TH I N K I N G F O R

R E S U LTS

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T H E N E W L I TE RATU R E

'U 'L I S H I N G

C O ''AN '

L os ANG E L E S

C o pyri gh t

1912

by

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T hink ing fo r R esu lt s

H AT m an can
self, i m pr o ve

ch ange him
himself r e
create himself control his
en vironment and master h is
own destiny i s the c onclu
sion of every mind who i s
wide awake to the power of right th ough t
in c onstructive a ction In fact it i s the
conviction of all suc h minds t h at man
can do pra cti c ally anything with in th e
possibilities of the h uman domain wh e n
he knows h o w to th ink and that h e c an
secure almost any result desired w h en h e
learns how to think for results
Man i s as he th inks h e is and w hat h e
does is t h e result of the sum total of his
though t T h e average person however
thinks at random and therefore lives at
ra nd o m and d o es not know fr o m d ay to
,

day wh ether good or evil lies in h is path

W h at he nds in his path i s invariably
the result of his own thinking but as he
does not know what results di fferent
kinds of thought produce he creates both
goo d an d evil d aily not knowing that he
necessarily does either of these When
he knows what each mental state will
pro d uce however and has gained the
power to think as he likes under all sorts
of circumstances then he will have fate
destiny environment p hysical con d i
tions mental conditions attainments
achievements and in fact e verything in
h is own hands
It i s a well known fact that we can
produce any e ffect desired when we
understand causes and can master those
causes And as the process of thinking
is the one underlying cause in the life of
man we naturally become master over all
life wh en we can understand and master
the process of thinking Each process of
thinking produces its own results in min d
and bo dy and acts indirectly upon all the
acti o ns and e fforts of mind an d body
T herefore through adverse thinking a l
most any undesirable condition may be

produced w h ile almost any condition of

worth and value can be produced through
wholesome thinking C ertain processes
of thought will lead to sickness oth ers to
poverty while processes of thought that
are entirely di fferent fro m these will lead
to h e a l t h p o w e r a n d prosperity
Through c h aoti c thinking one can bring
about years of trouble and misfortune
while through a properly arranged sys
tem of thinking one can determine his
own future for years and years in a d
vance
Everyth ing t h at h appens to a man i s
the result of something that he has done
or fails to d o But since both actions
and inactions c ome from corresponding
states of mind he can make almost any
thing h appen that h e likes when he learns
to regulate his thinking This may seem
to be a very strong statement but the
more perfectly we understand th e rela
tion of mental act i on to physical and pe r
sonal action the more c onvinced we
become th at th is statement is abs o lutely
true
W h en we study th e l aws of nature we
nd that certain results invariab ly follow
.

II

certa in uses of those laws ; and that oth er

results follow the misuse of th ose laws
We nd th at a misused law can nally
carry you to th e lowest depths and th at a
law that i s perfectly understood and
roperly
applied
can
carry
you
to
the
p
greatest heights In the use of natural
law however we are at liberty to change
our mind at any time ; that is wh en we
nd ourselves going down we can turn
about and go the other way ; though the
fact remains th at if we continue the
down gra d e we will nally reach the low
est depths The same is true when we
nd ourselves advancing ; we may b e
come negligent and fall back but the law
in question can carry us on higher and
higher with out end if we choose to go
The laws that govern thinking are just
as absolute as the well known laws of
nature and will serve man just as faith
fully after h e has begun to ap ply them
with understanding
W h en we understand th e l aws of
th ough t and think ac c ordingly we have
begun wh at may p roperly be termed
scientic thinking ; that is we h ave b e
gun desi gned th i nk ing ; th i nk i ng with a
.

1 2

purpose in view ; thinking in accordance

wit h exact sci en t ic system ; and think
'
ing for results When we think in this
manner we think according to those laws
of th ought that are required in o rd ef to
produce th e results we have in view ;
therefore all the forces of mind will be
directed to produce those very results I n
this connection we should remember that
every mental process produces its own
results in th e human system ; therefore
we can secure any result desired when
we place in action th e necess ary mental
process
You never th ink scientically unless
you think for a purpose ; it is th erefore
purposeless thinking that you must
And all purposeless thinking is
avoid
wrong Every process of thought that
works at random is wrong because it
leads to waste destru c tion and retarded
growth
For t h is reason al l thoughts
that we may c reate at any time that have
no special purpose in view are wrong
thoughts and are detrimental to th e wel
fare o f t h e individual But h ere we must
remember that wrong thought i s not
simply th ought th at h as base moti ves ; it
.

is

is also thought th at has no motives A

right thought always has a denite
motive with some higher goal in view
In fact to be right a thought must have a
motive and that motive must be con
structive ; that is it must aim to buil d
an d to build for s o mething worth while
Wrong thought however is scattering

an d destructive and retards growth .

T his is the real di ff erence between
though t th at is wrong and thought that
is right The same is true with other
things Everything in life th at retards
growth is wrong Everything th at pro
motes growth i s right
If we are i n
d oubt as to whether any particular thing
is right or wrong we can rea d ily discover
where it belongs if we app l y this princi
ple ; that is if it promotes growth it is
right while if it retards growth it is
wr ong We shall nd that all true sys
tems of ethics or morals will be found to
harmonize perfectly with this i d ea
T h e purpose of life is continuous a d
vancement and all the laws of life are cre
ated for the promotion of advancement
in all things and at all times T herefore
to retard growth is to v iolate the laws o f
.

life wh il e to promote gr owt h is to prop

erly employ those laws of life When we
go with the laws of life we m o ve forward
but when we go against th ose laws we
begin a life of retrogressio n According
to this principle nothing is wrong unl ess
it retards growth and noth ing can be
right unless it promotes growth because
nothing can be wrong unless it is agai nst
the laws of life and nothing can be right
unless it is in harmony with th e laws of
life And the laws of life demand con
t i n u o u s advancement
S ince our object is advan c ement and
progress in every way and since thinking
i s the key to all results it is evident that
all thinking must be established upon the
principle of continuous advancement
F o r this reaso n all thinkin g that in any
way retards growth in any part of the
human system must be discontinued and
al l think ing must be so arranged or re
arranged that it wil l tend to promote
growth and advanc ement in e very phase
of human life In other words all think
ing must be designed and designed a c
cording to the laws that underlie the
urpose
we
have
in
view
To
apply
t
h
is
p
.

principle we should never think unless

we have a purpose that we wis h to pro
mote through that thinking Before we
begin any process of thought we should
d etermine clearly what we wish to pro
mote at th e time and we should then em
ploy that process o f thinking through
which the purpose in view may be pro
moted to the best advantage In this
manner every action of mind will become
constructive and will build up something
that we wis h to have constructe d '
Neither time nor mental energy will be
thrown away by aimlessness and n o
chaotic states of mind will exist for a
moment All our mental processes will
be arranged according to such a system
of action as can promote progress and
all the various forces of mind will work
together in the creation of that which we
wi sh to realiz e and possess
To th ink accor d ing to the laws of
growth and to think for a d enite pur
posethis is the foundation of scientic
t h i n k in gJ This is the principle upon
which to act wh en thinking for results
and wh oever resolves to think in this
manner only will soo n nd remarkable
.

changes for the better taking place in

every department of his life
In training the mind to th ink a cc ord
ing to the exact s c ience of right thought
to think according to system to think
for a denite purpose and to th ink for
results there are four essentials that will
be required and we s h all proceed to give
these essentials our best attention in
their proper order The rst essential is
to provide wh at may be termed the men
tal attitude of normal states of conscious
ness for al l our thinking ; that is t o pro
mote only right states of mind whatever
the process of though t may be because
suc h states are always wholeso me and
are invari ably conducive to menta l de
ve l o pm en t
In addition suc h states tend
to hold the various energies of th e mind
in a working at ti tude which is highly im
portant when our purpose is to work for
results
To train th e mind to th ink onl y in th e
right states of mind we must learn t o dis
t i n gu i sh between righ t and wrong men
tal states though this is a matter that
becomes very simple wh en we under
stand that th e di fference between right
.

and wrong states of mind is found in

this th at the former tends to relate the
mind properly to the laws the principles
and the powers of life while the latt er
tends to prevent that relationship When
we are at variance with our sphere of
existence or out o f harmony with the
world in which we th ink an d live we can
accomplish nothing but when we are in
harmony with that world we place our
selves in a position where we can a e com
l
i
h
s
practically
anything
if
we
learn
the
p
full use of all the powers we possess
Therefore if we wish to accomplish what
we have i n view we must work with
those laws and principles of life that gov
ern the sp h ere in which our work is to be
done But wrong mental states will pre
vent u s from working with the laws of
life while right mental states have a ten
d en ey to bring us more perfectly into
harmony with those laws Wrong men
tal states are wrong simply because they
prevent this necessary relationship and
they are wrong for no other reason The
rst problem before us therefore is to dis
t i n gu i s h between the two states of mind
to eliminate the wro ng and t o c ultivate
,

th e righ t But to distinguis h between

the two is not di f cult wh en we know
that right states of mind always produce
harmony between oursel ves and those
powers in life that we must use in or d er
to realize our purpose in life and that
wrong states of mind always tak e us
away fro m everything that has quality
superiority and worth or that can serve
us in realizing.the greater and t h e better
However that we may all understand
what mental states to cultivate in order
to make our thinking more scientic
more e x act more e ff ective and more con
d u c ive to the production of the results
we desire we shall proceed to give a
brief description of the most important
of these states or what may be termed
the normal and th e true state of con
'

s c i o u sn ess .

