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As a Man Thinketh (version 4) - James Allen · The Spiritual Life

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Speaker 1: Chapter one of As a Man Thinketh. This is a
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Speaker 1: LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain.
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Speaker 1: For more information nor a volunteer, please visit libreyvox dot org.
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Speaker 1: Recording by Phil Shinever. As a Man Thinketh by James Allen,
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Speaker 1: Chapter one, Thought and Character the aphorism as a man
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Speaker 1: thinketh in his heart. So is he not only embraces
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Speaker 1: the whole of a man's being, but is so comprehensive
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Speaker 1: as to reach out to every condition and circumstance of
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Speaker 1: his life. A man is literally what he thinks, his
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Speaker 1: character being the complete sum of all his thoughts. As
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Speaker 1: the plant springs from and could not be without the seed,
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Speaker 1: so every act of a man springs from the hidden
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Speaker 1: seeds of thought, and could not have appeared without them.
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Speaker 1: This applies equally to those acts called spontaneous and unpremeditated,
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Speaker 1: as to those which are deliberately executed. Act is the
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Speaker 1: blossom of thought, and joy in suffering are its fruits.
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Speaker 1: Thus does a man garner in the sweet and bitter
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Speaker 1: fruitage of his own husbandry. Quote. Thought in the mind
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Speaker 1: has made us what we are by thought was wrought
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Speaker 1: and built. If a man's mind hath evil thoughts. Pain
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Speaker 1: comes on him as comes the wheel the ox behind.
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Speaker 1: If one endure in purity of thought, joy follows him
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Speaker 1: as his own shadow. Sure close quote. Man is a
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Speaker 1: growth by law, and not a creation by artifice and cause.
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Speaker 1: An effect is as absolute and undeviating in the hidden
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Speaker 1: realm of thought as in the world of visible and
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Speaker 1: material things. A noble and godlike character is not a
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Speaker 1: thing of favor or chance, but is the natural result
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Speaker 1: of continued effort in right thinking, the effect of long
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Speaker 1: cherished association with godlike thoughts. An ignoble, and beastial character,
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Speaker 1: by the same process, is the result of the continued
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Speaker 1: harboring of groveling thoughts. Man is made or unmade by himself.
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Speaker 1: In the armory of thought. He forges the weapons by
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Speaker 1: which he destroys himself. He also fashions the tools with
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Speaker 1: which he builds for himself heavenly mantions of joy and
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Speaker 1: strength and peace. By the right choice and true application
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Speaker 1: of thought, man ascends to the divine perfection. By the
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Speaker 1: abuse and wrong application of thought, he descends below the
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Speaker 1: level of the beast. Between these two extremes are all
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Speaker 1: the grades of character, and man is their maker and
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Speaker 1: master of all the beautiful truths pertaining to the soul
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Speaker 1: which have been restored and brought to light in this age.
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Speaker 1: None is more gladdening or fruitful of divine promise and
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Speaker 1: confidence than this. That man is the master of thought,
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Speaker 1: the molder of character, and the maker and shaper of condition, environment,
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Speaker 1: and destiny. As a being of power, intelligence, and love,
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Speaker 1: and the lord of his own thoughts, man holds the
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Speaker 1: key to every situation, and contains within himself that transforming
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Speaker 1: and regenerative agency by which he may make himself what
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Speaker 1: he wills. Man is always the master, even in his
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Speaker 1: weaker and most abandoned state. But in his weakness and
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Speaker 1: degradation he is the foolish master who misgoverns his household.
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Speaker 1: When he begins to reflect upon his condition and to
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Speaker 1: search diligently for the law upon which his being is established,
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Speaker 1: he then becomes the wise master, directing his energies with
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Speaker 1: intelligence and fashioning his thoughts to fruitful issues. Such is
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Speaker 1: the conscious master, and man can only thus become by
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Speaker 1: discovering within himself the laws of thought, which discovery is
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Speaker 1: totally a matter of application, self analysis and experience. Only
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Speaker 1: by much searching and mining are gold and diamonds obtained.
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Speaker 1: And man can find every truth connected with his being
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Speaker 1: if he will dig deep into the mind of his soul,
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Speaker 1: and that he is the maker of his character, the
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Speaker 1: molder of his life, and the builder of his destiny.
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Speaker 1: He will unerringly prove if he will watch, control and
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Speaker 1: alter his thoughts, tracing their effects upon himself, upon others,
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Speaker 1: and upon his life and circumstances, linking cause and effect
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Speaker 1: by patient practice and investigation, and utilizing his every experience,
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Speaker 1: even to the most trivial, everyday occurrence, as a means
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Speaker 1: of obtaining that knowledge of himself which is understanding wisdom. Power.
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Speaker 1: In this direction, as in no other, is the law absolute,
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Speaker 1: that he that seeketh findeth, and to him that knocketh
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Speaker 1: it shall be opened. For only by patience, practice, and
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Speaker 1: ceaseless importunity can a man enter the door of the
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Speaker 1: Temple of Knowledge. End of chapter one, Chapter two of
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Speaker 1: As a Man Thinketh by James Allen. This LibriVox recording
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Speaker 1: is in the public domain. Chapter two. Effect of Thought
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Speaker 1: on circumstances. Man's mind may be likened to a garden
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Speaker 1: which may be intelligently cultivated or allowed to run wild,
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Speaker 1: but whether cultivated or neglected, it must and will bring forth.
