘mind was spiritual matter, and could
be changed"; that we were made up of ‘truth and error’;
that ‘disease was an error, or belief, and that the Truth
was the cure.’ And upon these premises he based all his
reasoning, and laid the foundation of what he asserted to be
the ‘science of curing the sick’ without other remedial
agencies than the mind.
"In the year I859 Mr. Quimby went to Portland, Maine where
he remained till the summer of 1865, treating the sick by his
peculiar method. It was his custom to converse at length with
many of his patients who became interested in his method of
treatment, and to try to unfold to them his ideas.
"Among his earlier patients in Portland were the Misses
Ware, daughters of the late Judge Ashur Ware, of the United
States Court; and they became much interested in ‘the
Truth,’ as he called it. But the ideas were so new and
his reasoning was so divergent from the popular conceptions,
that they found it difficult to follow him or remember all he
said; and they suggested to him the propriety of putting into
writing the body of his thoughts.
"From that time he began to write out his ideas, which
practice he continued until his death, the articles now being
in the possession of the writer of this sketch. The original
copy he would give to the Misses Ware; and it would be read
to him by them, and, if he suggested any alteration, it would
be made, after which it would he copied either by the Misses
Ware or the writer of this, and then reread to him, that he
might see that all was just as he intended it. Not even the
most trivial word or the construction of a sentence would he
changed without consulting him. He was given to repetition;
and it was with difficulty that he could be induced to have
a repeated sentence or phrase stricken out, as he would say,
‘If that idea is a good one, and true, it will do no harm
to have it in two or three times.’ He believed in the
hammering process, and of throwing an idea or truth at the reader
till it would he firmly fixed in his mind.
"In a circular to the sick, which he distributed while
in Portland, he says that, ‘as my practice is unlike all
other medical practice, it is necessary to say that I give no
medicines, and make no outward applications, but simply sit
by the patient, tell him what he thinks is his disease, and
my explanation is the cure. And, if I succeed in correcting
his errors, I change the fluids of the system, and establish
the truth, or health. The truth is the cure. .
"Mr. Quimby, although not belonging to any church or sect,
had a deeply religious nature, holding firmly to God as the
first cause, and fully believing in immortality and progression
after death, though entertaining entirely original conceptions
of what death is. He believed that Jesus’ mission was
to the sick, and that he performed his cures in a scientific
manner, and perfectly understood how he did them. Mr. Quimby
was a great reader of the Bible, but put a construction upon
it thoroughly in harmony with his train of thought. .
"Mr. Quimby’s idea of happiness was to benefit mankind,
especially the sick and suffering; and to that end he labored
and gave his life and strength. His patients not only found
in him a doctor, but a sympathizing friend; and he took the
same interest in treating a charity patient that he did a wealthy
one. Until the writer went with him as secretary, he kept no
accounts and made no charges. He left the keeping of books entirely
with his patients; and, although he pretended to have a regular
price for visits and attendance, he took at settlement whatever
the patient chose to pay him.
"The last five years of his life were exceptionally hard.
He was overcrowded with patients and greatly overworked, and
could not seem to find an opportunity for relaxation. At last
nature could no longer bear up -under the strain; and, completely
tired out, he took to his bed, from which he never rose again.
While strong, he had always been able to ward off any disease
that would have affected another person; but, when tired out
and weak, he no longer had the strength of will nor the reasoning
powers to combat the sickness which terminated his life.
"An hour before he breathed his last he said to the writer:
‘I am more than ever convinced of the truth of my theory.
I am perfectly willing for the change myself, but I know you
will all feel badly; but I know that I shall be right here with
you, just the same as I have always been. I do not dread the
change any more than if I were going on a trip to Philadelphia.’
"His death occurred Jan. 16, 1866 at his residence in Belfast,
at the age of sixty-four years, and was the result of too close
application to his profession and of overwork. A more fitting
epitaph could not be accorded him than in these words - "Greater
love bath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for
his friends." For, if ever a man did lay down his life
for others, that man was Phineas Parkhurst Quimby." |
| Extracts From The Press, 1857- 65 |
It may now he of interest to the reader,
before considering a more detailed account of Dr. Quimby’s
philosophy and practice, to learn what was said of him by those
who made the first attempts to describe his work among the sick.
The selections are made from a series of newspaper articles,
dating from 1842, many of which are testimonials of the wonderful
cures wrought among people of all classes, and including disease
in its worst forms, such as lameness, deafness, blindness, etc.
It is not to he expected that such articles would do justice
to Dr. Quimby’s teaching, nor that the writers had more
than a faint glimmering of the scope and value of his work.
Yet they are interesting as showing the high opinion of him
held by those whom he had restored to health, and who were eager
to put his ideas before the world.
A New Doctrine Of Health And Disease
A gentleman of Belfast, Maine, Dr. Phineas P. Quimby, who was
remarkably successful as an experimenter in mesmerism some sixteen
years ago, and has continued his investigations in psychology,
has discovered, and in his daily practice carries out, a new
principle in the treatment of diseases.
All medical treatment of previous schools deals with the effect,
and not the cause, - treats the disordered body, and not the
mind, which is the active agent of that disorder. It is universally
acknowledged that the mind is often the cause of the disease,
but it has never before been supposed to have an equal power
in overcoming it.
His theory is that the mind gives immediate form to the animal
spirits, and that the animal spirit gives form to the body,
as soon as the less plastic elements of the body are able to
assume that form. Therefore, his first course in the treatment
of a patient is to sit down beside him, and put himself en rapport
with him, which he does without producing the mesmeric sleep.
He says that in every disease the animal spirit, or spiritual
form, is somewhat disconnected from the body, and that, when
he comes en rapport with a patient, he sees that spirit form
standing beside the body, that it imparts to him all its grief
and the cause of it, which may have been mental trouble or shock
to the body, as over-fatigue, excessive cold or heat, etc. This,
of course, impresses the mind with anxiety; and the mind, reacting
upon the body, produces disease.
In the case of a young child, one might say, "Surely, here
the mind can have nothing to do with the disease." But
not so. If a child coughs, its mind is cognizant of it, and
dreads it, as he would dread the fire that has just burned him;
and that dread increases the tendency to cough, and thus the
disease is produced.
With this spirit form Dr. Quimby converses, and endeavors to
win it away from its grief; and, when he has succeeded in doing
so, it disappears, and reunites with the body. Thus is commenced
the first step towards recovery.
This union frequently lasts but a short time, when the spirit
again appears, exhibiting some new phase of its troubles. With
this he again persuades and contends until he overcomes it,
when it disappears as before. Thus two shades of trouble have
disappeared from the mind, and consequently from the animal
spirit; and the body has already commenced its efforts to come
into a state in accordance with them.
Dr. Quimby says that there is no danger from disease when the
mind is armed against it. That he will treat a person who has
the most malignant disorder without danger to himself, though
his sympathy with the patient is so strong that he feels in
his own person every symptom of the disease; but he dissipates
from his mind the idea of it, and induces in its place an idea
of health.
He says the mind - the thinking principle - is what it thinks
it is, and that, if it contends against the thought of disease,
and creates for itself an ideal form of health, that form impresses
itself upon the animal spirit, and through that upon the body,
that his understanding is a positive power, and aids the spirit,
which is not strong enough in itself to contend against the
idea of disease.
Of course, I have given but the barest outline of this theory,
which opens a new field full of interest and beauty to the lover
of psychology. To many minds it would seem speculative and fantastic,
were it not substantiated by cures so remarkable as to seem
almost miraculous.