MON G th e right s t at es of
min d the attitude o f p eace
naturally comes rst b e
c ause at the foundation of
all true action we nd a
state of deep calm. No
rowt
h
is
possible
in
confusion
n
o
r
can
g
w e enjoy t h e steps already take n while
strife and disturbance prevail But if we
nd th at we are not in a perfectly peace
ful attitude t h e matter cannot b e reme
died t hrough a strenuous e ffort t o secure
peace 'eace of mind comes most quickly
when we do not try to be peaceful but
simply permit ourselves to be normal
To rela x mind and bo d y at frequent inter
vals will also aid remarkably but the
most important of all is the attainment
of the consciousness of peace
Th ere is a state within us wh ere al l is
still and as nearly all o f us h ave been
conscious of this state at di fferent times
we know that it actually exists T o cul
t ivat e the consciousness of th is state is
the real s ecret of attaining a permanent
.

mental state of pea c e W h en we become

conscious of that state we enter what
may be termed t h e permanent condition
of peace and t h ereby realize the pea c e
that pas s et h u n d er s t an d in g ; and wh en we
are in t hat state of peace we kn ow why it
does pass understanding
A further proof of this idea is found l n
the fact t h at the center o f all action is
absolutely still and that from th is cente r
all action proceeds In like manner there
is an absolutely still center in your own
mind and you can become conscious of
that center by turning your attention
gently and frequently upon th e serene
within
This should be done several
times a day and no matter how peacefu l
we may feel we should daily seek a still
ner re al iz at l o n of this consciousness of
peace The result will be more power b e
cause peace conserves energy The mind
will be kept i n the necessary attitude for
growth and you will avoid all suc h ills
and failures as originate in mental con
fusio n According to the law th at we a l
ways become in the with out as we feel in
the within you will naturally become
more and more conscious of pea c efulness
.

2 1

in your personality as you be c ome more

conscious of the calm that is within you
In other words the same stillness that
you feel within yourself wh en in the con
s c io u s n e s s
of peace will unfold itself
through your entire system and you will
become peaceful l n every part of mind
and body
C losely related to t he attitude of peace
we have that of poise and this is an atti
tude that is simply in d ispensable The
attainment of peace tends to conserve and
accumulate energy while the attainment
of poise tends to hol d that energy in such
a way that not a particle i s lost 'eace
is a restful attitude while poise i s a work
ing attitude In peace you feel absolutely
still
In poise you feel and hold the
mighty power within you rea d y for
action
T h e well poised mind is not only
charged with enorm ous energies but can
also retain those energies in any part of
the system and can d irect them towar d s
any e ffort desired The poised mind com
bines calmness with power
Through
the attitude of c almness it retains its
touc h with th e depth s with in and is thus

22

constantly supplied with added l i fe and

power Through the attitude of strength
it relates itself to the world of action and
thus becomes able to go fort h and do
things T h e attitude of poise however
is not w ell de veloped in the average per
son as the art o f being peaceful and
powerful at the same time is an art that
h a s rec e ived but little attention ; but it is
something th at is extremely important
and no one w h o desires to learn to think
and act for results can a fford to neglect
this high art for a moment
To proceed with the development of
poise we should work act think and
live in the consciousness o f peace and in
the consciousness of power ; that is we
should aim to combine peace and power
in everything t hat we feel or do Here
we s h ould remember two great truths ;
that is that unlimited power is latent
within us and that at the depth of our
being e very thin g i s perfectly still W h en
you realize th ese great truth s you will
feel more and more th at enormous ener
gies are al l ve l n your being but you will
nd th at they never force themselves into
any parti cular li ne of a ction and th at
.

t h ey never run over on th e surface On

the other hand you will nd that you can
hold t h ose energies in perfect repose or
turn them into your work just as you
wis h When you have poise therefore all
those energies will also have poise They
will be as you are be c ause th ey are your
creations
The e ff ect of poise upon th inking is
very great because the attitude of poise is
the one essential attitude through which
constructive work of mind or thought
can be promoted T h e object of exact
scientic thinking is to bring about the
results we have l n Vl eW but results fol
low only the true application o f power
and power cannot be applied constru o
t ivel y unless it acts through the state of
peace
We therefore understand why
poise the action of power in peace is i n
dispensable to every mode of thinking
that aims to produce results
Another mental state of extreme value
is that of harmony ; and as there is only
a step from peace and poise to harmony
we may readily acquire th e latter when
we h ave acquired th e former In th e atti
tude of p ea c e th e mind nds its true self
.

24

an d

its own supreme power Throu gh

the attitude o f po i se th is power is brought
forth into action and is held in its true
spheres of action but it i s only through
h armony that this power can act properly
upon things or in connection with things
Nothing comes from the ap plication o f
power unless it acts directly upon some
thing but it cannot act upon anything
wit h th e assurance of results unless there
is harmony between t h e power th at acts
and th e thing acted upon
No actio n
should be attempted therefore until har
mony is secured between the two factors
involved In this connection we nd that
thousands of well meant actions lead t o
confusion sickness and failure because no
attention was given to t h e attainment of
harmony 'ut the importance of attain
ing harmony before undertaking anyth ing
is reali z ed wh en we learn that the real
purpose of h armony i s to bring the two
factors concerned into that perfect rela
t i o n sh i p wh ere t h ey can work togeth er for
the promotion o f the object in view
To secure h armony it may be necessary
for b oth fa ctors t o c h ange th eir p resent
p ositi o ns T hey may h ave t o m eet ea ch
.

'

other half way but th ere can be no o bj ec

tio n to this Our obj ect in life is not to
stand where we are but to do something ;
and if we can do so mething of value by
changi ng our present position that i s the
very thing we should do In fact we can
even return with advantage t o positions
that we imagine have been outgrown if
something of value can be accompli shed
by such a move The one thing to con
si d er however is the result Any mo ve
ment that leads to results is a movement
in the right direction
Harmony is not cultivated by isolation
nor exclusiveness Th ere are many minds
who think they are in perfect harmony
when they are alone but they are not
They are simply at rest and the sensation
is somewhat similar to certain states of
harmony We are in harmony only when
we are properly relate d to some one else
or something else
There must be at
least two factors before there can be har
mony and those two factors must be
properly related
The best way to cultivate th e mental
state of harmony is t o adapt yourself
consciously to everything and e v erybody
,

26

th at you m eet Never resist or an ta go

nize anyth ing nor hold yourself aloof
from any body Wherever you ar e aim
to look for th e agreeable side of th ings
and try to act wit h everything wh ile l n
that attitude After a while you wi l l nd
it an easy matter to meet all things and
all persons in their world and when you
can do this you can u nite with them in se
cu ring results that neither side could h ave
secured alone
To secure results two or more factors
must work together b ut they cannot
work together constructively unless they
are in harmony ; that is unless t h ey are
perfectly related to each other To be in
harmony however does not mean simpl y
to be on good terms You may be on
good terms with everyb ody an d not be in
harmony with anyb ody We are in har
mony wit h persons and things whe n the
two factors or sides concerned can actu
ally work together for the promotion of
some actual purpose
In the mental
world this law is very easily discerned
and its operations found to be e xact You
may h ave a ne mind but if the di fferent
parts o f yo ur m ind d o not h armo niz e and
.

'

wor t o get er yo u W1 acco m p 1 8 h b ut

little and there are th ousands of brilliant
minds in th is very condition Then w e
nd minds w ith simply a fair amount of
ability wh o accompli sh a great deal and
the reason is that the d i fferent parts of
such minds are in harmony working to
gether according to the laws of constru e
tive action And h ere we should remem
b er that wherever two or more factors
actually work together desirable results
will positively follow To agree with your
adversary h as th e same signicance
T h ere is a certain side of every form of
a dversity to which you can adapt your
self L ook for that side and try to relate
yourself harmoniously and constructively
to the power of th at side You will avoid
much trouble th ereby and bring to pass
scores of good things th at otherwise
would not have been realized
To h armonize with the adverse does not
mean that you are to follow o r imitate
th e adverse At all times we should be
ourselves We sh ould ch ange nothing in
o ur own individuality but should aim pri
m arily to adapt th e actions of our indi
vid u al ity w h ether p h ys ical or mental to
,

28

th ose th i ngs Wi th w h ic h we may be asso

U nder all adverse circumstances
c i at e d
w e sh ould remember th at v1 c e l S virtue
gone wrong and that the power in the one
is the same as the po w er i n the other ;
the good m is d irected that is all But you
are not to harmonize with the m i s d ire c
tion
You are to harmonize with the
power that is back of the action and try
to use that power for some valued pur
pose Here we nd a subject upon which
volumes could be written but th e real
secret th at underlies it all i s simple
Adapt yourself to everyth ing and every
body wit h a View of securing united
action for greater good You will th us
continue in perfect harmony and you will
cause every action that may result from
your e fforts to work directly for the pro
du ctio n o f th e results y ou h av e 1 n v1 ew
.

