As A Man Thinketh Quotes

From the Classic Text by James Allen

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As A Man Thinketh Quotes

A contemporary version of highlights from James Allen’s classic 1902 text.

Compiled by ThinkGold, a division of SonGold, 2010.

ThinkGold acknowledges James Allen as the author of the original public domain text.

This book of quotes is freely distributed under a Creative Commons license. Make the

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As A Man Thinketh Quotes 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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“As a man thinketh in his heart so is he.”

You literally are what you think, and your character is the complete sum of all your thoughts.

Without thought there is no action. Action is the blossom of thought.

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Cause and effect control the world of visible and materials things. This law is just as absolute and undeviating in the hidden realm of thought.

One is made or unmade by oneself. In the forge of thought you fashion the weapons to destroy yourself, or the tools to construct your ideals.

Choose your thoughts well, and you will approach perfection. You yourself are the maker and master

of infinite possibilities.

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As a being of power, intelligence, love, and the master of your own thoughts, you hold the key to every situation.

The laws of thought can only be discovered within oneself through application, self-analysis and experience.

Every truth connected with your being will be revealed if you will dig deep into the mine of your soul. By harnessing thought deliberately, you will obtain the self-knowledge that is understanding, wisdom, power.

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In the direction of self-knowledge the law is absolute that “whoever seeks, will find, and to whoever knocks,

it will be opened”.

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The mind is like a garden.

If no useful seeds are planted in the garden of the mind, then useless weeds will take root and multiply.

Sooner or later you discover that you are the master-gardener of your soul, the director of your life.

Thought and character are one.

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Thought forms character. In turn, character guides the actions that mould environment and circumstance. Therefore circumstances are a reflection of a person’s inner state at any given point in time.

Circumstances offer the opportunities that are essential to the soul’s development.

Every human being is where he or she is by the law of personal being.

In the arrangement of our lives there is no element of chance, because everything is the result of a law which cannot err.

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The law of thought is just as true for those who feel dissatisfied as for those who are content.

As a progressive and evolving being, each person is in a position to learn and grow.

Circumstances buffet those souls who believe they are the creatures of outside conditions.

When you earnestly apply yourself to clear, deliberate and positive thought, you will make marked progress with surprising swiftness.

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The soul attracts that which it secretly harbours.

That which the soul loves, and also that which it fears, appears.

Circumstances are the means by which the soul receives its own.

Every thought-seed sown or allowed to fall into the garden of the mind, will take root.

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

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The outer world of circumstance shapes itself to the inner world of thought.

Both pleasant and unpleasant external conditions exist for the ultimate good of the individual.

It is not the tyranny of fate that creates our circumstances – it is thought. Circumstance does not make the man; it reveals him to himself.

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Human beings are the architects of attitude, with all the consequences this entails.

We do not attract that which we want, but that which we are. One is manacled only by oneself. Thought and action are the jailers of Fate. Being base, they imprison. Being noble, they liberate. We do not receive what we wish and pray for, but what we justly earn.

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Wishes and prayers are only gratified and answered when they harmonise with thoughts and actions. Thoughts and actions, after all, are the origin of circumstance.

People are often anxious to improve their circumstances, but unwilling to improve themselves. They therefore remain bound.

The one who does not shrink from honest introspection can achieve anything. To grow into prosperity, let every act foster your aim.

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Diligence, honesty and purpose will reveal to you the fundamentals of prosperity in all aspects of life.

To blossom into sustained and vital health, let your habits nurture your well-being.

To succeed in business, lead with fairness and honesty.

You yourself are the sole architect of your success. Each person is the maker of his or her own circumstances, though nearly always unconsciously.

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The soundest proof is that arising from personal observation.

The laws of thought demand introspection and honest self-inquiry, not judgement of others.

The law of thought simply cannot give good for evil, or evil for good.

With this knowledge of the law of thought, it is clear that each life is, and always has been, justly ordered.

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Good thoughts and actions can never produce bad results; bad thoughts and actions can never produce good results.

The proof of this truth is in every person, and is therefore easily established by systematic introspection and self-analysis.

If you radically alter your thoughts, you will be astonished at the rapid transformation of the material conditions of your life. People imagine that thought can be kept secret. However, thoughts rapidly crystallise into habit, and habit solidifies into circumstance.

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If you persist in a particular train of thought, it cannot fail to affect your character and circumstances.