Indeed, Dr. Quimby asserts that he believes nothing but what
he sees, - that he is unaided by any powers of reasoning.
He practices in a comparatively narrow sphere with rare simplicity,
and has done nothing to call the attention of the public to
his system; but it seems to me to be founded upon true philosophical
principles, and to be deserving of a wide acceptance.
Bangor (Me.) Jeffersonian, 1857.
The following was written by a lady whom Dr. Quimby had cured
during the first year of his practice in Portland, and who had
become very much interested in his ideas:
The Art Of Healing
Of all subjects affecting the happiness of mankind, health stands
foremost in importance: for without it little can be enjoyed
and nothing effected. Why, in the design of an overruling Providence,
so many are innocently condemned to he miserable invalids, to
annihilate their existence as useful beings, and yield up their
lives to disease, are questions continually recurring to the
sick, rendering life more a mystery to them even than to the
well. Notwithstanding the advancement that has been in the science
which is intended to lessen suffering and prolong life, still
the signs of the times would indicate that the wave of disease
will swell with the increasing tide of new generations. Every
person’s experiences teaches him the value of health,
so that its consideration occupies a large share of individual
attention; and each person has a standard of his own by which
he endeavors to preserve it.
Theories, rules, and opinions are just as good as their effects
show. If we can keep our health good by applying our own rules,
well and good. If not, we need help. Every theory admitting
evil as an element cannot annihilate it. If disease is ever
driven out of existence, it must be by a theory and practice
entirely at variance with what we now put our trust in.
There are those who indulge in the belief that humanity contains
the principles of self-perfection, and that there is in every
person a power superior to reason or education, by which sciences
are discovered and miracles effected. This principle is not
recognized as a natural capacity in man; but its appearance
is generally considered as an exclusive gift, and its possessors
are geniuses and sorcerers. Both are judged by their works to
have a power not allotted to the masses, and their explanation
places them in one of the above classes.
In every age there have appeared individuals possessing the
power of healing the sick and foretelling events. Their theory
or explanation veils this power in superstition and ignorance,
so that the world is not enlightened in regard to where it comes
from or how it operates. We only know the effects. Spiritualists,
mesmerists, and clairvoyants, making due allowance for imposition,
in later times have proved that this power is still in existence.
Like this in the vague impression of its character, but infinitely
beyond any demonstrations of the same intelligence and skill,
is the practice of a physician who has been among us a year,
and to whose treatment some helpless invalids owe their recovered
health. I refer to Dr. P. P. Quimby. With no reputation except
for honesty, which he carries in his face, and the faint rumor
of his cures, he has established himself in our city, and by
his success merits public attention. Regarded by many as a harmless
humbug, by others as belonging to the genus mystery, he stands
among his patients as a reformer, originating an entirely new
theory in regard to disease, and practicing it with a skill
and ease which only come from knowledge and experience. His
success in reaching all kinds of diseases, from chronic cases
of years’ standing to acute diseases, shows that he must
be practicing upon a principle different from what has ever
before been taught.
His position as an irregular practitioner has confined him principally
to the patronage of the credulous and the desperate; and the
most of his cases have been those, which have not yielded to
ordinary treatment. Those only who have been fortunate enough
to receive benefit from him can have any appreciation of the
interest which the originality of his ideas excite, and of the
benefit, when understood, which they will he to society.
To attempt to describe his mode of treatment to the well would
he like offering money to an already wealthy man; while the
sick person, who is like one cast into prison for an unjust
debt, can feel the force of his system. With a sympathy, which
the sick alone call forth, and a knowledge, which he proves
alone to them, he leads an invalid along the path to health.
His power over disease arises from his subtle knowledge of mind
and its relation to the natural world, to which subject his
attention was turned some twenty years ago by mesmerism.
His investigation in this region, hitherto unsatisfactorily
explored, has developed in him a clairvoyant faculty, which
he exercises with his reason and natural senses, and has yielded
to him facts which he explains upon a principle admitted, but
little understood, educing there from a theory of universal
application by which he cures diseases.
H. - Portland (Me.) Advertiser, February, 1860
From an article in the Lebanon (N.H.) Free Press of Dec. 3,
1860, we quote the following:—
It is here Dr. Quimby stands, his explanations and his cures
go hand in hand. While his senses are penetrating the dark mystery
of the experience of the sick, he is in complete possession
of his consciousness as a man. Not fearing to investigate the
operation of the mind, he penetrated the region where but few
have dared to venture; and, going far beyond others in his experiments,
he arrived at the knowledge of the principle regulating happiness.
Therefore, his curing disease is perfectly intelligent, and
is in itself a new philosophy of life.
The foundation of his theory, regarded simply as a belief, is
that disease is not self-existent, nor created by God, but is
purely an invention of man. Yet it is so firmly established
in our belief, and substantiated by so much wisdom, that its
existence as an independent identity is never questioned. In
his treatment he makes a complete separation between the sufferer
and the sickness. For the latter he has no respect; and, while
he is battling and destroying the faith or belief of which it
is made, he respects the intelligence of the patient, which
he leaves free and unchained.
The following, article was written by a young lady whose mother
had been restored to health after being given up as incurable
by the doctors, and having been unable to use her voice for
three years. The young lady had also recovered her health under
Dr. Quimby’s care : —
Dr. Quimby’s Mode Of Curing Disease
One of the noticeable characteristics of the present time is
a growing distrust in the virtue of medicine as in itself able
to cure disease; and this state of the public mind, this demand
for some better mode of treating the sick, has either created,
or finds ready, an army of new-school practitioners of every
possible kind, some sincerely desirous of doing good and firmly
believing what they profess, while others are only too willing
to impose upon credulity, and benefit themselves thereby. Under
such circumstances it would be extremely difficult for a true
reformer, who not only sees the errors of the past and present,
hut dares to take entirely different views even of the origin
of disease, to acquire for himself a reputation distinct from
the many who also profess to have advanced far in the new paths
they have chosen, though, in reality, having started from the
same point that all others have in times past, they will in
the end arrive at nearly the same conclusions. Even great success
in the practice of his theory might for a time be insufficient
to establish public confidence, and prevent his being ranked
with all the innovators of the day.
Many people who have lost faith in the ancient school are at
the same time startled by such reasoning as Dr. Quimby uses
with regard to disease. It is so contrary to the commonly received
opinions, they hardly dare believe there can he any truth in
it. They hear of remarkable success in his practice, but are
then still more incredulous, and say, "The age of miracles
has passed away, and this is too much to believe." But
"seeing is believing," the proverb says; and, after
having an opportunity to see some of the remarkable effects
which Dr. Quimby has had upon obstinate cases of long-standing
disease, they are compelled to yield, though it may he reluctantly,
that there is living truth in his principles, that he has cast
off the shackles of opinion which would narrowly enclose the
limits of investigation, and, studying the mysterious workings
of the mind, discovered there the true explanation of that which
has so long been misunderstood and unsatisfactorily accounted
for. They came to him suspicious, almost unwilling to believe
what they saw, ignorant of his theory, which, even after it
was explained, they found difficult to understand, and therefore
had to go through with this process of gradual conviction before
they would receive its truths. So it may he said that he has
to contend with those who would be his friends as well as his
enemies.
