250 THE PRINCIPLES OF SELF-MASTERY
actually perform the miracle that he must have seen through his own
Imagination before he even began.
It was faith that sustained the Wright brothers through the years
of hazardous experiments before they conquered the ,air and created a
machine that excels, in both speed and endurance, the swiftest bird.
It was faith that prompted Christopher Columbus to set sail on
an uncharted sea, in search of a land that, as far as he was concerned,
existed nowhere except in his own Imagination. Considering the frailties
of the little sailing vessels in which he embarked on that momentous
voyage, his faith must have been of the kind that enables a person to
see the object of their labor already attained, even before they begin.
It was faith that inspired Copernicus to see that portion of a uni-
verse which human eyes had never beheld. It was at a time in the history
of the world when such revelations as those he wrought through his faith
and his crude mechanical equipment might mean his destruction at
the hands of his contemporaries who believed there were no stars except
those within range of the human eyes.
It was faith that enabled "Golden Rule" Nash to transform a failing
business into a shining example of success, by dealing with his customers
on the basis of a rule that Christ recommended nearly two thousand
years earlier. Arthur Nash turned to faith after every other business prin-
ciple failed him. By following the Golden Rule through the remainder
of his life, Nash accumulated a vast fortune in money, to say nothing of
leaving the world richer in spirit because of his example.
It was his faith in a cause that enabled Mahatma Gandhi of India
to blend into a single mass the minds of more than two hundred million
of his countrymen, everyone of whom would do Gandhi's bidding,
even though it meant immediate death. No other influence except faith
could have performed this miracle. Because his mind is capable of
sustained faith, Gandhi wields this power passively. Gandhi has proved
that faith can accomplish that which trained soldiers and money and
implements of warfare cannot achieve.