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Speaker 1: If no useful seeds are put into it, then an
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Speaker 1: abundance of useless weed seeds will fall therein and will
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Speaker 1: continue to produce their kind. Just as a gardener cultivates
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Speaker 1: his plot, keeping it free from weeds and growing the
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Speaker 1: flowers and fruits which he requires, so may a man
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Speaker 1: tend the garden of his mind, weeding out all the wrong,
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Speaker 1: useless and impure thoughts, and cultivating to our perfection the
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Speaker 1: flowers and fruits of right, useful and pure thoughts. By
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Speaker 1: pursuing this process, a man sooner or later discovers that
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Speaker 1: he is the master gardener of his soul, the director
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Speaker 1: of his life. He also reveals within himself the laws
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Speaker 1: of thought, and understands with ever increasing accuracy, how the
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Speaker 1: thought forces and mind elements operate in the shaping of
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Speaker 1: his character, circumstances and destiny. Thought and character are one,
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Speaker 1: and as character can only manifest and discover itself through
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Speaker 1: environment and circumstances, the outer conditions of a person's life
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Speaker 1: will always be found to be harmoniously related to his
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Speaker 1: inner state. This does not mean that a man's circumstances
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Speaker 1: at any given time are an indication of his entire character,
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Speaker 1: but that thosecumstances are so intimately connected with some vital
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Speaker 1: thought element within himself, that for the time being they
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Speaker 1: are indispensable to his development. Every Man is where he
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Speaker 1: is by the law of his being. The thoughts which
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Speaker 1: he has built into his character have brought him there,
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Speaker 1: And in the arrangement of his life. There is no
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Speaker 1: element of chance, but all is the result of a
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Speaker 1: law which cannot err. This is just as true of
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Speaker 1: those who feel out of harmony with their surroundings as
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Speaker 1: of those who are contented with them. As a progressive
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Speaker 1: and evolving being, man is where he is that he
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Speaker 1: may learn, that he may grow. And as he learns
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Speaker 1: the spiritual lesson which any circumstance contains for him, it
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Speaker 1: passes away and gives place to other circumstances. Man is
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Speaker 1: buffeted by circumstances so long as he believes himself to
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Speaker 1: be the creature of outside conditions. But when he realizes
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Speaker 1: that he is a creative power, and that he may
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Speaker 1: command the hidden soil and seeds of his being out
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Speaker 1: of which circumstances grow, he then becomes the rightful master
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Speaker 1: of himself. These circumstances grow out of thought. Every man
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Speaker 1: knows who has for any length of time practiced self
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Speaker 1: control and self purification, for he will have noticed that
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Speaker 1: the alteration in his circumstances has been in exact ratio
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Speaker 1: with his altered mental condition. So true is this that
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Speaker 1: when a man earnestly applies himself to remedy the defects
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Speaker 1: in his character, and makes swift and marked progress, he
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Speaker 1: passes rapidly through a succession of vicissitudes. The soul attracts
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Speaker 1: that which it secretly harbors, that which it loves, and
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Speaker 1: also that which it fears. It reaches the height of
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Speaker 1: its cherished aspirations, it falls to the level of its
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Speaker 1: unchastened desires. And circumstances are the means by which the
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Speaker 1: soul receives its own every thought seed sown or allowed
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Speaker 1: to fall into the mind and to take root there
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Speaker 1: produces its own blossoming sooner or later into act and
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Speaker 1: bearing its own fruitage of opportunity and circumstance. Good thoughts
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Speaker 1: bear good fruit, bad thoughts bad fruit. The outer world
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Speaker 1: of circumstances shapes itself to the inner world of thought,
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Speaker 1: and both pleasant and unpleasant external conditions are factors which
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Speaker 1: make for the ultimate good of the individual. As a
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Speaker 1: reaper of his own harvest, man learns both by suffering
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Speaker 1: and bliss, following the inmost desires, aspirations, thoughts by which
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Speaker 1: he allows himself to be dominated. Pursuing the will of
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Speaker 1: the wisps of impure imaginings, or steadfastly walking the highway
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Speaker 1: of strong and high endeavor, a man at last arrives
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Speaker 1: at their fruition and fulfillment in the outer conditions of
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Speaker 1: his life. The laws of growth and adjustment everywhere obtains.
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Speaker 1: A man does not come to the almshouse or the
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Speaker 1: jail by the tyranny of fate or circumstance, but by
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Speaker 1: the pathway of groveling thoughts and base desires. Nor does
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Speaker 1: a pure minded man fall suddenly into crime by stress
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Speaker 1: of any mere external force. The criminal thought had long
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Speaker 1: been secretly fostered in the heart, and the hour of
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Speaker 1: opportunity revealed its gathered power. Circumstance does not make the man,
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Speaker 1: it reveals him to himself. No such conditions can exist
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Speaker 1: as descending into vice and its attendant sufferings, apart from
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Speaker 1: vicious inclinations are ascending into virtue and its pure happiness
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Speaker 1: without the continued cultivation of virtuous aspirations. And man, therefore,
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Speaker 1: as the lord and master of thought, is the maker
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Speaker 1: of himself, the shaper and author of environment. Even at birth,
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Speaker 1: the soul comes to its own and through every step
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Speaker 1: of its earthly pilgrimage, it attracts those combination of conditions
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Speaker 1: which reveal itself, which are the reflections of its own
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Speaker 1: purity and impurity, its strength and weakness. Men do not
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Speaker 1: attract that which they want, but that which they are.
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Speaker 1: Their whims, fancies, and ambitions are thwarted at every step,
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Speaker 1: but their inmost thoughts and desires are fed with their
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Speaker 1: own food, be it foul or clean. The divinity that
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Speaker 1: shapes our ends is in ourselves. It is our very self,
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Speaker 1: only himself. Manacles, man, thought, and actions are the jailers
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Speaker 1: of fate. They imprison, being base, they are also the
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Speaker 1: angels of freedom, they liberate, being noble. Not what he
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Speaker 1: wishes and prays for does a man get, but what
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Speaker 1: he justly earns. His wishes and prayers are only gratified
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Speaker 1: and answered when they harmonize with his thoughts and actions.
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Speaker 1: In the light of this truth, what then, is the
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Speaker 1: meaning of fighting against circumstances. It means that a man
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Speaker 1: is continually revolting against an effect without while all the
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Speaker 1: time he is nourishing and preserving its cause in his heart.
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Speaker 1: That cause may take the form of a conscious vice
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Speaker 1: or an unconscious weakness, but whatever it is, it stubbornly
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Speaker 1: retards the efforts of its possessor, and thus calls aloud
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Speaker 1: for remedy. Men are anxious to improve their circumstances, but
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Speaker 1: are unwilling to improve themselves. They therefore remain bound. The
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Speaker 1: man who does not shrink from self crucifixion can never
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Speaker 1: fail to accomplish the object upon which his heart is set.
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Speaker 1: This is as true of earthly as of heavenly things.
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Speaker 1: Even the man whose sole object is to acquire wealth
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Speaker 1: must be prepared to make great personal sacrifices before he
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Speaker 1: can accomplish his object, and how much more so he
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Speaker 1: who would realize a strong and well poised life. Here
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Speaker 1: is a man who is wretchedly poor. He is extremely
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Speaker 1: anxious that his surroundings and home comforts should be improved,
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Speaker 1: Yet all the time he shirks his work and considers
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Speaker 1: he is justified in trying to deceive his employer. On
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Speaker 1: the ground of the insufficiency of his wages. Such a
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Speaker 1: man does not understand the simplest rudiments of those principles
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Speaker 1: which are the basis of true prosperity, and is not
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Speaker 1: only totally unfitted to rise out of his wretchedness, but
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Speaker 1: is actually attracting to himself a still deeper wretchedness by
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Speaker 1: dwelling in and acting out indolent, deceptive, and unmanly thoughts.
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Speaker 1: Here is a rich man who is the victim of
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Speaker 1: a painful and persistent disease as the result of gluttony.
