Mary Baker Eddy

^1:1 The pray­er that reforms the sin­ner and heals the sick ² is an absolute faith that all things are pos­si­ble to God.

^1:6 Pray­er, watching, and work­ing, combined with self-sacrifice, ⁷ are Godʼs gra­cious means for accomplishing ⁸ what­ev­er has been suc­cess­ful­ly done for man­kind.

^1:11 De­sire is pray­er; and no loss can occur from trusting God with our desires, ¹² that they may be moulded and ex­alt­ed ¹³ be­fore they take form in words and in deeds.

^2:8 God is­nʼt moved by the breath of praise to do more than He has al­ready done. ¹¹ We can do more for our­selves by hum­ble fervent petitions, ¹² but the All-loving does­nʼt grant them ¹³ sim­ply on the ground of lip ser­vice.

^2:15 Pray­er can­not change the Science of be­ing, ¹⁶ but it tends to bring us in­to har­mo­ny with it.

^2:24 God is intelligence. Can we in­form the infinite Mind of ²⁵ any­thing He does­nʼt al­ready com­pre­hend? ²⁶ Do we ex­pect to change perfection? ²⁷ Shall we plead for more at the o­pen fount, ²⁸ which is al­ready pouring forth more than we ac­cept?

^3:4 Who would stand be­fore a blackboard, ⁵ and pray the principle of mathematics to solve the problem? ⁶ The rule is al­ready es­tab­lished, ⁷ and it is our task to work out the solution.

^3:21 We plead for unmerited par­don and for a liberal outpouring of benefactions. ²² Are we re­al­ly grate­ful for the good al­ready re­ceived? ²³ Then we shall avail our­selves of the blessings we have, ²⁴ and thus be fitted to re­ceive more. ²⁵ Grat­i­tude is much more than a verbal ex­pres­sion of thanks. ²⁶ Ac­tion expresses more grat­i­tude than speech.

^3:27 If we are un­grate­ful for Life, Truth, and Love, ²⁸ and yet re­turn thanks to God for all blessings, ²⁹ we are insincere and in­cur the sharp censure our Mas­ter pronounces on hypocrites. ³⁰ In such a case, the on­ly ac­cept­a­ble pray­er is to put the finger on the lips.

^5:3 Sor­row for wrong­do­ing is but one step to­wards re­form and the very easiest step. ⁴ The next and great step ⁵ is the test of our sin­cer­i­ty — ⁶ namely, reformation.

^5:25 If pray­er nourishes the be­lief that sin is cancelled, ²⁶ and that man is made bet­ter mere­ly by praying, pray­er is an evil. ²⁷ He grows worse who continues in sin ²⁸ be­cause he fancies him­self for­giv­en.

^6:7 Call­ing on Him to for­give our work badly done or left un­done, ⁸ implies the vain supposition that ⁹ we have noth­ing to do but to ask par­don, ¹⁰ and that af­ter­wards we shall be free to re­peat the offence.

^8:31 If a friend informs us of a fault, ³² do we lis­ten pa­tient­ly to the re­buke and cred­it what is said? ^9:2 Dur­ing many years I have been most grate­ful for merited re­buke. ³ The wrong lies in unmerited censure.

^10:29 It is­nʼt al­ways best for us to re­ceive what we de­sire and what we ask for. ³⁰ In this case infinite Love wonʼt grant the re­quest.

^13:5 In pub­lic pray­er we of­ten go be­yond our convictions, ⁶ be­yond the hon­est standpoint of fervent de­sire. ⁷ If we arenʼt se­cret­ly yearning and openly striving for ⁸ the accomplishment of all we ask, ⁹ our prayers are “vain repetitions.” ¹⁰ If our petitions are sin­cere, we la­bor for what we ask; ¹¹ and our Fa­ther, who sees in se­cret, will re­ward us openly. ¹³ Do we gain the omnipotent ear sooner by words than by thoughts? ¹⁶ If we cher­ish our de­sire hon­est­ly and si­lent­ly and hum­bly, ¹⁷ God will bless it, ¹⁸ and we shall in­cur less risk of overwhelming our re­al wishes ¹⁹ with a torrent of words.

^15:7 The Fa­ther is un­seen to the phys­i­cal sen­ses, ⁸ but He knows all things and rewards ac­cord­ing to motives, ⁹ not ac­cord­ing to speech.

^18:6 Jesus did lifeʼs work aright ⁸ to show mortals how to do theirs, but not to do it for them ⁹ nor to re­lieve them of a sin­gle re­spon­si­bil­i­ty. ¹⁰ He acted bold­ly, against the accredited ev­i­dence of the sen­ses, ¹¹ against Pharisaical creeds and practices.

^19:5 E­ven Christ can­not rec­on­cile Truth to er­ror, ⁶ for Truth and er­ror are irreconcilable.

^19:23 Prac­ti­cal re­pent­ance reforms the heart ²⁴ and enables man to do the will of wis­dom.

^20:10 Jesus es­tab­lished no ritualistic wor­ship. ¹¹ He knew that men can be bap­tized, par­take of the Eucharist, sup­port the cler­gy, ¹² ob­serve the Sabbath, make long prayers, ¹³ and yet be sen­su­al and sin­ful.

^20:25 The truth is the center of all re­li­gion.

^21:12 If hon­est, the dis­ci­ple will be in earnest from the start, ¹³ and gain a lit­tle each day in the right direction, ¹⁴ un­til at last he finishes his course with joy.

^29:7 Christian ex­pe­ri­ence teaches faith in the right and disbelief in the wrong. ⁸ It bids us work the more ear­nest­ly in times of per­se­cu­tion, ⁹ be­cause then our la­bor is more needed.

^40:9 Science removes the pen­al­ty on­ly by first removing the sin which incurs the pen­al­ty. ¹⁰ This is my sense of divine par­don, ¹¹ which I un­der­stand to mean Godʼs method of destroying sin. ¹⁴ An­oth­erʼs suf­fer­ing can­not lessen our own liability.

^40:25 Our heav­en­ly Fa­ther demands that all men ²⁶ should fol­low the ex­am­ple of Jesus and his apos­tles, ²⁷ not mere­ly wor­ship his personality. ²⁸ Itʼs sad that the phrase “divine ser­vice” has come so generally to mean pub­lic wor­ship in­stead of dai­ly deeds.

