(The expressions "In direct ratio to the square of the will" and "Is
multiplied by" are not rigorously exact. They are simply illustrations
destined to make my meaning clearer.)
After what has just been said it would seem that nobody ought to be
ill. That is quite true. Every illness, whatever it may be, _can_ yield
to _autosuggestion_, daring and unlikely as my statement may seem;
I do not say _does always yield_, but _can yield_, which is a
different thing.
But in order to lead people to practise conscious autosuggestion they
must be taught how, just as they are taught to read or write or play
the piano.
_Autosuggestion_ is, as I said above, an instrument that we possess
at birth, and with which we play unconsciously all our life, as a baby
plays with its rattle. It is however a dangerous instrument; it can
wound or even kill you if you handle it imprudently and
unconsciously. It can on the contrary save your life when you know
how to employ it _consciously_. One can say of it as Aesop said of
the tongue: "It is at the same time the best and the worst thing in the
world".
I am now going to show you how everyone can profit by the
beneficent action of _autosuggestion_ consciously applied. In saying
"every one", I exaggerate a little, for there are two classes of persons
in whom it is difficult to arouse conscious autosuggestion:
1. The mentally undeveloped who are not capable of understanding
what you say to them.