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Speaker 1: He is willing to give large sums of money to
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Speaker 1: get rid of it, but he will not sacrifice his
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Speaker 1: gluttonous desires. He wants to gratify his taste for rich
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Speaker 1: and unnatural viands and have his health as well. Such
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Speaker 1: a man is totally unfit to have health because he
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Speaker 1: has not yet learned the first principles of a healthy life.
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Speaker 1: Here an employer of labor who adopts crooked measures to
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Speaker 1: avoid paying the regulation wage, and in the hope of
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Speaker 1: making larger profits, reduces the wages of his workpeople. Such
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Speaker 1: a man is altogether unfitted for prosperity, and when he
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Speaker 1: finds himself bankrupt, both as regards reputation and riches. He
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Speaker 1: blames circumstances, not knowing that he is the sole author
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Speaker 1: of his condition. I have introduced these three cases merely
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Speaker 1: as illustrative of the truth that man is the causer,
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Speaker 1: though nearly always is unconsciously of his circumstances, and that,
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Speaker 1: whilst aiming at a good end, he is continually frustrating
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Speaker 1: its accomplishment by encouraging thoughts and desires which cannot possibly
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Speaker 1: harmonize with that end. Such cases could be multiplied and
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Speaker 1: varied almost indefinitely, but this is not necessary, as the
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Speaker 1: reader can, if he so resolves, trace the action of
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Speaker 1: the laws of thought in his own mind and life,
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Speaker 1: and until this is done, mere external facts cannot serve
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Speaker 1: as the ground of reasoning. Circumstances, however, are so complicated.
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Speaker 1: Thought is so deeply rooted, and the conditions of happiness
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Speaker 1: vary so vastly with individuals that a man's entire soul condition,
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Speaker 1: although it may be known to himself, cannot be judged
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Speaker 1: by another from the external aspect of his life alone.
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Speaker 1: A man may be honest in certain directions yet suffer privations.
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Speaker 1: A man may be dishonest in certain directions yet acquire wealth.
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Speaker 1: But the conclusion usually formed that the one man fails
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Speaker 1: because of his particular honesty and that the other prosperous
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Speaker 1: because of his particular dishonesty is the result of a
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Speaker 1: superficial judgment, which assumes that the dishonest man is almost
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Speaker 1: totally corrupt and the honest man almost entirely virtuous. In
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Speaker 1: the light of a deeper knowledge and wider experience, such
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Speaker 1: judgment is found to be erroneous. The dishonest man may
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Speaker 1: have some admirable virtues which the other does not possess,
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Speaker 1: and the honest man obnoxious vices which are absent in
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Speaker 1: the other. The honest man reefs the good result of
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Speaker 1: his honest thoughts and acts, he also brings upon himself
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Speaker 1: the sufferings which his vices produce. The dishonest man, likewise
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Speaker 1: garners his own sufferings and happiness. It is pleasing to
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Speaker 1: human vanity to believe that one suffers because of one's virtue.
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Speaker 1: But not until a man has extirpated every sickly, bitter
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Speaker 1: and impure thought from his mind, and washed every sinful
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Speaker 1: stain from his soul can he be in a position
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Speaker 1: to know and declare that his sufferings are the result
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Speaker 1: of his good and not of his bad qualities. And
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Speaker 1: on the way too, yet, long before he has reached
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Speaker 1: that supreme perfection, he will have found working in his
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Speaker 1: mind and life the great law which is absolutely just,
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Speaker 1: and which cannot therefore give good for evil evil for good.
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Speaker 1: Possessed of such knowledge, he will then know, looking back
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Speaker 1: upon his past ignorance and blindness, that his life is
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Speaker 1: and always was justly ordered, and that all his past experiences,
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Speaker 1: good and bad, were the equitable outworking of his evolving
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Speaker 1: yet unevolved self. Good thoughts and actions can never produce
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Speaker 1: bad results. Bad thoughts and actions can never produce good results.
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Speaker 1: This is but saying that nothing can come from corn
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Speaker 1: but corn, nothing from nettles but nettles. Men understand this
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Speaker 1: law in the natural world and work with it, but
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Speaker 1: few understand it in the mental and moral world, though
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Speaker 1: its operation there is just as simple and undeviating, and
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Speaker 1: they therefore do not cooperate with it. Suffering is always
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Speaker 1: the effect of wrong thought in some direction. It is
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Speaker 1: an indication that the individual is out of harmony with
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Speaker 1: himself with the law of his being. The soul, and
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Speaker 1: supreme use of suffering is to purify, to burn out
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Speaker 1: all that is useless and impure. Suffering cease for him
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Speaker 1: who is pure. There could be no object in burning
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Speaker 1: gold after the dross had been removed, and a perfectly
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Speaker 1: pure and enlightened being could not suffer. The circumstances which
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Speaker 1: a man encounters with suffering are the result of his
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Speaker 1: own mental in harmony. The circumstances which a man encounters
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Speaker 1: with blessedness are the result of his own mental harmony. Blessedness,
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Speaker 1: not material possessions, is the measure of right thought. Wretchedness,
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Speaker 1: not lack of material possessions, is the measure of wrong thought.
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Speaker 1: A man may be cursed and rich, he may be
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Speaker 1: blessed and poor. Blessedness and riches are only joined together
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Speaker 1: when the riches are rightly and wisely used, and the
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Speaker 1: poor man only descends into wretchedness when he regards his
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Speaker 1: lot as a burden unjustly imposed. Indigence and indulgence are
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Speaker 1: the two extremes of wretchedness. They are both equally unnatural
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Speaker 1: and the result of mental disorder. A man is not
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Speaker 1: rightly conditioned until he is a happy, healthy, and prosperous
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Speaker 1: being and happiness. Health and prosperity are the result of
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Speaker 1: a harmonious adjustment of the inner with the outer of
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Speaker 1: the man with his surroundings. A man only begins to
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Speaker 1: be a man when he ceases to whine and revile
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Speaker 1: and commences to search for the hidden justice which regulates
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Speaker 1: his life. And as he adapts his mind to that
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Speaker 1: regulating factor, he ceases to accuse others as the cause
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Speaker 1: of his condition and builds himself up in strong and
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Speaker 1: noble thoughts, ceases to kick against circumstances, but begins to
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Speaker 1: use them as aids to his more rapid progress, and
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Speaker 1: as a means of discovering the hidden powers and possibilities
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Speaker 1: within himself. Law, not confusion, is the dominating principle in
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Speaker 1: the universe. Justice, not in justice, is the soul and
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Speaker 1: substance of life, and righteousness not corruption, is the molding
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Speaker 1: and moving force in the spiritual government of the world.