^57:4 Union of the masculine and feminine qualities constitutes completeness. ⁸ These dif­fer­ent elements conjoin naturally with each oth­er, ⁹ and their true har­mo­ny is in spir­it­u­al oneness. ¹⁰ Both sexes should be lov­ing, pure, ten­der, and strong.

^57:15 Beau­ty, wealth, or fame is in­com­pe­tent to meet the demands of the affections be­tween the sexes, ¹⁶ and should nev­er weigh against the bet­ter claims of ¹⁷ in­tel­lect, good­ness, and vir­tue.

^57:22 Hu­man af­fec­tion is­nʼt poured forth vainly, e­ven though it meets no re­turn. ²³ Love enriches the na­ture, ²⁴ en­larg­ing, purifying, and el­e­vat­ing it. ²⁵ The wintry blasts of earth may uproot the flowers of af­fec­tion, and scat­ter them to the winds; ²⁶ but this severance of fleshly ties ²⁷ serves to unite thought more closely to God, ²⁸ for Love supports the struggling heart ²⁹ un­til it ceases to sigh over the world and begins to unfold its wings for heav­en.

^58:16 The narrowness and jeal­ou­sy which would confine a wife ¹⁷ or a hus­band for­ev­er with­in four walls ¹⁸ wonʼt pro­mote a sweet interchange of con­fi­dence and love. ¹⁹ On the oth­er hand, a wan­der­ing de­sire for incessant a­muse­ment out­side the home ²⁰ is a poor indicator for the hap­pi­ness of wedlock. ²¹ Home is the dearest spot on earth, ²² and it should be the center, ²³ though not the bound­a­ry, of the affections.

^58:26 A wife ought not to court vul­gar ex­trav­a­gance ²⁷ or stupid ease be­cause an­oth­er supplies her wants.

^59:17 Ten­der words and unselfish care that pro­mote the wel­fare and hap­pi­ness of your wife ¹⁸ will prove more salutary in prolonging her health and smiles ¹⁹ than stolid indifference or jeal­ou­sy. ²⁰ Husbands, re­mem­ber ²¹ how slight a word or deed may renew ²² the old trysting times.

^60:4 Kindred tastes, motives, and aspirations are nec­es­sary to ⁵ a hap­py and per­ma­nent com­pan­ion­ship.

^60:16 Mar­riage should im­prove the hu­man species, ¹⁷ be­com­ing a barrier against vi­ce, a pro­tec­tion to wom­an, ¹⁸ strength to man, and a center for the affections. ¹⁹ This, how­ev­er, in a majority of cases, is­nʼt its pres­ent ten­den­cy, and why? ²¹ Be­cause oth­er considerations — ²² pas­sion, friv­o­lous amusements, per­son­al adorn­ment, dis­play, and pride — ²³ occupy thought.

^61:24 Is­nʼt the propagation of the hu­man species a greater re­spon­si­bil­i­ty, ²⁵ a more sol­emn charge, than the cul­ture of your gar­den ²⁶ or the raising of stock to in­crease your flocks and herds? ²⁷ Noth­ing un­wor­thy of perpetuity should be transmitted to chil­dren.

^63:12 Civil law establishes very un­fair dif­fer­ences be­tween the rights of the two sexes. ¹³ Christian Science furnishes no precedent for such in­jus­tice.

^64:8 Pride, en­vy, or jeal­ou­sy seems on most occasions to be the mas­ter of ceremonies, ⁹ rul­ing out primitive Christianity. ¹⁰ When a man lends a help­ing hand to some no­ble wom­an, ¹¹ struggling a­lone with ad­ver­si­ty, his wife should not say, ¹² “It is nev­er well to in­ter­fere with your neighborʼs busi­ness.” ¹³ A wife is some­times debarred ¹⁴ by a covetous domestic ty­rant ¹⁵ from giv­ing the ready aid her sympathy and char­i­ty would af­ford.

^68:2 At pres­ent mortals prog­ress slowly ³ for fear of be­ing thought ridiculous. ⁴ They are slaves to fash­ion, pride, and sense. ⁶ We ought to wea­ry of the fleet­ing and false ⁷ and to cher­ish noth­ing which ⁸ hinders our highest selfhood.

^68:9 Jeal­ou­sy is the grave of af­fec­tion. ¹⁰ The pres­ence of mistrust, where con­fi­dence is due, ¹¹ scatters loveʼs petals to de­cay.

^71:10 Close your eyes, and you may dream that you see a flow­er — ¹¹ that you tou­ch and smell it. ¹² Thus you learn that the flow­er is a product of the mind, ¹³ a formation of thought rath­er than of mat­ter.

^72:19 Er­ror is­nʼt a sieve ²⁰ through which truth can be strained.

^80:1 We have strength in pro­por­tion to our un­der­stand­ing of the truth. ³ A cup of coffee or tea is­nʼt e­qual to truth ⁴ for the inspiration of a sermon ⁵ or for the sup­port of bod­i­ly en­dur­ance.

^87:19 The mine knows noth­ing of the emeralds with­in its rocks; ²⁰ the sea is ig­no­rant of the gems with­in its caverns, ²¹ of the corals, of its sharp reefs, of the tall ships that float on its bos­om, ²² or of the bodies which lie bur­ied in its sands: ²³ yet these are all there. ²⁴ Do not sup­pose that any men­tal concept is gone be­cause you do not think of it. ²⁵ The true concept is nev­er lost. ²⁶ The strong impressions pro­duced on mor­tal mind by friendship ²⁷ or by any intense feel­ing are last­ing.

^96:1 Humanity ad­vanc­es slowly out of sinning sense in­to spir­it­u­al un­der­stand­ing; ² unwillingness to learn all things right­ly ³ binds Christendom with chains.

^104:8 An author has wisely said: ⁹ “Eve­ry great scientific truth goes through three stages. ¹⁰ First, peo­ple say it conflicts with the Bible. ¹¹ Next, they say it has been discovered be­fore. ¹² Lastly, they say they have al­ways be­lieved it.”

^104:31 Is it not clear that the hu­man mind must move the body to a wick­ed act? ³² Is­nʼt mor­tal mind the mur­der­er? ^105:1 The hands, with­out mor­tal mind to di­rect them, ² could not com­mit a mur­der.

^109:2 Mind is All and mat­ter is noth­ing.

