mind over matter

The power of the mind (intellect, reason, willpower, etc.) can overcome challenges or problems in the physical world. I know you're scared, but if you're determined to learn to drive, you'll be able to do it—mind over matter. I know rock climbing looks impossible to many people, but it's really just a case of mind over matter.

Fig. [an instance where there are] intellectual powers overriding threats, difficulties, or problems. You need to concentrate harder. Pay no attention to your surroundings. This is a case of 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.

You say mind over matter to mean the ability to control problems, especially illness and pain, by using your mind. So is good health simply a case of mind over matter? Once your mind has fully accepted the suggestion that you are well, you immediately start to feel better. This is mind over matter.

Willpower triumphs over material or physical considerations. The idea is very old indeed, expressed by Virgil in the Aeneid (Mens agitat molem, “mind moves matter”), and, in an entire system of philosophy, by Britain’s Bishop George Berkeley (1685–1753), who held that nothing in the world exists unless it is perceived by the human mind. In the twentieth century, however, the cliché is most often invoked for or by someone who is carrying on normal activities despite being physically ill or otherwise incapacitated. The humorist Jack Benny quipped, “Age is strictly a case of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter” (quoted in New York Times, Feb. 15, 1974).