James Allen - As A Man Thinketh

James Allen

1
 James Allen - As A Man Thinketh

he 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 we 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 favor 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
harboring of groveling thoughts.
Man is made or unmade by himself; in the armory 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

2
 James Allen - As A Man Thinketh

molder of character, and 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 weakest 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 an 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 molder 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; if he will link cause and effect by patient
practice and investigation, utilizing his every experience, even to the most
trivial, as a means of obtaining that knowledge of himself. In this direction, as
in no other, is the law absolute that "He that seeketh findeth; and to him that
knocketh it shall be opened"; for only by patience, practice, and ceaseless
importunity can a man enter the Door of the Temple of Knowledge.

3
 James Allen - As A Man Thinketh

Chapter Two
Effect of Thought on Circumstances

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.
Just as a gardener cultivates his plot, keeping it free from weeds, and
growing the flowers and fruits which he requires, so may a man tend the
garden of his mind, weeding out all the wrong, useless, and impure thoughts,
and cultivating toward perfection the flowers and fruits of right, useful, and
pure thoughts, By pursuing this process, a man sooner or later discovers that he
is the master gardener of his soul, the director of his life. He also reveals,
within himself, the laws of thought, and understands with ever-increasing
accuracy, how the thought forces and mind elements operate in the shaping of
his character, circumstances, and destiny.
Thought and character are one, and as character can only manifest and
discover itself through environment and circumstance, the outer conditions of a
person's life will always be found to be harmoniously related to his inner state.
This does not mean that a man's circumstances at any given time are an
indication of his entire character, but that those circumstances are so intimately
connected with some vital thought element within himself that, for the time
being, they are indispensable to his development.
Every man is where he is by the law of his being. The thoughts which he
has built into his character have brought him there, and in the arrangement of
his life there is no element of chance, but all is the result of a law which cannot
err. This is just as true of those who feel "out of harmony" with their
surroundings as of those who are contented with them.
As the progressive and evolving being, man is where he is that he may
learn that he may grow; and as he learns the spiritual lesson which any

4
 James Allen - As A Man Thinketh

circumstance contains for him, it passes away and gives place to other
circumstances.
Man is buffeted by circumstances so long as he believes himself to be the
creature of outside conditions. But when he realizes that he may command the
hidden soil and seeds of his being out of which circumstances grow, he then
becomes the rightful master of himself.
That circumstances grow out of thought every man knows who has for
any length of time practiced self-control and self-purification, for he will have
noticed that the alteration in his circumstances has been in exact ratio with his
altered mental condition. So true is this that when a man earnestly applies
himself to remedy the defects in his character, and makes swift and marked
progress, he passes rapidly through a succession of vicissitudes.
The soul attracts that which it secretly harbors; that which it loves, and
also that which it fears. It reaches the height of its cherished aspirations. It falls
to the level of its unchastened desires - and circumstances are the means by
which the soul receives its own.
Every thought seed sown or allowed to fall into the mind, and to take root
there, produces its own, blossoming sooner or later into act, and bearing its
own fruitage of opportunity and circumstance. Good thoughts bear good fruit,
bad thoughts bad fruit.
The outer world of circumstance shapes itself to the inner world of
thought, and both pleasant and unpleasant external conditions are factors which
make for the ultimate good of the individual. As the reaper of his own harvest,
man learns both by suffering and bliss.
A man does not come to the almshouse or the jail by the tyranny of fate
of circumstance, but by the pathway of grovelling thoughts and base desires.
Nor does a pure-minded man fall suddenly into crime by stress of any mere
external force; the criminal thought had long been secretly fostered in the heart,
and the hour of opportunity revealed its gathered power.
Circumstance does not make the man; it reveals him to himself. No such
conditions can exist as descending into vice and its attendant sufferings apart
from vicious inclinations, or ascending into virtue and its pure happiness
without the continued cultivation of virtuous aspirations. And man, therefore,
as the Lord and master of thought, is the maker of himself, the shaper and
author of environment. Even at birth the soul comes to its own, and through
every step of its earthly pilgrimage it attracts those combinations of conditions
which reveal itself, which are the reflections of its own purity and impurity, its
strength and weakness.
Men do not attract that which they want, but that which they are. Their
whims, fancies, and ambitions are thwarted at every step, but their inmost