HE three states of mind

mentio ned in the previous
chapter will naturally lead
us to a p l ac e where results
can be secured bu t how
great th ese results are to
be wi ll depend upon the loftiness o f our
aim Therefore a mental state wil l be
required th at will co nstantly center at
tention upon the high places of attai n
ment and suc h a state we nd in aspira
tion But here we must know th e di ffer
ence between aspiration and ambition
especially whe n they act separately
When ambition acts aside fro m aspiration
the aim of the mind will be to promote
the personal self by calling into action
only those powers that are now active in
the personal self S uch an a ction how
ever tends to separate the personality
from the greater powers within wh ich
will nally produce a condition of per
sonal inferiority We have seen this fact
illustrated so frequently that it has b e
come proverbial to say that persona l am
,

0
3

bitio u w h en in full c ontro l of the mind

invariably leads to personal down fall
It is a well known fact that no mind
t h at is sim ply ambitious can ever beco me
great and the reason is that personal
ambition prevents mind and C O H S C I O U S
n ess from ascending int o t h os e superior
states of th ought and power which alone
This as
c an make grea t ness possible
c en s i o n of mind and c onsciousness how
ever invari ably takes place through the
attitude of aspiration and therefore the
force of ambition should always be in
spired by the spirit of aspirat i on Both
are necessary and they must combine per
fe ct l y in every case if results wort h w h il e
are to be reali z ed
The attitude of aspiration c auses th e
mind to think of the marvels that lie b e
yond present attainment and th ereby i h
spir es the creation of great thoughts
whic h i s vastly important There must
be great thoughts be fore the mind can
become great and the mind must become
great before great results can be secured
Aspiration concentrates attention upon
superiority always and therefore elevates
all the qualities of t h e min d into th at
.

I
3

stat e T h is b eing true ev ery effort in

life s hould be directed towards t h ose
possibilities that lie beyond the present
attainment if we wish to cultivate and
strengthen th e attitude of aspiration
When we are simply ambitious we pr o
c e e d as we are and s eek to make a mark
for ourselves with w h at power we already
possess ; but wh en we are alive with the
spirit of aspiration we seek to make our
selves larger more powerful and far supe
rior to wh at we are now knowing th at a
great light cannot be hid and that any
one with great power must invariably
reac h the goal he has in v i ew The ambi
tious mind seeks to make a small light
shine far beyon d its c apacity and through
this e ff ort nally wears itself out. The
aspiring mind however seeks to m ake
the light larger and larger knowing that
the larger the light becomes th e further
it will s h ine and that no strenuous e f
forts will be required to push its power
ful rays into e ff ectiveness But when the
attitude o f aspiration l ooks beyond the
personal self it does not necessarily look
outside of the self T h e purpose of aspi
ration is to ent er into th e po ss ession of
.

t h e m arvel s o f th e great with i n b ec ause

wh at i s foun d in t he w ith in wi ll be e x
pressed i n the with out T h erefore wh en
we co nsta ntly rise abo v e t h e person al self
we perp etually en l arge th e personal self
th us gaining th e c apa c ity to a cc omp lish
more an d more until we nally acc o m
pra
c
ti
c
ally
everyt
h
ing
we
ave
in
l
i
h
h
s
p
view . Th e attitude o f aspiration there
fore s h ould never leave the mind for a
moment ; but we sh ould on th e contrary
keep t h e mental eye single upo n t h e
boundless p ossibilities th at are with in us
and deeply desire wit h h eart and soul a
greater and a greater realization of those
possibilities in practical li fe
The attitude of contentment may trut h
fully be said to be th e twin sister of aspi
ratio n and its important function is to
prevent aspiration from losing sight of
what h as already been gain ed When
contentment is absent th e present seems
more or less barren and wh en aspiration
is absent th e p resent seems suffi cient
But th e present is never barren nor is it
ever su ffi cient T h e p resent i s ric h with
many th ings of extreme val ue if we only
train ourselves to see th em. T h ese th ings
.

33

are n o t sufcient t o th e ad
va n c in g soul
G reater things are at h and
and it is our privilege to press on through
the realization of those greater things
We must therefore c onclude that the true
attitude of mind in this connection is to
be content with things as th ey now are
and at the same time rea ch out c onstantly
for greater things
W h en contentment is ab sent th e pres
ent is not fully utilized and we cannot
attain the greater things until we have
fully employed what has already been r e
When aspiration is absent the
c e ive d
present is used ov er and over again lik e
the air in a closed room and the result
must be mental stagnation to be followe d
by failure and nal extinction When we
look at th is subject from another point
of view we nd that the min d that is not
contented cannot be developed ; nor can
such a mind make the best use of the
powers it may now possess Every mo
ment th erefore shoul d be lle d with con
but
t e n t m en t and perfect satisfaction
every moment sh ould also be lle d with
a strong desire for still greater attain
ments and a ch ie v ements In su ch a state

h owe ver

34

where contentment and aspiration are

combined we shall nd life to be a con
t in u al feast each course being more deli
cio n s th an th e one preceding We shall
also nd suc h a life to be the pat h to per
a
l
growt
h
and
continuous
j
oy
e
t
u
p
To c ultivate th e state of contentment
we s hould live in th e conviction that all
things are working together for good and
that what is best for us now is coming to
us now The truth is that if we are try
ing to make all things work together for
good and live in the fait h t h at we can we
actually will so order things in our life
that all things will work together for
good And what comes to u s every day
will be the very best for us th at day
When we live think and a c t in this man
ner we shall soon nd th at th e best is
daily coming to us and that the best of
each day is better than that of th e day
preceding
T h e result will be perfect
contentment and t h e placing of life in that
position where it c an receive in the great
eternal now all th at t h e great eternal now
has to give In brief wh en we so live
that we permit the present moment to be
lled wi th all the richness that it can
,

35

h old th en we s h all h ave th e c ontented

mi nd and th e ever growing mind the
mind t h at is proverbially des crib ed as a
continuous feast
The attitude o f gratitude is closely re
l ated to th at of co ntentment and is one
of th e greatest of all mental states ; and
the reason why is found in the fact th at
no mind can be.right nor think co n st ru c
t ivel y unless it is lled with the spirit of
gratitude T h e fact I S that new life is
coming to us every day and with it new
opportunities Every moment therefore
is richer th an t h e one before ; but if this
coming of ne w life and new opportunities
does not add to the richness and value of
our own personal life there is a lack of
gratitude And the e x planation is that
w h ere gratitude is lacking the mind is
m ore or less closed to t h e many good
things th at are coming our way The
grateful mind h owever is always an open
m ind open to the newer the higher and
t h e better and th erefore invariably co m
ing into possession o f more and more o f
t h ose things
T h e entire ra c e is moving forward wit h
t he stream o f c ontinuous advan c e m ent ;
,

6
3

better things th erefore are daily coming

i nt o t h e life of each individual If h e does
n o t receive t h em th e reason is t h at h is
mind is more or less cl osed on a cc ount o f
For l et us remem
t he l ack o f gratitude
ber in th is c onnection th at th e mind
simpl y must be grateful for everyth ing in
order t o be O pen to th e reception o f new
things and better th ings We simply c an
not receive better things unless we are
truly grateful for th at wh ic h we already
possess This is th e law in this matter
and it is a law th at will bear th e most
rigid analysis To give th anks therefore
wit h th e wh ole h eart for everyth ing th at
c omes into life and to e x press c onstant
\
and wh ole soul ed gratitude to all the
world for everyth ing that is good in th e

w orl d this is t h e secret through w h ich

we may open th e mind to t h e great c os
mic in u x ; t h at in u x tha t is bringing into
th e life of every individual th e rich ness
and the power th at compl ete l i fe h as in
store for e very individual
But in order to be gratefu l in th e b est
a n d most perfect manner we must h av e
appreciation We must be able to see the
real wort h of th at wh ic h comes into life
.

be fore we can e xpress the fullness and th e

spirit of the grateful heart T he attitu d e
of appreciation is also valuable in another
direction When w e appreciate worth we
always gain a h igh er consciousness of
worth and th ereby make our own min ds
more worthy
To cultivate t h e mental state of appre
c i at i o n we should el iminate all tendency
to fault nding criticism and the like and
we should make a special e ffort to see th e
worthy qualities in everything and every
body with wh ic h we come in contact
The result of such a practice will not only
be a better appreciation with a deeper i n
sight into the superior qualities of life
but also t h e building of a more wh ole
some mind R ealizing the value o f appre
c i at i o n we s h ould wh enever we discover a
lack of appreciation in ourselves proceed
at once to remove the cause We shall
not h esitate in doing th is when we nd
that a la ck of appreciation also tends to
gi v e th e mind a false Vie w of things
t h ereby preventing the acquisition of the
best th at life has in store
T h e ap preciative mind h as a natural
tenden cy to l ook u p on th e better side of
.

, .

8
3

things b u t th is t enden cy b e c omes c om

only
w
h
en
t
h
e
optimisti
c
attitud
is
e
l
t
e
e
p
ad d ed To be optimistic h owever does
not mean to think th at black is wh ite or
that everything everywhere is all righ t
The true optimist can also see the
aws and the imperfections in l ife
but h e gives dire ct attention t o the
good side th e better side and t he
strong side And h avin g t h is l arger
view h e always knows th at the
strong side is muc h l arger and far supe
rior to the weak side He never be c omes
discouraged therefore because h e k nows
that failure and wrong are only tempo
rary and th at the right nally wins every
time In addition h e k nows th at h e can
aid th e right to suc h an extent t h at th e
victory can b e gain e d now
The pessimist lives in the fal s e an d does
not s ee things as they are His c onclu
sions are therefore worthless F or th is
reason we should never pay any attention
to the words of t h e pessimist as we s h all
be m i sled in every instan c e if we do In
s t ead we s h ould listen to t h e prophecy of
the optimist and th en put all our ability
and al l our faith into the po ss ib i l ities of
,

th at p rop h ecy th ereby making it come

true procee d ing of course in the co n vic
tion that we can T h e value o f the opti
mistic attitude in s c 1 ent i c thinking
therefore is very great ; because to think
correctly on any subject th e mind must
have the mountain top view and we must
think correctly if we wish to think for r e
,

s u l ts.

