mind over matter
Willpower can overcome physical obstacles, as in Margaret was determined to go to the wedding even on crutches—mind over matter. This idea was already expressed by Virgil in the Aeneid (c. 19 b.c.) as Mens agitat molem, “Mind moves matter,” and it appeared in various forms in English by 1700.
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
How to use mind over matter in a sentence
It was all the outcome of his wonderful determination—the influence of mind over matter.
Does not man only accumulate experience, and is there any limit to the power of mind over matter?
Each achieved the conquest of mind over matter, and each exhibited the exceeding manliness of a noble life and character.
Great Men and Famous Women. Vol. 6 of 8 | VariousHe got what pleasure any man could out of that triumph of mind over matter, but the shadow was creeping up his life.
Literary Friends And Acquaintances | William Dean HowellsThe results of many years of experiment are here on exhibition, and they are remarkable triumphs of mind over matter.
The Cathedral Towns and Intervening Places of England, Ireland and Scotland: | Thomas W. Silloway
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