May 23, 19 1 8 
Land & Water 
19 
Men and Moods 
By Edward Anton 
I have just delivered myself from one of those "moods" to 
which, as a Celt, I am somewhat liable. 
I wish to emphasise that I "delivered myself," which de- 
scribes the process exactly. Time was when I waited for my 
moods to pass : now I end them at will. It means much to 
me, and it is one of the many reasons why I think so highly of 
Pelmanism as an instrument of self-mastery. 
All of us suffer — consciously or unconsciously — -from "moods," 
in great or less degree. And the man or woman who has learnt 
the secret of mood-mastery has acquired knowledge which not 
only adds largely to his or her working capacity, but also tp the 
capacity for interest, pleasure, and even happiness. 
"Moods" are the fog-banks of the mind ; impeding progress 
and perverting vision. They are induced by a diversity of 
causes, into the nature of which it is not my intention to inquire 
here : it is to their effect that I am presently considering. 
If I illustrate my remarks by reference to my own case, it will, 
I hope, be understood that I do so not from egotism, but from 
a desire to speak from experience. 
A retrospective survey of my forty-odd years of existence 
shows me that, up to the date of my introduction to the Pelman 
Course, I have been greatly the victim of "moods" : 'gloomy 
moods, impulsive moods, irritable moods, lavish moods, irre- 
sponsible moods, moods of inexcusable optimism, moods of the 
deepest self-distrust. And I daresay there are many thousands 
of men and women who, whether they recognise it or not, are 
equallyjiandicapped by their wretched perversions of mentality 
which we call "moods." 
"I can't help it," we often say, "it's my nature." Just so 
have I often attempted to excuse myself for a word or an action 
which I could not defend. "It's my nature !" 
We libel "nature" and we belittle ourselves in uttering such 
an infamous phrase. It is not " nature" that is to blame : it is 
our self-ignorance. The majority of us, successful or unsuccess- 
ful, are deplorably ignorant of those forces which constitute 
our personality and make us individuals. Strapge that in an 
age which prides itself upon its spirit of investigation, we should 
have been so remiss in getting to know what there is to be 
known about ourselves ! , 
But Pelmanism is changing all this, and in doing so is showing 
us not only how to abolish certain undesirable moods, but even 
teaching us how to produce other moods which are desirable 
and profitable. 
Let us get back to our "awful example" — myself. I was 
most conscious of my handicap where it affected my work. 
I worked well ; but the "moods," alas ! were all too infrequent. 
They would come unannounced and would depart abruptly ; 
I could not depend upon myself. 
That disability has been conquered, thanks to Pelmanism, 
and I may, without affectation, claim to be able to produce my 
best standard of work at will. There is no need to dilate upon 
the enormous advantage this has been to me — an advantage 
which I can translate not only in terms of £ s. d. (the usual 
criterion), but, what is of more significance to me, in sentiment 
and self-esteem. 
Even upon those occasions when I couH honestly say that 
my "mood" had been partly, if not wholly, induced by bad 
health, I have found " Pelmanising " result in an astonishing 
betterment : enabling me to overcome my mental inertia, and, 
by reaction, improving my physical condition. 
This may probably seem difficult of belief to somfe of my 
readers, but there are the simple facts — and they are amply 
corroborated by the voluntary evidence of hundreds of other 
"Pelmanists." 
Let us take another phase — the dissatisfied, restless mood 
which, intervening, makes work, pleasure, interest, or recreation 
impossible; "a feeling that you don't know what you want," 
as I have heard it described. Here again I have achieved 
conquest, and am able to put the "mood" to rout as soon as 
I am conscious of it. How much that has meant to me in the 
last few years it would be difficult to estimate. 
Irritability — another supposedly "natural" feeling^was a 
severe handicap which I have successfully "Pelmaniscd," but 
here the battle is not yet completelv won. Of the ultimate 
issue, however, I Iiave not the slightest doubt. 