T hough th e optimist may l ive on th e

sunny side still the full value of life s
suns h ine cannot be gained until we add
the attitude of constan t cheerfulness To
be c h eerful bright happy and joyous is
absolutely necessary if we wish to think
scientically think constructively and
think for results
When we proceed
to th ink for results we think for
a purpose
We employ correctly
the constructive mental processes so
that we may work ourselves up to the
goal in view G rowth and development
therefore must take place all along the
line of action but no mental growth can
take place with out mental sunshine A c
co r d in gl y we s h ould resolve to be h appy
no matter what may transpire We can
S uns h in e will
n o t a fford to be oth erwise

0
4

me lt th e most massive i ceberg if th e rays

are direct and the clouds are kept away ;
and it is th e same in daily life No mat
ter how cold disagreeable and u n c o n
genial your present enviro nment may be
plenty of mental sunshine can ch ange it
all
It pays to be happy C heerfulness is a
most protable investment a n d there are
no riches that are greater than constant
joy This attitude is not for the few or
for occasional moments because all the
sunny states of mind can be made perma
nent in a short time by a very simple
process Make it a practice to go to sleep
every night with cheerfulness on your
mind and with a feeling of joy in every
atom of your being Through this prac
tice you will c arry the c h eerful idea into
the subconscious and gradually the j oy
ous state will become an established state
T h e result
in the subconsc ious mind
will be that the subconscious will express
cheerfulness and wholesomeness at all
times and it will become second nature
for you to have a sweet disposition a
sunny frame of min d and an attitude of
perpetual joy This method may seem to
.

1
4

b e t oo s imp l e to be of valu e b ut th e
simplest methods are usually the best
And anyone can prove through a few
weeks of trial that th is method will pro
du c e the desired results and will through
more continuous practice actually trans
form mind and disposition to such an ex
tent that th e mind will henceforth live in
const ant mental sunshine And there are
few things t hat are more 1 m po rt ant than
this if we wis h t o train the mind to act
and work in th ose attitudes that are nec
e ssary in order th at we may proceed suc
ce ss fu l l y in t h inking f or results
,

2
4

HE attitude o f k indness is
one of the greatest among
the righ t states of min d
T h erefore to be kind to
and t o feel
everybody
kindly towards th e wh ole
o f c reation th is must be the attitude if
th e righ t use of mind and th ought is to
K indness enlarges the inner
prevai l
co nsciousness th us promoting th e e n
largement and the expressio n of life
And it also c reates th e tendency to give
one s best and there is nothing that
brings forth the greater l i fe and power
with in us s o quickly and s o c ompletely
as th e giving o f o ne s b es t in all things
and at al l times
'o th th e soul and th e mind w ith al l
their p owers and possibilities tend to
unfold th emselv es th rough th e acti o ns of
th e strong wh o l e souled att itude o f kind
ness In fact no one can begi n to u n
fold h is l arger l ife and receive t h e greater
richness from within until h e begins to
gi v e thr o ugh th e att itud e of k indn ess all
.

43

that which h e already has in h is person

ality And the more one gives of the
richness of one s own life ability and
power the more he will receive from the
limitless realms of the within Thi s i s a
law that no one not even the most mate
r i al i st i c can a ffor d to ignore
But giving
is not giving unless it comes from the
heart and it must invariably be an act of
expression for some great purpose Your
expressions either of thought or action
will not open the way for inner unfol d
ment unless you give richly through a
fuller and l arger expression and in all
such expressions you must feel kin d ly
The attitude of kin d ness is therefore i n
dispensable to growth mental unfold
ment and constructive thinking
The attitude of sympathy always acts
in close connection with kindness and
though it is a most important state of
mind it is also a much abused state
There are few people who sympathize
correctly and there is possibly nothing
that interferes with correct thinking as
does mis d irected sympathy When we
sympathi ze with anyone we enter into a
certain unity o f th at one s mind and we
.

44

al most invariab ly imitate to a degree th e

mind th at w e unite wit h in this way
Two minds with but a singl e th ought
will imitate eac h other in nearly every
thing and will actually grow to look alike
It is therefore very important to know
wit h what we s h ould sympath i z e When
you sympathize with a person in distress
you will think th e t h ought of distress at
the time and will reproduce in a measure
the same state in your own mind and
possibly in your own life and personality
Many a person h as failed in life because
he h as sympathized too much with the
weak side and inferior side of those who
have had misfortune Whe n you sympa
t h iz e with a person that is sick your mind
will create within itself a similar condi
tion of disea s e and this expression will
express itself in your own body a fact
to which th ousands c an testify
We
realize again th erefore that it will not do
to sympathize wit h anything and every
thing that may arouse our sympath y
Why does it hurt to see a friend pun
i s h e d ? W h y do we usually feel bad when
those of whom we th ink a great deal feel
bad ? W hy is there a tendency o f most

45

m i n d s to th i nk an d f ee l l ik e th e preva i l
ing thought in their community ? Why
does a mob lose its head s o to speak and
proceed to think feel and act precisely
like the leader ? Why do scores of inci
dents of a similar nature take place in
our midst constantly ? S ympathetic imi
And the
t a t i o n explains such phenomena
law that un d erlies this phenomena is a
law that we must understand thoroughly
if we wish to master our own thinking
an d our actions wherever those actions
may be expressed When you sympa
t h iz e with weak ness you are li able to
become weak
When you sympathize
with disease you are liable to get the
same symptoms an d frequently the very
When you sympathize
disease itself
with the wrong you are liable to think
that same wrong and possibly act it out
in your own life Thes e are facts with
wh ich we are all familiar It is there
fore a subject of extreme importance
T h e l aw that governs sympathy is this
that you enter into mental unity l n a
measure with everything with which you
s ympathize and that whatever you enter
i nto menta l unity w it h y o u tend to imi
,

6
4

tate and produce in yourself to a degree

U nderstanding this law we realize that
we cannot a fford to sympathize with
everyth ing but on the contrary nd it
absolut ely necessary to m ake a careful
selection of those things with which we
may symp athize
When you sympathize with a person
wh o is in trouble do not think of the
trouble or the pain or the weakness but
think of that something within him that
is superior to all pain and that can a n n ih i
late all the trouble in existence Then

remember the great statement th at he

that is within you is greater than h e that
'
is in the world Make it a practice never
to sympathize with the inferior side but
only with the superior side 'ut this will
not ma ke y o u cold and indi fferent as
many suppose for it is impossible for you
to become mentally cold while being in
touc h with the very life of the soul itself
which must be the very essence of ten
derness kindness and love In applying
this principle we nd that the more per
fe c t l y you sympathize with the higher
the ner and the stronger side of man the
more love you feel the more tenderness

47

you express and the more helpful you b e

come in all of your e ff orts Nothing is
lost therefore but muc h is gained by
training th e mind to sympathi ze onl y
with the true side of human life
The man wh o is sick and in trouble
does not want mor e tears He has had
enough o f them What he wants and
what he needs is that sympathy that can
banish all tears and that can reveal the
way to emancipation power and joy
This being true we must try to banish
completely every form of morbid sym
pathy It hurts everybo d y It p erp et u
ates weakness and keeps th e mind i n
bondage to inferior imitations In apply
ing this higher form of sympathy do not
tell the unfortunate that you are sorry
T ell them how to get rid of their sorrow
Then do something substantial to speed
them on the way This is sympathy that
is worthy of the name
R ight thinking cannot be promoted so
long as we sympathize in the old fash
We cannot think c o n s t ru c
i o n e d way
t ive l y so long as we permit the min d to
imitate the wrong the weak the inferior
and the destructive Here howe ver we
.

8
4

nd a p roblem th at we must solve b e

cause it is natural for the min d to imitate
to a certain degree We s h ould there
fore gl ve th e mind something to 1 m 1 t at e
th at h as quality and superiority
In
brief we s h ould train the mind to imitate
the strong the worthy the superior and
the ideal and thus cause all mental
actions to produce th e strong the
worthy the superior and the ideal in o u r
selves For the mind invariably tends to
create th at whic h we th ink of th e most
The true attitude of sympathy will be
promoted to a very great exte nt if we
train ourselves to live in th e upper story
or rath er th e idealistic state of mind
T h ere are two planes upon wh ich the
mind can dwell and th ey are usually
called th e idealistic and the mate rialistic
The ideal plane is th e upper plane while
the materialistic is th e lower
In the
idealisti c all th e tendencies of th e m i nd
move towards th e qualities of superiority
and worth ; all t h e desires are for the
h igh er and th e better ; all th oughts are
created after the likene s s of our high er
conceptions of th e perfect the true and
the superior To l ive in su ch an attitud e
.

