that loses itself in the dim vistas of eternity. Belief in limitation is
the one and only thing that causes limitation, because we thus impress
limitation upon the creative principle; and in proportion as we lay that
belief aside our boundaries will expand, and increasing life and more
abundant blessing will be ours.

But we must not ignore our responsibilities. Trained thought is far more
powerful than untrained, and therefore the more deeply we penetrate into
Mental Science the more carefully we must guard against all thoughts and
words expressive of even the most modified form of ill-will. Gossip,
tale-bearing, sneering laughter, are not in accord with the principles of
Mental Science; and similarly even our smallest thoughts of good carry with
them a seed of good which will assuredly bear fruit in due time. This is
not mere "goodie, goodie," but an important lesson in Mental Science, for
our subjective mind takes its colour from our settled mental habits, and an
occasional affirmation or denial will not be sufficient to change it; and
we must therefore cultivate that tone which we wish to see reproduced in
our conditions whether of body, mind, or circumstance.

In these lectures my purpose has been, not so much to give specific rules
of practice as to lay down the broad general principles of Mental Science
which will enable the student to form rules for himself. In every walk in
life, book knowledge is only a means to an end. Books can only direct us
where to look and what to look for, but we must do the finding _for
ourselves;_ therefore, if you have really grasped the principles of the
science, you will frame rules of your own which will give you better
results than any attempt to follow somebody else's method, which was
successful in their hands precisely because it was theirs. Never fear to be
yourself. If Mental Science does not teach you to be yourself it teaches
you nothing. Yourself, more yourself, and yet more yourself is what you