The Quimby Manuscripts
Chapter
10 LETTERS
TO PATIENTS
PORTLAND,
Feb. 9th, 1860.
To
a Patient in Hill, N. H.
Your
letter apprised me of your situation and I went to see [absent healing] if I
could affect you. I am still trying to do so, but do not know as I can without
sitting down and talking with you as I am at present. So I will sit by you a short time and relieve the pain in your
stomach and carry it off. You can sit down, when you receive this letter, and
listen to my story and I think you will feel better. Sit up straight. I am now
rubbing the back part of your head and round the roots of your nose. I do not
know as you feel my hand . . . but it will make you feel better. When you read
this, I shall be with you: and do as I write. I am in this letter, so remember and look at me, and see if I do not
mean just as I say. I will now leave you
and attend to some others that are waiting, so "Good evening." Let me
know how you get along. If I do not write,
I may have time to call for that does not require so much time." P. P. Q.
PORTLAND,
Feb. 9th, 1861.
To
Mr. S.
Your
wife's letter was received, and I was glad to learn you were all so much better.
But your wife says you still cough: this is necessary for your cure, for you
have no other way to get rid of that heat in the head called catarrh. Now, this
heat seems to be a mystery to every one: everybody acknowledges it and tries to
account for it. Some call it nervous, but when asked to explain that they fly to
some other error.
'This
letter shows what intimate connection Dr. Quimby established mentally with
patients whom he treated absently. The reference to rubbing the head was to show
that the absent help applied directly where needed. This tended to strengthen
faith.
You
know I told you that mind was spiritual matter. In order to illustrate my
meaning so you will understand it, I will make use of an illustration that Jesus
used. He said, when the skies are red, you know it will be fair weather. Now
thought is something and this acts in space. For instance, the body is nothing
but a dense shadow, condensed into what is called matter, or ignorance of God or
Wisdom. God or Wisdom is all light. Your identity [consciousness] acts in these
two elements, light and darkness, so that all impressions are [subconsciously]
made in this darkness or ignorance, and as the light springs up the darkness
disappears. One of these elements is governed by Wisdom, the other by error, and
as all belief is in this world of darkness, the truth comes in and explains the
error. This rarifies the darkness and the light takes its place. Now as this
darkness is all the time varying, like the clouds, it is necessary that man
should be posted about it as he would about the weather.
For our happiness in this world depends a great deal on the weather. For
the wisdom of man has got so far from the truth that even the weather is our
enemy, so that we step out as though we were liable to be caught by a cold, and
if we are then comes the penalty. All this error arises from ignorance.
So to keep clear of error is to know who he is, how he gets hold of us,
and how we shall know when he is coming.
To
make you understand I must come to you in some way in the form of a belief.
So I will tell you a story of some one who died of bronchitis.
You listen or eat this belief or wisdom as you would eat your meals. It
sets rather hard upon your stomach; this disturbs the error or your body, and a
cloud appears in the sky. You cannot see the storm but you can see it looks
dark. In this cloud or belief you prophesy rain or a storm. So in your belief
you foresee evils. The elements of the body of your belief are shaken, the earth
is lit up by the fire of your error, the heat rises, the heaven or mind grows
dark; the heat moves like the roaring of thunder, the lightning of hot flashes
shoot to all parts of the solar system of your belief. At last the winds or chills strike the earth or surface of the body,
a cold clammy sensation passes over you. This changes the heat into a sort of watery substance, which works
its way to the channels, and pours to the head and stomach.
Now
listen and you will hear a voice in the clouds of error saying, The truth bath
prevailed to open the pores and let nature rid itself of the evil I loaded you
down with in a belief. This is the way God or Wisdom takes to get rid of a false
belief: the belief is made in the heavens or your mind, it then becomes more and
more condensed till it takes the form of matter. Then Wisdom dissolves it and it
passes through the pores, and the effort of coughing is one of Truth's servants,
not error's: error would try to make you look upon it as an enemy. Remember it
is for your good till the storm is over or the error is destroyed. So hoping
that you may soon rid yourself of all worldly opinions and stand firm in the
Truth that will set you free, I remain your friend and protector till the storm
is over and the waters of your belief are still.
P.
P. Q.
PORTLAND,
Feb. 8th, 1861.
To
Miss S., Hill, N. H.
Your
letter was received and I was sorry to learn that you thought you took cold.