5
 James Allen - As A Man Thinketh

thoughts and desires are fed with their own food, be it foul or clean. The
"divinity that shapes our ends" is in ourselves; it is our very self. Man is
manacled only by himself. Thought and action are the jailers of Fate - they
imprison, being base. They are also the angels of Freedom - they liberate, being
noble. Not what he wishes and prays for does a man get, but what he justly
earns. His wishes and prayers are only gratified and answered when they
harmonize with his thoughts and actions.
In the light of this truth, what, then, is the meaning of "fighting against
circumstances"? It means that a man is continually revolting against an effect
without, while all the time he is nourishing and preserving its cause in his
heart. That cause may take the form of a conscious vice or an unconscious
weakness; but whatever it is, it stubbornly retards the efforts of its possessor,
and thus calls aloud for remedy.
Men are anxious to improve their circumstances, but are unwilling to
improve themselves. They therefore remain bound. The man who does not
shrink from self-crucifixion can never fail to accomplish the object upon which
his heart is set. This is as true of earthly as of heavenly things. Even the man
whose sole object is to acquire wealth must be prepared to make great personal
sacrifices before he can accomplish his object; and how much more so he who
would realize a strong and well-poised life?
Here is a man who is wretchedly poor. He is extremely anxious that his
surroundings and home comforts should be improved. Yet all the time he
shirks his work, and considers he is justified in trying to deceive his employer
on the ground of the insufficiency of his wages. Such a man does not
understand the simplest rudiments of those principles which are the basis of
true prosperity. He is not only totally unfitted to rise out of his wretchedness,
but is actually attracting to himself a still deeper wretchedness by dwelling in,
and acting out, indolent, deceptive, and unmanly thoughts.
Here is a rich man who is the victim of a painful and persistent disease as
the result of gluttony. He is willing to give large sums of money to get rid of it,
but he will not sacrifice his gluttonous desires. He wants to gratify his taste for
rich and unnatural foods and have his health as well. Such a man is totally unfit
to have health, because he has not yet learned the first principles of a healthy
life.
Here is an employer of labor who adopts crooked measures to avoid
paying the regulation wage, and, in the hope of making larger profits, reduces
the wages of his workpeople. Such a man is altogether unfitted for prosperity.
And when he finds himself bankrupt, both as regards reputation and riches, he
blames circumstances, not knowing that he is the sole author of his condition.
I have introduced these three cases merely as illustrative of the truth that
man is the cause (though nearly always unconsciously) of his circumstances.

6
 James Allen - As A Man Thinketh

That, while aiming at the good end, he is continually frustrating its

accomplishment by encouraging thoughts and desires which cannot possibly
harmonize with that end. Such cases could be multiplied and varied almost
indefinitely, but this is not necessary. The reader can, if he so resolves, trace
the action of the laws of thought in his own mind and life, and until this is
done, mere external facts cannot serve as a ground of reasoning.
Circumstances, however, are so complicated, thought is so deeply rooted,
and the conditions of happiness vary so vastly with individuals, that a man's
entire soul condition (although it may be known to himself) cannot be judged
by another from the external aspect of his life alone.
A man may be honest in certain directions, yet suffer privations. A man
may be dishonest in certain directions, yet acquire wealth. But the conclusion
usually formed that the one man fails because of his particular honesty, and
that the other prospers because of his particular dishonesty, is the result of a
superficial judgment, which assumes that the dishonest man is almost totally
corrupt, and honest man almost entirely virtuous. In the light of a deeper
knowledge and wider experience, such judgment is found to be erroneous. The
dishonest man may have some admirable virtues which the other does not
possess; and the honest man obnoxious vices which are absent in the other. The
honest man reaps the good results of his honest thoughts and acts; he also
brings upon himself the sufferings which his vices produce. The dishonest man
likewise garners his own suffering and happiness.
It is pleasing to human vanity to believe that one suffers because of one's
virtue. But not until a man has extirpated every sickly, bitter, and impure
thought from his mind, and washed every sinful stain from his soul, can he be
in a position to know and declare that his sufferings are the result of his good,
and not of his bad qualities. And on the way to that supreme perfection, he will
have found working in his mind and life, the Great Law which is absolutely
just, and which cannot give good for evil, evil for good. Possessed of such
knowledge, he will then know, looking back upon his past ignorance and
blindness, that his life is, and always was, justly ordered, and that all his past
experiences, good and bad, were the equitable outworking of his evolving, yet
unevolved self.
Good thoughts and actions can never produce bad results. Bad thoughts
and actions can never produce good results. This is but saying that nothing can
come from corn but corn, nothing from nettles but nettles. Men understand this
law in the natural world, and work with it. But few understand it in the mental
and moral world (though its operation there is just as simple and undeviating),
and they, therefore, do not cooperate with it.
Suffering is always the effect of wrong thought in some direction. It is an
indication that the individual is out of harmony with himself, with the Law of
his being. The sole and supreme use of suffering is to purify, to burn out all

