SELF-CONTROL 529
of voice, the look of assurance, clearly identify them as professionals
who have acquired the art of successful negotiation. And their patients
will tell you it makes them feel better the moment such a doctor enters
the sick room.
Watch the managers or supervisors who have acquired this art, and
observe how their very presence spurs the employees to greater effort and
inspires them with confidence and Enthusiasm.
Watch the lawyer who has acquired this art, and observe how he
or she commands the respect and the attention of the court. There is
something about the tone of voice, the posture, and expression, that
cause opponents to suffer by comparison.
All of this is predicated upon Self-Control. And Self-Control is
the result of thought control!
Deliberately place in your own mind the sort of thoughts that you
wish to have there, and keep out of your mind those thoughts that
others place there through suggestion, and you will become a person
of Self-Control.
This privilege of stimulating your mind with suggestions and
thoughts of your own choosing is your prerogative, and if you will
exercise this right there is nothing within the bounds of reason that
you cannot attain.
Losing your temper, and with it your case, or your argument, or
your sanity, marks you as one who has not yet familiarized yourself
with the fundamentals upon which Self-Control is based, and chief of
these fundamentals is the privilege of choosing the thoughts that will
dominate your mind.
A student in one of my classes once asked how one went about
controlling one's thoughts when in a state of intense anger. I replied:
"In exactly the same way you would change your manner and the tone
of your voice if you were in a heated argument with a member of your
family and heard the doorbell ring, warning that company had arrived.
You would control yourself because you would desire to do so:'