A story is told about a man who was a successful bill collector. He could collect old debts from people upon whom all the other collectors had given up years before. Someone asked him how he did it. He replied, "O, it's quite simple really. I just write them one letter, and in that letter I tell them just one thing, and that one thing is this: if you don't pay this bill immediately, that thing which you are afraid will happen will happen." He was, of course, gambling on the rather safe bet that most people have some fear of something in the future.

Then there is the story of the fellow on shipboard who was miserably seasick. One of his friends found him hanging over the ship's rail and said, "Cheer up, buddy; nobody ever died from being seasick." "Don't tell me that," said the poor, pallid victim with a groan, "it's only my hope of dying that's kept me alive so far." These two amusing stories have one thing in common: an anxiety concerning the future. And I strongly suspect that if you could add up all the anxiety which today indwells the minds and spirits of the human family, it would come to an imponderable total.