Allen's most enduring classic.
Mind is the Master power that moulds and makes,
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.
Chapter 1 starts with this quote from the Dhammapada.
The most popular and well-known of Allen's bestselling self-help books, As A Man Thinketh is a pocket companion for thoughtful people, about the power and right application of thought.
Allen said the book deals "with the power of thought, and particularly with the use and application of thought to happy and beautiful issues. I have tried to make the book simple, so that all can easily grasp and follow its teaching, and put into practice the methods which it advises. It shows how, in his own thought-world, each man holds the key to every condition, good or bad, that enters into his life, and that, by working patiently and intelligently upon his thoughts, he may remake his life, and transform his circumstances.
Available in over 2000 editions and a dozen languages, the aim of this tiny masterpiece was to create "A book that will help you to help yourself."
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James Allen was on of the very earliest self-help gurus, blending Buddhist and Taoist thought in with the eminent practicality and groundedness of a Victorian Englishman, born in poverty, with a father murdered when he was 15. A quiet, gentle man, he spoke with a conviction that rings and resonates loud and clear, over a century later.