^109:11 For three years af­ter my discovery, ¹² I sought the solution of this problem of Mind-healing, ¹³ searched the Scrip­tures and read lit­tle else, ¹⁴ kept a­loof from so­ci­e­ty, and de­vot­ed time and energies to discovering a positive rule. ¹⁵ The search was sweet, calm, and buoyant with hope, ¹⁶ not selfish nor depressing.

^111:28 Mind governs the body, not partially but whol­ly.

^119:25 In viewing the sunrise, one finds that it ²⁶ con­tra­dicts the ev­i­dence be­fore the sen­ses to be­lieve that ²⁷ the earth is in motion and the sun at rest. ²⁸ As astronomy reverses the hu­man perception of ²⁹ the movement of the solar system, ³⁰ so Christian Science reverses the seem­ing relation of Soul and body ³¹ and makes body tributary to Mind.

^121:17 The earthʼs diurnal rotation is invisible to the phys­i­cal eye, ¹⁸ and the sun seems to move from east to west, ¹⁹ in­stead of the earth from west to east. ²⁰ Un­til re­buked by clearer views of the ev­er­last­ing facts, ²¹ this false tes­ti­mo­ny of the eye de­lud­ed the judg­ment and induced false conclusions. ²² Science shows appearances of­ten to be erroneous.

^122:18 The barometer, ¹⁹ denying the tes­ti­mo­ny of the sen­ses, ²⁰ points to fair weather in the midst of murky clouds and drenching rain. ²¹ Ex­pe­ri­ence is full of sim­i­lar illusions, ²² which eve­ry thinker can recall for him­self.

^125:2 What is now con­sid­ered the best con­di­tion for ³ health in the hu­man body ⁴ may no long­er be found indispensable. ⁵ Mor­al conditions will be found al­ways ⁶ har­mo­ni­ous and health-giving.

^128:4 The term Science, prop­er­ly un­der­stood, refers on­ly to the laws of God ⁵ and to His gov­ern­ment of the universe.

^129:22 We must look deep in­to realism ²³ in­stead of accepting on­ly the outward sense of things. ²⁴ Can we gath­er peaches from a pine tree, ²⁵ or learn from dis­cord the concord of be­ing?

^130:18 Ma­te­ri­al beliefs must be cast out to make place for truth. ¹⁹ You can­not add to the contents of a ves­sel al­ready full. ²⁰ Laboring long to shake the adultʼs faith in mat­ter, ²³ the author has of­ten re­mem­bered our Masterʼs love for lit­tle chil­dren, ²⁴ and un­der­stood how tru­ly they ²⁵ be­long to the heav­en­ly king­dom.

^131:4 Our lives must be governed by reality in or­der to be ⁵ in har­mo­ny with God.

^134:31 A mir­a­cle fulfills Godʼs law, but does­nʼt violate that law. ^135:7 The mir­a­cle introduces no dis­or­der, but unfolds the primal or­der.

^135:26 Christianity as Jesus taught it was not a creed, ²⁷ nor a system of ceremonies, ²⁸ nor a special gift from a ritualistic Jehovah.

^141:10 The pop­u­lar thought is that all rev­e­la­tion ¹¹ must come from the schools and a­long the line of scholarly and ecclesiastical descent, ¹² as kings are crowned from a roy­al dynasty. ¹³ In heal­ing the sick and sinning, ¹⁴ Jesus elaborated the fact that the heal­ing ef­fect ¹⁵ followed the un­der­stand­ing of the divine Principle. ¹⁷ For this Principle there is no dynasty, no ecclesiastical monopoly. ¹⁹ Its on­ly priest is the spiritualized man.

^142:11 If the soft palm upturned to a lordly salary ¹² and architectural skill mak­ing dome and spire tremulous with beau­ty ¹³ turn the poor and the strang­er from the gate, ¹⁴ they at the same time shut the door on prog­ress.

^143:1 Truth is Godʼs remedy for er­ror of eve­ry kind, ² and Truth destroys on­ly what is untrue.

^144:27 When the Science of be­ing is universally un­der­stood, ²⁸ eve­ry man will be his own physician, ²⁹ and Truth will be the universal panacea.

^147:15 Nev­er be­lieve that you can absorb the whole mean­ing ¹⁶ of the Science by a sim­ple perusal of this book. ¹⁷ The book needs to be studied.

^149:7 The pre­scrip­tion which succeeds in one instance fails in an­oth­er, ⁸ and this is owing to the dif­fer­ent men­tal states of the pa­tient.

^151:26 All that re­al­ly exists is the divine Mind and its idea, ²⁸ The straight and narrow way is to see and ac­knowl­edge this fact, ²⁹ yield to this pow­er, ³⁰ and fol­low the leadings of truth.

^152:9 Truth has a heal­ing ef­fect, e­ven when not ful­ly un­der­stood.

^153:25 We weep be­cause others weep, we yawn be­cause they yawn, ²⁷ but mor­tal mind, not mat­ter, contains and carries the infection. ²⁸ When this men­tal contagion is un­der­stood, ²⁹ we shall be more care­ful of our men­tal conditions, ³⁰ and we shall a­void loquacious tattling about dis­ease, ³¹ as we would a­void advocating crime.

^154:26 “You look sick,” “You look tired,” “You need rest,” or ²⁷ “You need med­i­cine.” ²⁸ Such a moth­er runs to her lit­tle one, ²⁹ who thinks he has hurt his face by fall­ing on the carpet, and says, ³⁰ “Mamma knows you are hurt.” ³¹ The bet­ter and more suc­cess­ful method for any moth­er to adopt is to say: ³² “Oh, nev­er mind!” ^155:1 Presently the child forgets all about the accident, and is at play.

^157:26 Narcotics qui­et mor­tal mind, and so re­lieve the body; ²⁷ but they leave both mind and body worse for this submission.

^165:18 You con­sult your brain in or­der to re­mem­ber what has hurt you, ¹⁹ when your remedy lies in for­get­ting the whole thing.

^166:3 As a man thinketh, so is he. ⁴ Mind is all that feels, acts, or impedes ac­tion. ⁵ Ig­no­rant of this, or shrinking from its implied re­spon­si­bil­i­ty, ⁶ the heal­ing ef­fort is made on the wrong side, ⁷ and thus con­scious con­trol over the body is lost.

^167:30 On­ly through radical reliance on Truth ³¹ can scientific heal­ing pow­er be re­al­ized.