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Speaker 1: This being so, man has but to right himself to
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Speaker 1: find that the universe is right. And during the process
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Speaker 1: of putting himself right, he will find that as he
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Speaker 1: alters his thoughts towards things and other people, things and
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Speaker 1: other people will alter towards him. The proof of this
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Speaker 1: truth is in every person, and it therefore admits of
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Speaker 1: easy investigation by systematic introspection and self analysis. Let a
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Speaker 1: man radically alter his thoughts, and he will be astonished
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Speaker 1: at the rapid transformation it will affect in the material
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Speaker 1: conditions of his life. Men imagine that thought can be
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Speaker 1: kept secret, but it cannot. It rapidly crystallizes into habit,
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Speaker 1: and habit solidifies into circumstance. Beast steal thoughts crystallize into
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Speaker 1: habits of drunkenness and sensuality, which solidify into circumstances of
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Speaker 1: destitution and disease. Impure thoughts of every kind crystallize into
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Speaker 1: innovating and confusing habits, which solidify into distracting and adverse circumstances.
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Speaker 1: Thoughts of fear, doubt, and indecision crystallize into weak, unmanly,
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Speaker 1: and irresolute habits, which solidify into circumstances of failure, indigence,
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Speaker 1: and slavish dependence. Lazy thoughts crystallize into habits of uncleanliness
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Speaker 1: and dishonesty, which solidify into circumstances of foulness and beggary.
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Speaker 1: Hateful and condemnatory thoughts crystallize into habits of accusation and violence,
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Speaker 1: which solidify into circumstances of injury and persecution. Selfish thoughts
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Speaker 1: of all kinds crystallize into habits of self seeking, which
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Speaker 1: solidify into circumstances more or less distressing. On the other hand,
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Speaker 1: beautiful thoughts of all kinds crystallize into habits of grace
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Speaker 1: and kindliness, which solidify into genial and sunny circumstances. Pure
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Speaker 1: thoughts crystallize into habits of temperance and self control, which
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Speaker 1: solidify into circumstances of repose and peace. Thoughts of courage,
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Speaker 1: self reliance, and decision crystallize into manly habits, which solidify
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Speaker 1: into circumstances of success, plenty, and freedom. Energetic thoughts crystallize
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Speaker 1: into habits of cleanliness and industry, which solidify into circumstances
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Speaker 1: of Gentle and forgiving thoughts crystallize into habits of gentleness,
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Speaker 1: which solidify into protective and preservative circumstances. Loving and unselfish
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Speaker 1: thoughts crystallize into habits of self forgetfulness for others, which
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Speaker 1: solidify into circumstances of sure and abiding prosperity and true riches.
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Speaker 1: A particular train of thought persisted in, be it good
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Speaker 1: or bad, cannot fail to produce its results on the
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Speaker 1: character and circumstances. A man cannot directly choose his circumstances,
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Speaker 1: but he can choose his thoughts, and so indirectly yet
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Speaker 1: surely shape his circumstances. Nature helps every man to the
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Speaker 1: gratification of the thoughts which he most encourages, And opportunities
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Speaker 1: are presented which will most speedily bring to the surface
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Speaker 1: both the good and evil thoughts. Let a man cease
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Speaker 1: from his sinful thoughts, and all the world will soften
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Speaker 1: towards him and be ready to help him. Let him
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Speaker 1: put away his weakly and sickly thoughts, and low opportunities
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Speaker 1: will spring up on every hand to aid his strong resolves.
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Speaker 1: Let him encourage good thoughts, and no hard fate shall
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Speaker 1: bind him down to wretchedness and shame. The world is
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Speaker 1: your kaleidoscope, and the varying combinations of colors which at
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Speaker 1: every succeeding moment it presents to you are the exquisitely
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Speaker 1: adjusted pictures of your ever moving thoughts. Quote so you
27:43
Speaker 1: will be what you will be. Let failure find its
27:47
Speaker 1: false content in that poor word environment, but spirit scorns
27:52
Speaker 1: it and is free. It masters time, it conquers space,
27:58
Speaker 1: It cows that boast trickster chance, and bids the tyrant
28:02
Speaker 1: circumstance uncrowned and fill a servant's place. The human will
28:08
Speaker 1: that force unseen, the offspring of a deathless soul, can
28:14
Speaker 1: hew a way to any goal. Though walls of granite intervene.
28:19
Speaker 1: Be not impatient in delays, but wait as one who understands.
28:24
Speaker 1: When Spirit rises and commands, the gods are ready to obey.
28:29
Speaker 1: Close quote end of chapter two, Chapter three, As a
28:37
Speaker 1: Man Thinketh by James Allen. This LibriVox recording is in
28:42
Speaker 1: the public domain. Chapter three. Effect of thought on health
28:48
Speaker 1: and the body. The body is the servant of the mind.
28:55
Speaker 1: It obeys the operations of the mind, whether they be
28:59
Speaker 1: deliberately chosen, are automatically expressed. At the bidding of unlawful thoughts,
29:04
Speaker 1: the body sinks rapidly into disease and decay. At the
29:09
Speaker 1: command of glad and beautiful thoughts, it becomes clothed with
29:13
Speaker 1: youthfulness and beauty. Disease and healthlike circumstances are rooted in thought.
29:21
Speaker 1: Sickly thoughts will express themselves through a sickly body. Thoughts
29:26
Speaker 1: of fear have been known to kill a man as
29:29
Speaker 1: speedily as a bullet, and they are continually killing thousands
29:33
Speaker 1: of people just as surely, though less rapidly. The people
29:38
Speaker 1: who live in fear of disease are the people who
29:41
Speaker 1: get it. Anxiety quickly demoralizes the whole body and lays
29:46
Speaker 1: it open to the entrance of disease. While impure thoughts,
29:50
Speaker 1: even if not physically indulged, will soon shatter the nervous system, strong,
29:57
Speaker 1: pure and happy thoughts build up the the body in
30:00
Speaker 1: vigor and grace. The body is a delicate and plastic
30:04
Speaker 1: instrument which responds readily to the thoughts by which it
30:08
Speaker 1: is impressed, and habits of thought will produce their own effects,
30:12
Speaker 1: good or bad, upon it. Men will continue to have
30:17
Speaker 1: impure and poisoned blood so long as they propagate unclean thoughts.
30:23
Speaker 1: Out of a clean heart comes a clean life and
30:26
Speaker 1: a clean body. Out of a defiled mind proceeds a
30:30
Speaker 1: defiled life and a corrupt body. Thought is the fount
30:35
Speaker 1: of action. Life and manifestation make the fountain pure, and
30:40
Speaker 1: all will be pure. Change of diet will not help
30:44
Speaker 1: a man who will not change his thoughts. When a
30:48
Speaker 1: man makes his thoughts pure, he no longer desires impure food.
