I’ve just read a very short book, only 22 pages long, called “As a Man Thinketh” by James Allen which almost seems like a condensed inspirational version of “Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill which is actually given through AsAManThinketh.net.

It is an excellent book and considering how short it is I’d mark it as a must read. It’s not much longer than some longer articles found commonly on the web. The only criticisms I have for the book is that the author sometimes seems to imply or is at least unclear about the existence of absolute “right” and “wrong”, or “good” or “bad” and thus judges certain thoughts as good or bad, pure or impure etc.

I believe that such valuations are really in the eyes of the beholder because reality outside of thinking and feeling beings does not think and feel and therefore cannot perceive nor contain inherent “good” or “bad”. It is only an individual human which asigns such values to things. That said, however, all sentences in the book which encourage “good” thoughts against “bad” thoughts can be read as suggesting you to nourish what you believe to be good thoughts.

Another critique I would add is against his use of words such as “selfish” in a negative way even while describing a philosophy which is essentially about pursuing ones own dreams and desires (which is essentially selfish). But this may merely be my misunderstanding of the context from which he was writing or a flaw of english language where even words like “selfish” can have dual and contradictory meanings. For instance “selfish” could at the same time describe “individual pursuit of happiness and self-responsibility” and “pursuit of power over others out of lack of self-responsibility”.

That said, the book is a jewel. It artfully expresses the idea that an individual’s character is a sum of his thoughts, that thoughts lead to acts which shape our circumstances and therefore our entire destiny. It certainly fits well with the belief I’ve already been developing. Every act is met by a reaction from the reality around us. We then judge this reaction, this consequence, as either good or bad for us and based on that, if we are thinking and keeping ourselves aware, we can adjust our acts to get better consequences. And to do that we have to adjust our thoughts and by that our character.

So indeed, what we think is what we are. Our thoughts and ideas are the sum of who we are. And this largely affects our circumstances in life. This is why there is nobody but yourself to blame if your circumstances are bad to you and why there is much less of such things people call “bad luck” or “good luck” than is commonly thought.

Here is a quote that particularly stuck with me:

“It has been usual for men to think and to say, “Many men are slaves because one is an oppressor; let us hate the oppressor!” But there is amongst an increasing few a tendency to reverse this judgment and to say, “One man is an oppressor because many are slaves; let us despise the slaves.”
The truth is that oppressor and slaves are cooperators in ignorance, and, while
seeming to afflict each other, are in reality, afflicting themselves. “

This actually reminded me of a thought I had after watching “V for Vendetta” movie, that rulers in seeking power over others lose power over themselves whereas those being ruled let themselves to be ruled only because they could not rule themselves. Essentially, both the rulers and the ruled are playing the same exact game and inflicting on themselves the same exact poison, and all end up losers. And they are both consumed by fear.

So what can the few of people who know and understand this do in face of the masses who administer this poison to themselves? Should we despair as we see them wallowing in the pain and chaos (endless war, between governments and between rulers and ruled) they created for themselves fearing that we will be caught in their cross fires?
It wont do us any good, obviously. The best thing we can do is live free and be an example while conveying our ideas to those who are actually willing to listen. We can’t hope to send a more powerful message and more greatly influence the world any other way.

And in line with that, here is another quote:

“Dream lofty dreams, and as you dream, so shall you become. Your vision is the promise of what you shall one day be; your ideal is the prophecy of what you shall at last unveil.
The greatest achievement was at first and for a time a dream. The oak sleeps in the acorn; the bird waits in the egg. And in the highest vision of a soul a waking angle stirs. Dreams are the seedlings of realities.
Your circumstances may be uncongenial, but they shall not remain so if you only perceive an ideal and strive to reach it. You can’t travel within and stand still without.”