`A person is what he thinks about all day long.’
-Emerson
’Dream lofty dreams, and as you dream, so shall you become.’
As a Man Thinketh was written by James Allen in 1904. That is more than 100 years ago. But even after such a long gap the teachings of this book are as fresh & vital as they were when James Allen wrote it. Almost a hundred years after publication, the book continues to get rave reviews from readers. The plain prose and absence of hype are appealing within a genre that contains sensational claims and personalities, and the fact that we know so little about Allen makes the work somehow more intriguing.
As A Man Thinketh has influenced many contemporary writers including Norman Vincent Peale, Earl Nightingale, Denis Waitley and Tony Robbins, among others. In the way it identified universal laws and applied them to the mechanics of desire and prosperity, the book was the 20th century’s first self-help classic.
The book teaches you how to change your own destiny. And, more importantly, it makes you belive that you yourself are in total control of that destiny. It helps you overcome negative circumstances & look at life more positively.It helps you take charge of your life and make it more exciting. It gives new directions to your life which at times feels lost. Allen noted, when we curtail our negative and destructive thoughts, `All the world softens towards us, and is ready to help us.’ We attract not only what we love - but what we fear. His explanation for why this happens is simple: those thoughts which receive our attention, good or bad, go into the unconscious to become the fuel for later events in the real world.
My favourite part in the book is where Allen discusses about circumstances which define our life. In Allen’s words `Circumstances do not make a person, they reveal him.’.What he tries to make clear here is that defensive actions like blaming the perpetrator will only further run the wheels into the rut. What measures us, what reveals us, is how we use those circumstances as an aid or spur to progress. A successful person or community, in short, is that which can process failure with the most efficiency.
A great book on positive attitude written very first in its kind. Do read it if you can lay your hands on it.