This is a detailed book summary of As a Man Thinketh by James Allen (Amazon).
It lives up to the hype. As a Man Thinketh is like the combination of highlights from Man’s Search for Meaning + The Alchemist + The Untethered Soul + The Purpose Driven Life and more.
Mind is the Master power that moulds and makes,
— James Allen
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.
As a Man Thinketh is so short that I recommend reading it in full. If you’d rather watch a summary, this one is pretty good:
Quick Housekeeping:
- All quotes are by the author unless otherwise stated.
- I’ve added emphasis to some quotes throughout this post in bold.
Book Summary Contents: Click a link to jump to a section below
- Short Overview of the Book
- Mind is a Garden
- Thought and Character
- Thought and Choice / Responsibility
- Effect of Thought on Circumstances
- On the Soul
- On Fate, Nature, & Universal Intelligence
- Thought → Habit → Circumstance
- Thought and Suffering
- Effect of Thought on Health and the Body
- On Serenity
- On Weakness & Fear
- Thought and Purpose
- The Thought-Factor in Achievement
- On Visions and Ideals
Thoughts on Thoughts: As a Man Thinketh by James Allen (Book Summary)
Short Overview of the Book
“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 fruitful 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.“
- “This little volume (the result of meditation and experience) is not intended as an exhaustive treatise on the much-written-upon subject of the power of thought. It is suggestive rather than explanatory, its object being to stimulate men and women to the discovery and perception of the truth that—’They themselves are makers of themselves.’ by virtue of the thoughts, which they choose and encourage; that mind is the master-weaver, both of the inner garment of character and the outer garment of circumstance, and that, as they may have hitherto woven in ignorance and pain they may now weave in enlightenment and happiness.”
- “Thought is the fount of action, life, and manifestation; make the fountain pure, and all will be pure.”
- “Such is the conscious master, and man can only thus become by discovering within himself the laws of thought; which discovery is totally a matter of application, self analysis, and experience.”
- “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 co-operate with it.”
Mind is a Garden
“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.“
- “Every thought-seed sown or allowed to fall into the mind, and to take root there, produces its own, blossoming sooner or later into act, and bearing its own fruitage of opportunity and circumstance. Good thoughts bear good fruit, bad thoughts bad fruit.“
- “Act is the blossom of thought, and joy and suffering are its fruits; thus does a man garner in the sweet and bitter fruitage of his own husbandry.”
- “As the reaper of his own harvest, man learns both by suffering and bliss.”
- “By pursuing this process, a man sooner or later discovers that he is the master gardener of his soul, the director of his life.”
Thought and Character
“The aphorism, ‘As a man thinketh in his heart so is he,’ not only embraces the whole of a man’s being, but is so comprehensive as to reach out to every condition and circumstance of his life. A man is literally what he thinks, his character being the complete sum of all his thoughts.“
- “A noble and Godlike character is not a thing of favour or chance, but is the natural result of continued effort in right thinking, the effect of long-cherished association with Godlike thoughts.”
- “In this direction, as in no other, is the law absolute that ‘He that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened;’ for only by patience, practice, and ceaseless importunity can a man enter the Door of the Temple of Knowledge.”
Thought and Choice / Responsibility
“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 true application of thought, man ascends to the Divine Perfection; by the abuse and 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 master.”
- “As a being of Power, Intelligence, and Love, and the lord of his own thoughts, man holds the key to every situation, and contains within himself that transforming and regenerative agency by which he may make himself what he wills.”
- “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.”
- “A man cannot directly choose his circumstances, but he can choose his thoughts, and so indirectly, yet surely, shape his circumstances.”
Effect of Thought on Circumstances
“Thought and character are one, and as character can only manifest and discover itself through environment and circumstance, the outer conditions of a person’s life will always be found to be harmoniously related to his inner state.“
- “Circumstance does not make the man; it reveals him to himself.”
- “In the light of this truth, what, then, is the meaning of ‘fighting against circumstances?’ It means that a man is continually revolting against an effect without, while all the time he is nourishing and preserving its cause in his heart.”
- “As a progressive and evolving being, man is where he is that he may learn that he may grow; and as he learns the spiritual lesson which any circumstance contains for him, it passes away and gives place to other circumstances.”
