August 8 , 1 9 1 H 
Land & Water 
27 
Why I am a Pelmanist 
By "Sapper" 
Some months ago, more out of curiosity than anything 
else, I took up Pelmanism. I wished to find out whether 
there was indeed some new and wonderful system which 
could transform mediocrity into brilliance and failure into 
success. Plentiful advertisements assured me that if I 
A'ould but follow the advice laid down by the teachers of 
the Pelnian School there was nothing 1 might not hope for, 
from a substantial increase in the pay extracted from a 
stony-hearted Government to complete immunity from 
whizz-bangs. In view of the desirability of both these 
goals, I decided to join "the cult." I regarded it as a cult ; 
in spite of aU assurances from Generals, Admirals, Pillars 
of the Church, and other big noises in the Pelman world, 
I was sure there was a catch somewhere. So I borrowed the 
money for the course, and started looking for the catch. 
1 am still looking. ... 
Now, I do not propose to go into the question of how 
Pelmanism obtains its results. To attempt tp do so would 
necessitate goiiig into what Pelmanism is. If anybody wants 
to find that out, let him foUbw my examplf — borrow the 
money, and see for himself. He will never regret it. 
But I do propose to say something of the state of mind 
induced by Pelmanism in a student who takes it up in earnest. 
For on that state of mind depends entirely his judgment 
of the system. On the personal result in his particular case 
the student will say : " This thing is bad. I would prefer 
a bag of nuts"; or he will say : " This thing is good. Why, 
in Heaven's name, didn't I do it before?" Those are the 
two judgments to which any new thing must be prepared 
to submit itself ; and when it is as much advertised as 
Pelmanism the answer is of importance. 
Now, let there be no mistake about one thing : we are 
discussing the student who takes it up in earnest. The 
man who enrols as a Pelmanist, who reads the books, and 
does the exercises like a parrot, and then sits down and 
waits for the boodle to roll in, will do a powerful lot of sitting. 
There is no magic word in the system ; no formula which, 
repeated twice in the bath and onceafterbreakfast, will produce 
success. There is nothingmystic about it — nothingsupernatural. 
Pelmanism is a system of education : nothing more, 
nothing less. Where it differs from other systems is that it 
educates. This is a very large claim, and one which great 
numbers of people will find incredible. They will point to 
all our methods of education, and say, frankly, that it is 
ridiculous. They will quote at length from the many books 
that have been written about education lately — especially 
the Public School system. "If such a thing," they say, 
"were true, our social system would be undermined." Per- 
sonally, I am not sure it hasn't been. ... 
Let us consider, for a moment, this question of an educa- 
tion which educates compared to one which does not. 
So many people have written on the latter : so few on the 
former. It is so easy to criticise destructively. . . . 
It is an undoubted fact that an intimate knowledge of the 
French irregular verbs, and the insensate demands of the 
gardener for pens, ink, and paper will not materially help 
the student to travel through France. 
It is an ufidoubted fac-t that the sole test for which we 
are trained is an examination ; to that end, a boy is crammed 
and forced — -and, having passed it, nothing more matters. 
He can forget everything, and he promptly does, naturally. 
It is a far, far better thing to throw explosive bombs at 
the science master than to dabble in abstruse chemical 
formulic. The boy is not going to be a chemist — he wants 
to go into the Army. He is being taught what he doesn't 
want to learn. And so it is a failure. Thus the destructive 
critic fulminates ; and everybody agrees that it is very 
dreadful. . . . But he suggests no alternative ; and so 
everybody, after a brief mental upheaval, relapses again 
into sleep. Only Pelmanism has remained awake, and lias 
produced an answer — a constructive answer — moreover, 
a successful answer in the opinion of those who have tried. 
It is successful because its students learn whfit they want 
to learn, and are therefore keen. A simple fundamental 
fact, wherein Pelmanism differs from all other systems of 
education : a simple fundamental fact which makes the 
difference between success and failure. 
