As a Man Thinketh Author: | Language: English | ISBN:
B00IIWRMDA | Format: PDF
As a Man Thinketh Description
Among the earliest and most celebrated of the New Thought authors was James Allen (1864-1912). A reclusive man, he spent the last 10 years of his life in rural seclusion in the village of Ilfracombe, in Devon, during which period he wrote most of his 20 books. The most famous of these is As a Man Thinketh, a short treatise of the power of thought. This short work is one of the first great classics of self-help literature, and has never been out of print since it was first published in 1902. Allen's main thesis is that thought is not just a vehicle for comprehending and explaining the world, but is also the prime mechanism for creating and changing human experience. While Allen's views may remain controversial, a vast audience has found his work greatly inspiring. A new recording of one of the most revered self-help classics narrated by Denis Daly.
- Audible Audio Edition
- Listening Length: 53 minutes
- Program Type: Audiobook
- Version: Unabridged
- Publisher: Audio Books by Mike Vendetti
- Audible.com Release Date: February 18, 2014
- Language: English
- ASIN: B00IIWRMDA
Only 50 pages, but full of utter crap and mind-numbingly repetitive. Allen asserts not only your actions, but all your life circumstances arise entirely from your personal thoughts, not at all from external factors beyond your control.
How can we test such claims? On page 16 Allen proposes a standard of evidence: "not until a man has extirpated every sickly, bitter, and impure thought from his mind, and washed every sinful stain from his soul, can he be in a position to know and declare that his sufferings are the result of his good, and not of his bad qualities". Presumably the same standard applies to knowing all suffering is the result of bad qualities, which Allen repeatedly declares. Are we to believe he has carried out such an experiment?
Again and again Allen proclaims absolutes:
[in life] "there is no element of chance" (p. 8)
"A man does not come to the almshouse or the jail by the tyranny of fate or circumstance, but by the pathway of grovelling thoughts and base desires." (p. 10)
"The man who does not shrink from self-crucifixion can never fail to accomplish the object upon which his heart is set." (p. 12)
"Good thoughts and actions can never produce bad results; bad thoughts and actions can never produce good results." (p. 16)
"Thoughts of doubt and fear never accomplish anything, and never can. They always lead to failure. ... He who has conquered doubt and fear has conquered failure." (p. 32)
Sometimes he seems plain delusional:
"man has but to right himself to find that the universe is right" (p. 19)
"The people who live in fear of disease are the people who get it. ... Men will continue to have impure and poisoned blood so long as they propagate unclean thoughts." (p.
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