- “Possessed of such knowledge, he will then know, looking back upon his past ignorance and blindness, that his life is, and always was, justly ordered, and that all his past experiences, good and bad, were the equitable outworking of his evolving, yet unevolved self.”
On the Soul
“Only by much searching and mining, are gold and diamonds obtained, and man can find every truth connected with his being, if he will dig deep into the mine of his soul.”
- “The soul attracts that which it secretly harbours; that which it loves, and also that which it fears; it reaches the height of its cherished aspirations; it falls to the level of its unchastened desires,—and circumstances are the means by which the soul receives its own.”
- “Even at birth the soul comes to its own and through every step of its earthly pilgrimage it attracts those combinations of conditions which reveal itself, which are the reflections of its own purity and, impurity, its strength and weakness.”
- “Men do not attract that which they want, but that which they are.“
On Fate, Nature, & Universal Intelligence
“Man has but to right himself to find that the universe is right; and during the process of putting himself right he will find that as he alters his thoughts towards things and other people, things and other people will alter towards him.”
- “The ‘divinity that shapes our ends’ is in ourselves; it is our very self. Only himself manacles man: thought and action are the gaolers of Fate—they imprison, being base; they are also the angels of Freedom—they liberate, being noble. Not what he wishes and prays for does a man get, but what he justly earns. His wishes and prayers are only gratified and answered when they harmonize with his thoughts and actions.“
- “Nature helps every man to the gratification of the thoughts, which he most encourages, and opportunities are presented which will most speedily bring to the surface both the good and evil thoughts.”
- “In a justly ordered universe, where loss of equipoise would mean total destruction, individual responsibility must be absolute.”
- “The universe does not favour the greedy, the dishonest, the vicious, although on the mere surface it may sometimes appear to do so; it helps the honest, the magnanimous, the virtuous. All the great Teachers of the ages have declared this in varying forms, and to prove and know it a man has but to persist in making himself more and more virtuous by lifting up his thoughts.“
Thought → Habit → Circumstance
“Men imagine that thought can be kept secret, but it cannot; it rapidly crystallizes into habit, and habit solidifies into circumstance.”
- “As he thinks, so he is; as he continues to think, so he remains.”
- “Clean thoughts make clean habits.”
I’ve paraphrased the following text to emphasize the process of thought → habit → circumstance (which reminds me of belief → behavior → who you become from Rick Warren, author of The Purpose Driven Life):
- “beautiful thoughts of all kinds → crystallize into habits of grace and kindliness → which solidify into genial and sunny circumstances“
- “pure thoughts → crystallize into habits of temperance and self-control → which solidify into circumstances of repose and peace”
- “thoughts of courage, self-reliance, and decision → crystallize into manly habits → which solidify into circumstances of success, plenty, and freedom”
- “energetic thoughts → crystallize into habits of cleanliness and industry → which solidify into circumstances of pleasantness”
- “gentle and forgiving thoughts → crystallize into habits of gentleness → which solidify into protective and preservative circumstances“
- “loving and unselfish thoughts → crystallize into habits of self-forgetfulness for others → which solidify into circumstances of sure and abiding prosperity and true riches”
Thought and Suffering
“Suffering is always the effect of wrong thought in some direction. It is an indication that the individual is out of harmony with himself, with the Law of his being. The sole and supreme use of suffering is to purify, to burn out all that is useless and impure. Suffering ceases for him who is pure. There could be no object in burning gold after the dross had been removed, and a perfectly pure and enlightened being could not suffer.”
Effect of Thought on Health and the Body
“The body is the servant of the mind. It obeys the operations of the mind, whether they be deliberately chosen or automatically expressed.”
- “Disease and health, like circumstances, are rooted in thought.”
- “Out of a clean heart comes a clean life and a clean body.”
- “There is no physician like cheerful thought for dissipating the ills of the body; there is no comforter to compare with goodwill for dispersing the shadows of grief and sorrow.”
On Serenity
“Calmness of mind is one of the beautiful jewels of wisdom. It is the result of long and patient effort in self-control. Its presence is an indication of ripened experience, and of a more than ordinary knowledge of the laws and operations of thought.”
