Review of As A Man Thinketh By James Allen
June 3rd, 2009 | 
Author: “A man is literally what he thinks, his character being the complete sum of all thoughts,” says James Allen in his 1908 classic bestseller, As A Man Thinketh. As the title suggests, the book is about how your thoughts influence your results in life. Allen explains that we are where we are in life because of our thoughts, and if we are in an undesirable situation, we have the power to change our circumstances by changing our thoughts because we are the directors of our lives, and masters of our thoughts.
In Allen’s own words, “Every man is where he is by the law of his being. The thoughts which he has built into his character have brought him there… 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.”
Five Great Ideas
- “A man’s mind may be likened to a garden, which may be intelligently cultivated or allowed to run wild; but whether cultivated or neglected, it must, and will, bring forth. 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.
- Man is where he is so that he may learn and grow.
- Men are anxious to improve their circumstances, but are unwilling to improve themselves.
- A strong man cannot help a weaker unless the 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.
- He who would accomplish little must sacrifice little. He who would achieve much must sacrifice much. He who would attain highly must sacrifice greatly.”
At 22 pages, the e-Book version of As A Man Thinketh can be read in no time at all. Despite the length of the book, it is chock full of nuggets of wisdom. I recommend this book. To download a complimentary copy of As A Man Thinketh click here.
After you have read As a Man Thinketh, what principles can you apply to your life? Do you agree with James Allen’s philosophy?
Excerpted from April 2008 Ambeck Edge
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I have been reading my way through James Allen’s suite of inspirational texts and found particular resonance within “Light on Life’s Difficulties”. For example, the following quote:
“To live is to think and act, and to think and act is to change. While man is ignorant of the nature of thought, he continues to change for better and worse; but, being acquainted with the nature of thought, he intelligently accelerates and directs the process of change, and only for the better.
What the sum total of a man’s thoughts are, that he is. From this sameness of thought with man there is not the slightest fractional deviation. There is a change as a result with the addition and subtraction of thought, but the mathematical law is an invariable quality.
Seeing that man is mind, that mind is composed of thought, and that thought is subject to change, it follows that deliberately to change the thought is to change the man”.
His texts are very thought provoking and inspirational.
Hi Rick,
Thank you for your comment. I find there is much wisdom in a lot of the works that were produced decades ago, and I would like to present more of them here. Leslie Householder, one of the people I interviewed indicated to me that one of the five books she would like to have with her if stranded on a deserted island is As a Man Thinketh. Thanks again! Avil
Very interesting site. Hope it will always be alive!
theinvisiblementor.com – cool!!!!