7
 James Allen - As A Man Thinketh

that is useless and impure. Suffering ceases for him who is pure. There could
be not object in burning gold after the dross had been removed, and perfectly
pure and enlightened being could not suffer.
The circumstances which a man encounters with suffering are the result
of his own mental inharmony. The circumstances which a man encounters with
blessedness, not material possessions, is the measure of right thought.
Wretchedness, not lack of material possessions, is the measure of wrong
thought. A man may be cursed and rich; he may be blessed and poor.
blessedness and riches are only joined together when the riches are rightly and
wisely used. And the poor man only descends into wretchedness when he
regards his lot as a burden unjustly imposed.
Indigence and indulgence are the two extremes of wretchedness. They
are both equally unnatural and the result of mental disorder. A man is not
rightly conditioned until he is a happy, healthy, and prosperous being. And
happiness, health, and prosperity are the result of a harmonious adjustment of
the inner with the outer, of the man with his surroundings.
A man only begins to be a man when he ceases to whine and revile, and
commences to search for the hidden justice which regulates his life. And as he
adapts his mind to that regulating factor, he ceases to accuse others as the cause
of his condition, and builds himself up in strong and noble thoughts. He ceases
to kick against circumstances, but begins to use them as aids to his more rapid
progress, and as a means of discovering the hidden powers and possibilities
within himself.
Law, not confusion, is the dominating principle in the universe. Justice,
not injustice, is the soul and substance of life. And righteousness, not
corruption, is the molding and moving force in the spiritual government of the
world. This being so, man has but to right himself to find that the universe is
right; and during the process of putting himself right, he will find that as he
alters his thoughts toward things and other people, things and other people will
alter toward him.
The proof of this truth is in every person, and it therefore admits of easy
investigation by systematic introspection and self-analysis. 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 habits of drunkenness and
sensuality, which solidify into circumstances of destitution and disease. Impure
thoughts of every kind crystallize into enervating and confusing habits, which
solidify into distracting and adverse circumstances. Thoughts of fear, doubt,
and indecision crystallize into weak, unmanly, and irresolute habits, which
solidify into circumstances of failure, indigence, and slavish dependence.

8
 James Allen - As A Man Thinketh

Lazy thoughts crystallize into habits of uncleanliness and dishonesty,

which solidify into circumstances of foulness and beggary. Hateful and
condemnatory thoughts crystallize into habits of accusation and violence,
which solidify into circumstances of injury and persecution. Selfish thoughts of
all kinds crystallize into habits of self-seeking, which solidify into
circumstances more of less distressing.
On the other hand, beautiful thoughts of all crystallize into habits of
grace and kindliness, which solidify into genial and sunny circumstances. Pure
thoughts crystallize into habits of temperance and self-control, which solidify
into circumstances of repose and peace. Thoughts of courage, self-reliance, and
decision crystallize into manly habits, which solidify into circumstances of
success, plenty, and freedom.
Energetic thoughts crystallize into habits of cleanliness and industry,
which solidify into circumstances of pleasantness. Gentle and forgiving
thoughts crystallize into habits of gentleness, which solidify into protective and
preservative circumstances. Loving and unselfish thoughts crystallize into
habits of self-forgetfulness for others, which solidify into circumstances of sure
and abiding prosperity and true riches.
A particular train of thought persisted in, be it good or bad, cannot fail to
produce its results on the character and circumstances. A man cannot directly
choose his circumstances, but he can choose his thoughts, and so indirectly, yet
surely, shape his circumstances.
Nature helps every man to the gratification of the thoughts which he most
encourages, and opportunities are presented which will most speedily bring to
the surface both the good and evil thoughts.
Let a man cease from his sinful thoughts, and all the world will soften
toward him, and be ready to help him. Let him put away his weakly and sickly
thoughts, and lo! opportunities will spring up on every hand to aid his strong
resolves. Let him encourage good thoughts, and no hard fate shall bind him
down to wretchedness and shame. The world is your kaleidoscope, and the
varying combinations of colors which at every succeeding moment it presents
to you are the exquisitely adjusted pictures of your evermoving thoughts.