The following outline of his theory was written after having
passed through similar change of feeling, and may give some
general idea — though a very imperfect one - of the principles
which are so effective in opposing disease —According
to this new theory, disease is the invention of man. It is caused
by a disturbance of the mind,— which is spiritual matter,—
and therefore originates there.
We can call to mind instances where disease has been produced
instantly by excitement, anger, fear, or joy. Is it not the
more rational conclusion that disease is always caused by influences
upon the mind rather than that it has an identity, comes to
us, and attacks us?
Living in a world full of error in this respect, and educated
to believe that disease is something we cannot escape, it is
not strange that what we fear comes upon us. We take the opinions
of men, which have no knowledge in them, for truth. So we all
agree to arbitrary rules with regard to our mode of life, and
suffer the penalties attached to any disobedience of the same.
These diseases or penalties are real to us through the result
of belief.
It is reasonable to infer from these statements that the only
way to approach and eradicate disease must he through the mind,
to trace the cause of this misery, and hold up to it the light
of reason or disbelief in the existence of disease independent
of the mind. Then the cloud, which shadows us vanishes, as error
always will when overpowered by the light of truth.
Dr. Quimby proves the truth of his belief by his daily works.
The marvelous cures he is effecting are undeniable evidence
of his superior knowledge and skill in applying it for the benefit
of suffering humanity. He does not use medicine or any material
agency, nor call to his aid mesmerism or any spiritual influence
whatever, but works on scientific principles, the philosophy
of which may he understood by the patient. Therefore, he is
not only rid of the present trouble, but also to the liability
to disease in the future.
Accepting this new theory, man rises superior to circumstances.
Easily adapting himself to any necessity, free from all fear
of disease, he lives a more simple, natural, and happy life.
He is enabled to control the body, and make it subservient to
his will instead of his being a slave completely at its mercy,
which he will he if he allows that it is subject to disease.
This truth is capable of extensive practical application in
all the exigencies of life, and we learn to make constant use
of it as we advance in knowledge. It helps us to place a just
estimate upon everything, the value of life is enhanced; and,
as we have more of this true knowledge in ourselves, we shall
love and worship God, who is the source of all wisdom, more
sincerely and intelligently. VERMONT. Portland Advertiser,
1862.
The next article was also written by a lady whom Dr. Quimby
had cured, and was published in the Portland Advertiser of March
22, 1862
Outline Of New Principles In Curing Disease
It is an ancient and time-honored custom for the educated classes
to oppose every new thing that they cannot comprehend and account
for. Being themselves the standard of intelligence, they deny
every fact that does not come from the development of their
own knowledge, and oppose en masse the possibility of intelligence
coming from any other source than their researches. So when
a question comes before the people, originating outside of their
education, it meets every species of opposition, is misrepresented
and abused in every possible shape before it reaches a successful
stand. Therefore, to obtain a candid hearing for a subject not
understood nor admitted by the world is impossible. Its first
appearance will he mistrusted, and considered as an absurdity.
The experience of Dr. Quimby has not been an exception in this
respect. Curing disease without medicine is looked upon as a
humbug, and its advocates considered as visionary fanatics.
Yet it comes forth again, claiming public respect and attention.
He is misunderstood and mistrusted by many, because they class
him among things, which hold no respectable position in the
world; and the opposition, which they feel towards him arises
from the mistaken character of their opinions. Some persons
think he cures by power from the devil, and consequently have
no respect for him. From their acquaintance with the afore said
personage, they conclude that the doctor must be as wicked and
powerful as he is; and so they consider him a questionable character.
This judgment is the basis of the prejudice that exists in the
community against him. There are others, however, who are willing
to allow him a hearing in explaining his way of curing.
Dr. Quimby claims that he cures disease under the guidance of
a principle, which being understood, must set free the sick.
Consequently, his system, as far as he carries it, is an intelligible
one, and his position in regard to disease entirely new and
original. Instead of treating the body as an intelligent organization
with independent life, he finds the life and intelligence in
the man who occupies it. His process reverses their relation
to each other, making the visible form the shadow, while the
everlasting substance is not seen in the natural world. His
theory separates them, and brings to light the pure intelligence
of man, letting it work in the world of matter as master, and
not slave. From this standpoint he advocates the cause of the
sick against the whole world; for everybody believes that the
body is diseased, and the mind, or real man, is not affected.
He says the voice of the sick is not heard in the world. It
is what the well say about them that gets the public ear; while
they, passive and helpless, are completely controlled by the
influences coming from the knowledge of those whose duty it
is to cure them. He also says the well know nothing of themselves
about the sick, and consequently their judgment is uncharitable
and fallible. It is his duty to get the sick free from the charges
made against them; and this he does by a full knowledge of their
feelings, which he takes upon himself. These feelings, which
are the evidences against them, he explains in a way that destroys
what they prove to the world.
Statements made by him to the sick have a strange sound, and
need an explanation to render them intelligible; for he often
tells a person he has no real diseases when nothing is plainer
than that he has. Here comes in his peculiar belief, which to
him is knowledge. He does not trace disease to a hidden or mysterious
source, or no source at all either does he pay any respect to
it as though it came from God. He refers it directly to man
himself, under the dominion of errors invented by man, believed
in as true, and of independent origin; and to cure it intelligently
and in the most beneficial way to mankind is to destroy the
error on which it is based. Then he lifts disease from its pretended
basis of truth, and places it on its proper basis of error.
Consequently, in his reasoning, disease is not the ruling power;
and he does not admit it except as a deception. In demonstrating
this position, he comes in contact with prejudices, which are
as strong as our existence, and in many cases meets with opposition
from the strong and bitter religious prejudices, which are so
common in the community. He cannot admit a disease and then
cure it any more than a court can pronounce judgment on a criminal
without trying the case.
Dr. Quimby gives the sick the same chance for their health as
an indicted supposed criminal has for his life; and, if he,
by analyzing his symptoms, can destroy the evidence of disease,
then the patient is cured. In this he follows no track before
trodden by man, and ventures into a field entirely unknown to
regular physicians; and hence he cannot be ranked with any association
of practitioners.
He does not place disease upon the presumption that it is imagination,
and, if a person would only think he was well, he would be so.
The anguish of the body is as real as anything; but it is not
intelligent of itself, and is dependent on the construction
of those who never felt it to receive a name and character determining
the condition of the organs and the danger of the patient’s
life. He says the body does not act of itself, but is acted
upon by its owner or some other outward influences; and it is
the development of his principles to detect those influences
and correct them when wrong.
With the sick the reverse is true in common belief. The body
is sick, suffers, and dies; and very little is known of the
owner. To them the body is a cruel tyrant, the organs all conspiring,
together or singly, to kill them. The lungs say he shall not
have any air, the stomach refuses to give him food in peace,
and there is a general confusion of threats and compromise.
The body haggles and encroaches, man becomes cowardly, and is
finally overcome, and gives, up to whatever the body agrees
upon; and disease gains the victory. And where is man? Where
are his ambition, his self-respect, his power of taking care
of himself? He has become a weak, complaining being that he
would despise in the day of his health. This is the being that
Dr. Quimby cures; and, according as he restores to him a sense
of his lost rights, and makes him feel that he is and ought
to be master, just so the body ceases to he a tyrant, and becomes
a servant, subject to his direction. Then, when it is
asked by what power Dr. Quimby cures disease, it is answered,
By the knowledge of the wisdom that gives man the control of
his body, and the understanding of which produces health and
happiness. Just according as man walks in the knowledge of this
truth, he is wise and happy; but any deviation from it, admitting
matter superior to man, creates an error, which really imprisons
him.