You cannot directly choose your circumstances, but you can choose your thoughts. So, indirectly, yet surely, you shape your circumstances.

When one deliberately harnesses the mind, opportunities to support one’s aim will abound.

The world is your kaleidoscope. The varying combinations of colours which every succeeding moment presents to you are the exquisitely adjusted renderings of your ever-moving thoughts.

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You will be what you will to be. When spirit rises and commands, the gods are ready to obey.

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The body is the servant of the mind. The body obeys the operations of the mind, whether they are deliberately or inadvertently chosen.

Disease and health, like circumstances, are rooted in thought.

Strong, pure, and happy thoughts build up the body in vigour and grace.

The body is a delicate and plastic instrument, which responds readily to the thoughts by which it is impressed.

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Habits of thought will produce their own effects, good or bad, upon it. Out of a clean heart comes a clean life and a clean body.

Thought is the fount of action, life and manifestation. Make the fountain pure, and all will be pure.

If you would perfect your body, guard your mind.

If you would renew your body, renovate your mind.

A strong body and a bright, happy, or serene countenance can only result when you let joy and goodwill and serenity into your mind.

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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.

To dwell day by day in thoughts of peace toward every creature will bring abounding peace.

Until thought is linked with purpose there is no intelligent accomplishment.

Conceive of a legitimate purpose in your heart, and set out to accomplish it.

Make your purpose the centralising point of your thoughts.

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Striving for your purpose is the royal road to self-control and true concentration of thought.

For one who has devoutly yoked his mind to a definite purpose, there is nothing which may not be accomplished.

Adding effort to effort, patience to patience, and strength to strength, the soul 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,

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Banish aimlessness and weakness. Begin to concentrate on your purpose. Committing to a purpose is to enter the rank of those strong ones who only recognise failure as one of the pathways to attainment. Great souls like these make all conditions serve them.

Think strongly. Attempt fearlessly.

Accomplish masterfully.

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Having formulated your purpose, mentally mark out a straight pathway to its achievement, looking neither to the right nor the left.

Purpose, energy, power to do, and all strong thoughts can only thrive when doubt and fear are expelled.

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

When you have conquered doubt and fear, you have conquered failure.

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With discipline your every thought will be allied with power, and all difficulties will be bravely met and wisely overcome.

Thought allied fearlessly to purpose becomes creative force.

One who harnesses the power of thought has become the conscious and intelligent wielder of his mental powers.

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All that a man achieves and all that he fails to achieve is the direct results of his own thoughts.

The universe is justly ordered according to unshakeable law.

Thoughts mould character; character directs action; action creates circumstances.

Your circumstances are uniquely your own, and no other person can claim them.

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As you think, so you are; as you continue to think, so you remain. One who has conquered weakness, and has put away all selfish thoughts, is no longer either oppressor or oppressed. Such a soul is free.

One can only rise, conquer, and achieve by lifting up one’s thoughts.

Mastery of thought allows one to act independently and stand alone.

The thoughts you yourself choose can hold captive – or liberate.

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The universe helps the honest, the magnanimous, the virtuous.

Achievement, of whatever kind, is the crown of effort, the diadem of thought.

Victories attained by right thought can only be maintained by watchfulness.

All achievements, whether in the business, intellectual, or spiritual world, are the result of definitely directed thought.

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All achievements 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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The dreamers are the saviours of the world.

Humanity cannot forget its dreamers; it cannot let their ideals fade and die.

We live in the dreams of our dreamers. We know them as the realities which we shall one day see and know.

The one who cherishes a beautiful vision, a lofty ideal in his heart, will one day realise 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 they are the blueprints for heaven on earth. Of these dreams, if you but remain true to them, your world will at last be built.

To desire is to obtain. To aspire is to achieve. “Ask and receive”. This is the determining principle of our reality.

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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. 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.

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You cannot travel within and stand still without.

Whatever the circumstances in which you find yourself, your sustained thoughts will be the blueprint of your future.

You will realise your vision. You will become one with your ideal.

Every single person will realise the vision of his or her heart, be it base or beautiful, or a mixture of both.

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One will always gravitate toward that which one, secretly, most loves.

Into your hands will be placed the exact results of your own thoughts. You will receive that which you earn; no more, no less. 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.

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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.

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Read. Listen. Think. Be.

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Illustrations by Marie-Therese Le Roux, 2010.