Yes，if we cherish creative thoughts of courage and calmness，we can enjoy the scenery while sitting on our coffin，riding to the gallows；or we can fill our tents with “ringing songs of cheer”，while starving and freezing to death.
Milton in his blindness discovered that same truth three hundred years ago：
The mind is its own place，and in itself
Can make a heaven of Hell，a hell of Heaven.
Napoleon and Helen Keller are perfect illustrations of Milton’s statement：Napoleon had everything men usually crave—glory，power，riches—yet he said at St.Helena：“I have never known six happy days in my life”；while Helen Keller—blind，deaf，dumb—declared：“I have found life so beautiful.”
If half a century of living has taught me anything at all，it has taught me that “Nothing can bring you peace but yourself.”
I am merely trying to repeat what Emerson said so well in the closing words of his essay on “Self-reliance”：“A political victory，a rise in rents，the recovery of your sick，or the return of your absent friend，or some other quite external event，raises your spirits，and you think good days are preparing for you.Do not believe it.It can never be so.Nothing can bring you peace but yourself.”
Epictetus，the great Stoic philosopher，warned that we ought to be more concerned about removing wrong thoughts from the mind than about removing “tumours and abscesses from the body.”
Epictetus said that nineteen centuries ago，but modern medicine would back him up.Dr.G.Canby Robinson declared that four out of five patients admitted to Johns Hopkins Hospitalwere suffering from conditions brought on in part by emotional strains and stresses.This was often true even in cases of organic disturbances.“Eventually，”he declared，“these trace back to maladjustments to life and its problems.”
Montaigne，the great French philosopher，adopted these seventeen words as the motto of his life：“A man is not hurt so much by what happens，as by his opinion of what happens.”And our opinion of what happens is entirely up to us.
What do I mean？Have I the colossal effrontery to tell you to your face—when you are mowed down by troubles，and your nerves are sticking out like wires and curling up at the ends—you can change your mental attitude by an effort of will？Yes，I mean precisely that！And that is not all.I am going to show you how to do it.It may take a little effort，but the secret is simple.
William James，who has never been topped in his knowledge of practical psychology，once made this observation：“Action seems to follow feeling，but really action and feeling go together；and by regulating the action，which is under the more direct control of the will，we can indirectly regulate the feeling，which is not.”
In other words，William James tells us that we cannot instantly change our emotions just by “making up our minds to”—but that we can change our actions.And that when we change our actions，we will automatically change our feelings.
“Thus，”he explains，“The sovereign voluntary path to cheerfulness，if your cheerfulness be lost，is to sit up cheerfully and to act and speak as if cheerfulness were already there.”
Does that simple trick work？It works like plastic surgery！Try it yourself.Put a big，broad，honest-to-God smile on your face；throw back your shoulders；take a good，deep breath；and sing a snatch of song.If you can’t sing，whistle.If you can’twhistle，hum.You will quickly discover what William James was talking about—that it is physically impossible to remain blue or depressed while you are acting out the symptoms of being radiantly happy！
This is one of the little basic truths of nature that can easily work miracles in all our lives.
I know a woman in California—I won’t mention her name—who could wipe out all of her miseries in twenty-fours if only she knew this secret.She’s old，and she’s a widow—that’s sad，I admit—but does she try to act happy？No；if you ask her how she is feeling，she says：“Oh，I’m all right”—but the expression on her face and the whine in her voice say：“Oh，God，if you only knew the troubles I’ve seen！”She seems to reproach you for being happy in her presence.Hundreds of women are worse off that she is：her husband left her enough insurance to last the rest of her life，and she has married children to give her a home.But I’ve rarely seen her smile.She complains that all three of her sons-in-law are stingy and selfish—although she is a guest in their homes for months at a time.And she complains that her daughters never give her presents—although she hoards her own money carefully，“for my old age”.She is a blight on herself and her unfortunate family！But does it have to be so？That is the pity of it—she could change herself from a miserable，bitter，and unhappy old woman into an honoured and beloved member of the family—if she wanted to change.And all she would have to do to work this transformation would be to start acting cheerful；start acting as though she had a little love to give away-instead of squandering it all on her own unhappy and embittered self.
I know a man in Indiana—H.J.Englert，of Tell City，Indiana—who is still alive today because he discovered this secret.Ten years ago Mr.Englert had a case of scarlet fever；and when herecovered，he found he had developed nephritis，a kidney disease.He tried all kinds of doctors，“even quacks”，he informs me，but nothing could cure him.
Then，a short time ago，he got other complications.His blood pressure soared.He went to a doctor，and was told that his blood pressure was hitting the top at 214.He was told that it was fatal—that the condition was progressive，and he had better put his affairs in order at once.