Ages of education have condensed these errors into living facts,
and now nothing is plainer to those who still are young than
the inevitable approach of many sorrows and trials. To free
the burden of life of one of its greatest evils, and prepare
the way for greater works of the same plan, is the effect of
the establishment of Dr. Quimby’s system. In a brief communication
like this it is impossible to do justice to a subject like this.
Time will prove that his cures are wrought under a principle
that must work out the redemption of mankind from disease; and
his system will he found based on eternal principles, and as
capable of being explained and understood as the science of
astronomy and music.
E. G. WARE.
A Letter From Dr. Quimby
International House, February, 1862.
Mr. Editor,- As you have given me the privilege of answering
an article in your paper of the 11th inst., where you classed
me with Spiritualists, mesmerizers, clairvoyants, etc., I take
this occasion to state where I differ from all classes of doctors;
from the allopathic physician to the healing medium.
All these admit disease as an independent enemy of mankind,
but the mode of getting rid of it divides them in their practice.
The old school admit that medicines contain certain curative
properties, and that certain medicines will produce certain
effects. This is their honest belief. The homeopathic physicians
believe their infinitesimals produce certain effects. This is
also honest. But I believe all their medicine is of infinitely
less importance than the opinions that accompany it.
I never make war with medicine, but opinions. I never try to
convince a patient that his trouble arises from calomel or any
other poison, but the poison of the doctor’s opinion in
admitting a disease.
But another class, under cover of Spiritualism and mesmerism,
claim power from another world; and to these my remarks are
addressed. I was one of the first mesmerizers in the state who
gave public experiments, and had a subject who was considered
the best then known. He examined and prescribed for diseases
just as this class do now. And I know just how much reliance
can he placed on a medium; for, when in this state, they are
governed by the superstition and beliefs of the person they
are in communication with, and read their thoughts and feelings
in regard to their disease, whether the patient is aware of
them or not.
The capacity of thought-reading is the common extent of mesmerism.
Clairvoyance is very rare, and can he easily tested by blindfolding
the subject and giving him a book to read. If he can read without
seeing, that is conclusive evidence that he has independent
sight. This state is of very short duration. They then come
into that state where they are governed by surrounding minds.
All the mediums of this day reason about medicine as much as
the regular physician. They believe in disease and recommend
medicine.
When I mesmerized my subject, he would prescribe some little
simple herb that would do no harm or good of itself. In some
cases this would cure the patient. -I also found that any medicine
would cure certain cases if he ordered it. This led me to investigate
the matter, and arrive at the stand I now take: that the cure
is not in the medicine, but in the confidence of the doctor
or medium. A clairvoyant never reasons nor alters his opinion;
but, if in the first state of thought-reading he prescribes
medicine, he must he posted by some mind interested in it, and
also must derive his knowledge from the same source the doctors
do.
The subject I had left me, and was employed by , who employed
him in examining diseases in the mesmeric sleep, and taught
him to recommend such medicines as he got up himself in Latin;
and, as the boy did not know Latin, it looked very mysterious.
Soon afterwards he was at home again, and I put him to sleep
to examine a lady, expecting that he would go on in his old
way; but instead of that he wrote a long prescription in Latin.
I awoke him that he might read it; but he could not. So I took
it to the apothecary’s, who said he had the articles,
and that they would cost twenty dollars. This was impossible
for the lady to pay. So I returned, and put him asleep again
and he gave his usual prescription of some little herb, and
she got well.
This, with the fact that all the mediums admit disease, and
derive their knowledge from the common allopathic belief, convinces
me that, if it were not for the superstition of the people,
believing that these subjects, merely because they have their
eyes shut, know more than the apothecaries, they could make
few cures. Let any medium open his eyes, and let the patient
describe his disease then the medicine would do about as much
good as brown bread pills. But let the eyes be shut, and then
comes the mystery. It is true they will tell the feelings, but
that is all the difference.
Now, I deny disease as a truth, but admit it as a deception,
started like all other stories without any foundation, and handed
down from generation to generation till the people believe it,
and it has become a part of their lives. So they live a lie,
and their senses are in it.
To illustrate this, suppose I tell a person he has the diphtheria;
and he is perfectly ignorant of what I mean. So I describe the
feelings, and tell the danger of the disease, and how fatal
it is in many places. This makes the person nervous, and I finally
convince him of the disease. I have now made one; and he attaches
himself to it, and really understands it, and he is in it soul
and body. Now he goes to work to make it, and in a short time
it makes its appearance.
My way of curing convinces him that he has been deceived; and,
if I succeed, the patient is cured. As it is necessary that
he should feel I know more than he does, I tell his feelings.
This he cannot do to me, for I have no fears of diphtheria.
My mode is entirely original. I know what I say; and they do
not, if their word is to be taken. Just so long as this humbug
of inventing disease continues, just so long the people will
he sick and be deceived by the above-named crafts. P. P. Quimby,
Portland Advertiser, Feb. 13th, 1862.
The following is one of the last public notices of Dr. Quimby’s
work previous to his departure from Portland : —It is
with feelings of surprise and regret that many of your readers
receive the announcement, given in your advertising columns,
that Dr. P. P. Quimby has determined to leave Portland. The
doctor has been in this city for nearly seven years, and by
his unobtrusive manners and sincerity of practice has won the
respect of all who knew him. To those especially who have been
fortunate enough to receive benefit at his hands, - and they
are many, - his departure will he viewed as a public loss. That
he has manifested wonderful power in healing the sick among
us, no well-informed and unprejudiced person can deny. Indeed,
for more than twenty years the doctor has devoted himself to
this one object; namely, to cure the sick, and to discover through
his practice the origin and nature of disease.
By a method entirely novel and at first sight quite unintelligible,
he has been slowly developing what he calls the "Science
of Health"; that is, as he defines it, a science
founded on principles that can he taught and practiced, like
that of mathematics, and not on opinion or experiments of any
kind whatsoever.
Hitherto he has confined his efforts to individual cases only,
seeking to discover in them what disease is, how it arises,
and whether it may not, with the progress of truth, he entirely
eradicated. The results of his practice have been such as to
convince him that disease, that great enemy of our happiness,
may he destroyed, and that, too, on grounds and by a method
purely rational; and he goes from us not to abandon the cause,
we are rejoiced to learn, but to enter a broader field of usefulness,
wherein he hopes not only to cure, but, as far as he can, to
prevent disease.
The path he treads is a new one and full of difficulties; but,
with the evidence he has already given, in numberless instances,
of his extraordinary ability in detecting the hidden sources
of suffering, we are led to hope he may yet accomplish something
for the permanent good of mankind. An object so pure and a method
so unselfish must, when understood, claim the favorable attention
of us all. We bid him God-speed. G. - Portland (Me.) Advertiser,
1865 |
III
Reminiscences |
It was some time in 1860 that I first heard
of Dr. Quimby. He was then practicing his method of curing the
sick in Portland, where he had been located about a year. My
home was a few miles from that city, and we often heard of the
wonderful work he was doing. We also heard something about his
philosophy; and, as he made war with the prevailing theories
of the day, there was a strong prejudice against him in the
minds of many people. His patients, however, became his friends,
and he gradually won his way into the hearts of the people,
especially among those who had received benefit from him, either
through his practice or his ideas; and his fame spread more
and more.
My own experience with Dr. Quimby was a very interesting one,
and attended with most happy results. In fact, my first interview
with him marked a turning - point in my life, from which there
has been no turning back.