30:53
Speaker 1: Clean thoughts make clean habits. The so called saint who
30:58
Speaker 1: does not wash his body is not a saint. He
31:02
Speaker 1: who has strengthened and purified his thoughts does not need
31:06
Speaker 1: to consider the malevolent microbe. If you would protect your body,
31:11
Speaker 1: guard your mind, If you would renew your body, beautify
31:15
Speaker 1: your mind. Thoughts of malice, envy, disappointment, despondency rob the
31:22
Speaker 1: body of its health and grace. A sour face does
31:25
Speaker 1: not come by chance. It is made by sour thoughts.
31:29
Speaker 1: Wrinkles that mar are drawn by folly, passion, and pride.
31:35
Speaker 1: I know a woman of ninety six who has the bright,
31:39
Speaker 1: innocent face of a girl. I know a man well
31:42
Speaker 1: under middle age whose face is drawn into inharmonious contours.
31:48
Speaker 1: The one is the result of a sweet and sunny disposition.
31:53
Speaker 1: The other is the outcome of passion and discontent. As
31:58
Speaker 1: you cannot have a sweet and wholesome abode unless you
32:01
Speaker 1: admit the air and sunshine freely into your rooms. So
32:05
Speaker 1: a strong body and a bright, happy, or serene countenance
32:09
Speaker 1: can only result from the free admittance into the mind
32:12
Speaker 1: of thoughts of joy and good will and serenity. On
32:17
Speaker 1: the faces of the aged. There are wrinkles made by sympathy,
32:21
Speaker 1: others by strong and pure thoughts, and others are carved
32:26
Speaker 1: by passion. Who cannot distinguish them with those who have
32:30
Speaker 1: lived righteously. Age is calm, peaceful, and softly mellowed, like
32:35
Speaker 1: besetting sun. I have recently seen a philosopher on its deathbed.
32:40
Speaker 1: He was not old except in years. He died as
32:45
Speaker 1: sweetly and peacefully as he had lived. There is no
32:49
Speaker 1: physician like cheerful thought for dissipating the ills of the body.
32:55
Speaker 1: There is no comforter to compare with good will for
32:58
Speaker 1: dispersing the shadows of grief and sorrow. To live continually
33:03
Speaker 1: in thoughts of ill will, cynicism, suspicion, and envy is
33:09
Speaker 1: to be confined in a self made prisonhole. But to
33:14
Speaker 1: think well of all, to be cheerful withal, to patiently
33:17
Speaker 1: learn to find the good in all. Such unselfish thoughts
33:22
Speaker 1: are the very portals of heaven. And to dwell day
33:26
Speaker 1: by day in thoughts of peace toward every creature will
33:29
Speaker 1: bring a bounding peace to their possessor. End of Chapter
33:34
Speaker 1: three chapter four of As a Man Thinketh by James Allen.
33:45
Speaker 1: This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Chapter four,
33:50
Speaker 1: Thought and Purpose. Until thought is linked with purpose, there
33:56
Speaker 1: is no intelligent accomplishment with the majority. The bark of
34:01
Speaker 1: thought is allowed to drift upon the ocean of life.
34:05
Speaker 1: Aimlessness is a vice, and such drifting must not continue
34:10
Speaker 1: for him who would steer clear of catastrophe and destruction.
34:14
Speaker 1: They who have no central purpose in their life fall
34:17
Speaker 1: an easy prey to petty worries, fears, troubles, and self pityings,
34:22
Speaker 1: all of which are indications of weakness, which lead just
34:26
Speaker 1: as surely as deliberately planned sins, though by a different
34:30
Speaker 1: route to failure. Unhappiness and loss, for weakness cannot persist
34:36
Speaker 1: in a power evolving universe. A man should conceive of
34:41
Speaker 1: a legitimate purpose in his heart and set out to
34:44
Speaker 1: accomplish it. He should make this purpose the centralizing point
34:49
Speaker 1: of his thoughts. It may take the form of a
34:52
Speaker 1: spiritual ideal, or it may be a worldly object according
34:57
Speaker 1: to his nature at the time being, But whichever it is,
35:01
Speaker 1: he should steadily focus his thought forces upon the object
35:05
Speaker 1: which he has set before him. He should make this
35:08
Speaker 1: purpose his supreme duty and devote himself to its attainment,
35:13
Speaker 1: not allowing his thoughts to wander away into ephemeral fancies, longings,
35:18
Speaker 1: and imaginings. This is the royal road to self control
35:23
Speaker 1: and true concentration of thought. Even if he fails again
35:28
Speaker 1: and again to accomplish his purpose, as he necessarily must,
35:32
Speaker 1: until weakness is overcome, the strength of character gained will
35:37
Speaker 1: be the measure of his true success, and this will
35:41
Speaker 1: form a new starting point for future power and triumph.
35:46
Speaker 1: Those who are not prepared for the apprehension of a
35:49
Speaker 1: great purpose should fix the thoughts upon the faultless performance
35:53
Speaker 1: of their duty, no matter how insignificant their task may appear.
35:58
Speaker 1: Only in this way can the thought thoughts be gathered in,
36:01
Speaker 1: focused and resolution and energy be developed, which being done,
36:05
Speaker 1: there is nothing which may not be accomplished. The weakest soul,
36:10
Speaker 1: knowing its own weakness, and believing this truth that strength
36:14
Speaker 1: can only be developed by effort and practice, will thus
36:18
Speaker 1: be laving at once begin to exert itself and adding
36:22
Speaker 1: effort to effort, patience to patience, and strength to strength,
36:26
Speaker 1: will never cease to develop, and will at last grow
36:30
Speaker 1: divinely strong as the physically weak man can make himself
36:36
Speaker 1: strong by careful and patient training. So the man of
36:40
Speaker 1: weak thoughts can make them strong by exercising himself in
36:44
Speaker 1: right thinking. To put away aimlessness and weakness, and to
36:49
Speaker 1: begin to think with purpose is to enter the ranks
36:52
Speaker 1: of those strong ones who only recognize failure as one
36:57
Speaker 1: of the pathways to attainment, make all conditions serve them,
37:02
Speaker 1: and who think strongly, attempt fearlessly, and accomplish masterfully. Having
37:10
Speaker 1: conceived of his purpose, a man should mentally mark out
37:13
Speaker 1: a straight pathway to his achievement, looking neither to the
37:17
Speaker 1: right nor the left. Doubts and fears should be rigorously excluded.
37:22
Speaker 1: They are disintegrating elements which break up the straight line
37:26
Speaker 1: of effort, rendering it crooked, ineffectual. Useless. Thoughts of doubt
37:33
Speaker 1: and fear never accomplish anything, and never can. They always
37:39
Speaker 1: lead to failure, Purpose, energy, power to do, and all
37:43
Speaker 1: strong thoughts cease when doubt and fear creep in. The
37:48
Speaker 1: will to do springs from the knowledge that we can do.