And so we come to the,^ consideratioil of what is this thing 
which Pelmanism teaches, and which its students wish to 
be taught. It is well-nigh impossible to sum up tlie course 
in a phrase : it is altogether too big a thing. And yet — 
perhaps it can be done — more or less. Pelmanism, as I sec 
it, teaches Human Nature — your own and the other ways. 
It deals not with Greek iambics or the differential calculus, 
though such is its nature that it will help the student to deal 
with these occult mysteries, be he so minded. It just deals 
with you and the other man, and life as one lives it. 
There is no catch in it. It, is a system developed .along 
perfectly common-sense lines, which leads to a definite goal. 
That goal is Efficiency. 
The system takes a man's thought-box, and proceeds to 
tell the owner how he can improve it. It sends the student's 
brain to a mental gymnasium. It gives him concise instructions 
as to what he is to do, and when he carries out those instruc- 
tions conscientiously he finds the system is right. He begins 
to realise that his mind is capable of being driDed and ex- 
panded e.xactly the same as his body. And, moreover, he 
finds that just as the fitter his body becomes, the more work 
it can do ; so the fitter his mind is, the more it can accom- 
plish. Things come easier to him ; he has no difficulty in 
taking on more. His brain, in fact, is being drilled, and is 
developing accordingly. 
Thus baldly — Pelmanise. The mind and brain are subject 
to laws, just as is the body. The teachers of this system 
have taken those laws — up to you the property, so to speak, 
of a few abstruse thinkers and philosophers — and built 
round them a simple, infallible method of developing a 
iKiman being's efficiency. That is all. As I say, there is 
no catch. The work which they ask the student to do, and 
which the student must do if he wishes to benefit by 
the course, is not long and arduous. It does not entail 
going back to school and poring over books. It can be 
done on one's way to work, when one. is out for a walk, or 
wondering where the last one went to. 
Moreover, there is another point which is worthy of note. 
The exercises — though only a means to an end — are in them- 
selves interesting. There is no question of French irregular 
verbs, or abstruse chemical formulas — to be forgotten as soon 
as learned. There is nothing irksome or tedious in the 
course ; nothing that the. student doesn't see the object of 
even in the early stages of his struggles. It is in fact a 
common-sense system, developed along common-sense lines, 
with its goal — Efticiency. 
The results speak for themselves. From a financial point 
of view, 1, personally, am not qualified to speak ; except to 
state the axiomatic truth that a man or woman' whose brain 
is efficient must be worth more in the world market than 
one whose brain is untfained. And Pelmanism trains the 
untrained mind ; that is its raison d'etre. But from an 
intellectual point of view the thing can be put in a nutshell. 
It is not good to go through life blind ; and yet thousands 
do so. Their brains are blincl ; they see, and do not appre- 
ciate ; they hear, and do not understand. Pelmanism 
brings that appreciation and that understanding. Therefore, 
it would seem worth while to Pelmanise, for it is certainly 
worth while to understand. Sapp£r. 
During the past twelve months the history of Pelmanism 
has been one long succession of remarkable achievements. 
During this period thousands of men and women, as the 
result of having enrolled as Pelmanists, have benefited in a 
surprising degree. 
Thousands of men and women in the professions, a like 
number in commercial undertakings throughout the country, 
100 Admirals and Generals and 40,000 other officers and men 
of H.M. Forces — all these are spending a few exceedingly 
profitable hours weekly in the fascinating study of the prac- 
tical principles of Pelmanism. 
Many officers in the Navy and Army report that they 
have secured promotion as a direct result of Pehnan Training. 
Some state that owing to their increased efficiency they have 
been appointed to positions on the Staff. 
A full description of the Pehnan Course is given in "Mind 
and Memory," a free copy of which, together with "Truth's" 
special supplement on "Pelmanism," and form of enrolttient 
for the complete course for one-third less than the usual fees, 
will be sent post free to all readers o/Land & Water on applica- 
tion to the Pehnan Institute, 39 Pelman House, Bloomsbury 
Street, London, W.C.i. Overseas addresses : 46-48 Market Street, 
Melbourne ; 15 Toronto Street, Toronto ; Club Arcade, Durban. 
