As a Man Thinketh- James Allen

As a Man Thinketh was written in 1902 by James Allen.  It is considered one of the founding works of the New Thought movement.  I have always been a bit skeptical of New Thought books, but I thought it was worth a try.  It is a quick read, seeing how it is an essay, and can be downloaded for free.

Here are some of my favorite quotes:

 "A man is literally what he thinks, his character being the complete sum of all his thoughts" (pg. 5)

This idea is fundamentally important for life and especially business.

"As the plant springs from, and could not be without, the seed, so every act of a man springs from the hidden seeds of thought, and could not have appeared without them." (pg. 5)

"A noble and Godlike character is not a thing of favour or chance, but is the natural result of continued effort in right thinking, the effect of long-cherished association with Godlike thoughts." (pg. 6)

I really like this idea.  I have always been a strong believer in the idea that we are what we take in.  If we read high quality literature we will become a high quality thinker.  By associating our thoughts will the most successful and inspirational minds of all time we will begin to act and respond to different problems as they would have acted and responded.

"Man is made or unmade by himself; in the armoury of thought he forges the weapons by which he destroys himself; he also fashions the tools with which he builds for himself heavenly mansions of joy and strength and peace." (pg. 6)

"As a being of Power, Intelligence, and Love, and the lord of his own thoughts, man holds the key to every situation, and contain within himself that transforming and regenerative agency by which he may make himself what he wills." (pg. 7)

"Man's mind may be likened to a garden, which may be intelligently cultivated or allowed to run wild; but whether cultivated or neglected, it must, and will, bring forth. If no useful seeds are put into it, then an abundance of useless weed-seeds will fall therein, and will continue to produce their kind." (pg. 8)

"The soul attracts that which it secretly harbours; that which it loves" (pg. 10)

"Men are anxious to improve their circumstances, but are unwilling to improve themselves; they therefore remain bound" (pg. 12)

"Blessedness, not material possessions, is the measure of right thought; wretchedness, not lack of material possession, is the measure of wrong thought." (pg. 15)

"Let a man radically alter his thoughts, and he will be astonished at the rapid transformation it will effect in the material conditions of his life. Men imagine that thought can be kept secret, but it cannot; it rapidly crystallizes into habit, and habit solidifies into circumstance." (pg. 16)

"The dreamers are the saviours of the world. As the visible world is sustained by the invisible, so men, through all their trials and sins are sordid vocations, are nourished by the beautiful visions of their solitary dreams." (pg. 27)

"Dream lofty dreams, and as you dream, so shall you become." (pg. 28)

What I enjoyed most about this read was the hope it gives the reader.  Everyone loves to hear that they can achieve anything.  The difficulty of course lies in doing what is necessary to achieve your dreams.  Allen talks about how men need purpose to find the motivation to achieve their dreams.  We need something that we are working towards in order to organize and focus our thoughts and actions.

This essay was a good wake-up call for me.  It made me think about what am I working towards and evaluate the thoughts that I entertain daily.  I hope to be able to have more construction and focus thoughts leading to greater productivity and achievement in the pursuits that I have deemed worthy of my time.

(All the page references are from the Project Gutenberg EBook downloaded for free from iTunes on the iPad)