a tribute to james allen

8/14/2019 A Tribute to James Allen

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James Allen

A Tribute to James Allen

WHO WAS JAMES ALLEN?

James Allen is a literary mystery man. His inspirational writings have influenced millionsfor good. Yet today he remains almost unknown.

None of his nineteen books give a clue to his life other than to mention his place of

residence - Ilfracombe, England. His name cannot be found in a major reference work. Not eventhe Library of Congress or the British Museum has much to say about him.

Who was this man who believed in the power of thought to bring fame, fortune and

happiness? Did he, as Henry David Thoreau says, "hear a different drummer"?

James Allen never gained fame or fortune. That much is true. His was a quiet,unrewarded genius. He seldom made enough money from his writings to cover expenses.

Allen was born in Leicester, Central England, November 28, 1864. The family businessfailed within a few years, and in 1879 his father left for America in an effort to recoup his losses.

The elder Allen had hoped to settle in the United States, but was robbed and murdered before hecould send for his family.

The financial crisis that resulted forced James to leave school at fifteen. He eventuallybecame a private secretary, a position that would be called "administrative assistant" today. He

worked in this capacity for several British manufacturers until 1902, when he decided to devoteall his time to writing.

Unfortunately, Allen's literary career was short, lasting only nine years, until his death in

1912. During that period he wrote nineteen books, a rich outpouring of ideas that have lived onto inspire later generations.

Soon after finishing his first book, From Poverty To Power, Allen moved to Ilfracombe,on England's southwest coast. The little resort town with its seafront Victorian hotels and its

rolling hills and winding lanes offered him the quiet atmosphere he needed to pursue his

philosophical studies.

As A Man Thinketh was Allen's second book. Despite its subsequent popularity he was

dissatisfied with it. Even though it was his most concise and eloquent work, the book that bestembodied his thought, he somehow failed to recognize its value. His wife Lily had to persuade

him to publish it.


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James Allen

James Allen strove to live the ideal life described by Russia's great novelist and mysticCount Leo Tolstoy - the life of voluntary poverty, manual labor and ascetic self-discipline. Like

Tolstoy, Allen sought to improve himself, be happy, and master all of the virtues. His search for"felicity for man on earth" was typically Tolstoyan.

According to his wife, Allen "wrote when he had a message, and it became a messageonly when he had lived it in his own life, and knew that it was good."

His day in Ilfracombe began with a predawn walk up to the Cairn, a stony spot on thehillside overlooking his home and the sea. He would remain there for an hour in meditation.

Then he would return to the house and spend the morning writing. The afternoons were devotedto gardening, a pastime he enjoyed. His evenings were spent in conversation with those who

were interested in his work.

A friend described Allen as "a frail-looking little man, Christ-like, with a mass of flowingblack hair."

"I think of him especially in the black velvet suit he always wore in the evenings," the

friend wrote. "He would talk quietly to a small group of us then - English, French, Austrian andIndian - of meditation, of philosophy, of Tolstoy or Buddha, and of killing nothing, not even amouse in the garden."

"He overawed us all a little because of his appearance, his gentle conversation, andespecially because he went out to commune with God on the hills before dawn."

James Allen's philosophy became possible when liberal Protestantism discarded the stern

dogma that man is sinful by nature. It substituted for that dogma an optimistic belief in man'sinnate goodness and divine rationality.

This reversal of doctrine was, as William James said, the greatest revolution of the 19thCentury. It was part of a move toward a reconciliation of science and religion following Darwin's

publication The Origin of Species.

Charles Darwin himself hinted at the change in belief in The Descent of Man. In that

book he wrote, "the highest possible stage in moral culture is when we recognize that we oughtto control our thoughts."

Allen's work embodies the influence of Protestant liberalism on the one hand and of

Buddhist thought on the other. For example, the Buddha teaches, "All that we are is the result ofwhat we have thought." Allen's Biblical text says, "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he."

Allen insists upon the power of the individual to form his own character and to create hisown happiness. "Thought and character are one," he says, "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 aman's circumstances at any given time are an indication of his entire character, but that thosecircumstances are so intimately connected with some vital thought element within him that, for

the time being, they are indispensable to his development."

Allen starts us thinking - even when we would rather be doing something else. He tells ushow thought leads to action. He shows us how to turn our dreams into realities.


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James Allen

His is a philosophy that has brought success to millions. It is the philosophy of NormanVincent Peale's The Power of Positive Thinking and of Joshua Liebman's Peace of Mind.

We become spiritually rich, Allen writes, when we discover the adventure within; whenwe are conscious of the oneness of all life; when we know the power of meditation; when we

experience kinship with nature.

Allen's message is one of hope even in the midst of confusion. "Yes," he says, "humanity

surges with uncontrolled passion, is tumultuous with ungoverned grief, is blown about byanxiety 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," Allen continues, "wherever you may be, under whatsoeverconditions you may live, know this - in the ocean of life the isles of blessedness are smiling and

the sunny shore of your ideal awaits your coming...."

And thus Allen teaches two essential truths: today we are where our thoughts have taken

us, and we are the architects - for better or worse - of our futures.