37:53
Speaker 1: Doubt and fear or the great enemies of knowledge, And
37:56
Speaker 1: he who encourages them, who does not slay them, warts
38:00
Speaker 1: himself at every step. He who has conquered doubt, and
38:05
Speaker 1: fear has conquered failure. His every thought is allied with power,
38:10
Speaker 1: and all difficulties are bravely met and wisely overcome. His
38:15
Speaker 1: purposes are seasonably planted, and they bloom and bring forth
38:20
Speaker 1: fruit which does not fall prematurely to the ground. Thought,
38:25
Speaker 1: allied fearlessly to purpose becomes creative force. He who knows
38:30
Speaker 1: this is ready to become something higher and stronger than
38:34
Speaker 1: a mere bundle of wavering thoughts and fluctuating sensations. He
38:39
Speaker 1: who does this has become the conscious and intelligent wielder
38:43
Speaker 1: of his mental powers. End of chapter four, Chapter five
38:53
Speaker 1: of As a Man Thinketh by James Allen. This LibriVox
38:58
Speaker 1: recording is in the public domain. Chapter five The thought
39:04
Speaker 1: factor in achievement. All that a man achieves and all
39:11
Speaker 1: that he fails to achieve, is the direct result of
39:15
Speaker 1: his own thoughts. In a justly ordered universe, where loss
39:21
Speaker 1: of equipose would mean total destruction, individual responsibility must be absolute.
39:28
Speaker 1: A man's weakness and strength, purity and impurity, are his own,
39:34
Speaker 1: and not another man's. They are brought about by himself
39:38
Speaker 1: and not by another, and they can only be altered
39:42
Speaker 1: by himself. Never by another. His condition is also his own,
39:48
Speaker 1: and not another man's. His suffering and his happiness are
39:53
Speaker 1: evolved from within. As he thinks, so he is as
39:59
Speaker 1: he can continues to think, so he remains. A strong
40:06
Speaker 1: man cannot help a weaker unless that weaker is willing
40:10
Speaker 1: to be helped. And even then the weak man must
40:13
Speaker 1: become strong of himself. He must, by his own efforts,
40:18
Speaker 1: develop the strength which he admires in another. None but
40:22
Speaker 1: himself can alter his condition. It has been usual for
40:28
Speaker 1: men to think and to say, many men are slaves
40:31
Speaker 1: because one is an oppressor, let us hate the oppressor. Now, however,
40:38
Speaker 1: there is, amongst an increasing few, a tendency to reverse
40:42
Speaker 1: this judgment and say, one man is an oppressor because
40:46
Speaker 1: many are slaves, Let us despise the slaves. The truth
40:53
Speaker 1: is that the oppressor and slave are co operators in ignorance,
40:58
Speaker 1: and while seeming to afflict to each other, are in
41:01
Speaker 1: reality afflicting themselves. A perfect knowledge perceives the action of
41:07
Speaker 1: law in the weakness of the oppressed and the missupplied
41:11
Speaker 1: power of the oppressor. A perfect love, seeing the suffering
41:16
Speaker 1: which both states entail, condemns neither a perfect compassion embraces
41:22
Speaker 1: both oppressor and oppressed. He who has conquered weakness and
41:28
Speaker 1: has put away all selfish thoughts belongs neither to oppressor
41:33
Speaker 1: nor oppressed. He is free. A man can only rise, conquer,
41:39
Speaker 1: and achieve by lifting up his thoughts. He can only
41:45
Speaker 1: remain weak and abject and miserable by refusing to lift
41:49
Speaker 1: up his thoughts. Before a man can achieve anything, even
41:54
Speaker 1: in worldly things, he must lift his thoughts above slavish
41:59
Speaker 1: and minaesimal indulgence. He may not, in order to succeed,
42:04
Speaker 1: give up all animality and selfishness by any means, but
42:09
Speaker 1: a portion of it must at least be sacrificed. A
42:14
Speaker 1: man whose first thought is besteel indulgence could neither think
42:19
Speaker 1: clearly nor plan methodically. He could not find and develop
42:23
Speaker 1: his latent resources, and would fail in any undertaking. Not
42:28
Speaker 1: having commenced to manfully control his thoughts, he is not
42:32
Speaker 1: in a position to control affairs and to adopt serious responsibilities.
42:38
Speaker 1: He is not fit to act independently and stand alone.
42:43
Speaker 1: But he is limited only by the thoughts which he chooses.
42:50
Speaker 1: There can be no progress, no achievement without sacrifice, and
42:54
Speaker 1: a man's worldly success will be in the measure that
42:57
Speaker 1: he sacrifices his confused animal thoughts and fixes his mind
43:02
Speaker 1: on the development of his plans and the strengthening of
43:06
Speaker 1: his resolution and self reliance. And the higher he lifts
43:11
Speaker 1: his thoughts, the more manly, upright, and righteous he becomes.
43:15
Speaker 1: The greater will be his success, the more blessed and
43:19
Speaker 1: enduring will be his achievements. The universe does not favor
43:24
Speaker 1: the greedy, the dishonest, the vicious, although on the mere
43:29
Speaker 1: surface it may sometimes appear to do so. It helps
43:33
Speaker 1: the honest, the magnanimous, the virtuous. All the great teachers
43:38
Speaker 1: of the ages have declared this in varying forms, and
43:41
Speaker 1: to prove and know it, a man has but to
43:45
Speaker 1: persist in making himself more and more virtuous by lifting
43:49
Speaker 1: up his thoughts. Intellectual achievements are the result of thought
43:54
Speaker 1: consecrated to the search for knowledge, are for the beautiful
43:57
Speaker 1: and true in life and nature. Such achievements may be
44:01
Speaker 1: sometimes connected with vanity and ambition, but they are not
44:05
Speaker 1: the outcome of those characteristics. They are the natural outgrowth
44:10
Speaker 1: of long and arduous effort and of pure and unselfish thoughts.
44:17
Speaker 1: Spiritual achievements are the consummation of holy aspirations. He who
44:23
Speaker 1: lives constantly in the conception of noble and lofty thoughts,
44:28
Speaker 1: who dwells upon all that is pure and unselfish, will,
44:32
Speaker 1: as surely as the sun reaches its zenith and the
44:35
Speaker 1: moon is full, become wise and noble in character, and
44:40
Speaker 1: rise into a position of influence and blessedness. Achievement of
44:46
Speaker 1: whatever kind is the crown of effort, the diadem of thought.
44:51
Speaker 1: By the aid of self control, resolution, purity, righteousness, and
44:56
Speaker 1: well directed thought, a man as sinds by the aid
45:01
Speaker 1: of animalty, indolence, impurity, corruption, and confusion of thought, a
45:06
Speaker 1: man descends. A man may rise to high success in
45:12
Speaker 1: the world, and even to lofty altitudes in the spiritual realm,
45:17
Speaker 1: and again descend into weakness and wretchedness by allowing arrogant, selfish,
45:23
Speaker 1: and corrupt thoughts to take possession of him. Victories attained
45:27
Speaker 1: by right thought can only be maintained by watchfulness. Many
45:33
Speaker 1: give way when success is assured, and rapidly fall back
45:38
Speaker 1: into failure. All achievements, whether in the business, intellectual, or
45:44
Speaker 1: spiritual world, are the result of definitely directed thought, are
45:49
Speaker 1: governed by the same law, and are of the same method.
45:54
Speaker 1: The only difference lies in the object of attainment. He
45:59
Speaker 1: who accomplish little must sacrifice little. He who would achieve
46:04
Speaker 1: much must sacrifice much. He who would attain highly must
46:10
Speaker 1: sacrifice greatly. End of chapter five, Chapter six of As
46:22
Speaker 1: a Man Thinketh by James Allen. This LibriVox recording is
46:27
Speaker 1: in the public domain. Chapter six Visions and Ideals. The
46:37
Speaker 1: dreamers are the saviors of the world. As the visible
46:41
Speaker 1: world is sustained by the invisible, So men, through all
46:46
Speaker 1: their trials and sins and starded vocations, are nourished by
46:50
Speaker 1: the beautiful visions of their solitary dreamers. Humanity cannot forget
46:56
Speaker 1: its dreamers. It cannot let their ideals fade and die.
47:01
Speaker 1: It lives in them. It knows them as their realities,
47:05
Speaker 1: which it shall one day see and know. Composer, sculptor, painter, poet, prophet, sage.
47:16
Speaker 1: These are the makers of the after world, the architects
47:20
Speaker 1: of heaven. The world is beautiful because they have lived.
47:25
Speaker 1: Without them, laboring, humanity would perish. He who cherishes a
47:30
Speaker 1: beautiful vision, a lofty ideal in his heart, will one
47:35
Speaker 1: day realize it. Columbus cherished a vision of another world,
47:40
Speaker 1: and he discovered it. Copernicus fostered the vision of a
47:44
Speaker 1: multiplicity of worlds and a wider universe, and he revealed it.
47:49
Speaker 1: Buddha beheld the vision of a spiritual world, of stainless
47:53
Speaker 1: beauty and perfect peace, and he entered into it. Cherish
47:59
Speaker 1: your Cherish your ideals, Cherish the music that stirs in
48:05
Speaker 1: your heart, the beauty that farms in your mind, the
48:09
Speaker 1: loveliness that drapes your purest thoughts. Far out of them
48:14
Speaker 1: will grow all delightful conditions, all heavenly environment. Of these.
48:20
Speaker 1: If you but remain true to them, your world will
48:23
Speaker 1: at last be built. To desire is to obtain. To
48:30
Speaker 1: aspire to is to achieve. Shall man's basest desires receive
48:36
Speaker 1: the fullest measure of gratification, and his purest aspirations starve
48:41
Speaker 1: for lack of sustenance. Such is not the law. Such
48:46
Speaker 1: a condition of things can never obtain. Ask and receive.
48:53
Speaker 1: Dream lofty dreams. And as you dream, so shall you become.
49:00
Speaker 1: Your vision is the promise of what you shall one
49:03
Speaker 1: day be. Your ideal is the prophecy of what you
49:07
Speaker 1: shall at last unveil. The greatest achievement was at first
49:14
Speaker 1: and for a time a dream. The oak sleeps in
49:18
Speaker 1: the acorn, the bird waits in the egg, and in
49:22
Speaker 1: the highest vision of the soul, a waking angel stirs.
49:28
Speaker 1: Dreams are the seedlings of realities. Your circumstances may be uncongenial,
49:35
Speaker 1: but they shall not long remain so. If you but
49:38
Speaker 1: perceive an ideal and strive to reach it, you cannot
49:44
Speaker 1: travel within and stand still without. Here is a youth
49:50
Speaker 1: hard pressed by poverty and labor, confined long hours in
49:54
Speaker 1: an unhealthy workshop, unschooled and lacking all the arts of refinement.
50:00
Speaker 1: But he dreams of better things. He thinks of intelligence,
50:06
Speaker 1: of refinement, of grace and beauty. He conceives of mentally
50:11
Speaker 1: builds up an ideal condition of life. The vision of
50:16
Speaker 1: a wider liberty and a larger scope takes possession of him,
50:21
Speaker 1: unrest urges him to action, and he utilizes all his
50:25
Speaker 1: spare time and means, small though they are, to the
50:29
Speaker 1: development of his latent powers and resources. Very soon, so
50:35
Speaker 1: altered has his mind become that the workshop can no
50:39
Speaker 1: longer hold him. It has become so out of harmony
50:43
Speaker 1: with his mentality that it falls out of his life
50:47
Speaker 1: as a garment is cast aside, and with the growth
50:50
Speaker 1: of opportunities which fit the scope of his expanding powers,
50:55
Speaker 1: he passes out of it. Forever. Years later, we see
51:00
Speaker 1: this youth as a full grown man. We find him
51:03
Speaker 1: a master of certain forces of the mind, which he
51:07
Speaker 1: wields with world wide influence and almost unequaled power. In
51:13
Speaker 1: his hands, he holds the chords of gigantic responsibilities. He speaks,
51:20
Speaker 1: and low lives are changed. Men and women hang upon
51:24
Speaker 1: his words and remold their characters, and sunlike he becomes
51:29
Speaker 1: the fixed and luminous center round which innumerable destinies revolve.
51:36
Speaker 1: He has realized the vision of his youth. He has
51:40
Speaker 1: become one with his ideal. And you, too, youthful reader,
51:46
Speaker 1: will realize the vision, not the idle wish of your heart,
51:50
Speaker 1: be it base or beautiful, or a mixture of both,
51:55
Speaker 1: For you will always gravitate toward that which you secretly
51:59
Speaker 1: love most. Into your hands will replaced the exact results
52:06
Speaker 1: of your own thoughts. You will receive that which you earn,
52:10
Speaker 1: no more, no less. Whatever your present environment may be,
52:16
Speaker 1: you will fall, remain, or rise with your thoughts, your vision,
52:21
Speaker 1: your ideal. You will become as small as your controlling
52:26
Speaker 1: desire as great as your dominant aspiration. In the beautiful
52:31
Speaker 1: words of Stanton Kirkman Davis. Quote, you may be keeping accounts,
52:37
Speaker 1: and presently you shall walk out of the door that
52:40
Speaker 1: for so long has seen to you the barrier of
52:42
Speaker 1: your ideals, and shall find yourself before an audience, the
52:47
Speaker 1: pin still behind your ear, the ink stains on your fingers,
52:52
Speaker 1: And then and there shall pour out the torrent of
52:56
Speaker 1: your inspiration. You may be driving sheep, and you shall
53:01
Speaker 1: wander to the city, bucolic and open mouthed, shall wander,
53:06
Speaker 1: under the intrepid guidance of the spirit, into the studio
53:10
Speaker 1: of the Master. And after a time he shall say,
53:14
Speaker 1: I have nothing more to teach you. And now you
53:18
Speaker 1: have become the master who so recently dreamt of great
53:22
Speaker 1: things while driving sheep. You shall lay down the saw
53:26
Speaker 1: and the plane to take upon yourself the regeneration of
53:31
Speaker 1: the world. Close quote. The thoughtless, the ignorant, and the indolent,
53:38
Speaker 1: seeing only the apparent effects of things, and not the
53:41
Speaker 1: things themselves, talk of luck of fortune and chance. Seeing
53:47
Speaker 1: a man grow rich, they say how lucky he is.
53:51
Speaker 1: Observing another become intellectual, they exclaim, how highly favored he is,
53:56
Speaker 1: and noting the saintly character and wide in influence of another,
54:00
Speaker 1: they remark how chance aids him at every turn. They
54:07
Speaker 1: do not see the trials and failures and struggles which
54:12
Speaker 1: these men have voluntarily encountered in order to gain their experience.
54:17
Speaker 1: Have no knowledge of the sacrifices they have made, of
54:20
Speaker 1: the undaunted efforts they have put forth, of the faith
54:24
Speaker 1: they have exercised that they might overcome the apparently insurmountable
54:31
Speaker 1: and realize the vision of their heart. They do not
54:34
Speaker 1: know the darkness and the heartaches. They only see the
54:38
Speaker 1: light and joy, and call it luck. They do not
54:42
Speaker 1: see the long and arduous journey, but only behold the
54:47
Speaker 1: pleasant goal and call it good fortune. Do not understand
54:52
Speaker 1: the process, but only perceive the result and call it chance.
54:58
Speaker 1: In all human affairs, there are efforts and there are results,
55:04
Speaker 1: And the strength of the effort is the measure of
55:07
Speaker 1: the result. Chance is not Gifts. Powers, material, intellectual, and
55:14
Speaker 1: spiritual possessions are the fruits of effort. They are thoughts, completed, objects, accomplished,
55:21
Speaker 1: visions realized. The vision that you glorify in your mind,
55:28
Speaker 1: the ideal that you enthrone in your heart, This you
55:32
Speaker 1: will build your life. By this you will become end
55:38
Speaker 1: of chapter six, Chapter seven of As a Man Thinketh
55:47
Speaker 1: by James Allen. This labory vox recording is in the
55:51
Speaker 1: public domain. Chapter seven. Serenity calmness of mind is one
56:02
Speaker 1: of the beautiful jewels of wisdom. It is the result
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Speaker 1: of long and patient effort and self control. Its presence
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Speaker 1: is an indication of ripened experience and of a more
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Speaker 1: than ordinary knowledge of the laws and operations of thought.
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Speaker 1: A man becomes calm in the measure that he understands
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Speaker 1: himself as a thought evolved being, for such knowledge necessitates
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Speaker 1: the understanding of others as the result of thought. And
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Speaker 1: as he develops a right understanding and sees more and
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Speaker 1: more clearly the internal relations of things by the action
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Speaker 1: of cause and effect, he ceases to fuss and fume,
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Speaker 1: and worry and grieve, and remains poised, steadfast, serene. The
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Speaker 1: calm man, having learned how to govern himself, knows how
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Speaker 1: to adapt himself to others, and they, in turn reverence
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Speaker 1: his spiritual strength and feel that they can learn of
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Speaker 1: him and rely upon him. The more tranquil a man becomes,
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Speaker 1: the greater is his success, his influence, his power, for good.
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Speaker 1: Even the ordinary traitor will find his business prosperity increase
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Speaker 1: as he develops a greater self control and equanimity. For
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Speaker 1: people will always prefer to deal with a man whose
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Speaker 1: demeanor is strongly equitable. The strong, calm man is always
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Speaker 1: loved and revered. He is like a shade giving tree
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Speaker 1: in a thirsty land, or a sheltering rock in a storm.
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Speaker 1: Who does not love a tranquil heart, a sweet, tempered,
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Speaker 1: balanced life. It does not matter whether it rains or shines,
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Speaker 1: or what changes come to those possessing these blessings, for
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Speaker 1: they are always serene and calm. That exquisite poise of character,
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Speaker 1: which we call serenity, is the last lesson of culture,
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Speaker 1: the fruitage of the soul. It is precious as wisdom,
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Speaker 1: more to be desired than gold, yea than even fine gold.
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Speaker 1: How insignificant mere money seeking looks in comparison with a
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Speaker 1: serene life, a life that dwells in the ocean of truth,
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Speaker 1: beneath the waves, beyond the reach of tempests, in the
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Speaker 1: eternal calm. How many people we know who sour their lives,
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Speaker 1: who ruin all that is sweet and beautiful by explosive
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Speaker 1: tempers who destroy their poise of character and make bad blood.
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Speaker 1: It is a question whether the great majority of people
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Speaker 1: do not ruin their lives, and more their happiness, by
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Speaker 1: lack of self control. How few people we meet in
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Speaker 1: life who are well balanced, who have that exquisite poise
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Speaker 1: which is characteristic of the finished character. Yes, humanity surges
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Speaker 1: with uncontrolled passion, is tumultuous, with ungoverned grief, is blown
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Speaker 1: about by anxiety and doubt. Only the wise man, only
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Speaker 1: he whose thoughts are controlled and purified, makes the winds
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Speaker 1: and the storms of the soul obey him. Tempest tossed souls.
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Speaker 1: Wherever ye may be, under whatsoever conditions ye may live,
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Speaker 1: know this. In the ocean of life, the isles of
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Speaker 1: blessedness are smiling, and the sunny shore of your ideal
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Speaker 1: awaits your coming. Keep your hand firmly upon the helm
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Speaker 1: of thought. In the bark of your soul reclines the
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Speaker 1: commanding master. He does but sleep wake him self. Control
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Speaker 1: is stress, Right, thought is mastery, Calmness is power. Say
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Speaker 1: unto your heart, peace be still. End of chapter seven.
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Speaker 1: End of as Amen Thinketh by James Allen. This book
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Speaker 1: recorded by phil Shinever