I went to him in May, 1862, as a patient, after six years of
great suffering, and as a last resort, after all other methods
of cure had utterly failed to bring relief. I had barely faith
enough to be willing to go to him, as I had been one of those
who were prejudiced against him, and still had more of doubt
and fear than expectancy of receiving help. But all fear was
taken away as I was met by this good man, with his kindly though
searching glance.
The events connected with this first interview are as vivid
in mind as those of yesterday. It was like being turned from
death to life, and from ignorance of the laws that governed
me to the light of truth, in so far as I could understand the
meaning of his explanations.
In order to understand the great change which then came into
my life, let the reader picture a young girl taken away from
school, deprived of all the privileges enjoyed by her associates,
shut up for six years in a sick-room, under many kinds of severe
and experimental treatment in its worst forms, constantly growing
worse, told by her minister that it was the will of God that
she should suffer all this torture, seeing the effect of all
this trying experience upon the dear ones connected with her,—
simply struggling for an existence, and yet seeing no way of
escape except through death,— and the reader will have
some idea of the state I was in when taken before this strange
physician. And, in order to complete the picture, let the reader
imagine the inner conflict between all this that was so disheartening
and a hope that never wavered, a feeling that there was a way
of escape, if it could only be found, a conviction deeper than
all this agony of soul and body that the whole situation was
wrong, that the torturing treatment was wholly unnecessary,
and that it was not God’s will that any one should be
kept in such a prison of darkness and suffering.
To have this great hope realized was, indeed, like the glad
escape of a prisoner from the darkest and most miserable dungeon.
Yet timid, and expecting to find a man without sympathy, who
would attempt some sort of magic with me, it was naturally with
much fear and trembling that I made my first visit to his office.
Instead of this, I found a kindly gentleman who met me with
such sympathy and gentleness that I immediately felt at ease.
He seemed to know at once the attitude of mind of those who
applied to him for help, and adapted himself to them accordingly.
His years of study of the human mind, of sickness in all its
forms, and of the prevailing religious beliefs, gave him the
ability to see through the opinions, doubts, and fears of those
who sought his aid, and put him in instant sympathy with their
mental attitude. He seemed to know that I had come to him feeling
that he was a last resort, and with but little faith in him
or his mode of treatment. But, instead of telling me that I
was not sick, he sat beside me, and explained to me what my
sickness was, how I got into the condition, and the way I could
have been taken out of it through the right understanding. He
seemed to see through the situation from the beginning, and
explained the cause and effect so clearly that I could see a
little of what he meant. My case was so serious, however, that
he did not at first tell me I could he made well. But there
was such an effect produced by his explanation that I felt a
new hope within me, and began to get well from that day.
He continued to explain my case from day to day, giving me some
idea of his theory and its relation to what I had been taught
to believe, and sometimes sat silently with me for a short time.
I did not understand much that he said, but I felt "the
spirit and the life" that came with his words; and I found
myself gaining steadily. Some of these pithy sayings of his
remained constantly in mind, and were very helpful in preparing
the way for a better understanding of his thought, such, for
instance, as his remark, that "Whatever we believe, that
we create," or "Whatever opinion we put into a thing,
that we take out of it."
The general effect of these quiet sittings with him was to lighten
up the mind, so that one came in time to understand the troublesome
experiences and problems of the past in the light of his clear
and convincing explanations. I remember one day especially when
a panorama of past experiences came before me; and I saw just
how my trouble had been made, how I had been kept in bondage
and enslaved by the doctors and the false opinions that had
been given me. From that day the connection was broken with
these painful experiences, and the terrible practices and experiments,
which had added so much to my trouble; and I lived in a larger
and freer world of thought.
The most vivid remembrance I have of Dr. Quimby is his appearance
as he came out of his private office ready for the next patient.
That indescribable sense of conviction, of clear-sighted-ness,
of energetic action,— that something that made one feel
that it would be useless to attempt to cover up or hide anything
from him,— made an impression never to be forgotten. Even
now in recalling it, after thirty-three years, I can feel the
thrill of new life, which came with his presence and his look.
There was something about him that gave one a sense of perfect
confidence and ease in his presence,— a feeling that immediately
banished all doubts and prejudices, and put one in sympathy
with that quiet strength or power by which he wrought his cures.
We took our turn in order, as we happened to come to the office;
and, consequently, the reception-room was usually full of people
waiting their turn. People were coming to Dr. Quimby from all
parts of New England, usually those who had been given up by
the best practitioners, and who had been persuaded to try this
new mode of treatment as a last resort. Many of these came on
crutches or were assisted into the office by some friend; and
it was most interesting to note their progress day by day, or
the remarkable change produced by a single sitting with the
doctor. I remember one lady who had used crutches for twenty
years, who walked without them after a few weeks.
Among those in waiting were usually several friends or pupils
of Dr. Quimby, who often met in his rooms to talk over the truths
he was teaching them. It was a rare privilege for those who
were waiting their turn for treatment to listen to these discussions
between the strangers and these disciples of his, also to get
a sentence now and then from the doctor himself, who would often
express some thought that would set us to thinking deeply or
talking earnestly.
In this way Dr. Quimby did considerable teaching; and this was
his only opportunity to make his ideas known. He did not teach
his philosophy in a systematic way in classes or lectures. His
personal explanations to each patient, and his readiness to
explain his ideas to all who were interested, brought him in
close sympathy with all who went to him for help. But further
than that he had no time for teaching, as he was always overrun
with patients, although it was his intention to revise his writings
and publish them.
Those were days to be remembered. One who never saw him can
hardly imagine the conviction of truth that one felt when he
uttered a sentence. He seemed to see through all the falsities
of life, and far into the depths and into the spirit of things;
and his penetrating vision was so keen and true that one felt
as if in the presence of a great light that could destroy the
darkness of all that stood in his way.
We all loved him truly and devotedly; for how could we help
it? He was full of love for humanity, and he was constantly
laboring for others without regard to himself. It has always
seemed strange to me that any one who knew him and was taught
by him could ever forget his loving sympathy and kindness of
heart. He was one that inspired all honest souls with a conviction
of his own sincerity. He had nothing to gain nor lose; for his
own life was a constant out flowing of the spirit of truth in
which he lived.
Consequently, he freely gave of all that he had; and, if any
one evinced any particular interest in his theory, he would
lend his manuscripts and allow his early writings to be copied.
Those interested would in turn write articles about his "theory"
or "the Truth," as he called it, and bring them to
him for his criticism. But no one thought of making any use
of these articles while he lived, nor even to try his mode of
treatment in a public way; for all looked up to him as the master
whose works so far surpassed anything they could do that they
dared not try.
Among the more devoted followers were the daughters of Judge
Ware, already mentioned, and Mr. Julius A. Dresser, also of
Portland, who spent much of his time for several years in the
endeavor to spread Dr. Quimby’s ideas.
It was also at this time, 1862 that Mrs. Eddy, author of "Science
and Health," was associated with Dr. Quimby; and I well
remember the very day when she was helped up the steps to his
office on the occasion of her first visit. She was cured by
him, and afterwards became very much interested in his theory.
But she put her own construction on much of his teaching, and
developed a system of thought, which differed radically from
it.
