The Note-Books of Samuel Butler

A strong hope of 20,000 pounds in the heart of a poor but capable man may effect a considerable redistribution of the forces of nature—­may even remove mountains.  The little, unseen impalpable hope sets up a vibrating movement in a messy substance shut in a dark warm place inside the man’s skull.  The vibrating substance undergoes a change that none can note, whereupon rings of rhythm circle outwards from it as from a stone thrown into a pond, so that the Alps are pierced in consequence.