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speak . I had never heard of such a form of education , therefore I visited the class , skeptical but hopeful that my time would not be entirely wasted . Here I saw a demonstration which gave me a greatly enlarged vision of what I had done to arouse and keep alive in my son's mind the DESIRE for normal hearing . I saw deaf mutes actually being taught to hear and to speak , through application of the self - same principle I had used , more than twenty years previously , in saving my son from deaf mutism . Thus , through some strange turn of the Wheel of Fate , my son , Blair , and I have been destined to aid in correcting deaf mutism for those as yet unborn , because we are the only living human beings , as far as I know , who have established definitely the fact that deaf mutism can be corrected to the extent of restoring to normal life those who suffer with this affliction . It has been done for one ; it will be done for others . There is no doubt in my mind that Blair would have been a deal mute all his life , if his mother and I had not managed to shape his mind as we did . The doctor who attended at his birth told us , confidentially , the child might never hear or speak . A few weeks ago , Dr. Irving Voorhees , a noted specialist on such cases , examined Blair very thoroughly . He was astounded when he learned how well my son now hears , and speaks , and said his examination indicated that " theoretically , the boy should not be able to hear at all . " But the lad does hear , despite the fact that X - ray pictures show there is no opening in the skull , whatsoever , from where his ears should be to the brain . When I planted in his mind the DESIRE to hear and talk , and live as a normal person , there went with that impulse some strange influence which caused Nature to become bridge - builder , and span the gulf of silence between his brain and the outer world , by some means which the keenest medical specialists have not been able to interpret . It would be sacrilege for me to even conjecture as to how Nature performed this miracle . It would be unforgivable if I neglected to tell the world as much as I know of the humble part I assumed in the strange experience . It is my duty , and a privilege to say I believe , and not without reason , that nothing is impossible to the person who backs DESIRE with enduring FAITH . Verily , a BURNING DESIRE has devious ways of transmuting itself into its physical equivalent . Blair DESIRED normal hearing ; now he has it ! He was born with a handicap which might easily have sent one with a less defined DESIRE to the street with at bundle of pencils and a tin cup . That handicap now promises to serve as the medium by which he will render useful service to many millions of hard of hearing , also , to give him useful employment at adequate financial compensation the remainder of his life . The little " white lies " I planted in his mind when he was a child , by leading him to BELIEVE his affliction would become a great asset , which he could capitalize , has justified itself . Verily , there is nothing , right or wrong , which BELIEF , plus BURNING DESIRE , cannot make real . These qualities are free to everyone . In all my experience in dealing with men and women who had personal problems , I never handled a single case which more definitely demonstrates the power of DESIRE . Authors sometimes make the mistake of writing of subjects of which they have but superficial , or very elementary knowledge . It has been my good fortune to have had the privilege of testing the soundness of the POWER OF DESIRE , through the affliction of my own son . Perhaps it was providential that the experience came . it did , for surely no one is better prepared than he , to serve as an example of what happens when DESIRE is put to the test . If Mother Nature bends to the will of desire , is it logical that mere men can defeat a burning desire ? Strange and imponderable is the power of the human mind ! We do not understand the method by which it uses every . circumstance every individual , every physical thing within its reach , as a means of transmuting DESIRE into its physical counterpart . Perhaps science will uncover this secret . I planted in my son's mind the DESIRE to hear and to speak as any normal person hears and speaks . That DESIRE has now become a reality . I planted in his mind the DESIRE to convert his greatest handicap into his greatest asset . That DESIRE has been . realized . The modus operandi by which this astounding result was achieved is not hard to describe . It consisted of three very definite facts ; first , I MIXED FAITH with the DESIRE for normal hearing , which I passed on to my son . Second , I communicated my desire to him in every conceivable way available , through persistent , continuous effort , over a period of years . Third , HE BELIEVED ME ! As this chapter was being completed , news came of the death of Mme . Schuman - Heink . One short paragraph in the news dispatch gives the clue to this unusual woman's stupendous success as a singer . I quote the paragraph , because the clue it contains is none other than DESIRE . Early in her career , Mme . Schuman - Heink visited the director of the Vienna Court Opera , to have him test her voice . But , he did not test it . After taking one look at the awkward and poorly dressed girl , he exclaimed , none too gently , " With such a face , and with no personality at all , how can you ever expect to succeed in opera ? My good child , give up the idea . Buy a sewing machine , and go to work . YOU CAN NEVER BE A SINGER . " Never is a long time ! The director of the Vienna Court Opera knew much about the technique of singing . He knew little about the power of desire , when it assumes the proportion of an obsession . If he had known more of that power , he would not have made the mistake of condemning genius without giving it an opportunity . Several years ago , one of my business associates became ill . He became worse as time went on , and finally was taken to the hospital for an operation . Just before he was wheeled into the operating room , I took a look at him , and wondered how anyone as thin and emaciated as he , could possibly go through a major operation successfully . The doctor warned me that there was little if any chance of my ever seeing him alive again . But that was the DOCTOR'S OPINION . It was not the opinion of the patient . Just before he was wheeled away , he whispered feebly , " Do not be disturbed , Chief , I will be out of here in a few days . " The attending nurse looked at me with pity . But the patient did come through safely . After it was all over , his physician said , " Nothing but his own desire to live saved him . He never would have pulled through if he had not refused to accept the possibility of death . " I believe in the power of DESIRE backed by FAITH , because I have seen this power lift men from lowly beginnings to places of power and wealth ; I have seen it rob the grave of its victims ; I have . seen it serve as the medium by which men staged a comeback after having been defeated in a hundred different ways ; I have seen it provide my own son with a normal , happy , successful life , despite Nature's having sent him into the world without ears . How can one harness and use the power of DESIRE ? This has been answered through this , and the subsequent chapters of this book . This message is going out to the world at the end of the longest , and perhaps , the most devastating depression America has ever known . It is reasonable presume that the message maycome to the attention of many who have been wounded by the depression , those who have lost their fortunes , others who have lost their positions , and great numbers who must reorganize their plans and stage a comeback . To all these I wish to convey the thought that all achievement , no matter what may be its nature , or its pur pose , must begin with an intense , BURNING DESIRE for something definite . Through some strange and powerful principle of " mental chemistry " which she has never divulged , Nature wraps up in the impulse of STRONG DESIRE " that something " which recognizes no such word as impossible , and accepts no such reality as failure .