The Creative Process in the Individual

The Creative Process in the
Individual, by

Thomas Troward
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Title: The Creative Process in the Individual
Author: Thomas Troward
Release Date: December 1, 2003 [eBook #10361]
Language: English
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THE CREATIVE PROCESS IN THE INDIVIDUAL
BY T. TROWARD

1915

FOREWORD
In the present volume I have endeavored to set before the reader the
conception of a sequence of creative action commencing with the
formation of the globe and culminating in a vista of infinite
possibilities attainable by every one who follows up the right line for
their unfoldment.
I have endeavored to show that, starting with certain incontrovertible
scientific facts, all these things logically follow, and that therefore,
however far these speculations may carry us beyond our past
experience, they nowhere break the thread of an intelligible connection
of cause and effect.
I do not, however, offer the suggestions here put forward in any other
light than that of purely speculative reasoning; nevertheless, no
advance in any direction can be made except by speculative reasoning
going back to the first principles of things which we do know and
thence deducing the conditions under which the same principles might
be carried further and made to produce results hitherto unknown. It is to
this method of thought that we owe all the advantages of civilization
from matches and post-offices to motor-cars and aeroplanes, and we
may therefore be encouraged to hope such speculations as the present
may not be without their ultimate value. Relying on the maxim that
Principle is not bound by Precedent we should not limit our
expectations of the future; and if our speculations lead us to the
conclusion that we have reached a point where we are not only able,
but also required, by the law of our own being, to take a more active
part in our personal evolution than heretofore, this discovery will afford
us a new outlook upon life and widen our horizon with fresh interests
and brightening hopes.
If the thoughts here suggested should help any reader to clear some
mental obstacles from his path the writer will feel that he has not

written to no purpose. Only each reader must think out these
suggestions for himself. No writer or lecturer can convey an idea into
the minds of his audience. He can only put it before them, and what
they will make of it depends entirely upon themselves--assimilation is a
process which no one can carry out for us.
To the kindness of my readers on both sides of the Atlantic, and in
Australia and New Zealand, I commend this little volume, not, indeed,
without a deep sense of its many shortcomings, but at the same time
encouraged by the generous indulgence extended to my previous
books.
T.T.
June, 1910.

CONTENTS
I THE STARTING-POINT II THE SELF-CONTEMPLATION OF
SPIRIT III THE DIVINE IDEAL IV THE MANIFESTATION OF
THE LIFE PRINCIPLE V THE PERSONAL FACTOR VI THE
STANDARD OF PERSONALITY VII RACE THOUGHT AND NEW
THOUGHT VIII THE DÉNOUEMENT OF THE CREATIVE
PROCESS IX CONCLUSION X THE DIVINE OFFERING XI
OURSELVES IN THE DIVINE OFFERING

I say no man has ever yet been half devout enough, None has ever yet
adored or worship'd half enough, None has begun to think how divine
he himself is, and how certain the future is. I say that the real and
permanent grandeur of these States must be their religion, Otherwise
there is no real and permanent grandeur. --WALT WHITMAN.
CHAPTER I
THE STARTING-POINT

It is an old saying that "Order is Heaven's First Law," and like many
other old sayings it contains a much deeper philosophy than appears
immediately on the surface. Getting things into a better order is the
great secret of progress, and we are now able to fly through the air, not
because the laws of Nature have altered, but because we have learnt to
arrange things in the right order to produce this result--the things
themselves had existed from the beginning of the world, but what was
wanting was the introduction of a Personal Factor which, by an
intelligent perception of the possibilities contained in the laws of
Nature, should be able to bring into working reality ideas which
previous generations would have laughed at as the absurd fancies of an
unbalanced mind. The lesson to be learnt from the practical aviation of
the present day is that of