Perhaps you did, but you know all of my patients have to go through the fiery
furnace to cleanse them of the dross of "this sinful world," made so
by the opinions of the blind guides. Remember that passage where it says,
"Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth." As Truth is our friend, it rids
us of our errors, and if we know its voice we should not fear, but receive it
with joy. For although it may seem a hard master, nevertheless it will work out
for you a more perfect health and happiness than this world of error ever could.
So listen to it and I will try to set all things right.
Of
course you get very tired, and this would cause the heat to affect the surface
as your head was affected, the heat would affect the fluids, and when the heat
came in contact with the cold it would chill the surface. This change you call
"a cold." But the same would come about in another way. Every word I
said to you is like yeast. This went into
your system like food and came in contact with the food of your old bread or
belief.
Mine was like a purgative, and acted like an emetic on your mind, so that
it would keep up a war with your devils [errors, and they will not leave a
person, when they have so good a hold as they have on you, without making some
If
you will sit down and read this letter, take a tumbler of water and think of
what I say, and drink and swallow now and then, I will make you sit up so you
will feel better. You must be [silent and receptive] just about as long as you
used to be in Portland. Try this every night about nine o'clock. This is the
time I shall be with Mr. and Mrs. S. You know that where two or three are
gathered together in the name of this Truth, there it will be in your midst and
help you. So try it and see if it does help you. If you do, let me know.
Hoping
this letter will be of some comfort to you and the rest, I remain your true
friend and protector till you are well, if I have the Science to cure you. So I
leave you for the present and attend to others.(1)
P. P. Q.
(1)
Despite Dr. Quimby's great confidence in the Truth, he often wrote and spoke
in this way, never making mere promises or claims. The use of the tumbler of
water was to strengthen faith and aid concentration.
PORTLAND,
Feb. 8th, 1861.
To
Mr. S.
In
answer to your letter I will try to explain the color you speak of . . . so that
you will forget it. Give me your attention while I explain. You know I told you
about your stooping over: this stooping is caused by excitement affecting the
head. This contracts the stomach, causes an irritation, sending the heat to the
head. This heat excites the glands about the nose, it runs down the throat and
this is all there is about it. It will
affect you sometimes when you are a little excited, and you will take it for a
cold. Remember how I explained to you about standing straight. Just put your
hands on your hips, then bend forward and back.
This
relaxes the muscles around the waist at the pit of the stomach. This takes away
the pressure from the nerves of the stomach and allays the irritation. Now
follow this and sit down and I will work upon your stomach two or three times in
three or four days. It will affect your bowels and
P. P. Q.
(1)
Although the absent treatment given in such a case included much more than
this letter indicates, Quimby, realizing the importance of expectant
attention, mentioned specific results that might be looked for. He tried to
make a patient self-helpful as soon as possible.
PORTLAND,
Feb. 9th, 1860.
To
Miss K., Kennebunk, Me.
Your
letter of the 5th is received. I am surprised that you do not remember that all
my patients have "a cold" as they call it, when the belief is [of this
character]. For instance, if you are told you have "consumption," this
belief is matter under the direction of error, and as it is put into practice it
changes the mind, so that the idea of consumption is thrown off from the belief.
If you are excited by any other belief, you throw off all the misery that
follows your belief. For instance, you are made to believe you are not so good
as you ought to be: your belief puts restrictions on your life, and as it is a
burden to you, it makes you throw off a shadow that contains the punishment of
your disobedience. This makes you another character, and you are not the happy
child of Wisdom.
This
was your belief when you called on me. As I
struck at the roots of your belief with the axe of Truth, everything having a
tendency to make you unhappy I tried to destroy.
So
in the destruction there must be a change. This
change must be like its father. So if you had grief, it would produce grief for
the present. Finally the Truth would dry up your tears and you would rejoice in
that Truth that sets you free.
So
in regard to the "cold": if you had the idea of
"consumption" when I drove that enemy of man out of your belief, this
must produce a like cough, but it is all for the best. Remember that every error
has its reaction, but an unravelling of error leads to life and happiness, while
the winding it up leads to disease and misery.
All
that is taking place in your case is just what I anticipated. SO it is all
right. Keep up good courage and all will come out right. Tell Miss F. to keep
good courage her cure is certain.(1)
P. P. Q.
PORTLAND,
March 3, 1861.
To
Miss T.
