regards changing society or
persuading and convincing persons, get down to first principles. Stop
flourishing around with fine and noble philosophies and phrases on the
surface of men's souls. See that their souls and their bodies are both
intricately divinely stupendously blended together and get at them both
together. If you are arguing with a man and do not make much headway,
stop arguing with him. Cut out his tonsils.

Or it may be something else. Or send him to Alexander and have his back
ironed out, if necessary so that his tonsils will work as they are.

Then argue with him afterwards and quote Shakespeare and the Bible to
him, stroke his soul and see how it works.

VII

HELPING OTHER PEOPLE UP THE CELLAR STAIRS

It is getting almost dangerous to talk to me. I lay violent hands on
people, when they disagree with me and send them to Alexander.

Everybody, anybody, my wife, my pastor, every now and then an editor,
whole shoals of publishers.... I think what it would be like for us all,
to ship The United States Senate in a body to him. On every side it keeps
coming to me that the short, quick and thorough way for me to install my
idea, to get my idea started and to install my idea of new brain tracks,
new ways for this nation to get its way and deserve its way, is to have
people the minute they don't agree with me, alexandered, at once.

Here is this book for instance. The proper course for me to take to get a
man to accept the new brain track in it, is to send him a copy of the
book to say yes or no to. Then if he does not agree with me and I am
tempted to argue with him, I will drop the matter with him at once, send
him to Alexander, have Alexander set him in a chair, tap him on the back,
poke him thoughtfully, psycho-mechanically in the ribs, unlimber his mind
from his body, untangle him psycho-physically, put him in shape so that
he can think free, listen without obsessions and mental automatism--that
is, get him so that he can set his mind on a subject instead of setting
his stomach on it, and then I will ask him to read my book again.

In the meantime, of course, I should be going to Alexander and rewriting
the book.

By the time the gentleman was cured I would have a cured book to send
him, we would both be in a position to believe what we don't want to
believe, to listen to each other indefinitely and we would be in a
position to do team work together at once and take steps to install new