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James Allen

Works of James Allen :-

1. Above Life's Turmoil

2. As A Man Thinketh

3. Byways of Blessedness

4. The Divine Companion

5. Eight Pillars of Prosperity

6. Entering the Kingdom (All These Things Added)

7. Foundation Stones To Happiness and Success

8. From Passion to Peace

9. The Path of prosperity (From Poverty to Power)

10. The Heavenly Life (All These Things Added)

11. The Life Triumphant12. Light on Life's Difficulties

13. Man: King of Mind, Body and Circumstance

14. Men and Systems

15. The Master of Destiny

16. Meditations, A Year Book

17. Morning and Evening Thoughts

18. Out From the Heart

19. The Shining Gateway20. Through the Gate of Good

21. The Way of Peace (From Poverty to Power)

22. The Divine Companion

23. Poems of Peace


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James Allen

Works of Lily L. Allen

1. In The Garden Of Silence

2. Personality: Its Cultivation And Power And How To Attain

3. The Bryngoleu Cookery Book

4. Clues To The Treasures Of Life

5. Elements Of Success

6. Healing For All Our Ills

7. How To Go Into The Silence

8. In The Garden Of Silence

9. The Knowledge That Brings Peace

10. The Life Of Power And Dominion

11. The Meaning And Use Of The Silence12. The Might Of Mind

13. One Life, One Law, One Love

14. Our Creative Imagination

15. Our Mental Children

16. Personality: Its Cultivation And Power And How To Attain

Other Books

James Allen And Lily L. Allen - An Illustrated Biography


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James Allen

Quotes of James Allen

A man is literally what he thinks.............................................

A man is not rightly conditioned until he is a happy, healthy, and prosperous being; andhappiness, health, and prosperity are the result of a harmonious adjustment of the inner with the

outer of the man with his surroundings.

............................................

A man sooner or later discovers that he is the master-gardener of his soul, the director of his life.

............................................ ...........

Above all be of single aim; have a legitimate and useful purpose, and devote yourself

unreservedly to it.

............................................ ...............

All that you accomplish or fail to accomplish with your life is the direct result of your thoughts............................................. ................

Circumstances do not make the man, they reveal him.

............................................ ................

Dream lofty dreams, and as you dream, so you shall become. Your vision is the promise of whatyou shall one day be; your ideal is the prophecy of what you shall at last unveil.

............................................ ..................

For true success ask yourself these four questions: Why? Why not? Why not me? Why not now?

............................................ .......................

Good thoughts bear good fruit, bad thoughts bear bad fruit............................................. ...................

Harmony is one phase of the law whose spiritual expression is love.

........................................... .................

He who would accomplish little must sacrifice little; he who would achieve much must sacrifice

much; he who would attain highly must sacrifice greatly.

............................................ .............

If you real desire is to be good, there is no need to wait for the money before you do it; you can

do it now, this very moment, and just where you are.

............................................ ................

In all human affairs there are efforts, and there are results, and the strength of the effort is the

measure of the result.

........................................... ............

It is a process of diverting one's scattered forces into one powerful channel............................................. ........


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Let there be nothing within thee that is not very beautiful and very gentle, and there will benothing without thee that is not beautiful and softened by the spell of thy presence.

............................................ ...........

No duty is more urgent than that of returning thanks.

............................................ .................

No temptation can gravitate to a man unless there is that is his heart which is capable ofresponding to it.

............................................ ..................

Our life is what our thoughts make it. A man will find that as he alters his thoughts towards

things and other people, things and other people will alter towards him.

............................................ ..................

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.

........................................... ..................

The law of harvest is to reap more than you sow. Sow an act, and you reap a habit. Sow a habitand you reap a character. Sow a character and you reap a destiny.

............................................ ....................

The more tranquil a man becomes, the greater is his success, his influence, his power for good.

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

........................................... ............................

The will to do springs from the knowledge that we can do.

............................................ ...................

To begin to think with purpose, is to enter the ranks of those strong ones who only recognizefailure as one of the pathways to attainment.

............................................ .....................

To desire is to obtain; to aspire is to achieve.

............................................ ..................

To put away aimlessness and weakness, and to begin to think with purpose, is to enter the ranksof 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 accomplishmasterfully.

............................................ .................

Whether you be man or woman you will never do anything in this world without courage. It isthe greatest quality of the mind next to honor.

............................................ ....................


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James Allen

Work joyfully and peacefully, knowing that right thoughts and right efforts inevitably bringabout right results.

............................................ ....................

You are today where your thoughts have brought you; you will be tomorrow where your

thoughts take you.

............................................ ....................

You will become as small as your controlling desire; as great as you dominant aspiration.

............................................ .....

Man is made or unmade by himself. By the right choice he ascends. As a being of power,

intelligence, and love, and the lord of his own thoughts, he holds the key to every situation............................................. ...........

Men are anxious to improve their circumstances, but are unwilling to improve themselves; they

therefore remain bound.

............................................

Mind is the Master-power that molds and makes, and Man is Mind, and ever more he takes theTool 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.

-G

a tribute to james allen

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