^168:10 When sick (ac­cord­ing to be­lief) you rush af­ter drugs, ¹¹ search out the so-called ma­te­ri­al laws of health, ¹² and de­pend up­on them to heal you, ¹³ though you have al­ready brought your­self in­to the quagmire of dis­ease ¹⁴ through just this false be­lief.

^168:24 I have discerned dis­ease in the hu­man mind, ²⁵ and rec­og­nized the patientʼs fear of it, ²⁶ months be­fore the so-called dis­ease made its ap­pear­ance in the body. ²⁷ Dis­ease be­ing a be­lief, ²⁸ the sensation would not ap­pear if the er­ror of be­lief was ²⁹ destroyed by truth.

^174:4 Is civilization on­ly a higher form of i­dol­a­try, ⁵ that man should bow down to an exfoliating brush, to flannels, ⁶ to baths, diet, ex­er­cise, and air?

^174:20 Truth is revealed. It needs on­ly to be prac­tised.

^175:17 Our fore­fa­thers ¹⁹ had less time for ²⁰ self­ish­ness, coddling, and sick­ly after-dinner talk. ²¹ The exact a­mount of food the stom­ach could di­gest ²² was not discussed nor referred to sanitary laws. ²³ A manʼs be­lief in those days was not so se­vere up­on the gastric juices.

^176:7 The primitive cus­tom of tak­ing no thought about food ⁸ left the stom­ach and bowels free to act in o­be­di­ence to na­ture, ⁹ and gave the gos­pel a chance to be seen ¹⁰ in its glorious effects up­on the body. ¹¹ A ghastly array of diseases was not paraded be­fore the imagination.

^176:17 Hu­man fear of miasma would load with dis­ease the air of Eden, ¹⁸ and weigh down man­kind with conjectural evils. ¹⁹ Mor­tal mind is the worst foe of the body, ²⁰ while divine Mind is its best friend.

^179:32 Descriptions of dis­ease giv­en by physicians, ^180:1 and advertisements of quackery are both sources of sick­ness.

^183:16 The sup­posed laws which result in wea­ri­ness ¹⁷ and dis­ease arenʼt His laws.

^184:6 Be­lief produces the results of be­lief, ⁷ and the penalties it affixes last so long as the be­lief and are inseparable from it. ⁸ The remedy consists in probing the trou­ble to the bottom, ⁹ in find­ing and cast­ing out ¹⁰ the er­ror of be­lief which produces a mor­tal dis­or­der, ¹¹ nev­er honoring erroneous be­lief with the title of law ¹² nor yield­ing o­be­di­ence to it.

^184:20 Mat­ter can­not suf­fer. ²¹ Mor­tal mind a­lone suffers — ²² not be­cause a law of mat­ter has been trans­gressed, ²³ but be­cause a law of this so-called mind has been disobeyed.

^188:24 The soil of dis­ease is mor­tal mind, ²⁵ and you have an abun­dant or scanty crop of dis­ease ²⁶ ac­cord­ing to the seedlings of fear. ²⁷ Sin and the fear of dis­ease must be uprooted and cast out.

^192:4 We are Christian Scientists, on­ly as we quit our reliance ⁵ up­on what is false and grasp the true.

^192:23 The good you do and embody gives you the on­ly pow­er obtainable. ²⁴ Evil is­nʼt pow­er. ²⁵ Itʼs a mockery of strength, which soon betrays its weak­ness and falls, ²⁶ nev­er to rise.

^196:4 The pow­er of mor­tal mind over its own body is lit­tle un­der­stood.

^196:20 Books that rule dis­ease out of mor­tal mind ²¹ and re­move the images and thoughts of dis­ease — ²² in­stead of impressing them ²³ with forcible descriptions and medical details — ²⁴ will help to abate sick­ness and to de­stroy it.

^196:31 The press un­wit­ting­ly sends forth many sorrows ³² and diseases a­mong the hu­man fam­i­ly. ^197:1 It does this by giv­ing names to diseases ² and by printing long descriptions which mirror images of dis­ease distinctly in thought. ³ A new name for an ailment affects peo­ple ⁴ like a Parisian name for a novel garment. ⁵ Eve­ry­one hastens to get it. ⁶ A minutely de­scribed dis­ease costs many men their earthly days of com­fort.

^199:21 The de­vo­tion of thought to an hon­est achievement makes the achievement pos­si­ble.

^199:32 When Homer sang of the Grecian gods, Olympus was dark, ^200:1 but through his verse the gods be­came a­live ² in a nationʼs be­lief.

^201:1 The best sermon ev­er preached is Truth prac­tised and demonstrated.

^201:7 We can­not build safe­ly on false foundations. ¹³ We can­not fill vessels al­ready full. They must first be emptied.

^208:28 A mor­tal man makes his body har­mo­ni­ous or discordant ac­cord­ing to ²⁹ the images of thought impressed up­on it. ³¹ You should delineate up­on your body thoughts of health, not of sick­ness. ³² You should banish all thoughts of dis­ease and sin. ^209:2 It is the mor­tal be­lief which makes the body discordant and diseased ³ in pro­por­tion as ig­no­rance, ⁴ fear, or hu­man will governs mortals.

^220:18 Mor­tal mind produces its own phenomena, ¹⁹ and then charges them to some­thing else — ²⁰ like a kitten glancing in­to the mirror at it­self and ²¹ think­ing it sees an­oth­er kitten.

^221:19 God nev­er ordained a law that ²⁰ fasting should be a means of health. ²¹ Hence semi-starvation is­nʼt ac­cept­a­ble to wis­dom.

^222:14 Take less thought about what you should eat or drink, ¹⁵ con­sult the stom­ach less about ¹⁶ the economy of liv­ing and God more.

^225:5 You may know when Truth first leads by the fewness ⁶ and faithfulness of its followers. ⁸ The powers of this world will fight, ⁹ and will com­mand their sentinels not to let truth pass the guard ¹⁰ un­til it subscribes to their systems; ¹¹ but Science, heeding not the pointed bayonet, marches on. ¹² There is al­ways some tu­mult, but there is a rallying to truthʼs standard.

^232:5 The beliefs we commonly entertain about hap­pi­ness and life af­ford ⁶ no per­ma­nent ev­i­dence of ei­ther.

^233:7 Godʼs law demands of us on­ly what we can cer­tain­ly ful­fill.

^233:8 In the midst of imperfection, perfection is seen and ac­knowl­edged on­ly by degrees. ⁹ The ages must slowly work up to perfection.

