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AS A MAN THINKETH: Table of Contents

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AS A MAN THINKETH
BY
JAMES ALLEN

AUTHOR OF
"FROM POVERTY TO POWER," "ALL THESE THINGS ADDED,"
"OUT FROM THE HEART," ETC--

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
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7 IMPERIAL ARCADE, LUDGATE CIRCUS, E C
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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
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JAMES ALLEN
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A man is
literally what he thinks, his character being the
complete sum of all his thoughts
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This applies equally to those
acts called "spontaneous" and "unpremeditated " as
to those, which are deliberately executed
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Thought in the mind hath made us,
What we are
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If a man's mind
Hath evil thoughts, pain comes on him
as comes
The wheel the ox behind
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AS A MAN THINKETH: Thought and Character

In purity of thought,
joy follows him
As his own shadow sure
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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
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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
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Between these two extremes are all the
grades of character, and man is their maker and
master
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As a being of Power, Intelligence, and Love, and
the lord of his own thoughts, man holds the key to
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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
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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
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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
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AS A MAN THINKETH: Thought and Character

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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
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By pursuing this process, a man sooner or
later discovers that he is the master-gardener of his
soul, the director of his life
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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
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AS A MAN THINKETH: Effect of Thought on Circumstances

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
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This is just as true
of those who feel "out of harmony" with their
surroundings as of those who are contented with
them
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Man is buffeted by circumstances so long as he
believes himself to be the creature of outside
conditions, but when he realizes that he is a creative
power, and 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
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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
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AS A MAN THINKETH: Effect of Thought on Circumstances

The soul attracts that which it secretly harbours;
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
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Good
thoughts bear good fruit, bad thoughts bad fruit
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As the
reaper of his own harvest, man learns both by
suffering and bliss
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The
laws of growth and adjustment everywhere obtains
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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
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AS A MAN THINKETH: Effect of Thought on Circumstances

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
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Men do not attract that which they want, but that
which they are
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The "divinity that shapes our ends" is in
ourselves; it is our very self
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Not what he
wishes and prays for does a man get, but what he
justly earns
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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
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Men are anxious to improve their circumstances,
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The man who does not
shrink from self-crucifixion can never fail to
accomplish the object upon which his heart is set
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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
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Such a man does not
understand the simplest rudiments of those principles
which are the basis of true prosperity, and 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
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He is
willing to give large sums of money to get rid of it,
but he will not sacrifice his gluttonous desires
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Such a man is
totally unfit to have health, because he has not yet
learned the first principles of a healthy life
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Such a man is altogether
unfitted for prosperity, and when he finds himself
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I have introduced these three cases merely as
illustrative of the truth that man is the causer (though
nearly always is unconsciously) of his circumstances,
and that, whilst aiming at a good end, he is
continually frustrating its accomplishment by
encouraging thoughts and desires which cannot
possibly harmonize with that end
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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
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In the light of a deeper knowledge
and wider experience such judgment is found to be
erroneous
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The honest man reaps the good
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The dishonest man likewise garners his own
suffering and happiness
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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
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This is but saying that nothing can
come from corn but corn, nothing from nettles but
nettles
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Suffering is always the effect of wrong thought in
some direction
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The sole and supreme use of suffering is to
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Suffering ceases for him who is pure
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The circumstances, which a man encounters with
suffering, are the result of his own mental in
harmony
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Blessedness, not material
possessions, is the measure of right thought;
wretchedness, not lack of material possessions, is the
measure of wrong thought
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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
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They are both equally unnatural and
the result of mental disorder
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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
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AS A MAN THINKETH: Effect of Thought on Circumstances

means of discovering the hidden powers and
possibilities within himself
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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 towards things and
other people, things and other people will alter
towards him
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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
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Bestial thoughts crystallize 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: 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
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On the
other hand, beautiful thoughts of all kinds 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
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A man cannot directly
choose his circumstances, but he can choose his
thoughts, and so indirectly, yet surely, shape his
circumstances
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Let a man cease from his sinful thoughts, and all
the world will soften towards 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
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The world is
your kaleidoscope, and the varying combinations of
colours, which at every succeeding moment it
presents to you are the exquisitely adjusted pictures
of your ever-moving thoughts
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"It masters time, it conquers space;
It cowes that boastful trickster, Chance,
And bids the tyrant Circumstance
Uncrown, and fill a servant's place
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"Be not impatient in delays
But wait as one who understands;
When spirit rises and commands
The gods are ready to obey
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AS A MAN THINKETH: Effect of Thought on the Body

