Part 9

"Anger" is the brutal and self-inflicting expression of disapproval--brutal, because it is ungodly, unchristian and unaltruistic; self-inflicting, because the ill-effect of it reacts upon the person enangered.

There can be no "righteous anger." Disapproval there must be, because man has been endowed with the faculty of Divine Selection, and thereby shows a divinity denied to all other living things whose preferences are called in Science "natural selection." Disapproval in the interest of harmony--Divine Selection--and disapproval in the creation of discord--anger--are, the one holy, and the other unholy, uses of the faculty of selection.

There may be, then, righteous disapproval, but there never can be "righteous anger."

ENVY.

"Envy" is anger of non-possession.

"Envy" is sometimes wrongly used to express appreciation, as, "I envy you your good fortune," but we will give it the one meaning of "anger of non-possession."

JEALOUSY.

"Jealousy" is "the homage that inferiority pays to merit"; or, recognition or confession of inferiority; or, fearthought.

TAP-ROOT.

"Tap-root" is "the chief root." It is the main support of the tree, of nearly the size of the trunk, and without which the tree must fall and die. The tap-root strikes deep into the soil, while the surface-roots reach out along the surface. For example; egotism is the tree of evil, either selfishness or fearthought is the tap-root, and anger and worry in all their phases are the surface roots of the tree. The tree is known by its fruits, which are, separation, paralysis, disease, unhappiness and death.

TROUBLE.

Trouble does not really exist. Fearthought of trouble is as near as one ever gets to the condition, for the reason that whatever has come has already ceased to exist, except in the memory. The reason for so fine a distinction is made clear under the caption of "The Impotence of Pain," and is emphasized in order to place merited responsibility on fearthought. What is called "trouble," however, can be defined as unwelcome conditions, but, if analyzed, the chief elements of the "conditions" will be found to be fearthought of still more unwelcome conditions. The tap-root, then, of trouble is fearthought.

PESSIMISM.

Pessimism is fearthought. Pessimism is the devil.

NERVOUSNESS.

Nervousness is generally an effect and not a cause. It is the immediate or reflex result of fearthought.

TEMPERAMENT.

Like "nervousness," so-called, "temperament"--habit-of-feeling--is generally an effect and not a cause; and is frequently used as an excuse for self-indulged weaknesses.

FOOTNOTES:

Menticulture is the title of a book by the present author, whose mission is to declare a theory of the possible and very profitable eradication of the germs of all evil, and consequent unhappiness, which are commonly assembled under the class names of "anger" and "worry",--"anger" representing the aggressive, and "worry" representing the cowardly passions.

Note: The motto of Optimism is, as elsewhere stated, "All can be, and therefore shall be, well."

NOTE--I take this apt definition of "jealousy" from that excellent periodical--the organ of the League of American Wheelmen--"The Bulletin and Good Roads." Many good suggestions in menticulture accompany the excellent suggestions relative to good roads in this paper. Good thoughts are good roads to good action.

THE VALUE OF SIMILE.

Christ taught almost entirely by parable.

Apropos of the value of simile is an experiment about which I have recently heard.

An experimenter wished to measure in some way the strength of certain vibrations and their effect upon vibratory things. A large steel comb, such as is used in music-boxes to produce sounds, was constructed. Each tooth was made as nearly as possible just like every other tooth. They not only seemed to measure alike, but when set in motion the vibrations seemed to be alike to the sense of hearing.

There was also constructed a huge tuning-fork, large enough to be struck with a bar of iron, and whose vibrations, when it was struck, came forth in big undulating waves like the pealing of a temple bell.

The object of the experiment was to observe, through the effect of powerful vibrations on the teeth of the resonant comb, a possible difference, too slight to be measured by calipers or by striking the teeth separately. The sound-waves, coming alike to all, would affect all alike unless there should be a difference in the receptivity of the teeth owing to differing density of metal, size, or some other condition not measurable by other means. By listening attentively near to the comb, the effect of the vibrations on the separate teeth could be heard.