Thoughts, Takeaways and Quotes
As A Man Thinketh is a literary essay published over a hundred years ago by James Allen, a British philosophical writer.
The main theme revolves around harnessing the power of thought. We often don’t comprehend our mind is the most powerful tool any of us will ever posse.
This is a self-help classic for a reason, deffo one of the books that everyone should read at least once in their lives.
Thought & Character
A man is literally what he thinks, his character being the complete sum of all his thoughts.
As A Man Thinketh by James Allen
Act is the blossom of thought, and joy and suffering are its fruits.
As A Man Thinketh by James Allen
As cliche as it may sound, our life and our destiny are shaped by our thoughts and actions. What you do is the result of what you think.
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.
As A Man Thinketh by James Allen
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.
As A Man Thinketh by James Allen
Thought & Circumstances
Man’s mind may be likened to a garden, which may be intelligently cultivated or allowed to run wild; but whether cultivated or neglected, it must, and will, bring forth. If no useful seeds are put into it, then an abundance of useless wee-seeds will fall therein, and will continue to produce their kind.
As A Man Thinketh by James Allen
Just as a gardener cultivates his plot, keeping it free from weeds, and growing the flowers and fruits which he requires, so may a man tend the garden of his mind, weeding out all the wrong, useless, and impure thoughts, and cultivating toward perfection of the flowers and fruits of right, useful, and pure thoughts. By pursuing this process, a man sooner or later discovers that he is the master gardener of his soul, the director of this life.
As A Man Thinketh by James Allen
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.
As A Man Thinketh by James Allen
I really like the “your mind is like a garden” analogy. You reap what you sow and you keep what you reap. A bit off track here, but so many life lessons you can learn from gardening take pruning, for example, snipping those offshoots help direct its resources towards producing larger fruits. Let go of the stuff that drains your time and energy.
The outer world of circumstance shapes itself to the inner world of thought, and both pleasant and unpleasant external conditions are factors, which make for the ultimate good of the individual. As the reaper of his own harvest, man learns both by suffering and bliss.
As A Man Thinketh by James Allen
Our inner world of thoughts are susceptible to the outer world. But you’re free to choose how you respond to the circumstances. Focus on what’s within your control. Your choices of action may be limited but the choices of thought are not.
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.
As A Man Thinketh by James Allen
“There’s a divinity that shapes our ends” a line from Shakespeare’s Hamlet. It means that God is always guiding us in the right direction. James Allen argues that we write our own destiny.
Men are anxious to improve their circumstances, but are unwilling to improve themselves; they therefore remain bound.
As A Man Thinketh by James Allen
Don’t just make resolutions, create a plan and act on it!
The world is your kaleidoscope, and the varying combinations of colours, which at every suceeding moment it presents to you are the exquisitely adjusted pictures of your ever-moving thoughts.
As A Man Thinketh by James Allen
I LOOOOOVE THIS!
Thought & Purpose
Until thought is linked with purpose there is no intelligent acomplishment.
As A Man Thinketh by James Allen
A man should conceive of a legitimate purpose in his heart, and set out to accomplish it. He should make this purpose the centralising point of this thoughts.
As A Man Thinketh by James Allen
The Thought-factor in Achievement
As he thinks, so he is; as he continues to think, so he remains.
As A Man Thinketh by James Allen
He is limited only by the thoughts, which he chooses.
As A Man Thinketh by James Allen
He who would accomplish little must sacrifice little, he who would achieve much must sacrifice much; he who would attain highly must sacrifice greatly.
As A Man Thinketh by James Allen
In life, we have to put in the effort, and for sure we have to sacrifice to achieve success as an outcome. As I always say, everything is a tradeoff.
Visions & Ideas
The dreamers are the saviours of the world. As the visiable world is sustained by the invisible, so men, through all their trials and sin and sordid vocations, are nourished by the beautiful visions of the solitary dreamers.
As A Man Thinketh by James Allen
Cherish your visions; cherish your ideals.
As A Man Thinketh by James Allen
Dreams are the seedlings of realities.
As A Man Thinketh by James Allen
In all human affairs there are effect, and there are results, and the strenght 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 realised.
As A Man Thinketh by James Allen
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.
As A Man Thinketh by James Allen
Self-control is strength; right thought is mastery; calmness is power.
As A Man Thinketh by James Allen
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