Your letter of the first was received. . . . I will now give you a short sitting and amuse you by my talk. But as you seem to want your head cured I will rub the top of it, and while doing this I will tell you what makes it feel so giddy.(2) You know I have told you, you think too much on religion or what is called religion. This makes you nervous, for it contains a belief, which contains opinions and they are matter, i. e. they can be changed. If opinions were not anything, they could not be changed. . . . All [so-called] religion is of this world and must give way to Science or Truth; for truth is eternal and cannot be changed. . . . So you see according to the religious world I must be an infidel. Suppose I am. I know that I am talking to you now does the Christian believe in [this talking with the spirit] ? No. Here is where we,differ.
(2)
This shows how little emphasis Dr. Quimby himself put on rubbing the head: he
could do it as well absently! That is, it was merely "suggestion."
Eighteen
hundred years ago, there was a man called Jesus who, the Christian says, came
from heaven . . . to tell man that if he would conform to certain rules and
regulations he could go to heaven when he died; but if he refused to obey them
he must go to hell. Now of course the people could not believe it merely because
he said so . . . so it was necessary to give some proof that he came from God.
Now what proof was required by the religious world?
It must be some miracle or something that the people could not
understand. So be cured the lame, made the dumb speak, etc. The multitude was
his judge and they could not account for all that he did: then he must come from
God. Now does it follow? . . . I have no
doubt that he cured. But his cures were no proof
Jesus
knew all this. No man was able to break the
seal or unlock the secret of health. . . . Wisdom, seeing the groans of the sick, acted upon this man Jesus and
opened his eyes to Truth. Thus the heavens
were opened to him. He saw this Truth or
Science descend, and he understood it. Then came his temptations: if he would listen to the people and
become king they would all receive him. This he would not do. But to
become a teacher of the poor and sick would be very unpopular. . . .
He chose the latter, and went forth teaching and curing all sorts of
diseases in the name of this Wisdom, and calling on all men everywhere to
repent, believe, and be saved from the priests and doctors who bound burdens on
the people. . . .
Hoping
this will settle your head and make you easy on the subject of another world.
P.
P. Q.
PORTLAND,
March 3, 1861.
To
Mrs. D.
In answer to your letter I will say that you know I told you that your disease was in your mind. Now your mind is your opinion, and your opinion is that you have scrofulous or cancerous humour. . . . This opinion shows itself in your system. . . . As I change this something or opinion, it must change the effect, . . . and in the change it will produce these feelings, because it is in the fluids. As this change goes on it must affect your head and also your side, and it ought to affect your stomach. This will bring on a phenomenon like a cold . . . this carries off all the false ideas and relieves your system of that bloat and heat. Keep up your courage. It is all right.(1)
PORTLAND,
March 3rd. [1861].
T
o Mr. R.
When
your letter was received I went to your relief, but I cannot say that I affected
you. But now I will sit down and try to affect your stomach so that you will not
want to smoke. I feel . . . that if you were aware of the evil influence of the
enemy that is prowling around you, enticing you to smoke, you would not harbor
him one moment; but hurl him from you as you would a viper that would sting you
to the heart. I know that opinions are something and they are our friends or our
enemies. So the opinion you have of smoking is a false one and is an enemy to
you. It is subtle like the serpent that
coils around you like a boa constrictor till you feel its grasp around your
chest, making your heart palpitate and sending the heat to your head. Then you
will struggle to rid yourself of his grasp, till overpowered you become
paralyzed. He will laugh at your folly when your fear cometh. Remember that
"love casteth out fear," and fear hath torment. Science is love. Fear
is disease: torment is your reward. So watch lest he enter your house while you
are asleep and bind your limbs, and when you awake find yourself bound hand and
foot. So
March
3rd, 1861.
To
Miss G.
I
will now sit down and put on paper what I did at the time I received your
letter. I went to you [in spirit] at that time and have visited you at times
ever since. I wish now to let you know that I am still with you, sitting by you
while [you are] in your bed, encouraging you to keep up good spirits and all
will go right. If you cough, it is to get
rid
March
10th, 1861.
T
o Miss B.
Owing
to a press of business I have not had time to answer your letter until now, but
I often see you [in spirit] and talk to you about your health.(1) I feel as
though I had explained to the spiritual or scientific man the cause of your
trouble, which I may not have made plain in my letters to the
P. P. Q.
March 10th, 1861.
To Miss S.
In
answering your letter I will say that I have used my best efforts to help you,
and I feel as though I had [succeeded]. Now I will once more renew my promise
not to forsake you in your trouble, but to hold you in the
So
be of good cheer and keep up your courage, and you shall see me coming on the
water of your belief and saying to the waters or pain, "Be still,"
soothing you till the storm is over. Then when the sun or Truth shall shine, and
the pure breeze from heaven spring up, slip your cable and set
P.