49

is t o b e an ideali st and this is the mean

ing of idealism
An i d ealistic min d
therefore is a mind that is constantly
ascen d ing and thus taking a larger view
and a more beautiful view every d ay of
th e richness and splendor of real exist
en c e
In th e materialistic attitude all the ten
d en c i e s of mind move toward the super
In
c i al the inferior and the imperfect
this attitude we usually think accor d ing
to those false conceptions of things that
have been handed down by the race and
all our desires are concerned principally
with satisfying t h e needs of the bo dy
The materialistic mind is the descending
mind the mind that is losing groun d
gra d ually and th at is daily being over
come more and more by its own per
verted and materialistic th ought habits
But to live in the upper story is to keep
the mind concentrated upon th e great
possibilities that are latent within us and
to desire with the whole h eart the daily
realization of more and more of the won
ders that are in store for those who are
stea d ily pressing o n towards greater
things In the upper story we live with
.

0
5

greatness In th e lower story we live

with mistakes and inferiority In the u p
per story we s ee th at man is daily unfol d
ing the greatness of the super man In
the lower story we see only the d e prav
ity or weakness of error and sin In the
lower story we are in partial or complete
darkness In the upper story we are in
the ful l light
It is th e refore easily
understood why the mind must dwell in
the upper story before right thinking can
begin
After beginning to live in th e upper
story t h e conscio usness of superiority
and supremacy will naturally appear and
these two states should be thoroughly de
We s h ould all train ourselves
ve l o pe d
to feel th at we are superior beings ; not
superior to o th ers because we are all
s uperior but superior to everyt h ing t hat
pertains to personal existence ; superior
t o il l s pains weakn esses mistakes and
failures ; and superior to everything th at
is imperfect or undeveloped
Here we
s h ould remember that the consciousness
of superiority does not produce vanity or
egotism When a person has really b e
c ome co nsc i o us of th e superiority of his
.

1
5

true be ing h e is above all small and ques

t i o n ab l e states of mind
When you are superior you do not have
to make any display of the matter to
prove it It will sho w in your life and in
your work an d actions speak more elo
quently than words T h e principal rea
son why th e attitu d e of superiority is so
important is because it unites the mind
with everything in your life and your
thought th at h as quality and thereby
gives everything in your mi nd and per
t h e stamp of greater worth
s o n al i t y
And it is a well known fact that when
ever we enric h our thought or any ex
pression of thought we tend to enrich
everything in our life and those things
t h at we produce through our w ork
T h e attitude of supre macy should refer
to your own bein g only
To rule
supremely in your own domain and not
interfere with the domain of any one else
this is th e true purpose of self suprem
a c y. And th e value of self supremacy is
realized not only in its power to give the
individual self mastery but also in the
fact that when the mind feels that it is
superior it can more easily think its own
.

2
5

th oughts and th ereby prevent the pr ac

tice of imitating false actions or ideas
It must therefore be quite evident that
this state is absolutely necessary to s e ien
t i c thinking and to the art of thinking
for results
The mind th at recognizes its own s u
r
m
a
c
is
a
strong
mind
and
will
there
e
y
p
fore seek to extend its power wherever
the enlargement of life can be promote d
but to accomplish this the mind must be
positive ; that is every action of the mind
should be lled so to speak with a
thought current that tends to press on
and on to the goal in view The posi
tive mind however does not force its
way but wins because it is strong and
every mind becomes strong when con
s t a n t l y lle d wit h thoughts that are posi
tive and determined T o the attitude of
positive ness we should add those of push
and perseverance because these two atti
tudes tend to p romote the increase of the
results that are already being gained ;
and there is nothing that succeeds like
that whic h is constantly pressing on to
greater success
W hen w e p ro c e ed t o th ink for results

53

we are invariably imbued with th e spirit

o f advancement Therefore to increase
the power of this spirit the mind shoul d
cul tivate the persevering attitu d e and
should feel a strong d esire to push for
ward into the ever enlarging realms of
perpetual growth But in this connec
tion we must not forget courage and pa
It
t i e n c e nor the progressive attitude
has been well said that we all could a c
complish far more if we would only
attempt more but l n the majority cour
age generally fails wh en in the presence
of great un d ertakings
This however
we cannot a ff ord to permit To the atti
tu d e of courage we should ad d the men
tal states of self reliance and self co n
dence and still greater gain will be
realized In fact these two states are of
such value that their importanc e cannot
be described in words
They are not
su fciently d eveloped in the average per
son h owever because he depends too
m uc h upon environments opportunities
and associates and not enough upon him
self The great soul depends upon noth
ing exterior to himself
S uch a soul
makes opportunities to order and changes
.

54

environments to comply with require

ments S uch a soul turns adversity into
a willing servant and makes e v ery obsta
cle a new path to greater ac h ie vement
But no soul can become a great soul until
faith in its own power h as be c ome u n
bounded
T h e strong posi t ive m m d may a t times
go beyon d its own domain and may some
times act in realms where it has no l egal
right but th is can be prevented through
the attitude o f non resistance anoth er
most important attitude in the art of con
structive thinking The attitude o f r e sis
tance is always destructive and therefore
in terferes with th e real purpose of right
thinking 'ut it is not necessary to resist
anything That which is inferior will dis
appear wh en We produce th e superior
and not until th en
It is therefore a
waste of time and energy to try to r e
move wrong through resistance
Th e
proper course to pursue is to build up the
right and the wrong will disappear of
itself In this connectio n h owever it
may seem to be d i fcult to c ontinue in a
non resisting attitude when we are con
s t a n t l y in the presence of ad v erse c ondi
.

55

tions
But h ere we s h ould remember
that the mind that is constantly creating
the larger and the bett er will h ardly be
aware of the imperfect in his life be c ause
the imperfect is con stantly passing away
with the ceaseless coming and upbuilding
of the more perfect Our purpose shoul d
be never to resist evil ; though we s h oul d
not on the other hand fold our arms and
let things be as they are While we are
turning away from lesser things we
should concentrate our whole attention
upon the buil d ing up of the greater This
is a method that will give perfect free
dom and continuous advancement to us
.

3 11.

4r

To th e practice of non resistan c e we

should add forgiveness Forgive every
body even yourself To condemn any
thing o r anybody is a misuse of the mind
S o long as we con d emn the wrong the
mind is forcefully d irected towards the
wrong The mental picture of wrong b e
comes more deeply stamped upon the
subconscious and more th oughts and
mental states will be created in the like
ness of those impressions or pictures
These impressions will reproduce them
-

p o

56

d
-

se lves in us and th is is h ow we tend to

create in ourselves what we condemn in
others The reverse of this principle is
also true ; that is that we tend to create
and build up in ourselves th e good that
we commend and appreciate in others
To promote the cultivation of forgive
ness we should become conscious of real
purity and the reason for this is readily
understood when we remember th e state
ment about the eye that is too pure to
behold iniquity Why the pure eye does
not see evil is a subject too large to be
discussed h ere But we shall nd that
the more perfectly we develop t h e con
s c i o u s n es s of purity the smaller and more
insignicant evil becomes to us and the
easier it becomes to forgive everybody
for everything: In the attitude of men
tal purity we look upon the mistak es of
the world in the same way as we look
upon the false notes that the child makes
while learning to play We want those
false notes corrected but we do not call
them bad We know that t h e c h ild will
le arn to play perfectly later on not by
being punishe d or scolded but by being
taught thoroughly and persistently It is
.

'

57

the same with the mistakes of the human

race and t h ose mistakes s ho ul d be d ealt
with in th e same manner
One of th e very important stat es of the
mind is th at of justice or the c onscious
ness of justice and it is most n ecessary
that we cultivate the habit of being just
even in minute details The just mind
can readily direct its processes of thought
and c reation into th ose channels of
action that are in harmony with the laws
of life while the mind that is not just will
misdire c t many of th ose processes and
thereby produce all kinds of detrimental
conditions of mind and body In a state
of justice everybody has his own T h ere
fore to be j ust is to so act that you never
deprive anyone of h is own nor fail to
render to anyone that which is h is own
To know what really belongs to you and
what really belongs to others however
may at rst sight seem to be a di ffi cult
p roblem but we cannot solve it by look
ing at e xternal possessions We become
just by developing the cons c iousness of
justice and not by measuring this to one
and th at to the other To execute justice
in the worl d or in co nnecti on w ith any
,

8
5

of our own actions we must realize jus

ti c e in our o wn soul be c ause e ffects do
not pre c ede c auses
And if all moral
teachers in the world would cease th eir
criticisms of powers and systems and
give their entire attent i on to th e develop
ment of the consciousness of justice in
the mind of the race we s h ould soon h ave
an o rder of things whi th would be ab s o
In ou r own thinking
l ut el y just to all
however the attainment of this con
s c i o u s n e ss of justice is so absolutely nec
essary that it s h ould be given a most
promine nt place in all our e fforts b e
cause it is only through the conscious
ness of j ustice that all misdirection of
t hough t and energy can be pr evented
There are t hree additional S tates of
mind required to make this study com
l
e
t
e
and
these
are
renement
recep
p
t ivity and faith
But we need not take
the time to give them special attention as
we all understand t h eir nature and im
portan c e
Fait h and recepti v ity h ave
special functions to perform in al l kinds
of mental actions and development and
th e advan c ing process of the mind must
o f n ec essity be a rening p r oc ess ; oth er
,

59

wise growt h would be an impossibility

The purpose of scientic thinking there
fore cannot be promote d unless the entire
system is permeated with the conscious
ness of renement And to attain this
consciousness we should picture before us
the most rene d state of the ideal that
we can possibly conceive and keep this
picture before us constantly with th e
d eep desire to make it real
The above is a brief analysis of the
most important of the right mental states
those states that are nee d e d to place
the mind in that state of action that i s
absolutely necessary if we wish to think
for results We are now ready therefore
to proceed with the real process of think
mg

60

VE R Y norma l person h as a

denite goal that he expects

to reach ; some purpose for
which he I S living thinking
and working ; one o r more
obje c ts that he is trying to
a
m
possession
of
But
h
ow
to
realize
g
this ambition is the problem and thou gh
he h opes to nd the solution in some
way that way is not always as clear as
he should wish it to be A study of nat
ural laws h owever both physical and
metaphysical will readily reveal the
secret
When we study natural laws w e nd
that aimless l i ving is wasteful d et e ri o r at
ing and detrimental both to the individ
ual and to the race and the same study
reveals th e fact that all th e laws of nature
are constructed for the promotion of prog
ress and growth Therefore to be nat
ural we must move forward and to move
forward we must h ave a denite purpose
From this we conclude th at the life with
a denite purpose is t h e only natural life
,

61

And as i t is natural nature must be able

to provi d e a way by which such a life can
be perfected fully and completely
In
other words there must be a solution for
every problem and this being true he
who seeks the solution will certainly
n d it
Nature is dual physical and meta
physical What we fail to nd in the
one therefore we shall certainly nd in
the other ; and the study of the larger
metaphysics g i ves us the solution for the
problem un d er consideration This s o
l u t i o n is based upon the d iscovery that
thought i s the one power that determines
the life the position the circumstances
and the destiny of man and that to use
that power we must learn to think for re
,

s ul t s .