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EFFECT OF THOUGHT ON HEALTH
AND THE BODY
THE body is the servant of the mind
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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
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Sickly thoughts will express themselves
through a sickly body
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The people who live in
fear of disease are the people who get it
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Strong, pure, and happy thoughts build up the body
in vigour and grace
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Out of a clean heart comes a clean life and a clean
body
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Thought is the fount of action,
life, and manifestation; make the fountain pure, and
all will be pure
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When a man makes his thoughts pure, he no longer
desires impure food
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The so-called
saint who does not wash his body is not a saint
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If you would protect your body, guard your mind
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Thoughts of malice, envy, disappointment,
despondency, rob the body of its health and grace
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Wrinkles that mar are drawn by folly,
passion, and pride
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I know a man well under
middle age whose face is drawn into inharmonious
contours
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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
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On the faces of the aged there are wrinkles made
by sympathy, others by strong and pure thought, and
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
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He was not old except in years
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There is no physician like cheerful thought for
dissipating the ills of the body; there is no comforter
to compare with goodwill for dispersing the shadows
of grief and sorrow
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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 by day in
thoughts of peace toward every creature will bring
abounding peace to their possessor
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AS A MAN THINKETH: Thought in achievement

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THE THOUGHT-FACTOR IN
ACHIEVEMENT
ALL that a man achieves and all that he fails to
achieve is the direct result of his own thoughts
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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
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His suffering and his
happiness are evolved from within
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A strong man cannot help a weaker unless that
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
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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
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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
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He is free
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He can only remain weak,
and abject, and miserable by refusing to lift up his
thoughts
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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
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Not having
commenced to manfully control his thoughts, he is
not in a position to control affairs and to adopt
serious responsibilities
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But he is limited only
by the thoughts, which he chooses
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AS A MAN THINKETH: Thought in achievement

his plans, and the strengthening of his resolution and
self-reliance
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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
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Intellectual achievements are the result of thought
consecrated to the search for knowledge, or for the
beautiful and true in life and nature
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Spiritual achievements are the consummation of
holy aspirations
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Achievement, of whatever kind, is the crown of
effort, the diadem of thought
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AS A MAN THINKETH: Thought in achievement

confusion of thought a man descends
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Victories attained by right thought can only be
maintained by watchfulness
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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
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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
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Composer, sculptor, painter, poet, prophet, sage,
these are the makers of the after-world, the architects
of heaven
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He who cherishes a beautiful vision, a lofty ideal in
his heart, will one day realize it
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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

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To desire is to obtain; to aspire is to, achieve
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Dream lofty dreams, and as you dream, so shall
you become
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The greatest achievement was at first and for a
time a dream
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Dreams are the seedlings of
realities
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You cannot travel within and
stand still without
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But he dreams of better things; he
thinks of intelligence, of refinement, of grace and
beauty
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Very soon so altered
has his mind become that the workshop can no
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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
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We find him a
master of certain forces of the mind, which he wields
with worldwide influence and almost unequalled
power
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He has realized the Vision of his
youth
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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
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Whatever your present
environment may be, you will fall, remain, or rise
with your thoughts, your Vision, your Ideal
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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,
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' And now you have become the master,
who did so recently dream of great things while
driving sheep
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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
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They do not know the darkness and the
heartaches; they only see the light and joy, and call it
"luck"
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"
In all human affairs there are efforts, and there are
results, and the strength of the effort is the measure
of the result
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Gifts, powers, material,
intellectual, and spiritual possessions are the fruits of
effort; they are thoughts completed, objects
accomplished, visions realized
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AS A MAN THINKETH: Visions and Ideals

that you enthrone in your heart-this you will build
your life by, this you will become--

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It is the result of long and patient effort
in self-control
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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, and 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
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The
more tranquil a man becomes, the greater is his
success, his influence, his power for good
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The strong, calm man is always loved and revered
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AS A MAN THINKETH: Serenity

sheltering rock in a storm
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That
exquisite poise of character, which we call serenity,
is the calm man, having learned how
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It is precious as wisdom,
more to be desired than gold--yea, than even fine
gold
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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
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Keep your hand firmly upon the helm of thought
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AS A MAN THINKETH: Serenity

the bark of your soul reclines the commanding
Master; He does but sleep: wake Him
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Say unto your heart, "Peace, be still!"

THE END

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