P. QUIMBY.
March
10th, 1861.
To
Mrs. W.
I
have not been able to answer your letter until now. But
It is true your husband can travel the briny deep, but he has never entered this ocean of this higher state. . . Our belief makes our bodies or barks, the sea is troubled, error is the rocks and quicksands where we are liable to be driven by the cross-currents while the wind of error is whistling in our ears. . . . Now keep a good lookout and you will see the breakers ahead. So brace up and see that your compass is right. Keep all snug and fast. Remember what I told you . . . not to lose control of yourself, but stand on deck and give your orders, not in a whining way, but bold and earnest. Then your crew will obey your orders. You will steer clear of all danger and land safe in the port of health.(1)
P. P. QUIMBY.
PORTLAND,
March 19th, 1861.
To
Mr. A.
Your
change of mind when you got your religion was the effect of error, not of Truth.
So you worship you know not what. But
I worship I know what, and "whom you ignorantly worship, him declare I unto
you.". . . This same Christ, whom you think is Jesus, is the same Christ
that stands at the door of your dwelling or belief, knocking to come in and sit
down with the child of Science that has been led astray by blind guides into the
wilderness of darkness. Now wake from your sleep and see if your wisdom is not
of this world. . . . To be born again is to unlearn your errors and embrace the
truth of Christ: this is the new birth, and
It
is not a very easy thing to forsake every established opinion and become a
persecuted man for this Truth's sake, for the benefit of the poor and sick, when
you have to listen to all their long stories without getting discouraged. This
cannot be done in a day. I have been twenty years training myself to this one
thing, the relief of the sick. A constant drain on a person's feelings for the
sick alters him, and he becomes identified with the suffering of his patients:
this is the work of time. Every person must become affected one way or the
other, either to become selfish and mean, so his selfish acts will destroy his
wisdom . . . or his wisdom will become more powerful. . . .
It
is not an easy thing to steer the ship of wisdom between the shores of poverty
and the rocks of selfishness. If he is all self, the sick lose that sympathy
which they need at his hand. If he is all
sympathy, he ruins his health and becomes
[Whenever
in his letters to the sick Dr. Quimby speaks of
spiritism we find him sceptical concerning alleged messages from the
"dead." In one letter he says, "As my mode of treating disease
is entirely new to the world, the spiritualists claim me as a medium. I deny
this, but believe that mind acts on mind, and that it is the living, and not
the dead; so here is where we differ" He
then goes on to tell about a woman who was greatly misled by an unscrupulous
medium. The result was so serious that the woman left her husband in a fit of
jealousy, and when Dr. Quimby was called had tried
[Sometimes
Quimby declined to take cases of certain types, inasmuch as he was working
alone and had the force of public opinion against him. What he says with
reference to blindness in a letter to an inquirer in 1861, is significant. He
says, "I should not recommend any one like your description to come to
see me, for I have no faith that I could cure him.
If a man is simply blind I have no chance for a quarrel, for we both
agree in that fact. But if a person has
any sickness which he wants cured and is partially blind besides, then I might
affect his blindness, but that is thrown in. I
never undertake to cure the well and if a man is blind and is satisfied I
can't find anything to talk about: if I undertake to tell him anything he
says, Oh! I am all right but my eyes. So
he is spiritually blind and cannot see that his blindness had a beginning . .
. I refuse to take such cases till my popularity is such that my opinion is of
some force to such persons; for opinions of popular quacks are law and gospel
about blindness, and so long as the blind lead the blind they will both fall
in the ditch."]
[When
asked if he could cure any one using intoxicating liquors, he answered by
considering all matters involved. Quimby did not undertake to judge a man
simply because he drank. For he wrote, "I judge no man. Judgment belongs
to God or Science, and that judges right, for it contains no opinion. Giving
an opinion is setting up a standard to judge your neighbor by, and this is not
doing as you would be done by." He
goes on to say that if some one under condemnation as a criminal who has taken
to drink comes to him, he pleads his case by tracing every factor to the
foundation. Convincing the man that he has been misled by his enemies and has
taken to drink to "drown his sorrows," Quimby brings him to his
reason, the victim of persecution abandons his old associates, and is ready to
change his habits. But, says Quimby, "if he likes smoking or drinking, he
is satisfied and wants no physican. If
[he is] sick and I find that liquor is
An
opinion involves more responsibility than I am willing to take. Moreover, an
opinion is of no force . . . and it might do a great deal of harm. I always feel
as though disease was an enemy that might be conquered if rightly understood.