Whether the individual is to move for

ward o r not depen d s upon what he
thinks His actions his intentions his
motives his plans h is ten d encies his e f

forts all of these play their part but

they are all the products of thinking an d
therefo re are invariably like t he process
of thinking from wh ic h they sprang
Every th ought is a power in th e life
.

62

where it is created and will either pro

mote o r retard the purpose of t h at life
Every th ought you t h ink is either for
you or against you
It will either
push you forward or h old you down
When your own th ought is against you
all your actions e fforts tendencies
plans intentions and everything that is
pro d uced by thought o r directed by
thought will also be against you ; an d
conversely everything that you do with
muscle or brain will be for you when
your thought is for you This is a fact
the importance of which is certainly
great And since it has been fully dem
o n s t r at e d to be a fact we cannot a fford
to give it less than our most profound at
tention
S ince it is natural to h ave denite aims
in life in fact ab s o l ht el y necessary i n
order to be in harmony with the purpose
of life and since it is natural to mov e
forward it must be natura l to have only
such thoughts as are for you ; thoughts
that can push you forward and that will
be instrumental in promoting the pur
pose you have in view In other words
to comply with th e laws of nature physi

'

53

cal and metaphysical it is necessary to

think in such a way that all mental action
tends to produce growth advancement
and progress In this connection we n d
that nature s laws do not con flict One
law declares that the in d ivi dual mus t
move forward constantly if he would be
in accor d with nature and another law
d eclares that our thoughts will either
promote or retard the forward move
ment T herefore when our thinking r e
t ar d s our progress we violate natural law
and will consequently produce conditions
that are d etrimental
To discriminate between right and
wrong think ing between sc ientic an d
chaotic thinking and all thinking is
chaotic that is n o t scientic becomes
very simple when we d ene t h e former
as being in accord with natural laws an d
the latter as being at variance with nat
ural laws Or to be more explicit s c i en
t i c thinking is the formation of all such
mental actions mental states and m ental
forces as have the power to pro d uce in
our e fforts what nature has given all
things in th e human system the power
to produce It is the intention of nature
,

54

th at all things shall work for perpetual

advancement of all things Therefore a
though t to be i n accord with nature must
have the inherent impulse as well as the
power to promot e advanceme nt in its
sp h ere of action
To be scienti c is to be in a cc ord wit h
nature ; to work p hysically and mentally
with nature and t o carry out the funda
mental intentions o f nature And since
all th e actions of man are produced and
directed by his thinking he cannot work
with natur e unless his thinking is in a c
cord with nature and is designed and ap
plied wi th denite results i n View In
brief thinking is scientic and designed
when its purpose is to produce a d vance
ment and when it h as at the same time
bot h the p o wer and th e k nowledge to
carry out that purpose
E ve ry intelligent person tries to live
in accord with n atural laws but as a rule
complies only with those laws that deal
with the physical side of life He th ere
fore cannot be in perfect a c cord with
nature because to obey one group o f
laws and ignore another group will pro
du c e noth ing b u t c o nfu sio n and u lt imate
.

65

failure And wh at is imp ortant it is not

possib l e to co mply perfectly with p hysical
laws unl ess we understand metaphysical
laws 'hysi c al a ctions are both produced
and d ire cted by mental action Not a
muscle c an move unless the mind moves
Therefore if th e mental action is not
fully in accord wit h natural laws it will
not be possible for the conse quent physi
cal actions to be in full accord with na
ture
It is no t difcult to understand
therefore why th e maj ority of those who
have tried t o live in accord with nature
and tried t o apply fully the powers and
possibilities o f nature h ave not suc
c e e d ed in as l arge a measure as their
ambitions might desire They h ave tried
to bring physical actions into harmony
with nature wh ile their mental actions
have been more or less at variance with
T h ey h ave tried to make their
n ature
actions s c ienti c wh ile th eir th inking re
And h ere we have
m ained unsci entic
the cause of practically al l the trouble
confusion and failure in the world
T h e statement th at nature s funda
mental intention is the p erpetual ad
vancement of all things may b e ques
.

wh en we take note of the many

processes of nature th at appear to be d e
structive and nd t h at those processes
invariably work in h armony with natural
law. But when we l ook beneath the sur
fa c e we nd th at th e c onsuming p rocess
i s necessary to th e rening p rocess and
that t h e decomposing pro c ess is in d ispe n
sable to growth
That wh i c h destroys
does not tend directly to build up but
th e inferior must be removed before the
superior can be constructed T h e force
of destruction h owever c an be us ed in
many ways It can be turned into the
gross actions o f t h e sledge th at tears
down th e present structure Or it c an be
employed th rough the channel o f trans
mutati o n wh ic h removes th e present
\
structure n o t b y tearing it down but
by c hanging it into something better In
the grosser forms of action destruction is
usually s eparated from construction and
may or may not be followed by the latter
but in the high er forms of action d est ru c
tion and construction are one The i n
ferio r is destroyed by being immediately
transmuted into the superior And here
we s h ould remember that everyth ing in
t io n e d

67

nature regardless of its present condition

can be transformed into something
higher ner and better because every
process in nature can promote advance
ment being create d for that purpose
Therefore to be in accord with nature
man must have the same purpose He
must live think and work for perpetual
advancement constant gr owth and eter
nal progress
In preceding pages it h as been stated
that the foundation of scientic thinking
consists of thinking only in the attitude
of right mental states and th e principal
right mental states were enumerated and
dened ; and in this connection it may be
ad d ed th at th e reason why such states of
mind constitute the foun d ation of s c i e n
t i c thinking is based upon the fact that
wrong mental states tend to pervert and
misdirect the original intention of every
process of thinking while right mental
states tend to hold in position so to speak
or properly direct the original intention
of every mental process To think s c i e n
t i c al l y and to think for results is t o
think with a denite obj ect in view ; that
is to s o think that every thought will aid
,

68

in the realization of that obj ect There

fore it cannot be scientic to originate
a mental process with a certain obj ect in
view and then permit that process to be
mis d irecte d but this is wh at we con
t i n u e to do so long as wrong mental
states are permitted to act in the min d
A mis d irected mental process always
creates thought s and mental actions that
are foreign or adverse to the original i n
tention of that process and are in c o n s e
n
detrimental
S
uch
thinking
there
u
e
c
e
q
fore does not only waste time and e ffort
but places serious obstacles in the way of
our constructive and properly directed ef
forts In the average mind we nd men
tal states that are righ t as well as mental
states that are wrong T h e one group
assists th e forward movement of mind
while the other not only retards or mis
d ire c t s b u t usually acts as an obstacle as
well This however we cannot a fford to
permit T h e proper course to take there
fore in the very beginning is to eliminate
absolutely all mental states th at are
wrong and to shun th em completely in
the future S hould we be in doubt as to
what states are wrong we need only t e
.

