98 THE PRINCIPLES OF SELF-MASTERY
The moment discord begins to creep in at the front door, harmony
edges out at the back door, so to speak, whether this application is
made to a business partnership or the orderly movement of the planets
of the heavens.
If you get the impression that I am laying undue stress on the
importance of harmony, remember that lack of harmony is the first,
and often the last and only, cause of failure!
There can be no poetry nor music nor oratory worthy of notice
without the presence of harmony.
Good architecture is largely a matter of harmony. Without har-
mony a house is nothing but a mass of building material, more or less
a monstrosity.
Sound business management plants the very sinews of its existence
in harmony.
Every well-dressed man or woman is a living picture and a moving
example of harmony.
With all these workaday illustrations of the important part that
harmony plays in the affairs of the world-no, in the operation of the
entire universe-how could any intelligent person leave harmony out of
their Definite Chief Aim in life? Could any definite aim in life omit
harmony as the chief stone of its foundation?
KNOWLEDGE AND POWER
The human body is a complex organization of organs, glands, blood ves-
sels, nerves, brain cells, muscles, etc. The mind that stimulates to action
and coordinates the efforts of the component parts of the body is also
a plurality of ever-varying and changing energies. From birth until death
there is continuous struggle, often assuming the nature of open combat,
between the forces of the mind. For example, the lifelong struggle be-
tween the motivating forces and desires of the mind, which takes place
between the impulses of right and wrong, is well known to everyone.