You will be what you will to be;

Let failure find its false content
In that poor word, "environment,"
But spirit scorns it, and is free.

It masters time, it conquers space;

It cows that boastful trickster, Chance,
And bids the tyrant Circumstance
Uncrown, and fill a servant's place.

9
 James Allen - As A Man Thinketh

The human Will, that force unseen,

The offspring of a deathless Soul,
Can hew a way to any goal,
Though walls of granite intervene.

Be not impatient in delay,

But wait as one who understands;
When spirit rises and commands,
The gods are ready to obey.

10
 James Allen - As A Man Thinketh

Chapter Three
Effect of Thought on Health and the Body

he body is the servant of the mind. It obeys the operations

of the mind, whether they be deliberately chosen or automatically expressed.
At the bidding of unlawful thoughts the body sinks rapidly into disease and
decay; at the command of glad and beautiful thoughts it becomes clothed with
youthfulness and beauty.
Disease and health, like circumstances, are rooted in thought. Sickly
thoughts will express themselves through a sickly body. Thoughts of fear have
been known to kill a man as speedily as a bullet, and they are continually
killing thousands of people just as surely though less rapidly. The people who
live in fear of disease are the people who get it. Anxiety quickly demoralizes
the whole body, and lays it open to the entrance of disease; while impure
thoughts, even if not physically indulged, will soon shatter the nervous system.
Strong, pure, and happy thoughts build up the body in vigor and grace.
The body is a delicate and plastic instrument, which responds readily to the
thoughts by which it is impressed, and habits of thought will produce their own
effects, good or bad, upon it.
Men will continue to have impure and poisoned blood so long as they
propagate unclean thoughts. Out of a clean heart comes a clean life and a clean
body. Out of a defiled mind proceeds a defiled life and corrupt body. Thought
is the fountain of action, life and manifestation; make the fountain pure, and all
will be pure.
Change of diet will not help a man who will not change his thoughts.
When a man makes his thoughts pure, he no longer desires impure food.
If you would perfect your body, guard your mind. If you would renew
your body, beautify your mind. Thoughts of malice, envy, disappointment,
despondency, rob the body of its health and grace. A sour face does not come
by chance; it is made by sour thoughts. Wrinkles that mar are drawn by folly,
passion, pride.

11
 James Allen - As A Man Thinketh

I know a woman of ninety-six who has the bright, innocent face of a girl.
I know a man well under middle age whose face is drawn into inharmonious
contours. The one is the result of a sweet and sunny disposition; the other is the
outcome of passion and discontent.
As you cannot have a sweet and wholesome abode unless you admit the
air and sunshine freely into your rooms, so a strong body and a bright, happy,
or serene countenance can only result from the free admittance into the mind of
thoughts of joy and good will and serenity.
On the faces of the aged there are wrinkles made by sympathy, others by
strong and pure thought, others are carved by passion. Who cannot distinguish
them? With those who have lived righteously, age is calm, peaceful, and softly
mellowed, like the setting sun. I have recently seen a philosopher on his
deathbed. He was not old except in years. He died as sweetly and peacefully as
he had lived.
There is no physician like cheerful thought for dissipating the ills of the
body; there is no comforter to compare with good will for dispersing the
shadows of grief and sorrow. To live continually in thoughts of ill will,
cynicism, suspicion, and envy, is to be confined in a self-made prison hole. But
to think well of all, to be cheerful with all, to patiently learn to find the good in
all - such unselfish thoughts are the very portals of heaven; and to dwell day to
day in thoughts of peace toward every creature will bring abounding peace to
their possessor.