69

member that every mental state is wrong

that has no tende ncy to build an d that
every state is right that does have a d i
rect upbuilding tend ency And in el im i
nating the wrong states of mind the
simplest method is to give so much at
tention to the creation and the strength
e n in g of right mental states that not a
single mental action is ever permitted to
create or perpetuate wrong states In
other words there will be no power with
which to produce the wrong when all the
power of the mind is used in building up
the right
We may pro c eed th erefore upon th e
principle that right mental states consti
tute the foundation of scientic th inking
and that the very rst thing to do in
learning h ow to think for results is to
train the mind to create entertain and
perpetuate only right mental states
When we h ave establish ed this fo un d a
tion we may proceed with the rst story
of the superstructure To this structure
t h ere are several stories but the rst one
is to give every th ough t you th ink the
t endency and the power to promote your
own indi vidua l p urpo se in l ife ; that is
,

0
7

every mental action every mental cre

ative process and every form of thinking
should be so constituted that e v erything
that transpires 1 n the mind will work
both fully and dire ctly for your welfare
and advancement In oth er words train
your mind to think only th oughts that
will push your work and every though t
you think can pus h your work if prop
erly constructed
But th e opposite is
also true Every th ou ght you think can
interfere with your work if not properly
constructed
We realize th erefore the
importance of discriminating between
t h e right and the wrong even in t h e most
insignicant of our mental attitudes b e
cause we want everything th at takes
place in our system to act to our ad van
tage
Before you can apply scientic think
ing l n your own life it is necessary to
make a denite decision as to wh at pur
pose you wi sh to live think and work
for
And in most minds th is purpose
will assume a three fold aspect
Th e
rst will be to succeed in your vocation ;
the second will be a c ontinuous develop
ment of the l eading men tal qualities ;
,

and th e th ird will be th e attainment of

higher and higher states of ideal exist
ence To these three many may wish to
add the development of one or more
special talents or the attainment of cer
tain special obj ects and these d i fferent
things can easily b e added without inter
fe r in g wit h th e full promotion of the
general purpose The i d ea is that you
must clearly x in mind what you wish
to think and work for in the great eter
nal now In the future some or all of
your plans may be changed but you may
do that when the future comes While
the present remains there must be some
thing d enite to work for now an d that
something should receive your un d ivide d
attention By doing justice to the pres
ent we shall be far better equipped for
the opportunities of the future In fact
the very best w ay to prepare for the
future is to be your very best in the
presen t and if you are your best in the
present your future will certainly be
better
Whet her you h ave a few objects or
many that you wish to realize place
th em properly in your mind giving each
.

'

2
7

special position b efore your mental

v ision and th en h ol d these obj e cts con
s t a n t l y before you as t h e great goa l for
which you desire to live think and work
C enter all attention upon that goal men
tally m o vm g m that direction every
moment and turning on th e full c urrent
No force of thought or action must go
to th e left or to the right Every force
you place in action in y ou r system must
aim upon th at goal and must proceed
with the denite purpose of helping you
reac h th at goal
In brief you must
actually live in every sense of the word
for the purpose you have l n Vi ew. T h at
does not mean however th at you must
ignore th e interest of others or become
oblivious to the many phases o f life that
exist about you The mind is comple x
and consciousness is capable o f many
grades o f action ; t h erefore you c an in
general be interested in everything th at
has worth But all th ese other interests
mus t be made a channel through which
your fundamental purpose can be pro
moted
or
rather
an
aid
to
the
great
plan

for which you live think an d work If

you are a business man you need not
a

73

ignore music art or l iter ature

The
more you h ave of these the better for
your business provi d ed you employ them
as forces of inspiration Though it is
necessary for you to co ncentrate your
life upon your business still you must
constantly enlarge your mind ch aracter
and soul in order to insure increased
success in your b u s m ess Your c apacity
for work and your power to improve the
quality of your work must devel op . And
everything in life that has worth can be
made to promote y ou r own individual
growth In oth er words be intereste d
i n everyth ing th at h as quality and worth
anywhere in li fe and use everything you
gain through th is interest for the mak
ing of your own life larger rich er and
more successful
It is not the narrow mind th at suc
The mind that invariably realizes
ce ed s
the g reatest success is th e mind that is
broad and at the same time h as th e
power to focus the wh ole of its larger
capacity upon the one th ing that is being
done now When you c onstantly focus
your mind upon that wh ich you are liv
ing for and working fo r you are giving
.

all your c reati v e p o wers t o th ose facu l

ties and talents th at are required in th e
r e al i z ation of your o bje cts in view It
is therefore evident th at th e l arger your
mind is both in its c apacity and power
the greater wil l be the results . It re
quires ability and power t o do th ings
Therefore th e more ability and the more
power you c an apply i n any line o f
action the more you wil l a cc omplish and
the more rapidly you wi ll advance in
that direction
For th is reason we do
not wis h to t hrow away ability and
power upon those th ings th at cannot
promo te our present progress We do
not wis h to giv e thought and attention
to plans that are of no use to us now
We may need th ose plans some day but
the p lans th at we can use now are the
only ones that have a right to o ur pres
ent attention
Th e idea is t o th ink that you can to
think for results and to giv e your life in
the present to th at whic h can use your
life in the present This is not done
h owever when we permit aimless think
ing And th e amount of life and ability
th at i s thr own away in th is manner is
'

'

75

enormous
Aimless th i nking has the
same e ffec t upon your c apacity and abil
ity as pun ch ing h oles in th e b oiler h a s
upon t h e c apacity of th e engin e 'ut
the giving of attention to foreign or tem
r
a
r
o
plans
is
just
as
wasteful
When
p
y
you decide upon a plan see it th rough
G ive your whole life to it
Turn th e full
force of your wh ole mind upon it an d
keep at it until you are ready for some
greater plan You will thus build your
self up and prepare yourself for a greater
plan and wh en suc h a plan arrives
whic h it positively will drop everything
else and give this new plan th e ful l force
of your undivided attention
Too many minds are constantly wish
ing th ey were in some other kind of
work t hus diverting their attention
every few moments from t h e work in
wh ich th ey are engaged now T h e result
is not only poor work but th ey place
themselves in a position wh ere they can
never nd opportunity for advancement
If you want something better to do do
your present work so well that it b e
comes a stepping stone to something
better It is the man wh o thoroughly
.

lls h is present p l a c e th at i s ask ed to

come up and ll a larger place but no
man c an ll h is present p lace to full
capa c ity unless al l the l ife and all the
power th at is in him is applied dire ctly
in producing results in th at pla c e
S ince th ought is a denite power wit h
great constructive possibilities th e more
though t we give to our work th e more
successful we shall be in th at work pro
vi d e d our thought is scientic designed
and constructive This is simple
On
the other hand wh enever we encourage
aimless th inking o r wishing for some
thing else to do we are taking power
away from our work thereby decreasing
results
One of the rst principles in
thinki ng for results therefore is to give
your wh ole attention to your present
work ; to give all your c reative power to
the building up of the purpose at hand ;
and to cause every mental action to act
in such a way that it will act with the
plans and for the plans you are now
seeking t o p ush t hro u gh
,

HE ne xt question that will

naturally arise is that of
knowing what to think
about our work and the
objects we have in vi ew
Every mental state b e
comes th e mother o f ideas ; every i d ea can
pro d uce a tendency of mind and every
tendency tends to draw mental act ions
in its own direction A false conception
will produce false ideas fals e ideas will
originate false tendencies and false ten
d en c i es will lead the mi nd into mistakes
To promote any purpose h owever mis
takes must be avoided as far as possible
Everything must be done correctly an d
whatever is done should be done better
and better every time
The way we
th ink therefore of what we are t o do or
the obj ects we have in view will directly
determine th e results that are to be
attained
W h en you th ink about your work as
being d i fcult you form a wrong mental
c on c ept io n ; fo r th e fact is that no work
.

8
7

is m ore dif c ult th an w e mak e it and we

can relate ourse lves to our work in suc h
a way th at we s h all always be equal to
the o ccasion
W h en you t h ink about
your work as di ffi cult you w il l usually
approac h it in the attitude o f doubt and
fear and no mind can do its best wh ile
in suc h states Nor can you relate your
self to your work under s uc h conditions
because th e false mental t en d en c l es that
follow suc h false conception s wil l mis
lead many o r all o f your faculties To
think of your work as being completely
under your personal control is correct
because th e possibilities with in us are
unlimited and we can make ourselves
equal to any occasion From th is we are
not to infer h owever that we can do
now w h at ey er our personal opinions
may conclude t h at we c an do now ; for
suc h opinions are not always based upon
the whole truth in t h e matter But the
idea is th at y o u c an succeed in th at
work wh ic h your best judgment h as de
cided upon and that you can increase
your success in that line m o r e and more
for an indenite period
T o th i nk o f your work as trivial mean
,

79

burdensome is wrong be c ause su ch an

attitude of mi n d will tend to make you
inferior and there is no success for you
while yo u are on the downgrade towar d s
inferiority To think of your work as
ordinary o r trivial is to think o rdinary
thoughts and as suc h th oughts will de
crease the power of y our mind they will
naturally interfere with your work and
therefore be directly against you in th eir
actions
To think of your work as
drudgery or as something disagreeable
that is to be gone through with is in like
manner a mistake ; the reason being that
such thinking prevents th e mind from
being its best and giving e xpression to
its best
You cannot give your heart
and soul to that which you despise and
you cannot do your best in any kind of
work unless you give it your whole heart
and soul
If you want to th ink and work for r e
s ul t s you must love your w ork and you
can though suc h love is not to be senti
mental but rather the feeling of intense
admirat i on for those lines of action that
you know will lead to greater things
Think therefore of your work as a ch an
or

ne l throug h wh i ch you are to reac h th e

higher places of life be c ause that is what
your work really is i f you approach it in
the right way and apply its possibilities
on the largest scale To nd fault with
wh at you h ave a c complish ed is wr o n g
as it tends to turn attention upon de
fe ct s and in f eriority Every mind should
constantly expect to do better and
should with e very e ffor t try to improve
upon wh at w as done before but no
actual o r ch ro ni c fault nding must be
permitted To nd fault with wh at you
have done is t o belittle yourself ; in
brief to place a wet bla nket so to speak
over your h opes and aspirations
In
stead you s h ould th ink o f your work as
very good c onsidering your present de
b ut you should set your
vel o pm en t
whole h eart and soul upon the attain
ment of someth ing far superior Th ink
constantly of yo ur work as being sus
T h en
cept ibl e to perpetual improvement
proceed to make that thought come true
and you will positively succeed
Every mental process th at you turn
into your work must be c onstructive
Your obje ct is pr o gress t owards th e goal
.

