As a Man Thinketh | Page 4

Edition
New York

CONTENTS

THOUGHT AND CHARACTER
EFFECT OF THOUGHT ON CIRCUMSTANCES
EFFECT OF THOUGHT ON HEALTH AND THE BODY
THOUGHT AND PURPOSE
THE THOUGHT-FACTOR IN ACHIEVEMENT

VISIONS AND IDEALS
SERENITY

FOREWORD

THIS little volume (the result of meditation and experience) is not intended as an
exhaustive treatise on the much-written-upon subject of the power of thought. It is
suggestive rather than explanatory, its object being to stimulate men and women to the
discovery and perception of the truth that--
"They themselves are makers of themselves."
by virtue of the thoughts, which they choose and encourage; that mind is the
master-weaver, both of the inner garment of character and the outer garment of
circumstance, and that, as they may have hitherto woven in ignorance and pain they may
now weave in enlightenment and happiness.
JAMES ALLEN.
BROAD PARK AVENUE,
ILFRACOMBE,
ENGLAND

AS A MAN THINKETH
THOUGHT AND CHARACTER

THE aphorism, "As a man thinketh in his heart so is he," not only embraces the whole of
a man's being, but is so comprehensive as to reach out to every condition and
circumstance of his life. A man is literally _what he thinks, _his character being the
complete sum of all his thoughts.
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.
This applies equally to those acts called "spontaneous" and "unpremeditated" as to those,
which are deliberately executed.
Act is the blossom of thought, and joy and suffering are its fruits; thus does a man garner
in the sweet and bitter fruitage of his own husbandry.

"Thought in the mind hath made us, What we are By thought was wrought and built. If a
man's mind Hath evil thoughts, pain comes on him as comes The wheel the ox behind....
..If one endure In purity of thought, joy follows him As his own shadow--sure."
Man is a growth by law, and not a creation by artifice, and cause and effect is as absolute
and undeviating in the hidden realm of thought as in the world of visible and material
things. 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. An ignoble and bestial character, by the same process, is the result of
the continued harbouring of grovelling thoughts.
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. By the right choice and true application
of thought, man ascends to the Divine Perfection; by the abuse and wrong application of
thought, he descends below the level of the beast. Between these two extremes are all the
grades of character, and man is their maker and master.
Of all the beautiful truths pertaining to the soul which have been restored and brought to
light in this age, none is more gladdening or fruitful of divine promise and confidence
than this--that man is the master of thought, the moulder of character, and the maker and
shaper of condition, environment, and destiny.
As a being of Power, Intelligence, and Love, and the lord of his own thoughts, man holds
the key to every situation, and contains within himself that transforming and regenerative
agency by which he may make himself what he wills.
Man is always the master, even in his weaker and most abandoned state; but in his
weakness and degradation he is the foolish master who misgoverns his "household."
When he begins to reflect upon his condition, and to search diligently for the Law upon
which his being is established, he then becomes the wise master, directing his energies
with intelligence, and fashioning his thoughts to fruitful issues. Such is the _conscious
_master, and man can only thus become by discovering _within himself _the laws of
thought; which discovery is totally a matter of application, self analysis, and experience.
Only by much searching and mining, are gold and diamonds obtained, and man can find
every truth connected with his being, if he will dig deep into the mine of his soul; and
that he is the maker of his character, the moulder of his life, and the builder of his destiny,
he may unerringly prove, if he will watch, control, and alter his thoughts, tracing their
effects upon himself, upon others, and upon his life and circumstances, linking cause and
effect by patient practice and investigation, and utilizing his every experience, even to the
most trivial, everyday occurrence, as a means of