James Allen

1864 - 1912

As A Man Thinketh

1902

A Treasury of Selected Quotes

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.

By the right choice and the true application of thought, man ascends to divine perfection. By the abuse and the wrong application of thought he descends below the level of the beast. Between these two extremes are all the grades of character, and man is their maker and their master.

James Allen

All achievements, whether in the business, intellectual, or spiritual world, are the result of definitely directed thought. They are governed by the same law, and are achieved by the same method. The only difference lies in the object of attainment.

He who would accomplish little need sacrifice little. He who would achieve much must sacrifice much. He who would attain highly must sacrifice greatly.

James Allen

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, and in the arrangement of his life there is no element of chance, but all is the result of a law which cannot err. This is just as true of those who feel out of harmony with their surroundings as of those who are contented with them.

James Allen

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. None, but himself, can alter his condition.

James Allen

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 commands the hidden soil and seeds of his being out of which circumstances grow, he then becomes the rightful master of himself.

James Allen

Of all the beautiful truths pertaining to the soul which have been restored and brought to light in this age, none is more gladdening or full of divine promise and confidence than this - that man is the master of thought, the moulder of character, and the maker and shaper of condition, environment, and destiny.

James Allen

A man's mind may be compared 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.

James Allen

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. Men understand this law in the natural world, and work with it, but few understand it in the mental and moral world, though its operation there is just as simple and undeviating, and they, therefore, do not cooperate with it.

James Allen

Cherish your visions. Cherish your ideals. Cherish the music that stirs in your heart, the beauty that forms in your mind and the loveliness that drapes your purest thoughts. For out of them will grow all delightful conditions and a heavenly environment. With these, if you but remain true to them, your world will at last be built.

James Allen

All that a man achieves and all that he fails to achieve is the direct result of his own thoughts. In a justly ordered universe, where loss of balance would mean total destruction, individual responsibility must be absolute. 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, they can only be altered by himself, never by another. His condition is also his own, and not another man's. His sufferings and his happiness are evolved from within. As he thinks, so he is, as he continues to think, so he remains.

James Allen

To live your best life be true to the YOU, that you want to be.

Live with passion. Change your life from making a living to making a difference.

Live up to the reputation that you want to have.