There is no greater evil than an unruly mind. It is here, within this cave of the cranium, that the most deadly seeds reside. The great bulk of our thoughts either roll downwards, or are so ineffectual that they stop at the same point that they start. Rolling downwards implies a process of degeneration, meaning that a thought, having taken ahold of you for a moment, begins to slip in quality until it basks in a sunken pit of negativity. It sounds awfully cynical, yet negativity comes in many forms, disguised often in a benign disguise that we meet with mistaken affection.

A very rare few, on the other hand, rise upwards and pull a man towards the calling of a higher station. It is these wonderful gems that men both of ancient and contemporary times have coined as inspiration or, dare we say, even divination. In most instances, they appear to fall on our laps in a paused moment of ‘eureka’, yet require a collaborative effort in order to generate the necessary impetus to help steer them to their promised destination. They will only respond to the touch of clean hands, and will whither away if the bearer succumbs and indulges to the habits of stale repetition.

Those who possess the right balance of values, and therefore priorities, can recognize the nature of their thoughts, having gradually developed a palate which genuinely tastes the difference in quality. They know when their house shelters the wrong sort of crowd. When a man is in bad company within his mind, his vitality diminishes; when he is in the right company, it intensifies. The task and trick of it is in discernment, and in refusing to accept and admit every random thought into a position within us where it is able to rule our inner lands.