The Four Roads of Thought
Examples:
1. Milk — baby; pen — hand; ship — sea; spade — garden; fatigue — sleep; gluttony — indigestion.
2. Animal — dog; view — landscape; chair — table; red — blue; heat — cold.
3. Car — wheel; tree — root; house — door; root — branch; arm — leg.
4. Earth — round; coin — silver; ice — cold; ink — fluid; lemon — yellow.
Some readers may say that all this sounds rather theoretical and technical. Let me assure them that I have not mentioned these Roads except for the purpose of using them in concentration exercises. Even so, it is quite possible to put the matter in a more general and for some an easier way by saying that there is always a reason for the association of ideas — that if one mental picture gives rise to hundreds of others there will be a precise reason for every one of them, and no mere chance at all in the process.
Thus, if some one asks why he thinks of milk when he hears the word cat, the reason is that this conjunction is a matter of familiar experience. If he thinks of claws, or whiskers, that is because claws and whiskers are part of the cat.
Knowledge of the Roads is valuable for working in a very precise way and getting all you can out of “cat”.