12
 James Allen - As A Man Thinketh

Chapter Four
Thought and Purpose

ntil thought is linked with purpose there is no intelligent

accomplishment. With the majority the bark of thought is allowed to "drift"
upon the ocean of life. Aimlessness is a vice, and such drifting must not
continue for him who would steer clear of catastrophe and destruction.
They who have no central purpose in their life fall an easy prey to
worries, fears, troubles, and self-pityings, all of which are indications of
weakness, which lead, just as surely as deliberately planned sins (though by a
different route), to failure, unhappiness, and loss, for weakness cannot persist
in a power-evolving universe.
A man should conceive of a legitimate purpose in his heart, and set out to
accomplish it. He should make this purpose the centralizing point of his
thoughts. It may take the form of a spiritual ideal, or it may be a worldly
object, according to his nature at the time being. But whichever it is, he should
steadily focus his thought forces upon the object which he has set before him.
He should make this purpose his supreme duty, and should devote himself to
its attainment, not allowing his thoughts to wander away into ephemeral
fancies, longings, and imaginings. This is the royal road to self-control and true
concentration of thought. Even if he fails again and again to accomplish his
purpose (as he necessarily must until weakness is overcome), the strength of
character gained will be the measure of his true success, and this will form a
new starting point for future power and triumph.
Those who are not prepared for the apprehension of a great purpose,
should fix the thoughts upon the faultless performance of their duty, no matter
how insignificant their task may appear. Only in this way can the thoughts be
gathered and focused, and resolution and energy be developed, which being
done, there is nothing which may not be accomplished.
The weakest soul, knowing its own weakness, and believing this truth -
that strength can only be developed by effort and practice, will at once begin to

13
 James Allen - As A Man Thinketh

exert itself, and adding effort to effort, patience to patience, and strength to
strength, will never cease to develop, and will at last grow divinely strong.
As the physically weak man can make himself strong by careful and
patient training, so the man of weak thoughts can make them strong by
exercising himself in right thinking.
To put away aimlessness and weakness, and to begin to think with
purpose, is to enter the ranks of those strong ones who only recognize failure as
one of the pathways to attainment; who make all conditions serve them, and
who think strongly, attempt fearlessly, and accomplish masterfully.
Having conceived of his purpose, a man should mentally mark out a
straight pathway to its achievement, looking neither to the right nor to the left.
Doubts and fears should be rigorously excluded; they are disintegrating
elements which break up the straight line of effort, rendering it crooked,
ineffectual, useless. Thoughts of doubt and fear never accomplish anything,
and never can. They always lead to failure. Purpose, energy, power to do, and
all strong thoughts cease when doubt and fear creep in.
The will to do springs from the knowledge that we can do. Doubt and
fear are the great enemies of knowledge, and he who encourages them, who
does not slay them, thwarts himself at every step.
He who has conquered doubt and fear has conquered failure. His every
thought is allied with power, and all difficulties are bravely met and wisely
overcome. His purposes are seasonably planted, and they bloom and bring
forth fruit which does not fall prematurely to the ground.
Thought allied fearlessly to purpose becomes creative force. He who
knows this is ready to become something higher and stronger than a mere
bundle of wavering thoughts and fluctuating sensations. He who does this has
become the conscious and intelligent wielder of his mental powers.

