If it is impossible to resist the effects of some external influence by the mere play of thought, the best thing to do is to neutralize it by some contrary influence; for example, the effect of an insult may be overcome by seeking the society of those who have a good opinion of us; and the unpleasant sensation of imminent danger may be avoided by fixing our attention on the means of warding it off.

Leibnitz[1] tells of an Italian who managed to bear up under the tortures of the rack by never for a moment ceasing to think of the gallows which would have awaited him, had he revealed his secret; he kept on crying out:  I see it!  I see it!—­afterwards explaining that this was part of his plan.

[Footnote 1:  Nouveaux Essais.  Liv.  I. ch. 2.  Sec. 11.]

It is from some such reason as this, that we find it so difficult to stand alone in a matter of opinion,—­not to be made irresolute by the fact that everyone else disagrees with us and acts accordingly, even though we are quite sure that they are in the wrong.  Take the case of a fugitive king who is trying to avoid capture; how much consolation he must find in the ceremonious and submissive attitude of a faithful follower, exhibited secretly so as not to betray his master’s strict incognito; it must be almost necessary to prevent him doubting his own existence.

SECTION 20.  In the first part of this work I have insisted upon the great value of health as the chief and most important element in happiness.  Let me emphasize and confirm what I have there said by giving a few general rules as to its preservation.

The way to harden the body is to impose a great deal of labor and effort upon it in the days of good health,—­to exercise it, both as a whole and in its several parts, and to habituate it to withstand all kinds of noxious influences.  But on the appearance of an illness or disorder, either in the body as a whole or in many of its parts, a contrary course should be taken, and every means used to nurse the body, or the part of it which is affected, and to spare it any effort; for what is ailing and debilitated cannot be hardened.

The muscles may be strengthened by a vigorous use of them; but not so the nerves; they are weakened by it.  Therefore, while exercising the muscles in every way that is suitable, care should be taken to spare the nerves as much as possible.  The eyes, for instance, should be protected from too strong a light,—­especially when it is reflected light,—­from any straining of them in the dark, or from the long-continued examination of minute objects; and the ears from too loud sounds.  Above all, the brain should never be forced, or used too much, or at the wrong time; let it have a rest during digestion; for then the same vital energy which forms thoughts in the brain has a great deal of work to do elsewhere,—­I mean in the digestive organs, where it prepares chyme and chyle.  For similar