But if you let your enemy know your thoughts, you give him the advantage.
Therefore I never give the sick any idea that should make them believe
that I have any fears Making health the fixed object in my mind, I never parley
nor compromise. Once when your sister remarked she never expected to be
perfectly well, I replied that I never compromised with disease, and as she had
been robbed of her health I should not settle the case except on condition of
the return of her health and happiness. . . . When
your sister came to me I found her in a very nervous state from the fact that
she had lost her sister and expected soon to follow her. This made her very
nervous and stimulated her to that degree that she appeared to be quite strong.
As I relieved her fears she became more quiet. This she took for
weakness. But every change has come just as I told her it would. [Thus Dr.
Quimby gradually brought his patient into the affirmative attitude, so that she
could see for herself.]
[Again,
Quimby wrote as if conversing with his patient and meeting objections point by
point, while still carrying on the treatment. Thus he writes to one not yet
convinced of the efficacy of absent help:]
I
will now sit down by you as I used to, for I see I am with you, and talk to you
a little about your weak back. You forgot to sit upright as I used to tell you.
Perhaps you cannot see how I can be sitting by you in your house, and at the
same time be in Portland. I see you look up and open your eyes, and I hear you
say, "No, I am sure I cannot, and I do not believe you can be in two places
at the same time." I hear you think, not speak. . . . If you [understood],
you would not doubt that I am now talking to you. . . . I have faith to believe
that I can make you believe by my Wisdom. So
I shall try to convince you that although I may be absent in the idea or body,
yet I am present
[Writing
to another patient not quite clear on this point, Dr. Quimby states that when
he receives a letter he always feels as though he were spiritually with the
patient giving advice. Sometimes he seems to be present with several patients
at once, because so many have come to him and are thinking of him.
So, he says:]
I
make a sort of general visit, as I used to when you were all in my office. But
if I feel certain of one I make that one a text to preach from. So I believe if
you can make yourself known to me by your faith I can feel you. Since I
commenced writing you have come up before me so that I now recall you perfectly
well, and I will give my attention to you.
[Speaking
of his effort to convince a patient of "this great Truth," Dr.
Quimby writes:]
When
I say this great Truth I mean this light that lighteth every one that
understands it. When I first sit by you, my desire to see you lights up my mind
like a lamp. As the light expands, my [spiritual] senses being attached to the
light, each particle of light contains all the elements of the whole. So when
the light is strong enough to see your light in your darkness or doubts, then I
come in harmony with your light, and dissipate your errors and bring your light
out of your darkness. Then I try to associate you with . . . a substance that is
separate and part from your senses.
[In
still another letter on the same subject Quimby says that sometimes he cannot
see a patient when he reads the letter asking for help, because the
"errors" obscure his sight. The
spiritual self in a person possesses spiritual light, independent of matter.
But this is so associated with matter
[Again,
Quimby admits in writing to a man concerning his wife's case that he has
sometimes judged for the moment by what the sick said about themselves, and
advised them not to come; but on sitting with such patients he has found their
trouble amounted to a "mere nothing." He has advised others to come,
on the basis of their own description, and found them far worse than he
expected. This has led him to give all people opportunity to take the chance
and he will then do the best he can for them. If
certain of curing one whom he has never seen he would at once advise
favorably. But be will not venture to give a mere opinion. If however the
patient herself in this case will write to Quimby, giving an account of her
own case, he will devote an hour to her, and so write that she may follow her
own leadings. In this way Quimby gave inquirers an opportunity to look beneath
all opinions.]
[It
is noticeable that in these letters, written in 1860 and 1861, Quimby shows
that he has a clear conception of the "Science of Christ," or
"Christian Science," a term which he employed later.]
[To
a patient who tried to persuade Quimby to promise that he would heal her, he
writes:]
You
say in your letter that I told you so and so, and you hold me to what I said,
just as though I might forget it. . . . Now these promises are the very things I am trying to get rid of. . .
. When my patients get me to
make a promise, it seems to them as if that were all, and they never think they
have anything to do for themselves. This is
so common among the sick that I have become very cautious. . . .
Now, do not hold me as P. P. Q. responsible to stop your cough, but hold
the sick idea responsible for the cough. I must hold you, not Mrs. B. but the
sick idea to its promises. . . . You must remember that Mrs. B. said she would
keep up good courage, and not be afraid if she coughed a little. If I hear of
your complaining about the cough, I shall hold you to your bargain. You see you
are bound to keep the peace, to do all that is right so that health may come,
and that you may once more rejoice. . . .