14
 James Allen - As A Man Thinketh

Chapter Five
The Thought-Factor in Achievement

ll that a man achieves and all that he fails to achieve is the

direct result of his own thoughts. In a justly ordered universe, where loss of
equipoise would mean total destruction, individual responsibility must be
absolute. A man's weakness and strength, purity and impurity, are his own, and
not another man's. They are brought about by himself, and not by another; and
they can only be altered by himself, never by another. His condition is also his
own, and not another man's. His suffering and his happiness are evolved from
within. As he thinks, so he is; as he continues to think, so he remains.
A strong man cannot help a weaker unless the weaker is willing to be
helped, and even then the weak man must become strong of himself. He must,
by his own efforts, develop the strength which he admires in another. None but
himself can alter his condition.
It has been usual for men to think and to say, "Many men are slaves
because one is an oppressor; let us hate the oppressor." Now, however, there is
among an increasing few a tendency to reverse this judgment, and to say, "One
man is an oppressor because many are slaves; let us despise the slaves." The
truth is that oppressor and slave are cooperators in ignorance, and, while
seeming to afflict each other, are in reality afflicting themselves. A perfect
Knowledge perceives the action of law in the weakness of the oppressed and
the misapplied power of the oppressor. A perfect Love, seeing the suffering
which both states entail, condemns neither. A perfect Compassion embraces
both oppressor and oppressed.
He who has conquered weakness, and has put away all selfish thoughts,
belongs neither to oppressor nor oppressed. He is free.
A man can only rise, conquer, and achieve by lifting up his thoughts. He
can only remain weak, and abject, and miserable by refusing to lift up his
thoughts.

15
 James Allen - As A Man Thinketh

Before a man can achieve anything, even in worldly things, he must lift
his thoughts above slavish animal indulgence. He may not, in order to succeed,
give up all animality and selfishness, by any means; but a portion of it must, at
least, be sacrificed. A man whose first thought is bestial indulgence could
neither think clearly nor plan methodically. He could not find and develop his
latent resources, and would fail in any undertaking. Not having commenced
manfully to control his thoughts, he is not in a position to control affairs and to
adopt serious responsibilities. He is not fit to act independently and stand
alone, but he is limited only by the thoughts which he chooses.
There can be no progress, no achievement without sacrifice. A man's
worldly success will be in the measure that he sacrifices his confused animal
thoughts, and fixes his mind on the development of his plans, and the
strengthening of his resolution and self reliance. And the higher he lifts his
thoughts, the more manly, upright, and righteous he becomes, the greater will
be his success, the more blessed an enduring will be his achievements.
The universe does not favor the greedy, the dishonest, the vicious,
although on the mere surface it may sometimes appear to do so; it helps the
honest, the magnanimous, the virtuous. All the great Teachers of the ages have
declared this in varying forms, and to prove and know it a man has but to
persist in making himself more and more virtuous by lifting up his thoughts.
Intellectual achievements are the result of thought consecrated to the
search for knowledge, or for the beautiful and true in life and nature. Such
achievements may be sometimes connected with vanity and ambition but they
are not the outcome of those characteristics. They are the natural outgrowth of
long an arduous effort, and of pure and unselfish thoughts.
Spiritual achievements are the consummation of holy aspirations. He
who lives constantly in the conception of noble and lofty thoughts, who dwells
upon all that is pure and unselfish, will, as surely as the sun reaches its zenith
and the moon its full, become wise and noble in character, and rise into a
position of influence and blessedness.
Achievement, of whatever kind, is the crown of effort, the diadem of
thought. By the aid of self-control, resolution, purity, righteousness, and well-
directed thought a man ascends. By the aid of animality, indolence, impurity,
corruption, and confusion of thought a man descends.
A man may rise to high success in the world, and even to lofty altitudes
in the spiritual realm, and again descend into weakness and wretchedness by
allowing arrogant, selfish, and corrupt thoughts to take possession of him.
Victories attained by right thought can only be maintained by
watchfulness. Many give way when success is assured, and rapidly fall back
into failure.

16
 James Allen - As A Man Thinketh

All achievements, whether in the business, intellectual, or spiritual world,

are the result of definitely directed thought, are governed by the same law and
are of the same method; the only difference lies in the object of attainment.
He who would accomplish little must sacrifice little. He who would
achieve much must sacrifice much. He who would attain highly must sacrifice
greatly.