This does not seem strange when one considers how much there
was to learn from a man as original as Dr. Quimby, and one who
had so long investigated the human mind. Unless one had passed
through a similar experience, and penetrated to the very center
of things as he had, one could not appreciate his explanations
sufficiently to carry out his particular line of thought. Hence
none of the systems that have sprung up since Dr. Quimby’s
death, although originating in his researches and practice,
have justly represented his philosophy, as the succeeding chapters
will show.
His treatment did not consist of denials and affirmations, nor
did he treat any two cases alike. He had a wonderful power of
adaptability, and used such language and illustrations as were
suggested by the calling or belief of his patients. In talking
with a musician, he would thus use music as an illustration.
His treatment was largely explanatory,— an explanation
of the real as opposed to the seeming condition of the patient.
He seemed to make a complete separation between the sufferer
and the sickness, and he talked to the sufferer in such a manner
that, gradually his senses would become attached to the new
life or wisdom which his words conveyed instead of the painful
sensations; and, as this continued, the sickness disappeared.
In one of his articles, written in 1861, Dr. Quimby thus describes
his method of cure —"A patient comes to see Dr. Quimby.
He renders himself absent to everything but the impression of
the person’s feelings. These are quickly daguerreotyped
on him. They contain no intelligence, but shadow forth a reflection
of themselves, which he looks at. This contains the disease
as it appears to the patient. Being confident that it is the
shadow of a false idea, he is not afraid of it.
Then his feelings in regard to the disease, which are health
and strength, are daguerreotyped on the receptive plate of the
patient, which also throws forth a shadow. The patient, seeing
this shadow of the disease in a new light, gains confidence.
This change of feeling is daguerreotyped on the doctor again.
This also throws forth a shadow; and he sees the change, and
continues to treat it in the same way. So the patient’s
feelings sympathize with his, the shadow changes and grows dim,
and finally disappears, the light takes its place, and there
is nothing left of the disease."
It was Dr. Quimby’s own clear-cut perception and understanding
of the case, which enabled him to make this separation between
the better or real self of the patient and the personal fear
and beliefs, which as he says in the above illustration, were
daguerreotyped on him. The perception or explanation was itself
the cure, and there was no need either of argument or of an
attempt to transfer his thoughts to the patient. The separation
once made, a change was bound to result; for the senses were
carried with it, the whole mental attitude changed as well,
and the patient was freed from the tormenting sensations and
fears which had been all-absorbing,— absorbing so long,
and only so long, as the consciousness was turned in the wrong
direction.
His first effort, then, in every case was to free the sufferer
from whatever held soul and body in bondage, and to make his
explanation so clear that the patient should consciously see
the whole matter in its true light ; and every one knows that,
when we see through a thing that has caused us trouble, its
power over us is lost, just as when a startling rumor is denied,
or as though one were to meet a lion in the forest, and then
learn that he was chained, and could do no harm.
There seemed to be no obstacle to Dr. Quimby’s mental
vision. I once knew a lady to go to him simply to test his ability
to read her. She remarked to others that she did not believe
he could help her, nor tell her what caused her trouble. He
received her as he would any one, and after a few moments—without
a word having been spoken — took his chair, and, placing
it before her. sat down with his back to her, saying to her:
"That is the way you feel towards me. I think you do not
need my services, and that you had better go home." The
following extract from a letter to a clergyman, under date of
Oct. 28, 1860, illustrates the care with which he discriminated
between his own opinion and that of the higher Wisdom which
enabled him to perform his wonderful cures : "Your letter
of the 18th was received; but, owing to a pressure of business,
I neglected answering it. I will try to give you the wisdom
you ask. So far as giving an opinion is concerned, it is out
of my power as a physician, though as a man I might, but it
would be of no service; for it would contain no wisdom except
of this world. My practice is not of the wisdom of man, so my
opinion as a man is of no value. Jesus said, ‘If I judge
of myself, my judgment is not good, but, if I judge of God,
it is right’; for that contains no opinion. So, if I judge
as a man, it is an opinion; and you can get plenty of them anywhere.
"You inquire if I have ever cured any cases of chronic
rheumatism? I answer, Yes; but there are as many cases of chronic
rheumatism as there are of spinal complaint, so that I cannot
decide your case by another. You cannot be saved by pinning
your faith on another’s sleeve. Every one must answer
for his own sins or belief. Our beliefs are the cause of our
misery, and our happiness and misery is what follows our belief.
"You ask if my practice belongs to any known science. My
answer is, No, it belongs to a Wisdom that is above man as man.
. . . It was taught eighteen hundred years ago, and has never
had a place in the heart of man since, but is in the world,
and the world knows it not."
Again, in reply to a young physician in a letter dated Sept.
16, 1860, he says "To answer any question with regard to
my mode of treatment would be like asking a physician how he
knows a patient has the typhoid fever by feeling the pulse,
and request the answer direct, so that the person asking the
question could sit down and be sure to define the disease from
the answer. My mode of treatment is not decided in that way.
. . If it were in my power to give to the world the benefit
of twenty years’ hard study in one short or long letter,
it would have been before the people long before this. The people
ask they know not what. You might as well ask a man to tell
you how to talk Greek without studying, it, as to ask me to
tell you how I test the true pathology of disease, or how I
test the true diagnosis of disease. All of these questions would
be very easily answered if I assumed a standard, and then tested
all disease by that standard.
"The old mode of determining the diagnosis of disease is
made up of opinions about diseased persons, in their right mind
and out of it, and under a nervous state of mind, all mixed
up together and set down, accompanied by a certain state of
pulse. In this dark chaos of error, they come to certain results
like this: If you see a man going towards the water, he is going
in swimming; but, if he is running, with his hat and coat off,
he is either going to drown himself or some one is drowning,
and so on. This is the old way. Mine is this: If I see a person,
I know it, and, if I feel the cold, I know it; but to see a
person going towards the water is no sign that I know what he
is going to do. . .
"Now, like the latter [the old practitioners], do not deceive
your patients. Try to instruct them and correct their errors.
Use all the wisdom you have, and expose the hypocrisy of the
profession in any one. Never deceive your patients behind their
backs. Always remember that, as you feel about your patients,
just so they feel towards you. If you deceive them, they lose
confidence in you; and just as you prove yourself superior to
them, they give you credit mentally. If you pursue this course,
you cannot help succeeding.
"Be charitable to the poor. Keep the health of your patient
in view, and, if money comes, all well; but do not let that
get the lead. With all this advice, I leave you to your fate,
trusting that the true Wisdom will guide you, - not in the path
of your predecessors. P. P. Q."
It was thus characteristic of Dr. Quimby to sink the man or
personal self in his work, or that larger Self or Wisdom whence
he derived his power; and whatever he urged upon another he
always practiced himself. Throughout his writings this same
humility is uppermost; and whatever he wrote and said had a
wonderful staying power, since it bore the emphasis of his own
stimulating and kindly personality.
After the lapse of twenty-nine years since Dr. Quimby passed
away, the most and the best I can say of his teaching and the
power of his example is that his theory has stood the severest
tests of trouble and sickness in my own family as well as in
many others, while his example has been an ever-present ideal.
With him his theory was a life, a larger and nobler, a freer
and wiser, life than that of the average man. To know the inexpressible
depth and value of his teaching, one must live this life, and
prove through long experience the truth of his philosophy. That
his teaching has never failed in its application, and has been
more than a substitute for all that it displaced, is at once
the best evidence of its truth and the strongest argument in
its favor.