^234:4 What­ev­er inspires with wis­dom, Truth, or Love — ⁵ be it song, sermon, or Science — blesses the hu­man fam­i­ly ⁶ with crumbs of com­fort.

^234:9 We should be­come more fa­mil­iar with good than with evil, ¹⁰ and guard against false beliefs as watch­ful­ly ¹¹ as we bar our doors against the ap­proach of thieves and murderers. ¹² We should love our enemies ¹³ and help them on the ba­sis of the Golden Rule; ¹⁴ but a­void cast­ing pearls be­fore those who trample them un­der foot, ¹⁵ thereby robbing both them­selves and others.

^234:17 If mortals would keep prop­er ward over mor­tal mind, ¹⁸ the brood of evils which infest it would be cleared out. ¹⁹ We must be­gin with this mind ²⁰ and emp­ty it of sin and sick­ness, ²¹ or sin and sick­ness will nev­er cease.

^234:25 Sin and dis­ease must be thought be­fore they can be manifested. ²⁶ You must con­trol evil thoughts in the first instance, ²⁷ or they will con­trol you in the second.

^235:1 Evil thoughts, lusts, and ma­li­cious purposes can­not go forth, like wan­der­ing pollen, ² from one mind to an­oth­er, find­ing an unsuspected foothold, ³ if vir­tue and truth build a strong defense.

^235:7 The teachers of schools and the readers in churches ⁸ should be selected with as di­rect reference to their morals ⁹ as to their learn­ing or their cor­rect read­ing.

^235:28 Clergymen, occupying the watchtowers of the world, ²⁹ should uplift the standard of Truth. ³⁰ They should so raise their hearers spir­it­u­al­ly, ³¹ that their listeners will love to grapple with ³² a new, right idea, and broaden their concepts.

^236:2 Truth should emanate from the pulpit, ³ but nev­er be strangled there.

^236:12 A moth­er is the strongest educator. ¹³ Her thoughts form the embryo of an­oth­er mor­tal mind, ¹⁴ and unconsciously mould it.

^236:21 Chil­dren should o­bey their par­ents; ²² insubordination is an evil, blighting the buddings of self-government. ²³ Par­ents should teach their chil­dren ²⁴ at the earliest pos­si­ble period the truths of health and ho­li­ness. ²⁵ Chil­dren are more tractable than adults, ²⁶ and learn more readily to love the sim­ple verities ²⁷ that will make them hap­py and good.

^236:28 Jesus loved lit­tle chil­dren be­cause of their free­dom from wrong ²⁹ and their receptiveness of right. ³⁰ While age is halting be­tween two opinions or battling with false beliefs, ³¹ youth makes easy and rapid strides to­wards Truth.

^237:10 The more stub­born beliefs ¹¹ and theories of par­ents of­ten choke the good seed in the minds ¹² of them­selves and their off­spring. ¹³ Superstition, like “the fowls of the air,” snatches a­way the good seed be­fore it has sprouted.

^238:1 Motives and acts arenʼt right­ly valued be­fore they are un­der­stood. ² It is well to wait un­til those you would ben­e­fit ³ are ready for the bless­ing.

^238:6 To o­bey the Scriptural com­mand, ⁷ “Come out from a­mong them, and be ye sep­a­rate,” is to in­cur societyʼs frown; ⁸ but this frown, more than flatteries, enables one to be Christian.

^238:27 Peo­ple with men­tal work be­fore them ²⁸ have no time for gos­sip about false tes­ti­mo­ny. ²⁹ To place the fact above the false­hood ³⁰ is the work of time.

^239:5 Take a­way wealth, fame, and so­cial organizations, ⁶ which weigh not one jot in the bal­ance of God, ⁷ and we get clearer views of Principle. ⁸ Break up cliques, lev­el wealth with honesty, let worth be judged ac­cord­ing to wis­dom, ⁹ and we get bet­ter views of humanity.

^239:12 Let it be un­der­stood that suc­cess in er­ror is de­feat in Truth. ¹³ The watchword of Christian Science is Scriptural: ¹⁴ “Let the wick­ed for­sake their way, ¹⁵ and the un­righ­teous their thoughts.”

^239:16 To ascertain our prog­ress, we must learn where our affections are placed ¹⁷ and whom we ac­knowl­edge and o­bey as God. ¹⁸ If divine Love is be­com­ing nearer, ¹⁹ dearer, and more re­al to us, mat­ter is then sub­mit­ting to Spir­it. ²⁰ The objects we pur­sue and the spir­it we manifest ²¹ re­veal our standpoint, ²² and show what we are winning.

^240:3 Arctic regions, sunny tropics, giant hills, winged winds, ⁴ mighty billows, verdant vales, festive flowers, and glorious heavens ⁵ all point to Mind, the spir­it­u­al intelligence they re­flect. ⁶ The floral apos­tles are hieroglyphs of De­i­ty. ⁷ Suns and planets teach grand lessons. ⁸ The stars make night beau­ti­ful, ⁹ and the leaflet turns naturally to­wards the light.

^240:27 In try­ing to undo the errors of sense ²⁸ one must pay ful­ly and fair­ly the utmost farthing, ²⁹ un­til all er­ror is fi­nal­ly brought in­to subjection to Truth. ³⁰ The divine method of pay­ing sinʼs wages involves unwinding oneʼs snarls.

^241:10 False­hood, en­vy, hy­poc­ri­sy, mal­ice, hate, revenge, and so forth, ¹¹ steal a­way the treasures of Truth.

^241:17 The er­ror of ages is preaching with­out prac­tice.

^241:23 Oneʼs aim should be to find the footsteps of Truth, ²⁴ the way to health and ho­li­ness.

^243:2 We can nev­er suc­ceed in the Science and demonstration of ³ spir­it­u­al good through ig­no­rance or hy­poc­ri­sy.

^247:10 Beau­ty, as well as truth, is e­ter­nal; ¹¹ but the beau­ty of ma­te­ri­al things passes a­way, fading and fleet­ing as mor­tal be­lief. ¹² Cus­tom, education, and fash­ion ¹³ form the transient standards of mortals.

