James Allen, a British philosopher who lived from 28 November 1864 to 24 January 1912, is renowned for his poetry and inspirational works as well as for being a founder of the self-help movement. Since its release in 1903, his most well-known work, As a Man Thinketh, has been widely reproduced. It has served as motivation for self-help and inspirational writers.
James Allen Quotes
- “To desire is to obtain; to aspire is to, achieve.”
2. “Men are anxious to improve their circumstances, but are unwilling to improve themselves.”
3. “A man is literally what he thinks, his character being the complete sum of all his thoughts.”
4. “You will be what you will to be.”
5. “He who has conquered doubt and fear has conquered failure”
6. “Self-control is strength; Right Thought is mastery; Calmness is power.”
7. “Circumstances do not make the man, they reveal him.”
8. “As a man thinketh in his heart, so shall he be”
9. “Unrest and pain and sorrow are the shadows of life.”
10. “Act is the blossom of thought, and joy and suffering are its fruits; thus does a man garner in the sweet and bitter fruitage of his own husbandry.”
11. “He is poor who is dissatisfied; he is rich who is contented with what he has, and he is richer who is generous with what he has.”
12. “Self-control is strength. Right thought is mastery. Calmness is power.”
13. “All that a man achieves and all that he fails to achieve is the direct result of his own thoughts.”
14. “Man’s mind may be likened to a garden, which may be intelligently cultivated or allowed to run wild.”
15. “Aimlessness is a vice, and such drifting must not continue for him who would steer clear of catastrophe and destruction.”
16. “One man is an oppressor because many are slaves; let us despise the slaves.”
17. “He thinks in secret, and it comes to pass: environment is but his looking glass.”
18. “The will to do springs from the knowledge that we can do.”
19. “Circumstance does not make the man; it reveals him to himself.”
20. “Thoughts of doubt and fear never accomplished anything, and never can.”
21. “The circumstances which a man encounters with suffering are the result of his own mental inharmony.”
22. “He who has conquered doubt and fear has conquered failure.”
23. “They themselves are makers of themselves.”
24. “If you real desire is to be good, there is no need to wait for the money before you do it; you can do it now, this very moment, and just where you are.”
25. “There is but one religion, the religion of Truth.”
26. “ALL that a man achieves and all that he fails to achieve is the direct end result of his very own mind.”
27. “Circumstances do not shape us so much as they reveal us.”
28. “The world steps aside for the man who knows where he is going”
29. “Change of diet will not help a man who will not change his thoughts.”
30. “Suffering is always the effect of wrong thought in some direction.”
31. “Men imagine that thought can be kept secret, but it cannot; it rapidly crystallizes into habit, and habit solidifies into circumstance.”
32. “The strong, calm man is always loved and revered. He is like a shade-giving tree in a thirsty land, or a sheltering rock in a storm.”
33. “Victories attained by right thought can only be maintained by watchfulness. Many give way when success is assured, and rapidly fall back into failure.”
34. “You cannot travel within and stand still without.”
35. “A person is limited only by the thoughts that he chooses.”
36. “Circumstance does not make the man; it reveals him to himself”
37. “Disease and health, like circumstances, are rooted in thought.”
38. “The more tranquil a man becomes, the greater is his success, his influence, his power for good. Calmness of mind is one of the beautiful jewels of wisdom.”
39. “The man who thinks hateful thoughts brings hatred upon himself. The man who thinks loving thoughts is loved.”
40. “Good thoughts and actions can never produce bad results; bad thoughts and actions can never produce good results.”
41. “He who cherishes a beautiful vision, a lofty ideal in his heart, will one day realize it.”
42. “The measure of a man’s truth is the measure of his love, and Truth is far removed from him whose life is not governed by Love.”
43. “A man cannot directly choose his circumstances, but he can choose his thoughts, and so indirectly, yet surely, shape his circumstances.”
44. “To begin to think with purpose, is to enter the ranks of those strong ones who only recognize failure as one of the pathways to attainment.”
45. “Those who have conquered doubt and fear have conquered”
46. “Alter your outlook upon life, and your outward life will alter.”
47. “Work joyfully and peacefully, knowing that right thoughts and right efforts inevitably bring about right results.”
48. “Whether you be man or woman you will never do anything in this world without courage. It is the greatest quality of the mind next to honor. ”
49. “The human will, that force unseen, The offspring of a deathless soul, Can hew a way to any goal, Though walls of granite intervene.”
50. “You will become as small as your controlling desire, as great as your dominant aspiration.”
51. “Change of diet will not help a man who will not change his thoughts. When a man makes his thoughts pure, he no longer desires impure food.”
52. “Renew your resolution daily, and in the hour of temptation do not depart from the right path.”
53. “The more tranquil a man becomes, the greater is his success, his influence, his power for good.”
54. “Your circumstances may be uncongenial, but they shall not long remain so if you but perceive an Ideal and strive to reach it.”
55. “We do not attract what we want but who we are.”