An Exposition Of Dr. Quimby's Philosophy
It was Dr. Quimby’s chief aim to establish a science of
life and happiness, which all could learn, and which should
relieve humanity of sickness and misery. He had penetrated far
enough into the meaning and mystery of life to grasp certain
great laws and principles with mathematical clearness. He saw
that these laws were universal, that they did not depend on
the opinions and learning of men for their support, but that,
deep within every human soul, there was a source of guidance
and inspiration which all could learn to know, even the simplest
and least educated; for it was common to all. He believed that
goodness was a science, and could be taught scientifically;
and by the word "science" he always meant, not what
is commonly understood by that word, but something spiritual,—
the higher nature or wisdom of man, which accounts for all that
is mysterious to the natural man or every-day man of the world.
Therefore, he sought to make clear the distinction between the
ever-changing opinions of the world, the beliefs and inherited
ideas of the natural man, and the unvarying wisdom of the inner
or truly scientific man. He often spoke of these two elements
of knowledge as two kingdoms, one of this world, or opinions,
errors, and beliefs, and the other not of this world, but an
unchanging realm of truth, goodness, and eternal life. All that
he wrote was permeated with this thought, this distinction between
the two worlds, which he called science and ignorance, wisdom
and opinions, the real man and the natural man, Jesus and Christ;
for he always distinguished between the merely personal self
and that Christ or Wisdom in man which, so far as he possesses
it, makes man a part of God.
His long-continued study of the human mind led him to emphasize
the truth that man possesses a dual nature. Man himself is often
a mere tool in the hands of others, to be moved here and there
at the mercy of minds stronger than his own. But every man is
also an inlet to this higher Wisdom; and, consciously or unconsciously,
every one partakes of these two kingdoms of science and ignorance,
and his happiness or misery depends on which one is uppermost.
Therefore, it is of the highest importance that man should understand
himself, should know his real relations to society, how he is
influenced and how to overcome the subtle influences by which
he is surrounded; and to possess this knowledge is to know this
science or wisdom which separates truth from error. To know
the one self or kingdom from the other, to obey and develop
the real or spiritual self, and destroy the self or man of opinions,
is not only to possess, but to live the science of life and
happiness. Health and happiness will come in proportion as this
truth is made vital in daily life.
But to know one’s self in terms of Dr. Quimby’s
philosophy is no slight task. With him this one word, "science,"
embraced the fruits of twenty years experience and much that
was incommunicable to those who had not experienced it. It is
difficult to make clear and to do justice to a line of thought
which depended so much on the originality and unusual penetration
of its author; and we shall have to limit the discussion by
asking with Dr. Quimby, What is man? and by approaching his
answer somewhat systematically.
1. Dr. Quimby’s first discovery was in
regard to the influence of opinions and beliefs. He found his
patients in a position similar to that in which human beings
were placed at the very dawn of civilization, when natural phenomena,
which now receive a scientific interpretation, were attributed
to beings and shapes each of which had a separate office to
perform. That is, they were suffering from a wrong, a superstitious
and harmful interpretation of what actually existed, but misunderstood.
They were allured by false. theories, false and exciting stories,
and false leaders. They had been deceived, they had felt some
slight pain, and in their fear had consulted a doctor, who had
made a diagnosis, which was of no value, described the symptoms,
and named the sensation; or they had become wrought up over
some religious belief, and in their despair had become a prey
to their own fancies and fears. It was his task to undeceive
them, to explain the phenomena and the sensations correctly,
to show the absurdity of their superstitious beliefs, and to
explain how, with the doctor’s help, they had created
their own disease out of some slight disturbance, which in itself
amounted to nothing.
Dr. Quimby did not, therefore, make his explanations by denying
the reality of the patient’s trouble or attributing it
to the imagination. He made no such denials, but frankly admitted
the existence of certain conditions, which, to the sick person,
were as real as life itself. But just as he sought the Wisdom
above the world of opinion, and the Substance or Life beneath
the realm of matter, so he looked for the cause of disease and
suffering of all kinds in the mind which knew it. This he found,
like the superstitious beliefs of prehistoric man displaced
by modern science, in a wrong interpretation of what was in
itself an actual existence. His own effort in every case, then,
was to understand the actual situation, and to separate and
free the senses from the fears, wrong beliefs and feelings,
which had held the sufferer in bondage.
In one of his articles written to show the effect of these false
interpretations and beliefs, Dr. Quimby uses the following illustration
: - "When sitting by a sick person who had a pain in the
left side, which I felt and described, I said, "You think
you have consumption.’ The patient acknowledged it, saying
that her physician had examined her lungs, and found the left
one very much affected. This she believed; and, when I told
her that her disease was in her mind, it was as much as to say
that she imagined what was not the case. I told her she did
not understand what I meant by the mind.
"Then, taking up a glass of water, I said: "Suppose
you should be told that this water contained a poisonous substance
that works in the system and sometimes produces consumption.
If you really believe it, every time you drink the idea of poison
enters your mind. Presently you begin to hack and cough a little.
Would your fears then grow less that the water was poison? I
think not.
"‘Finally, you are given over by your doctor and
friends, and call on me. I sit down by you, and tell you that
you are nervous, and have been deceived by your doctor and friends.
You ask, How? You have been told what is false; that the water
you drink contains a slow poison, and now your cure hangs on
the testimony in the case. If I show that there is no poison
in the water, then the water did not poison you. What did? It
was the doctor’s opinion put in the water by your mind.
As the mind is matter, or something that can receive an impression,
it can he changed. This change was wrought by the doctor’s
opinion. So calling mind something, it is easy to show that
it can be changed by a wisdom superior to an opinion."
Many of the articles on this subject, written to expose the
fallacy of the prevailing ideas about disease, read like trials
in court. Dr. Quimby himself appears as the judge, pleading
the cause of the sick and showing the absurdity of the arguments
whereby his patients were condemned to a life of suffering.
He introduces both the minister and doctor, oftentimes the mother
or some friend, allowing each one to speak freely in regard
to the sufferer; and the case is often argued at great length.
Dr. Quimby is always fair in conducting such a case. His facts
were drawn directly from the lives of the sick,— what
the doctors and friends had said about the case,— and
were often written out immediately after performing the cure
which the article described. But he exposes the fallacies of
the Church and of so-called medical science with an up sparing
hand. He does not hesitate to call the minister and doctor blind
guides leading the blind; and, while he has no personal feeling
against them, he combats the errors and opinions by which they
have held the sick in bondage with a determination to destroy
every vestige of their false teachings. He is most eloquent
at times as he shows how the sick have been held in disease
and superstition, when a simple explanation would have turned
their thoughts and feelings into another channel and set them
free. It is safe to say that never before or since has the cause
of the sick been pleaded with such vigor, such power of conviction,
and such truth as in these writings of Dr. Quimby.
He placed no intelligence nor strength in matter, and never
looked upon the bodily condition as the disease. "The world,"
he says, "puts disease in the phenomenon, and guesses at
the cause." The doctor’s opinion is put together
from observation and questioning; therefore, "he is a doctor
only in name. But "to cure an error intelligently is to
know how to produce it, to know the real cause; and this embraces
all man’s ideas and wisdom."
This knowledge of the real cause Dr. Quimby possessed, and he
found it, not alone in the conscious mind and the opinions and
beliefs about disease, but in the mental influences and thoughts
by which every person is surrounded, and in the unconscious
or subconscious mind ; and he could tell an idea or cause from
the sensation produced by it, "just as a person knows an
orange by the odor."-
2. But how, the reader will ask, can fears,
unconscious mental influences, doctors’ opinions, and
false interpretations of sensation be so influential in the
creation of disease?