^248:25 We must first turn our gaze in the right direction, ²⁶ and then walk that way. ²⁷ We must form per­fect models in thought and look at them con­tin­u­al­ly, ²⁸ or we shall nev­er carve them out in grand and no­ble lives. ²⁹ Let unselfishness, good­ness, mer­cy, jus­tice, health, ho­li­ness, and love ³⁰ reign with­in us, ³¹ and sin, dis­ease, and death will di­min­ish ³² un­til they fi­nal­ly disappear.

^250:12 Man is­nʼt God, but like a ray of light which co­mes from the sun, ¹³ man reflects God.

^252:7 When false hu­man beliefs learn e­ven a lit­tle of their own falsity, ⁸ they be­gin to disappear. ⁹ A knowl­edge of er­ror and of its operations must precede ¹⁰ that un­der­stand­ing of Truth which destroys er­ror.

^253:18 If you be­lieve in and prac­tice wrong know­ing­ly, ¹⁹ you can at once change your course and do right.

^254:2 Individuals are consistent who, ³ watching and praying, can “run and not be wea­ry; ⁴ walk and not faint,” who gain good rap­id­ly ⁵ and hold their po­si­tion, ⁶ or at­tain slowly and donʼt yield to discouragement. ⁷ God requires perfection, but not un­til the bat­tle be­tween Spir­it and flesh is fought.

^256:1 Prog­ress takes off hu­man shackles.

^260:15 Distrust of oneʼs abil­i­ty to gain the good­ness de­sired and ¹⁶ to bring out bet­ter and higher results, ¹⁷ of­ten ensures fail­ure at the outset.

^266:20 The sin­ner makes his own hell by do­ing evil, ²¹ and the saint his own heav­en by do­ing right.

^270:24 Mortals think wickedly; consequently they are wick­ed. ²⁵ They think sick­ly thoughts, and so be­come sick.

^281:30 The old be­lief must be cast out ³¹ or the new idea will be spilled, ³² and the inspiration, which is to change our standpoint, will be lost.

^284:21 The phys­i­cal sen­ses can ob­tain no proof of God. ²² They can nei­ther see Spir­it through the eye nor hear it through the ear, ²³ nor can they feel, taste, or smell Spir­it.

^285:16 The be­lief that a ma­te­ri­al body is man ¹⁷ is a false conception of man.

^295:1 The be­lief that a severed limb is aching in the old lo­ca­tion, ² the sensation seem­ing to be in nerves which are no long­er there, ³ is an added proof of the unreliability of phys­i­cal tes­ti­mo­ny.

^295:16 The manifestation of God through mortals is as light ¹⁷ pass­ing through the windowpane. ¹⁸ The light and the glass nev­er mingle, ¹⁹ but the glass is less o­paque than the walls. ²⁰ The mor­tal mind through which Truth ap­pears most vividly ²¹ is that one which has lost much er­ror ²² in or­der to be­come a bet­ter transparency for Truth. ²³ Then, like a cloud melting in­to thin va­por, it no long­er hides the sun.

^296:4 Prog­ress is born of ex­pe­ri­ence.

^296:16 Mor­tal be­lief must lose all sat­is­fac­tion in er­ror and sin ¹⁷ in or­der to part with them.

^296:28 An improved be­lief is one step out of er­ror, ²⁹ and aids in tak­ing the next step.

^296:32 Mor­tal be­lief says, “You are wretch­ed!” and mortals think they are so; ^297:1 and noth­ing can change this state, un­til the be­lief changes. ² Mor­tal be­lief says, “You are hap­py!” and mortals are so; ³ and no circumstance can alter the situation, ⁴ un­til the be­lief on this sub­ject changes. ⁵ Hu­man be­lief says to mortals, ⁶ “You are sick!” and this tes­ti­mo­ny manifests it­self on the body as sick­ness.

^320:7 The Scrip­tures have both a spir­it­u­al and a lit­er­al mean­ing.

^322:24 A man who refrains from wrong on­ly through fear of con­se­quenc­es ²⁵ is nei­ther a tem­per­ate man nor a re­li­a­ble religionist.

^322:32 It is eas­i­er to de­sire Truth than to rid one­self of er­ror. ^323:1 Mortals may seek the un­der­stand­ing of Christian Science, ² but they wonʼt be able to glean from Christian Science ³ the facts of be­ing with­out striving for them. ⁴ This strife consists in the endeavor to for­sake er­ror of eve­ry kind ⁵ and to pos­sess no oth­er con­scious­ness but good.

^323:13 In or­der to apprehend more, ¹⁴ we must put in­to prac­tice what we al­ready know. ¹⁵ We must recollect that Truth is demonstrable when un­der­stood, ¹⁶ and that good is­nʼt un­der­stood un­til demonstrated.

^323:30 We are ei­ther turn­ing a­way from the “still, small voice” of Truth, ³¹ or we are listening to it and go­ing up higher. ³² Willingness to leave the old for the new ^324:1 renders thought receptive to the ad­vanced idea. ² Glad­ness to leave the false landmarks ³ and joy to see them disappear ⁴ — this dis­po­si­tion helps to precipitate the ul­ti­mate har­mo­ny.

^324:13 Be watch­ful, so­ber, and vig­i­lant. ¹⁴ The way is straight and narrow.

^327:1 Re­form co­mes by un­der­stand­ing that there is no abiding pleas­ure in evil, ² and al­so by gaining an af­fec­tion for good.

^327:8 What a pitiful sight is mal­ice, find­ing pleas­ure in revenge! ⁹ Evil is some­times a manʼs highest conception of right, ¹⁰ un­til his grasp on good grows stronger. ¹¹ Then he loses pleas­ure in wick­ed­ness, and it be­comes his tor­ment. ¹² The way to es­cape the mis­ery of sin is to cease sinning. ¹³ There is no oth­er way.

^327:22 Fear of pun­ish­ment nev­er made man tru­ly hon­est. ²³ Mor­al cour­age is requisite to meet the wrong and to pro­claim the right.

^329:14 One should not tarry in the storm if the body is freezing, ¹⁵ nor should he re­main in the devouring flames. ¹⁶ Un­til one is able to pre­vent bad results, he should a­void their oc­ca­sion.

^330:3 Un­til I learn­ed the vast­ness of Christian Science, ⁴ the fixedness of mor­tal illusions, ⁵ and the hu­man ha­tred of Truth, ⁶ I cherished sanguine hopes that Christian Science would meet with im­me­di­ate and universal acceptance.

^339:31 You con­quer er­ror by denying its verity. ³² Our var­i­ous theories will nev­er lose their imaginary pow­er for good or evil, ^340:1 un­til we lose our faith in them.

