Selective quotations of the book "As A Man Thinketh".
• “As a man thinketh in his heart so is he” A man is literally what he thinks, his character being the complete sum of all his thoughts.
• Every act of man sprigs from the hidden seeds of thought, and could not have appeared without them.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Following the inmost desires, aspirations, thoughts, by which he allows himself to be dominated, a man at last arrives at their fruition and fulfilment in the outer conditions of his life. The laws of growth and adjustment everywhere obtain.
• 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 thoughts and desires are fed with their own food, be it foul or clean.
• 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.
• 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 of heavenly things.
• 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.)
• The circumstances which a man encounters with suffering are the result of his own mental harmony. The circumstances which a man encounters with blessedness are the result of his own mental harmony. Blessedness, not material possessions, is the measure of right thought; wretchedness, not lack of material possessions, is the measure of wrong thought. A man maybe 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.
• A man can-not directly choose his circumstances, but he can choose his thoughts, and so indirectly, yet surely, shape his circumstances.
• 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.
• ALL THAT a man achieves and all that he fails to achieve is the direct result of his own thoughts.
• He who has conquered weakness, and has put away all selfish thoughts, belongs neither to oppressor nor oppressed. He is free.
• The universe does not favour 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.
• 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 and 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.
• 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.
• THE DREAMERS are the saviours of the world.
• 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.