We have seen that Dr. Quimby placed the disease, not in the
body, but in the mind that can feel it and the opinion about
some painful sensation. The disease is therefore primarily a
wrong direction or attitude of mind, strong enough and persistent
enough to carry the senses or consciousness with it.
"Man, in his natural state, was no more liable to disease
than the beast, but as soon as he began to reason he became
diseased; for his disease was in his reason.
This mind that can he affected by false reasoning Dr. Quimby
called spiritual matter; and this was his second important discovery
concerning the nature of man. He attributed no intelligence
to the mind, used in this sense, but often compared it to the
soil into which errors and opinions are sown like seed, where
they germinate and come forth in the form of disease and all
kinds of misery.
Therefore, a person who, feeling some painful sensation, consults
a doctor, and hears a description of the symptoms he is likely
to suffer, is all the time entering into the description given
by the doctor. The person has been born with the belief that
disease is an entity independent of man, which can seize him
regardless of his belief. He has been taught that he must not
eat this nor do that, must not go here or go there, lest he
catch some disease, and has lived all his life — unconsciously
to himself—subject to these erroneous beliefs. The entire
medical practice is ready to help the matter on; and the physician,
instead of wisely turning the person’s thought into another
and healthier direction,— away from all thought of disease,—
makes a physical diagnosis, says he thinks the person has this
or that trouble, tells how people feel with that disease, and
what the result is likely to be, and proceeds to doctor the
effect, ignoring the real cause or disease completely.
Those who know much about the medical practice of today know
that the same thing is going on now, the only difference being
that the fashions, names, and , theories have changed; and we
now hear more about germs and bacteria, to which the same harmful
opinions are attached. With all the advance in medical science
since Dr. Quimby’s time—and even he would not have
denied that there are many good doctors the physicians will
give one opinion about a case one day, and another the next,
while another doctor would express an opinion differing from
both.
All this Dr. Quimby understood, and he could hardly restrain
himself where he thought of the misery that was brought upon
enslaved humanity by such false methods; for his investigations
taught him that these descriptions and opinions, if accepted
as true, acted like poison on the sufferer’s mind.
The mind, or spiritual matter, is a subtle, ethereal substance,
wonderfully impressionable or responsive, on which these opinions,
together with the person’s fears and beliefs in disease,
are impressed or daguerreotyped, where they take form, become
more and more deeply rooted, until finally they become all-absorbing
and controlling. Thus "whatever we believe, that we create";
for man is controlled primarily, not by physical states, but
by his directions of mind.
Every idea or thought, then, according to Dr. Quimby, was also
spiritual matter, but of a different combination from the mind
in which it was sown like a seed. "Every idea," he
says, "is the embodiment of an opinion resolved into an
idea. This idea has life, or a chemical change; for it is the
offspring of man’s wisdom condensed into an idea, and
our senses are attached to it." Its power over us depends
on the reliance we place upon it; and, if it comes from one
whose word we trust, it is likely to master us, and finally
to assume a character which makes it as real as life itself.
And the reason is found in the existence of this ever-changing
mind or spiritual earth in which ideas germinate or take form.
Dr. Quimby understood the law so clearly, that man’s happiness
and misery depend on his belief that he could penetrate to the
very center of a patient’s trouble without fear. He described
man as "a compound of opinions, belief, wisdom, science,
and ignorance." Knowing that mind was matter and could
he changed, and also knowing that he possessed a wisdom which
could not change, he was master of the situation, and could
clearly separate all that was eternal in man from the changing
beliefs of fear and ignorance.
Without asking any questions of the patient, he would discover
intuitively how the person had been deceived, and by giving
the true explanation would produce a change in the spiritual
matter, or mind. He described the sick person as one in prison,
and held in ignorance or darkness, like the rosebud trying to
come forth to the light; and it was his task to enter these
dark prisons of ignorance and superstition, quicken the intelligence
of his patient, and set the prisoner free.
"The mind," he says in one of his articles, "is
under the direction of a power independent of itself; and, when
the mind or thought is formed into an idea, the idea throws
off an odor: this contains the cause and effect." This
mental atmosphere, or odor emanating from the spiritual matter,
was sufficient to tell Dr. Quimby all he wished to know about
the patient’s trouble; and, when he had discovered the
hidden cause, a short audible explanation was often all that
was necessary to produce a marked effect.
For instance, he told one young man, who was a very strong Calvinist
Baptist, that his religion was killing him; for he saw that
the young man was so intense in his narrowing belief that he
was shutting all his energies into one channel, and cramping
his whole life in his too eager effort to realize his spiritual
ideal.
3. But, if this changing mind, or spiritual
matter, contains no intelligence, and can he moulded by the
opinions and fears which cause man’s misery, like clay
in the hands of the potter, there must be some abiding principle
in man which gives him a permanent identity. This abiding self
Dr. Quimby called the real man, or the senses, seldom using
the word "soul."
Here, too, Dr. Quimby’s theory was wholly original; and
this was his most suggestive discovery.
His ability to detect the mental atmosphere or odor emanating
from a patient was not limited by space; for he very early discovered
that he could detect such atmospheres, thoughts, mental odors,
and feelings at a distance of many miles from his patients,
and that he could heal them at a distance. This led to the discovery
that the senses could act independent of the body, and that
the five natural senses, or the occasional medium of the spiritual
senses, embraced but a small part of man’s perceptions:
in short, that the senses are, like light, a universal substance,
an attribute of God, which we use, just as in displaying genuine
wisdom we partake of the very nature of that Wisdom which transcends
all definition.
Man, then, possesses a soul, a consciousness, or knowledge of
himself or identity, independent of matter, and is capable of
hearing, seeing, smelling, and communicating thoughts and feelings
without the aid of matter. In fact, man could exist with all
his faculties, even if the body were laid aside; and "his
happiness is in knowing that he is no part of what is seen by
the eye of opinions" Life, or the invisible reality, is
the substance; and man’s life embraces all his faculties.
Many of our perceptions and experiences really take place through
the activity of this spiritual self, acting side by side with
the natural; for, in the last analysis, "the senses are
all there is of a man."
It is interesting to note that at the present time many students
of psychic science are reaching this same conclusion, in part,
which Dr. Quimby reached so long ago; namely, that the facts
of clairaudience, clairvoyance, telepathy, and the ability to
heal mentally at a distance prove the existence of an identity
which can live and act independent of matter.
This spiritual identity was to Dr. Quimby the real man or life,
who dwelt in the real or scientific world, in contrast to the
natural identity or man of opinions which Wisdom could destroy.
"All the senses are life," he said, "not death,
and their existence does not depend on a body for their identity.
... We cannot teach any one to see or taste, smell or know;
but all these faculties are independent of matter, and matter
is the medium for these faculties to act upon.
He therefore affirmed that "there is no matter independent
of mind or life." While, then, he never denied the existence
of matter, he always spoke of it as an idea, which, like language,
is used to convey some meaning to another. A sensation coming
from matter contains no intelligence, in his view, but the intelligence
is in us and, if we put a false construction on it, then we
suffer the consequences. Whereas, if we possess the true science
of life, our interpretation is scientific, and our happiness
is in our wisdom.
He looked upon matter as the condensation or embodiment of some
idea, on the one hand, giving expression to the purpose of the
invisible Wisdom, or God, and on the other revealing some state | |
