A cheerful frame of mind, reinforced by relaxation... is the medicine that puts all ghosts of fear on the run.

Adams frames fear as something spectral—“ghosts” that thrive in tension, gloom, and mental constriction. The “medicine” he prescribes is not denial of danger but a deliberate cultivation of cheerfulness paired with physical and mental relaxation. In this view, mood and bodily state are mutually reinforcing: loosening the body and easing the mind reduces the imaginative exaggerations that make fear feel omnipresent. The quote reflects early 20th‑century self-help and “mental hygiene” currents, emphasizing practical habits (rest, calm, optimism) as tools for emotional resilience rather than purely intellectual argument against fear.