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As A Man Thinketh
(1902)
James Allen |
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In its theme that ‘mind is the master weaver’, creating our inner character and outer circumstances, As A Man Thinketh is an in-depth exploration of the central idea of self-empowerment writing.
The logic of the book is unassailable: noble thoughts make a noble person, negative thoughts hammer out a miserable one. To a person mired in negativity, the world looks as if it is made of confusion and fear. On the other hand, 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. As Emerson said, ‘A person is what he thinks about all day long.’
Part of the fame of this book is its contention that ‘Circumstances do not make a person, they reveal him.’ This seems an exceedingly heartless comment, a justification for neglect of those in need and a rationalisation of exploitation and abuse. This, however, would be a knee-jerk reaction to an argument of subtlety. While Allen does not deny that poverty can ‘happen’ to a person or a people, what he tries to make clear 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.
Allen observed that: ‘Most of us are anxious to improve our circumstances, but are unwilling to improve ourselves – and we therefore remain bound.’ Prosperity and happiness cannot happen when the old self is still stuck in its old ways. People are nearly always the unconscious cause of their own lack of prosperity.
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. 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. |
| Read the full commentary in 50 Self-Help Classics by Tom Butler-Bowdon. |
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50 Self-Help Classics, the book, gives you:
• insightful commentaries on 50 key books.
• 300 pages of life-changing wisdom and advice.
• Expanded features and profiles not
on this site.
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| " A tremendous resource for anyone seeking a 'bite-sized' look at the philosophies of many self-help legends, including sacred scriptures of different traditions. Because the range and depth of sources are so huge, the cumulative reading effect is amazing. Alternatively, it educates and edifies, affirms and inspires. Often both." |
Stephen R Covey,
author of
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People |
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" Butler-Bowdon has summarized some of the most remarkable thoughts - thoughts with wisdom I must add - that will enlighten and lead the reader to understand the very nature of human nature. It will soon become the 51st self-help classic!" |
Warren Bennis, author of
On Becoming A Leader |
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Winner, 2004 Benjamin Franklin Award (US) |
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Finalist, 2004 Foreword Magazine Book of the Year (US) |
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Sold in 25 countries |
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Translated into 16 languages
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| James Allen: |
Allen was born in Leicester, England, in 1864. At 15, he was forced to leave school and go out to work; his father, having left for the United States following the failure of the family business, had been robbed and murdered. He was employed with several British manufacturing firms until 1902, when he began to write full-time. Moving to Ilfracombe on the south-west coast of England, Allen settled down to a quiet life of reading, writing, gardening and meditation. In a decade, he wrote 19 books, As A Man Thinketh being the second. Although considered his best work, it was only published at the urging of his wife. Others include From Poverty to Power, Byways of Blessedness, The Life Triumphant and Eight Pillars of Prosperity. He died in 1912.
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| Tom Butler-Bowdon: |
"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."
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