56. “There is an unavoidable tendency to become literally the embodiment of that quality upon which one most constantly thinks.”
57. “The way to true riches is to enrich the soul by the acquisition of virtue. Outside”
58. “The man who does not shrink from self-crucifixion can never fail to accomplish the object upon which his heart is set.”
59. “Blessedness, not material possessions, is the measure of right thought; wretchedness, not lack of material possessions, is the measure of wrong thought.”
60. “In the spiritual as the material, nothing is done without labor, and the higher cannot be known until the lower is fulfilled.”
61. “In all human affairs there are efforts, and there are results, and the strength of the effort is the measure of the result.”
62. “He who earnestly meditates first perceives a truth,”
63. “When a man makes his thoughts pure, he no longer desires impure food.”
64. “To Desire is to Obtain to Aspire is to Achieve”
65. “The more intense the nature of a man, the more readily will he find meditation, and the more successfully will he practice it.”
66. “He must avoid quarrelling as he would avoid drinking a deadly poison.”
67. “Circumstance does not make the person; it reveals him to himself”
68. “you will fall, remain, or rise with your thoughts, your Vision, your Ideal.”
69. “He who would accomplish little need sacrifice little; he who would achieve much must sacrifice much. He who would attain highly must sacrifice greatly.”
70. “Strong, pure, and happy thoughts build up the body in vigour and grace.”
71. “Thought is the fount of action, life, and manifestation; make the fountain pure, and all will be pure.”
72. “Thoughts of malice, envy, disappointment, despondency, rob the body of its health and grace.”
73. “Act is the blossom of thought, and joy and suffering are its fruits; thus does a man garner in the sweet and bitter fruitage of his own husbandry. “Thought”
74. “Suffering is always the effect of wrong thought in some direction. It is an indication that the individual is out of harmony with himself, with the Law of his being.”
75. “A man is literally what he thinks, his character being the complete sum of all his thoughts.”
76. “Your circumstances may be uncongenial, but they shall not remain so if you only perceive an ideal and strive to reach it. You cannot travel within and stand still without.”
77. “Those who give little accomplish little; those who give much accomplish much; those who give the most become the greatest”
78. “You are today where your thoughts have brought you; you will be tomorrow where your thoughts take you.”
79. “A man only begins to be a man when he ceases to whine and revile, and commences to search for the hidden justice which regulates his life.”
80. “Doubt and fear are the great enemies of knowledge, and he who encourages them, who does not slay them, thwarts himself at every step.”
81. “The sole and supreme use of suffering is to purify, to burn out all that is useless and impure.”
82. “The price of life is effort; the acme of effort is accomplishment; the reward of accomplishment is joy.”
83. “Circumstance does not make the man; it reveal him to himself”
84. “A man does not live until he begins to discipline himself ; he merely exists.”
85. “The Land of Perfect Freedom lies through the Gate of Knowledge.”
86. “You will become as small as your controlling desire; as great as your dominant aspiration:”
A Must Read – As a Man Thinketh: The Complete Original Edition by James Allen
Short Review – Despite being published in the early 1900s, this book is still relevant today. Your actions will ultimately be a result of your thoughts, and those actions will define you.
James Allen Short Biography
Allen was the older of two brothers and was born into a working-class family in Leicester, England. His mother was illiterate and could not write. William, his father, was a factory knitter. Following a downturn in the central England textile industry in 1879, Allen’s father emigrated to America by himself in order to find employment and start a new life for the family. His father was pronounced dead at New York City Hospital two days after arriving; the cause of death was thought to be a combination of robbery and murder. Allen was forced to drop out of school at the age of fifteen because his family was in financial trouble.
Allen served as a stationer and private secretary for many British manufacturing companies for a significant portion of the 1890s. Allen began his career in journalism and reporting in 1893 and later relocated to South Wales. He met Lily Louisa Oram (also known as Lily L. Allen) in South Wales, and the two later got married in 1895.
As a writer for the publication The Herald of the Golden Age, Allen discovered a profession in 1898 that allowed him to display his spiritual and social interests. From Poverty to Power, the first of many books Allen would write, was published in 1901 during this period of his creative development. The Light of Reason, later known as The Epoch, was a spiritual magazine that Allen started publishing in 1902.
James Allen‘s third and most well-known book, As a Man Thinketh, was released in 1903. The short piece, which was loosely based on Proverbs 23:7, which states, “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he,” eventually spread throughout the world and earned Allen posthumous fame as one of the founding figures of contemporary inspirational thought. Due to the book’s small readership, Allen was able to leave his job as a secretary and focus on his writing and editing careers.
Allen spent the rest of his life in the town of Ilfracombe where his family moved after retiring in 1903. Allen published more than one book every year until his death in 1912 while continuing to publish the Epoch. He produced 19 works there during his nine years of writing.
His wife carried on publishing the magazine after his passing in 1912 under the name The Epoch. In the introduction to Foundation Stones to Happiness and Success, one of her husband’s posthumously published manuscripts, Lily Allen summarized her husband’s literary mission: