Influence - How To Exert It
	By Confidence <  Previous Contents Next  >

Confidence is the mental impulse that all those who wish to influence others should seek to elicit. For most of them, it is the means of replacing the vacillating and ever faltering will with their own will, which they impose according to circumstances and according to the character of their followers. With some gentle persuasion is a means, even if slow, yet almost sure of success.

But we must guard the future adept from a diversity of influences, otherwise his mind will always retain the most recent impression, and before following the course of initiation we must give our attention to doing away with contradictory ideas, which he cannot completely eradicate except with great difficulty.

This is one of the characteristics of feeble folk; their stubbornness has always to be combated and we cannot succeed in teaching them confidence except after prolonged effort. The best way left to us is not to hit them too hard, for their obstinacy - which they sometimes take for willpower - would form a troublesome obstacle to their conversion. It is therefore better to seem to pay attention to their opinions, however baseless they may be, and to put before them objections that appear rather involuntary than otherwise and which to all appearances we regret the necessity of formulating.

This is what Yoritomo teaches us in the following anecdote:

"My master Lang-Ho," said he, "had among his disciples a chief who had great influence in the senate, not on account of his personal qualifications but rather of his wealth which was considerable. He had estates the extent of which gave him the privileges of a little king, and my master thought rightly that such a man should be gained over to the beauty of the Good, in order that his discourse should not be like the tares of the field but on the contrary should resemble good seed the sprouting of which brings forth a whole course of bountiful harvest.”

"But this nobleman suffered from the weakness of will that hindered him from profiting by any lesson. He would say ' yes' one day and the next day, after listening to the talk of those who have no other idea except to get money out of him, he would profess an opposite opinion and set himself obstinately to follow the most pernicious counsels.”

"Lang-Ho, as I have already told you, was a profound psychologist, no recess of the human heart hidden from him; so after subjecting the chief to a lengthy scrutiny, he adopted the method which seemed likely to succeed.”

"He did not dissuade him from acts which under evil influences this man had made up his mind to perform, but at first he, so to speak, canalized his infatuation toward things of less importance, the plan of which he seemed at first to entertain kindly.”

"He was careful thus not to awaken the spirit of obstinacy which he knew was dormant in the chief’s heart. But after putting him to the test at a time when the latter was no longer in a suspicious mood, Lang-Ho enumerated to him the errors of his ways and did not fail to declare what mischief would accrue from them.”

"This done, he let him follow his own devices or rather those of his evil counselors. This policy had the result of allowing the troubles which he had foretold to arise, so that by degrees the chief began to regard Lang-Ho with a kind of superstitious fear blended with a deep veneration.”

"The philosopher waited no longer; he then took in hand the freeing of his disciples from his self-interested friends, and after some months of initiation the latter, imbued with the knowledge and wisdom of the master, ceased all resistance and gloried in showing to those who depended on him that he shared the opinions of the sage.”

"From that to conversion was only one step, and that step was taken so successfully that, under the influence of Lang-Ho, the chief became a genuine benefactor to all who lived on his estates and who looked up to him as a master whose word has the force of an oracle.”

But certain natures are restive under persuasion or to malleable for any impression to leave its marks on them. In such, therefore, it is well to inspire confidence, somewhat in spite of themselves, by having recourse to suggestion. All modern thinkers are of this opinion; all those also who are engaged with mental infirmities:

"A suggestion of any kind being implanted in the mind," says P. E. Levy, "the organism is the better adapted to bring about realization.”

We too readily give an idea of magic to the word suggestion. Suggestion, as the writer understands it, might be defined as follows: The development of competence.

It is, in a way, the imposing of one's belief on the mind of others; it is not a quack method of enthralling a person and of compelling him to carry out tasks which we feel ourselves without the courage to perform; it is a noble faculty which choice spirits alone possess, that of implanting their belief in those whom they consider worthy of being persuaded.

Be it remembered that there is suggestion in everything; in the book which fascinates us and the theories of which gain possession of us in spite of ourselves; in the conversation to which we listen of our own accord, in the discussions of which only one side seems to us to express the truth.

But it happens too frequently that if afterward we recollect ourselves in order to judge our thoughts with the same impartiality as we should those of others, we are altogether amazed to see the fine enthusiasm that had animated us fail; the principles of the book, stripped of the magic of style, seem to us highly debatable; the conversation which we enjoyed, when the illusion of eloquence no longer illuminates it, seems to us insipid, and the object of discussion which had interested us deeply becomes a matter of indifference to us when we examine it calmly.

To what then is this sudden change to be ascribed? Does it arise from us? From our over-susceptibility to enthusiasm? From our excessive propensity to fleeting impression?

In most cases regarding these suggestions we should accuse only their authors, who, not being convinced themselves, have been unable imbue us with a lasting confidence. To inspire confidence, without which no influence is possible, several qualities are indispensable:

Sincerity with ourselves; Hatred of injustice;

Certainty in our decisions;

Absolute truth in our predictions;

Confidence in our old merits.

Sincerity with ourselves consists especially in the conviction of the necessity which exists of making others share in a belief the effect of which we experience so deeply, that the feel cure to defuse it abroad should seem to us dereliction of all our duties.

You see why the appeal of missionaries is generally so powerful; the success of the apostolate is always subordinated to the sincerity of the convictions of him who expounds them and to his certainty that he is performing a duty in inculcating them on those for whom they may prove a support and a consolation.

If the speaker doubts his own statements, his voice will be less firm, the effulgence of his thought will less easily spread over his audience, and enthusiasm, the parent of absolute faith, will not lift them to carry he them on their way.

But how different a reception will be accorded to the apostle who is himself convinced. Let us listen to Yoritomo in this matter:

"Like a refreshing stream," said he, "the words of he who ‘believes’ spread into the minds of his hearers and quench their thirst of moral support and lofty convictions.”

"Like moths attracted by the light of tapers, they will all flock around him who is for them the light and knows how to envelop them with its life-giving rays.”

"As long as he speaks, vistas of brightness are spread before them; if he vanishes, they seem again to pass into darkness only brightened by the remembrance of the words of confidence and faith.”

He who knows not hatred of injustice will never be able to exercise a salutary influence on others? How could he attract to himself confidence, the mother of conversion, if, by the unfairness of his judgments, he is subjected to that of others?

"No partiality," said Yoritomo, "should animate him who would win souls. It is by allowing himself to fall into such lapses that he will lose all authority, which he would fain acquire. Strict justice alone should direct his words and preside over his acts.”

"Where he is himself quite in the dark and does not see on which side justice is ranged, he should refrain himself until the time when a close concentration permits him to see clearly before him.”

"If doubt continues, let him be very careful not to a ray decision the injustice of which events might demonstrate, dust weakening the trust which his disciples are pleased to place in him. It is more honorable to confess one's ignorance that to risk committing and injustice.”

To secure certainty in our judgments, it is prudent sometimes to use artifice, like the sage of whose shrewdness Yoritomo tells us:

"It should never happen,” said he, “that man who wish to inspire confidence should risk seeing it destroyed by an assertion that is not borne out by facts.”

"In this matter it is wise to imitate the old philosopher Hong-Yi who would never say, ‘That will happen,’ but, ‘You have acted in such a way as to bring on yourself such or such a misfortune,’ or, ‘You are acting with so much prudence as to deserve to be rewarded. ’”

"So that when events happened to confirm his learned forecasts, he did not fail to recall his sayings and his authority thereby increased more and more.”

"It should be added that the events foreseen always came to pass, for the deducted powers Hong-Yi were great and it was easy for him to presume the acts which his disciples might be expected to perform.”

But foreseeing and even prophesying are not sufficient to gain confidence and especially to communicate it. In order to implant it in the hearts of others, it is necessary to possess it - this splendid confidence in oneself that works wonders. Then it is that all those to whom thinking for themselves is a labor, those whose powers of resistance are fitful and ill-balanced, those whose moral idleness rises up against all individual initiative, will lift their heads and feel a new strength, relying on the feeling of confidence which they will experience first in the master and afterward in themselves.

The healing balm of faith will by it is good qualities impregnate them in this gentlest fashion and, despising the faint-heartedness which hitherto had marked their most trivial resolutions, they will advance fearlessly toward the goal which has become plainly visible to their sight.

It is a well-known fact that an imagined support often serves as well as the support itself. We know the instance of the child who cannot bring himself to walk without stumbling but who, as soon as we stretched out a finger to him, pretending thus to support him, steadies his steps in such a way that he can accomplish a walk of several yards without tottering.

If, however, we draw back the finger, which as it seems to them, is the support you must guard them from falling, they advance a few steps with difficulty and cannot avoid tumbling down.

It is the same with timid souls; the person who thinks he will die of fear in the solitude of an empty house will feel quite reassured if he imagines that the adjacent rooms are occupied. The presence of others, creating a feeling of confidence in possible protection, suffices to save them from the fear, which they would not fail to experience if they thought that in case of need there was no one to help them.

This protection, even when they know it to be illusory, suffices to allay their apprehensions. Thus, although they are quite sure that they can expect nothing from this intervention of a child; timid persons almost always seek such company rather than remain alone, and they experience from it a real relief.

"Every impression," says Yoritomo, "which is not our own which comes from outside is an influence which we perforce put up with. It is especially in cases of sickness that this influence can make its presence felt in the highest degree, for at such a time the subject being very week is best disposed to submit himself to any suggestion whatsoever.”

“There is a vague solidarity between mind and body, which allows of the latter becoming as easy prey to others brought about by suffering. It would be idle to deny the connection between our physical ills at our mental sufferings. Some under the domination of weighty anxieties become the victims of severe headache. Others again, after repeated emotional disturbances, contract heart troubles.”

"It is therefore sometimes wiser to cure the mind before considering how to care for the body, or rather it is well to effect both cures at the same time. Now it is that influence makes itself felt, triumphant, radiant; its stamps on the nerve centers an impression which reverberates through ones whole being.”

"Considering that our troubles are due to pain, to anxiety, to hypochondria, we should cultivate confidence and cheerfulness which take from our conceptions their somber coloring.”

"If we have been able to inspire the invalid with competence, we shall be glad to tell him that he is getting better, for he will not doubt the truth of the assertion and that assurance will cause him to experience a real improvement.”

"Then it will be in order gradually two tries that gesture on him, making clear to him the development of his cure up to the moment when he is told, ‘You are cured. ’”

“Miracles have no other basis them this.”

And the Shogun proceeds:

"But the grandest means of effecting these cures is to implant in the mind of self-imagined invalids the idea of devotion to a noble cause; to plunge them into a tide of ambition that will make them gradually forget their everlasting ‘Ego. ’For this over coddled ‘Ego’ is the real cause of most of these disorders from which all persons suffer whom a surfeit of ‘Ego’ so dominates that their most trivial ailments command their whole attention and seem to them to be entitled to command that of everybody else to the exclusion of all other things.”

"On such influence should be exercised in quite different a manner. It will suffice to create about them an atmosphere of activity in which their personality will play a dominating part; they will us forget to spend their time in looking out for the attacks of an illness which exists only in their own brain, and he who assists them to a cure may congratulate himself doubly, for he will have made his beneficial influence felt in the case of both mind and body.”

"Assuredly the best of suggestions is that which lies in, as it were, devitalizing the self-centered man, by substituting for the worshiper of his ‘Ego’ an altruist who, thoroughly imbued with faith in himself and strong mission with which he believes himself entrusted, will seek to impart to others the benefits of that confidence from which he has derived so much consolation.”

Thus will the advice of Yoritomo be proved right when he says:

"Let him who feels himself to be in the right and has confidence in himself rise up and proclaim this faith, so that the weak, the vacillating, and all those whose suffer from doubt may flock around him to warm themselves at the genial blaze that issues from the fire of contentment of which his mind is full.”