I Believe

Widely endorsed by many leading authors, this is a book centred around different aspects of the importance of belief, and more specifically belief in oneself. It is a powerful book full of illuminating and memorable stories to illustrate the points being made. A striking one concerned the painter Albrecht Dürer, whose father was not well enough off to educate both his sons as artists. So they tossed a coin, and Albrecht went off to art school for four years, where he developed an outstanding reputation while his brother supported him by working in the mind. Coming home after this period, he toasted his brother at a special dinner and said that it was his turn to go and study and that he would support him in his turn. Unfortunately, the hard work in the mine had so deformed his hands that he was unable to pursue an artistic career. It is rumoured that the praying hands by Dürer are in fact those of his brother. The influence of belief is very widespread and determines our attitude to such areas as healing and parapsychology, not to mention the outcome of our life experience. The short chapters cover themes like integrity, identity, suffering, detachment, enlightenment, goals, intuition, balance, peace and mortality. At the end of each chapter is a short section for personal reflection and there are some excellent quotations at the beginning. This is a book to use over a period of time and is worth purchasing for the stories alone.