and has a chance for a few minutes' intimacy with her husband before he falls asleep. She would like to have somebody tell her what to do for croup, but she is not sure that she has time to discuss the question whether life is worth living.

Yet, I wonder; is there a single one among all these tired people, or even among the cynical people, who has not had some moment of awe when the thought came stabbing into his mind like a knife: "What a strange thing this life is! What am I anyhow? Where do I come from, and what is going to become of me? What do I mean, what am I here for?" I have sat chatting with three hoboes by a railroad track, cooking themselves a mulligan in an old can, and heard one of them say: "By God, it's a queer thing, ain't it, mate?" I have sat on the deck of a ship, looking out over the midnight ocean and talking with a sailor, and heard him use almost the identical words. It is not only in the class-room and the schools that the minds of men are grappling with the fundamental problems; in fact, it was not from the schools that the new religions and the great moral impulses of humanity took their origin. It was from lonely shepherds sitting on the hillsides, and from fishermen casting their nets, and from carpenters and tailors and shoemakers at their benches.

Stop and think a bit, and you will realize it does make a difference what you believe about life, how it comes to be, where it is going, and what is your place in it. Is there a heaven with a God, who watches you day and night, and knows every thought you think, and will some day take you to eternal bliss if you obey his laws? If you really believe that, you will try to find out about his laws, and you will be comparatively little concerned about the success or failure of your business. Perhaps, on the other hand, you have knocked about in the world and lost your "faith"; you have been cheated and exploited, and have set out to "get yours," as the phrase is; to "feather your own nest." But some gust of passion seizes you, and you waste your substance, you wreck your life; then you wonder, "Who set that trap and baited it? Am I a creature of blind instincts, jealousies and greeds and hates beyond my own control entirely? Am I a poor, feeble insect, blown about in a storm and smashed? Or do I make the storm, and can I in any part control it?"

No matter how busy you may be, no matter how tired you may be, it will pay you to get such things straight: to know

a little of what the wise men of the past have thought about them, and more especially what science with its new tools of knowledge may have discovered.

The writer of this, book spent nine years of his life in colleges and universities; also he was brought up in a church. So he knows the orthodox teachings, he can say that he has given to the recognized wise men of the world every opportunity to tell him what they know. Then, being dissatisfied, he went to the unrecognized teachers, the enthusiasts and the "cranks" of a hundred schools. Finally, he thought for himself; he was even willing to try experiments upon himself. As a result, he has not found what he claims is ultimate or final truth; but he has what he might describe as a rough working draft, a practical outline, good for everyday purposes. He is going to have confidence enough in you, the reader, to give you the hardest part first; that is, to begin with the great fundamental questions. What is life, and how does it come to be? What does it mean, and what have we to do with it? Are we its masters or its slaves? What does it owe us, and what do we owe to it? Why is it so hard, and do we have to stand its hardness? And can we really know about all these matters, or will we be only guessing? Can we trust ourselves to think about them, or shall we be safer if we believe what we are told? Shall we be punished if we think wrong, and how shall we be punished? Shall we be rewarded if we think right, and will the pay be worth the trouble?

Such questions as these I am going to try to answer in the simplest language possible. I would avoid long words altogether, if I could; but some of these long words mean certain definite things, and there are no other words to serve the purpose. You do not refuse to engage in the automobile business because the carburetor and the differential are words of four syllables. Neither should you refuse to get yourself straight with the universe because it is too much trouble to go to the dictionary and learn that the word "phenomenon" means something else than a little boy who can play the piano or do long division in his head.

CONTENTS

PART ONE: THE BOOK OF THE MIND

CHAPTER I. THE NATURE OF LIFE.

Attempts to show what we know about life; to set the
bounds of real truth as distinguished from phrases and
self-deception.

CHAPTER II. THE NATURE OF FAITH.

Attempts to show what we can prove by our reason, and
what we know intuitively; what is implied in the process
of thinking, and without which no thought could be.

CHAPTER III. THE USE OF REASON

Attempts to show that in the field to which reason applies
we are compelled to use it, and are justified in trusting it.

CHAPTER IV. THE ORIGIN OF MORALITY .

Compares the ways of Nature with human morality, and
tries to show how the latter came to be.

Attempts to show how man has taken control of Nature,
and is carrying on her processes and improving upon them.

Shows the transition stage between instinct and reason,
in which man finds himself, and how he can advance to
a securer condition.

CHAPTER VII. MAKING OUR MORALS .

Attempts to show that human morality must change to fit
human facts, and there can be no judge of it save human

Attempts to show that wise conduct is an adjustment of
means to ends, and depends upon the understanding of a
particular set of circumstances.

PAGE

3

8

12

17

21

27

31

37

CHAPTER IX. THE CHOOSING OF LIFE

Discusses the standards by which we may judge what is
best in life, and decide what we wish to make of it.
CHAPTER X. MYSELF AND MY NEIGHBOR

Compares the new morality with the old, and discusses the
relative importance of our various duties.

CHAPTER XI. THE MIND AND THE BODY

PAGE

42

50

53

Discusses the interaction between physical and mental
things, and the possibility of freedom in a world of fixed

causes.

CHAPTER XII. THE MIND OF THE BODY

Discusses the subconscious mind, what it is, what it does
to the body, and how it can be controlled and made use
of by the intelligence.

CHAPTER XIII.

EXPLORING THE SUBCONSCIOUS

Discusses automatic writing, the analysis of dreams, and
other methods by which a new universe of life has been
brought to human knowledge.

61

67

CHAPTER XIV. THE PROBLEM OF IMMORTALITY

74

Discusses the survival of personality from the moral point
of view: that is, have we any claim upon life, entitling
us to live forever?

CHAPTER XV. THE EVIDENCE FOR SURVIVAL

81

Discusses the data of psychic research, and the proofs of
spiritism thus put before us.

CHAPTER XVI. THE POWERS OF THE MIND

Sets forth the fact that knowledge is freedom and igno-
rance is slavery, and what science means to the people.

CHAPTER XVII. THE CONDUCT OF THE MIND

Concludes the Book of the Mind with a study of how to
preserve and develop its powers for the protection of our
lives and the lives of all men.

91

98

Discusses the body as a whole, and shows that health is
not a matter of many different organs and functions, but
is one problem of one organism.

CHAPTER XIX. EXPERIMENTS IN DIET

Narrates the author's adventures in search of health, and
his conclusions as to what to eat.

PAGE

105

115

Discusses the different kinds of foods, and the part they
play in the making of health and disease.

CHAPTER XXI. DIET STANDARDS .

134

Discusses various foods and their food values, the quan-
tities we need, and their money cost.

CHAPTER XXII. FOODS AND POISONS

145

Concludes the subject of diet, and discusses the effect upon
the system of stimulants and narcotics.

CHAPTER XXIII. MORE ABOUT HEALTH .

156

Discusses the subjects of breathing and ventilation, cloth-
ing, bathing and sleep.

Deals with the question of exercise, both for the idle and
the overworked.

CHAPTER XXV. THE FASTING CURE

169

Deals with Nature's own remedy for disease, and how to
make use of it.

CHAPTER XXVI. BREAKING THE FAST.

177

Discusses various methods of building up the body after
a fast, especially the milk diet.

CHAPTER XXVII. DISEASES AND CURES .

182

Discusses some of the commoner human ailments, and
what is known about their cause and cure.