- “A man becomes calm in the measure that he understands himself as a thought evolved being, for such knowledge necessitates the understanding of others as the result of thought, and as he develops a right understanding, and sees more and more clearly the internal relations of things by the action of cause and effect he ceases to fuss and fume and worry and grieve, and remains poised, steadfast, serene.”
- “The more tranquil a man becomes, the greater is his success, his influence, his power for good.”
- “Self-control is strength; Right Thought is mastery; Calmness is power.”
On Weakness & Fear
“The weakest soul, knowing its own weakness, and believing this truth that strength can only be developed by effort and practice, will, thus believing, at once begin to exert itself, and, adding effort to effort, patience to patience, and strength to strength, will never cease to develop, and will at last grow divinely strong.”
- “Purpose, energy, power to do, and all strong thoughts cease when doubt and fear creep in.”
- “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.”
- “He who has conquered weakness, and has put away all selfish thoughts, belongs neither to oppressor nor oppressed. He is free.“
Thought and Purpose
“Thought allied fearlessly to purpose becomes creative force: he who knows this is ready to become something higher and stronger than a mere bundle of wavering thoughts and fluctuating sensations; he who does this has become the conscious and intelligent wielder of his mental powers.”
- “A man should conceive of a legitimate purpose in his heart, and set out to accomplish it. He should make this purpose the centralizing point of his thoughts. It may take the form of a spiritual ideal, or it may be a worldly object, according to his nature at the time being; but whichever it is, he should steadily focus his thought-forces upon the object, which he has set before him. He should make this purpose his supreme duty, and should devote himself to its attainment, not allowing his thoughts to wander away into ephemeral fancies, longings, and imaginings. This is the royal road to self-control and true concentration of thought. Even if he fails again and again to accomplish his purpose (as he necessarily must until weakness is overcome), the strength of character gained will be the measure of his true success, and this will form a new starting-point for future power and triumph.”
- “To put away aimlessness and weakness, and to begin to think with purpose, is to enter the ranks of those strong ones who only recognize failure as one of the pathways to attainment; who make all conditions serve them, and who think strongly, attempt fearlessly, and accomplish masterfully.”
- “The will to do springs from the knowledge that we can do.”
- “Until thought is linked with purpose there is no intelligent accomplishment.”
The Thought-Factor in Achievement
“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. Gifts, powers, material, intellectual, and spiritual possessions are the fruits of effort; they are thoughts completed, objects accomplished, visions realized.”
- “Intellectual achievements are the result of thought consecrated to the search for knowledge, or for the beautiful and true in life and nature. Such achievements may be sometimes connected with vanity and ambition, but they are not the outcome of those characteristics; they are the natural outgrowth of long and arduous effort, and of pure and unselfish thoughts.”
- “Spiritual achievements are the consummation of holy aspirations. He who lives constantly in the conception of noble and lofty thoughts, who dwells upon all that is pure and unselfish, will, as surely as the sun reaches its zenith and the moon its full, become wise and noble in character, and rise into a position of influence and blessedness.”
- “A man is not rightly conditioned until he is a happy, healthy, and prosperous being; and happiness, health, and prosperity are the result of a harmonious adjustment of the inner with the outer, of the man with his surroundings.”
- “You cannot travel within and stand still without.”
On Visions and Ideals
“And you, too, youthful reader, will realize the Vision (not the idle wish) of your heart, be it base or beautiful, or a mixture of both, for you will always gravitate toward that which you, secretly, most love. Into your hands will be placed the exact results of your own thoughts; you will receive that which you earn; no more, no less. Whatever your present environment may be, you will fall, remain, or rise with your thoughts, your Vision, your Ideal. You will become as small as your controlling desire; as great as your dominant aspiration.”
- “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 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.”
- “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 out of them will grow all delightful conditions, all, heavenly environment; of these, if you but remain true to them, your world will at last be built.”
- “Humanity cannot forget its dreamers; it cannot let their ideals fade and die; it lives in them; it knows them as the realities which it shall one day see and know.”
- “Dreams are the seedlings of realities.”
- “The greatest achievement was at first and for a time a dream.”
- “The dreamers are the saviours of the world.”
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