^341:1 The criticisms of this volume would con­demn to oblivion the truth, ² which is raising up thousands from helplessness to strength ³ and el­e­vat­ing them from a theoretical to a prac­ti­cal Christianity.

^349:13 The chief dif­fi­cul­ty in conveying the teachings of divine Science accurately ¹⁴ to hu­man thought lies in this, ¹⁵ that like all oth­er languages, English is inadequate.

^355:11 Let dis­cord of eve­ry name and na­ture be heard no more.

^361:21 I have revised Science and Health on­ly to give a clearer ²² and fuller ex­pres­sion of its orig­i­nal mean­ing. ²³ Spir­it­u­al ideas unfold as we ad­vance.

^366:25 The sick are ter­ri­fied by their sick beliefs, ²⁶ and sinners should be affrighted by their sin­ful beliefs; ²⁷ but the Christian Scientist will be calm in the pres­ence of ²⁸ both sin and dis­ease.

^372:27 A denial of Truth is fatal, ²⁸ while a just acknowledgement of Truth and ²⁹ of what it has done for us is an effectual help. ³⁰ If pride, superstition, or any er­ror prevents the hon­est recognition of benefits re­ceived, ³¹ this will be a hindrance to the recovery of the sick.

^377:6 Invalids flee to tropical climates in or­der to save their lives, ⁷ but they come back no bet­ter than when they went a­way. ⁸ Then is the time to cure them, ⁹ and prove that they can be healthy in all climates, ¹⁰ when their fear of climate is exterminated.

^382:8 Con­stant bathing and rub­bing to alter the secretions ¹⁰ receives a use­ful re­buke from Jesusʼ precept, ¹¹ “Take no thought ... for the body.” ¹² We must be­ware of mak­ing clean mere­ly the out­side of the plat­ter.

^383:3 We need a clean body and a clean mind — ⁴ a body rendered pure by Mind as well as washed by wa­ter. ⁸ The Christian Scientist takes the best care of his body ⁹ when he leaves it most out of his thought.

^384:3 We should re­lieve our minds from the depressing thought ⁴ that we have trans­gressed a ma­te­ri­al law ⁵ and must of necessity pay the pen­al­ty.

^386:16 A blundering dispatch, mistakenly announcing the death of a friend, ¹⁷ occasions the same grief that the friendʼs ¹⁸ re­al death would bring. ¹⁹ You think that your anguish is occassioned by your loss. ²⁰ An­oth­er dispatch, correcting the mis­take, heals your grief, ²¹ and you learn that your suf­fer­ing was mere­ly the result of your be­lief. ²² Thus it is with all sor­row, sick­ness, and death. ²³ You will learn at length that there is no cause for grief, ²⁴ and divine wis­dom will then be un­der­stood. ²⁵ Er­ror, not Truth, produces all the suf­fer­ing on earth.

^391:14 It is er­ror to suf­fer for any­thing but your own sins, ¹⁶ and re­al suf­fer­ing for your own sins will cease in pro­por­tion as the sin ceases.

^392:24 Stand guard at the door of thought. ²⁵ If you ad­mit on­ly such conclusions as you wish re­al­ized in bod­i­ly results, ²⁶ you will con­trol your­self harmoniously. ²⁷ When the con­di­tion is pres­ent ²⁸ which you say induces dis­ease, ²⁹ wheth­er it be air, ex­er­cise, heredity, contagion, or accident, ³⁰ then per­form your of­fice as guard and shut out these unhealthy thoughts and fears. ³¹ Exclude from mor­tal mind the offending errors; ³² then the body can­not suf­fer from them.

^393:32 It is well to be calm in sick­ness; ^394:1 to be hopeful is still bet­ter; ² but to un­der­stand that sick­ness is­nʼt re­al and that Truth can de­stroy its seem­ing reality, is best of all, ³ for this un­der­stand­ing is the universal and per­fect remedy.

^395:17 An ill-tempered, com­plain­ing, or de­ceit­ful per­son ¹⁸ should not be a nurse. ¹⁹ The nurse should be cheer­ful, or­der­ly, punctual, pa­tient, full of faith — ²⁰ receptive to Truth and Love.

^396:1 One should nev­er hold in mind the thought of dis­ease, ² but should efface from thought ³ all forms and types of dis­ease, ⁴ both for oneʼs own sake and for that of the pa­tient. ⁵ A­void talking ill­ness to the pa­tient. ⁶ Make no unnecessary inquiries rel­a­tive to feelings or dis­ease. ⁷ Nev­er startle with a discouraging remark about recovery, ⁸ nor draw at­ten­tion to cer­tain symptoms as unfavorable, ⁹ a­void speak­ing a­loud the name of the dis­ease. ¹⁰ Nev­er say be­fore­hand how much you have to con­tend with in a case, ¹¹ nor en­cour­age in the patientʼs thought ¹² the ex­pec­ta­tion of growing worse be­fore a crisis is passed.

^397:8 Suf­fer­ing is no less a men­tal con­di­tion than is en­joy­ment.

^401:28 It is bet­ter for Christian Scientists to leave surgery ²⁹ and the adjustment of bro­ken bones and dislocations ³⁰ to the fingers of a surgeon, ³¹ while the men­tal healer confines him­self chiefly to men­tal reconstruction.

^403:14 You com­mand the situation if you un­der­stand that ¹⁵ mor­tal ex­ist­ence is a state of self-deception and not the truth of be­ing. ¹⁶ Mor­tal mind is con­stant­ly producing on mor­tal body ¹⁷ the results of false opinions.

^405:5 Christian Science commands man to mas­ter the propensities — ⁶ to hold ha­tred in abeyance with kind­ness, ⁷ to con­quer lust with chas­ti­ty, revenge with char­i­ty, ⁸ and to over­come de­ceit with honesty.

^405:22 It were bet­ter to be exposed to eve­ry plague on earth ²³ than to en­dure the cumulative effects of a guilty con­science. ²⁴ The abiding con­scious­ness of wrong­do­ing ²⁵ tends to de­stroy the abil­i­ty to do right. ²⁸ You are conquered by the mor­al penalties you in­cur ²⁹ and the ills they bring.

^406:19 Re­sist er­ror of eve­ry sort and it will flee from you.