17
 James Allen - As A Man Thinketh

Chapter Six
Visions and Ideals

he dreamers are the saviors of the world. As the visible

world is sustained by the invisible, so men, through all their trials and sins and
sordid vocations, are nourished by the beautiful visions of their solitary
dreamers. Humanity cannot forget its dreamers. It cannot let their ideals fade
and die. It lives in them. It knows them in the realities which it shall one day
see and know.
Composer, sculptor, painter, poet, prophet, sage, these are the makers of
the afterworld, the architects of heaven. The world is beautiful because they
have lived; without them, laboring humanity would perish.
He who cherishes a beautiful vision, a lofty ideal in his heart, will one
day realize it. Columbus cherished a vision of another world, and he discovered
it. Copernicus fostered the vision of a multiplicity of worlds and a wider
universe, and he revealed it. Buddha beheld the vision of a spiritual world of
stainless beauty and perfect peace, and he entered into it.
Cherish your visions. Cherish your ideals. Cherish the music that stirs in
your heart, the beauty that forms in your mind, the loveliness that drapes your
purest thoughts, for out of them will grow all delightful conditions, all
heavenly environment; of these, if you but remain true to them, your world will
at last be built.
To desire is to obtain; to aspire is to achieve. Shall man's basest desires
receive the fullest measure of gratification, and his purest aspirations starve for
lack of sustenance? Such is not the Law. Such a condition of things can never
obtain - "Ask and receive."
Dream lofty dreams, and as you dream, so shall you become. Your
Vision is the promise of what you shall one day be. Your Ideal is the prophecy
of what you shall at last unveil.

18
 James Allen - As A Man Thinketh

The greatest achievement was at first and for a time a dream. The oak
sleeps in the acorn; the bird waits in the egg; and in the highest vision of the
soul a waking angel stirs. Dreams are the seedlings of realities.
Your circumstances may be uncongenial, but they shall not long remain
so if you but perceive an Ideal and strive to reach it. You cannot travel within
and stand still without. Here is a youth hard pressed by poverty and labor;
confined long hours in an unhealthy workshop; unschooled, and lacking all the
arts of refinement. But he dreams of better things. He thinks of intelligence, of
refinement, of grace and beauty. He conceives of, mentally builds up, an ideal
condition of life. The vision of the wider liberty and a larger scope takes
possession of him; unrest urges him to action, and he utilizes all his spare time
and means, small though they are, to the development of his latent powers and
resources.
Very soon so altered has his mind become that the workshop can no
longer hold him. It has become so out of harmony with his mentality that it
falls out of his life as a garment is cast aside, and with the growth of
opportunities which fit the scope of his expanding powers, he passes out of it
forever.
Years later we see this youth as a full-grown man. We find him a master
of certain forces of the mind which he wields with world-wide influence and
almost unequaled power. In his hands he holds the cords of gigantic
responsibilities. He speaks, and lo! lives are changed. Men and women hang
upon his words and remold their characters, and, sunlike, he becomes the fixed
and luminous center around which innumerable destinies revolve. He has
realized the Vision of his youth. He has become one with his Ideal.
And you, too, youthful reader, will realize the Vision (not the idle wish)
of your heart, be it base or beautiful, or a mixture of both, for you will always
gravitate toward that which you secretly most love. Into your hands will be
placed the exact results of your own thoughts; you will receive that which you
earn, no more, no less. Whatever your present environment may be, you will
fall, remain, or rise with your thoughts, your Vision, your Ideal. You will
become as small as your controlling desire; as great as your dominant
aspiration.
In the beautiful words of Stanton Kirkham Dave, "You may be keeping
accounts, and presently you shall walk out of the door that for so long has
seemed to you the barrier of your ideals, and shall find yourself before an
audience - the pen still behind your ear, the ink stains on your fingers - and
then and there shall pour out the torrent of your inspiration. You may be
driving sheep, and you shall wander to the city - bucolic and open mouthed;
shall wander under the intrepid guidance of the spirit into the studio of the
master, and after a time he shall say, 'I have nothing more to teach you.' And
now you have become the master, who did so recently dream of great things