The net result is to give me a feeling of power that I never 
remember possessing previously — not even in my supremely 
confident boyish days. I know now that I can make myself 
do — and I do it. I do jiot wait miserably upon Chance, Mood, 
<'ii' umstance. Environment, or any other of the bogies which 
cripple and nullify human effort. I appoint my work, I com- 
mand my mood, and I achieve satisfaction. 
Let me repeat that these notes are penned in no egotistical 
spirit. I want readers of L.\nd & W.\ter to realise that 
" Pelmanism " may well represent something of far more moment 
to them, personally, than they may have yet realised. It is 
simply tiie impossibility of explaining in a column or two the 
immense range of limitless possibilities of the System, which 
compels certain popular phases of "Pelmanism" to receive 
more frequent mention than others. 
.\bility to induce a working mood at will is a distinctly valu- 
able gain ; but there are others. The Pelmanist who faithfully 
applies the principles of the Course can don a mood suited to 
every occasion. Interest, sympathy, criticism, appreciation, 
contemplation — all these various moods or mental attitudes 
may be cultivated ; petJiaps not always with the same degree 
of success, but invariably to a certain degree. 
Confidence is, psobably, the mood which most matters for 
the majority of men and women, and I will quote what was 
recently written upon this matter by a Pelman student (a traffic 
manager on a big Northern Railway System) :— 
"The Pelman Course breathes confidence from the 
beginning . . . confidence in what the student is taught, 
and confidence in himself. 
"What self-confidence means can only be appreciated 
by those who have known the lack of it. To have failed 
— not from lack of ability, but from lack of self-confidence — 
at a time which marked the making or the marring of a 
career, is an agony which takes a long time to drive from 
the mind. . . . 
" To the self-doubter the Pelman Course is a boon and a 
blessing. It opens a new outlook on life, it sends one 
forth rejoicing in a new-found strength. I am — / ought — 
I CAN." 
Those are words written straight from the heart : they should 
be well pondered by every man and every woman who has so 
far failed to find a footing on the ladder of success. 
The financial, business, and professional advantages have 
been so much explained and so liberally evidenced that, I 
suppose, no reader of Land & Water requires further assur- 
ance on that matter from my pen. Equally, enough has been 
said of the "pull" which Pelmanism confers upon the Army or 
Navy officer or man. I regard these triumphs — solid and sub- 
stantial as they are — as "theatrical effects" compared with 
the deep and lasting change which the study of this remarkable 
System can and does produce in the inner life of the individual. 
Financial, business, professional, and social considerations do 
not represent the main considerations in life. Our vocations 
and our social amenities constitute but a part of our daily lives. 
It is of infinitely greater importance to be able to command a 
happy, contented frame of mind, to be able to take a living 
interest in the world around us, to be able to develop and control 
ourselves, than it is to double our incomes or achieve professional 
advancement. 
Thus, for the time being, I set commercial inducements aside 
and invite readers of Land & Water to consider the matter of 
Pelmanism from the higher plane. Every man and ' every 
woman with a proper degree of self-pride can, and should hasten 
to, profit by the adoption of the simple and scientifically sound 
principles laid down in the Pelman Course. 
It is profoundly true that, as a student of the Course recently 
said : " If people only realised what Pelmanism was capable 
of affecting for them, the doors of the Pelman Institute would 
be literally besieged by eager applicants." 
There are, perhaps, a hundred strictly personal reasons why 
each or any reader of this page should become a Pelmanist, and 
I venture the statement that, if he or she realised it, any one of 
those hundred reasons would be sufficient if he or she could 
be brought to realise it ! I have never yet met the man or woman 
who, having studied Pelmanism, has been in the least degree 
disappointed. 
"Mind and Memory" {in which the Pelman Course is fully 
described, with a synopsis of the lessons) will be sent, gratis and 
post free, together with a repri^it of "Truth's" famous report on 
the System and a form entitling readers of Land & Waier to 
the complete Pelman Course a{ one-third less than the usual fees, 
on application to-dav (a post card will do) to the Pelman Institute, 
39, Pelman House, Bloomsburv Street, London, W.C.i. 