^406:28 The depraved ap­pe­tite for alcoholic drinks, tobacco, ²⁹ tea, coffee, and opium is destroyed on­ly by Mindʼs mastery of the body.

^407:6 Manʼs enslavement to the most relentless masters — ⁷ pas­sion, self­ish­ness, en­vy, ha­tred, and revenge — ⁸ is conquered on­ly by a mighty strug­gle. ⁹ Eve­ry hour of de­lay makes the strug­gle more se­vere.

^409:29 We can­not spend our days here in ig­no­rance, ³⁰ and ex­pect to find be­yond the grave ³¹ a re­ward for this ig­no­rance. ³² Death wonʼt make us har­mo­ni­ous and im­mor­tal as a rec­om­pense for ig­no­rance.

^416:29 Assure the sick that they think too much about their ailments, ³⁰ and have al­ready heard too much on that sub­ject. ³¹ Turn their thoughts a­way from their bodies to higher objects.

^417:3 Give sick peo­ple cred­it for some­times know­ing more than their doctors.

^419:1 A mor­al ques­tion may hin­der the recovery of the sick. ² Lurking er­ror, lust, en­vy, revenge, mal­ice, or hate ³ will perpetuate or e­ven cre­ate the be­lief in dis­ease.

^419:18 Think less of ma­te­ri­al conditions and more of spir­it­u­al.

^420:10 In­struct the sick that they arenʼt help­less victims, ¹¹ for if they will on­ly ac­cept Truth, ¹² they can re­sist dis­ease and ward it off, ¹³ as positively as they can the temp­ta­tion to sin.

^426:5 I find the path ⁶ less dif­fi­cult when I have the high goal al­ways be­fore my thoughts ⁷ than when I count my footsteps ⁸ in endeavoring to reach it.

^443:10 All are privileged to work out their own sal­va­tion ¹¹ ac­cord­ing to their light. ¹² Our motto should be the Masterʼs coun­sel, ¹³ “Judge not, that you might not be judged.”

^443:14 If patients fail to ex­pe­ri­ence the heal­ing pow­er of Christian Science, ¹⁵ and think they can be benefited by ¹⁶ ordinary phys­i­cal methods of medical treatment, ¹⁷ then the Mind-physician should give up such cases, ¹⁸ and leave invalids free to re­sort to what­ev­er oth­er systems they fancy will af­ford re­lief.

^444:13 I ad­vise students to be char­i­ta­ble and kind, ¹⁴ not on­ly to­wards differing forms of re­li­gion and med­i­cine, ¹⁵ but to those who hold these differing opinions.

^445:19 Christian Science silences hu­man will, quiets fear with Truth and Love, ²⁰ and illustrates the unlabored motion ²¹ of the divine en­er­gy in heal­ing the sick. ²² Self-seeking, en­vy, pas­sion, pride, ha­tred, and revenge ²³ are cast out by the divine Mind which heals dis­ease.

^447:1 The heav­en­ly law is bro­ken by trespassing up­on ² manʼs individual right of self-government. ⁶ You must not for­get that erring hu­man opinions, ⁷ conflicting selfish motives, ⁸ and ig­no­rant attempts to do good may render you in­ca­pa­ble of ⁹ know­ing or judg­ing accurately the need of your fellow-men. ¹⁰ There­fore the rule is, heal the sick when called up­on for aid.

^447:27 The sick arenʼt healed mere­ly by declaring there is no sick­ness, ²⁸ but by know­ing that there is none.

^448:9 When needed, tell the truth concerning the lie. ¹⁰ Evasion of Truth cripples in­teg­ri­ty ¹¹ and casts you down from the pinnacle.

^448:30 To talk the right and live the wrong is fool­ish de­ceit, ³¹ do­ing one­self the most harm.

^449:7 The wrong done an­oth­er reacts most heavily against one­self. ⁸ Right adjusts the bal­ance sooner or lat­er. ⁹ It is “eas­i­er for a cam­el to go through the eye of a nee­dle” ¹⁰ than for you to ben­e­fit your­self by injuring others.

^452:4 Incorrect reasoning leads to prac­ti­cal er­ror. ⁵ The wrong thought should be ar­rested be­fore it has a chance ⁶ to manifest it­self.

^452:7 Walk­ing in the light, we are accustomed to the light and re­quire it; ⁸ we can­not see in dark­ness. ⁹ But eyes accustomed to dark­ness are pained by the light. ¹⁰ When outgrowing the old, you should not fear to put on the new.

^453:16 Honesty is spir­it­u­al pow­er. ¹⁷ Dis­hon­es­ty is hu­man weak­ness, which forfeits divine help.

^458:23 The Christianly scientific man ²⁵ does vi­o­lence to no man. Nei­ther is he a false accuser. ²⁶ The Christian Scientist wisely shapes his course, ²⁷ and is hon­est and consistent in fol­low­ing the leadings of divine Mind.

^460:14 Sick­ness is nei­ther imaginary nor unreal ¹⁵ to the fright­ened, false sense of the pa­tient. ¹⁶ Sick­ness is more than fancy; it is sol­id con­vic­tion. ¹⁷ It is there­fore to be dealt with ¹⁸ through right ap­pre­hen­sion of the truth. ¹⁹ If Christian heal­ing is abused by mer­e smatterers in Science, ²⁰ it be­comes a tedious mischief-maker. ²¹ In­stead of scientifically effecting a cure, it starts a petty crossfire over eve­ry cripple and invalid, ²² buffeting them with the superficial and cold assertion, ²³ “Noth­ing ails you.”

^460:24 When the Science of Mind was a fresh rev­e­la­tion to me, ²⁶ I had to impart the hue of spir­it­u­al ideas from my own spir­it­u­al con­di­tion, ²⁷ and I had to do this orally ²⁸ through the meager channel afforded by lan­guage ²⁹ and by my manuscript circulated a­mong students. ³⁰ As for­mer beliefs were grad­u­al­ly expelled from my thought, ³¹ the teach­ing be­came clearer, ³² un­til fi­nal­ly the shad­ow of old errors was no long­er cast up­on divine Science.

^482:26 Sick­ness is part of the er­ror which Truth casts out. ²⁷ Er­ror wonʼt expel er­ror.

^495:2 Truth casts out er­ror now ³ as sure­ly as it did centuries a­go. ⁴ All of Truth is­nʼt un­der­stood; ⁵ hence its heal­ing pow­er is­nʼt ful­ly demonstrated.