19
 James Allen - As A Man Thinketh

while driving sheep. You shall lay down the saw and the plane to take upon
yourself the regeneration of the world."
The thoughtless, the ignorant, and the indolent, seeing only the apparent
effects of things and not the things themselves, talk of luck, of fortune, and
chance. See a man grow rich, they say, "How lucky he is!" Observing another
become intellectual, they exclaim, "How highly favored he is!" And noting the
saintly character and wide influence of another, the remark, "How chance aids
him at every turn!"
They do not see the trials and failures and struggles which these men
have voluntarily encountered in order to gain their experience. They have no
knowledge of the sacrifices they have made, of the undaunted efforts they have
put forth, of the faith they have exercised, that they might overcome the
apparently insurmountable, and realize the Vision of their heart. They do not
know the darkness and the heartaches; they only see the light and joy, and call
it "luck"; do not see the long and arduous journey, but only behold the pleasant
goal, and call it "good fortune"; do not understand the process, but only
perceive the result, and call it "chance."
In all human affairs there are efforts, and there are results, and the
strength of the effort is the measure of the result. Chance is not. "Gifts,"
powers, material, intellectual, and spiritual possessions are the fruits of effort.
They are thoughts completed, objects accomplished, visions realized.
The vision that you glorify in your mind, the Ideal that you enthrone in
your heart - this you will build your life by, this you will become.

20
 James Allen - As A Man Thinketh

Chapter Seven
Serenity

almness of mind is one of the beautiful jewels of wisdom.

It is the result of long and patient effort in self-control. Its presence is an
indication of ripened experience, and of a more than ordinary knowledge of the
laws and operations of thought.
A man becomes calm in the measure that he understands himself as a
thought-evolved being, for such knowledge necessitates the understanding of
others as the result of thought. As he develops a right understanding, and sees
more and more clearly the internal relations of things by the action of cause
and effect, he ceases to fuss and fume and worry and grieve, and remains
poised, steadfast, serene.
The calm man, having learned how to govern himself, knows how to
adapt himself to others; and they, in turn, reverence his spiritual strength, and
feel that they can learn of him and rely upon him. The more tranquil a man
becomes, the greater is his success, his influence, his power for good. Even the
ordinary trader will find his business prosperity increase as he develops a
greater self-control and equanimity, for people will always prefer to deal with a
man whose demeanor is strongly equable.
The strong calm man is always loved and revered. He is like a shade-
giving tree in a thirsty land, or a sheltering rock in a storm. Who does not love
a tranquil heart, a sweet-tempered, balanced life? It does not matter whether it
rains or shines, or what changes come to those possessing these blessings, for
they are always sweet, serene, and calm. That exquisite poise of character
which we call serenity is the last lesson culture; it is the flowering of life, the
fruitage of the soul. It is precious as wisdom, more to be desired than gold -
yea, than even fine gold. How insignificant mere money-seeking looks in
comparison with a serene life - a life that dwells in the ocean of Truth, beneath
the waves, beyond the reach of tempests, in the Eternal Calm!
"How many people we know who sour their lives, who ruin all that is
sweet and beautiful by explosive tempers, who destroy their poise of character,

21
 James Allen - As A Man Thinketh

and make bad blood! It is a question whether the great majority of people do
not ruin their lives and mar their happiness by lack of self-control. How few
people we meet in life who are well-balanced, who have that exquisite poise
which is characteristic of the finished character!"
Yes, humanity surges with uncontrolled passion, is tumultuous with
ungoverned grief, is blown about by anxiety and doubt. Only the wise man,
only he whose thoughts are controlled and purified, makes the winds and the
storms of the soul obey him.
Tempest-tossed souls, wherever ye may be, under whatsoever conditions
ye may live, know this - in the ocean of life the isles of Blessedness are
smiling, and sunny shore of your ideal awaits your coming. Keep your hand
firmly upon the helm of thought. In the bark of your soul reclines the
commanding Master; He does but sleep; wake Him. Self-control is strength;
Right Thought is mastery; Calmness is power. Say unto your heart, "Peace, be
still!"

22
 James Allen - As A Man Thinketh

Table of contents
Chapter Two ..................................................................................................4
Effect of Thought on Circumstances ...........................................................4
Chapter Three .............................................................................................11
Effect of Thought on Health and the Body ...............................................11
Chapter Four ...............................................................................................13
Thought and Purpose..................................................................................13
Chapter Five ................................................................................................15
The Thought-Factor in Achievement ........................................................15
Chapter Six ..................................................................................................18
Visions and Ideals........................................................................................18
Chapter Seven .............................................................................................21
Serenity ........................................................................................................21

23