As a Man Thinketh

As a Man Thinketh (1902) is a essay by James Allen. As A Man Thinketh is partly responsible for the creation of the entire personal development industry. Includes 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.

This book, written in terms of the responsibility assumption, opens with the statement: Mind is the Master power that moulds and makes, And Man is Mind, and evermore he takes The tool of Thought, and, shaping what he wills, Brings forth a thousand joys, a thousand ills: — He thinks in secret, and it comes to pass: Environment is but his looking-glass.

The thoughtless, the ignorant, and indolent, seeing only the apparent effects of things and not the things themselves, talk of law, of fortune, and chance. Seeing a man grow rich, they say, "How lucky is!" Observing another become intellectual they exclaim, "How highly favored he is!"