8:

you h ave in view

Therefore every
process that you place in action whether
in mind or personality must be a buil d
ing process But your d esire to make
those processes constructive will not
alone make them so The idea of con
stant enlargement must be the very soul
of every thought and the whole of your
mentality must live and act in a state of
expan d ing consciousness In the grow
ing mind there is an interior ever
increasing feeling of the consciousness of
enlargement and expansion which we
should cultivate extensively and in this
feeling every p rocess of thinking should
move The thought th at you put into
your work will increase or decrease your
capacity and wil l consequently either
promote or retard your progress And
here we sh ould remember that the
thought you put into your work is the
thought you think while you work
While you work you are actually giving
a part of yourself to that wh ich you are
doing but if you are giving your l ife
and p ower correctly you will receive
more than you give ; that is the reaction
wi l l be greater th an th e a ction In order
.

82

to give correctly of your life and power

in this manner or rather to think cor
re c t l y while at work every mental action
in expression at the time s hould be per
meated with the Spirit o f expansion
improvement and advan c ement In brief
you s h ould feel that th e e ffort you put
into your work i s actually developing
yourself And th is is pr ecisely what is
taking place in every mind that thinks
scientically constructively and accord
ing to a denite purpose wh ile at work
Your th ought about th e progress o f
your work is v ery important and such
though t s h ould always be th at o f suc
c ess If you are determined to su cc eed
your work is already a success and it is
strictly sci entic to th ink of i t as such
When th e se ed is good and h as been
placed in good soil we can truthfully say
that a good h arves t will be fo rthcoming
In l ike manner you c an tru thfully say
that yo u are a suc c ess wh en all th e el e
ments needed t o produ c e success h ave
been p la c ed in action in your ow n mind
a n d personality
Too many minds h ow
ever do not recogni z e success until th ey
see th e p hysical results and for this v ery
,

83

reason th e p hysica l r esults are fre

quently limited or of inferior worth ; the
reason being that the real spirit of suc
cess was absent during th e actions of
that process through which th e physical
results were being produced But the
c ause o f su cc ess has the same righ t to
recognition as t h e e ffect of succ ess and
if the cause is recognized in the begin
ning t h e e ffects will become muc h larger
because t h e process will contain a muc h
larger measure of th e spirit of su cc ess
When we give conscious re co gnition to
a cause we increase its power When
you have selected a work and h ave re
solved to put your whole l ife into it you
are already a success in th at work and
it is perfectly right for you to think of
yourself as a success The cause of that
success h as been created ; th erefo re that
success already does exist And by giv
ing it faith en c ouragement and mental
power it wil l continue t o grow an d
will nally produce all kinds of rich har
vests o r tangible results in th e external
world
When a powerful cause has been cre
ated the e ffect is inevitable provided it
.

84

is not destroyed during its process of

expression
Wron g thought h owever
has a tendency to destroy every con
structive cause that may h ave been
placed in action in th e mind Therefore
we must think correctly harmoniously
and constructively of every process of
thought or action all along the line ; th at
is we should give every good cause
denite recognition as an individual
ower
and
give
it
f
ull
rig
h
t
of
way
in
our
p
world To create a good cause and then
ignore it is to deprive it of life during its
infa ncy but this is the very thing we do
when we proceed in th e belief th at we
may succeed some day
S ay instead
and say it with all the power of mind
and soul I AM S U C C E SS NOW Every
true e ffort is s uccessful because it not
only has the power to produce success
but is actually working out successful
results ; and if it is encouraged pus h ed
and promoted it wil l positively express
the success desired in real life To push
or promote a true e ff ort we should think
o f it as being already an individual
power for success because th at is what
it i s an d by dealing with it a s s u ch we

85

turn our c re at 1 ve powers i nto l t s sp h ere

of acti o n which means that t h e desired
resul ts will invariably follow
T h e progress of anything will n ec es
s ar i l y
d epend upo n the methods em
ployed Therefore the way we plan for
greater achievements and the methods we
employ in promoting our a dvancement
are matters of extreme importance
Every plan should be directly related
to th e purpose which it i s intended to
promote and e very method we employ
shoul d be based upon the laws required
to carry it out It is also important to
increase the capacity of every new plan
as much as possible In formulating the
best plans and metho d s however the
laws of life should be thoroughly under
stood especially those laws that act in
the metaphysical eld because all phys
ical action to be e ffective must be pre
ceded by effective mental actions But
in a d dition to having the r ight methods
the right plans and the knowle d ge of
constructive action physical and mental
we must also have a powerfu l faith if we
wish to work and think for results
When we plan for greater th ings an d
.

86

h ave faith in greater th ings w e s h al l c er

t a i n l y see those greater things realized .
In fact the power of faith in th e promo
tion of any plan or purpose is so grea t
that no one can a fford to give it other
wise than the most thorough attention
Though faith in one of its phases is what
may be termed a mental attitude an
attitude with an upward look still it is
in its most important phase a positive
mental force T h e mental force or action
of faith is always elevating expanding
and constructive
Therefore to have
faith in yourself and in your work i s to
cause all the powers of your mind to b e
come elevating expanding and c o n s tru c
tive in all their actions
Faith always
tends to build and it buil ds the loftier
the perfect a nd the more worthy 'oub t
however retards and retreats ; it is a
depress ing mental state th at we canno t
a fford to entertain for a moment 'u t
such a state can be removed at once b y
cultivating faith ; and as we proceed to
get faith we should by all means get an
abundance of faith for in all e fforts th at
aim for great results we c annot have too
muc h faith
,

It h as been said that fait h and science

can never harmonize because accor d ing
to some they are antagonistic and a c
cor d ing to others they act in domains
that are wholly d issimilar But no m at
ter what the views of the past may be on
the subj ect the fact is that there is noth
ing more scientic than faith and also
that there is nothing that will aid the
mind more in becoming scientic and
constructive than a thorough realiza
tion as well as expression of the spirit
of faith The more fam iliar we become
with real faith th e more convinced we
become that faith is indispensable in
every e ffort we make physical or mental
In
if the best results are to be secured
fact faith must be made the very soul of
every thought and the living spirit of
every mental action For this reason we
realize that no greater step forward can
be taken than to give faith the rst place
in life if our purpose in life is to think
and work for results.
,

88

AN i s as he th ink s and h is
t h oughts ar e 1 nvar i abl y
c reated in t h e likeness of
h is mental c onceptions of
th ose th ings of whic h h e
th inks about h abitually
Th erefore as man improves h is mental
o
f
all
things
h
e
will
improve
conceptions
himself in the same me asure To i m
prove t h ese menta l conceptions attention
should always be c oncentrated upon th e
ideal o f everything of wh ic h we th ink
That is all thinking s h ould move toward
the greater th e larger and t h e sup erior
Whatever w e think about w e s h ould
always th ink a bout its ideal side its
larger side and its superi o r side E very
thing h as two sides the limited or ob
e
t
i
v
side
and
t
h
e
unlimited
or
e
c
e
s
u
b
c
j
j
tive side W h en we c onsider only the
limited obj e ctive sid e of th ose th ings we
think about o u r mental c onceptions will
be small supercial and materialistic
But wh en we c onsider t h e unlimited sub
i
c
t
v
e
sid
of
t
ho
s
th
i
s
our
mental
e
n
e
e
j
g

89

conceptions will be larger ner and o f

far superior worth
The capacity the power and the bril
l i an cy of the mind depends entirely upon
its mental concept ions
If the mental
conceptions are formed in the likeness of
the external common or the ordinary
the mind will be inferior in every respect
an d vice versa It is therefore of the
highest i mportance th at every mental
conception be as high as perfect and as
ideal as it is possible to make it And to
bring this about it is necessary to train
the mind to concentrate attention upon
the ideal side of everything and to think
with the larger the greater and the
superior always in view
Wh en th inking about persons n o men
tal conceptions s h ould be formed of the
mere external o r personal si de The
superior man alone should receive direct
attention To lo o k through the person
so to speak and v1 ew the inner po s s ib il
ities and all the worthy qualities that w e
know to exist back of the imperfect man

ife s t a t io n this i s the correct and t h e

s cientic way to think about th e peopl e
we meet When we a nalyz e the inferior
,

0
9

thi ngs w e s e e about a p erson an d permit

those things to a ffect our minds we form
inferior and detrimental conceptions in
our own minds When we think a great
deal about the smallness we imagine we
see in others we tend to breed smallness
in ourselves But when we think only of
the larger and t h e better side of others
we cause our minds to rise in the scale
and thus gain power and u nderstanding
we never had before In this connection
the law is that when we look with deep
interest for everyth ing that is superior
in others we actually develop t h e supe
rior in ourselves
When we think of the body we s hould
not think of it as common esh as the
majority do because the physical form
will tend to express the crude and the
common w h eh we think of it in that way
Wh en your mental actions are low cru d e
and coarse your body will have an ordi

nary earth ear thy appearance but when

those actions are highly rened your
body will express a more rened appear
ance to correspond
All suc h actions
constitute or are produced b y the
th oughts we th ink
T h ere f ore all our
.

1
9

menta l actions are as c rude or as n e as

our th oughts themselves To be s ci en
t i c in this however we should think of
the body as a great temple with millions
of apartments each one furnished m ost
gorgeously with nature s own wealth and
beauty and this i s what the body really
is Every cell of the bo d y when viewe d
under a microscope is like a crystal pal
ace and the bo dy is composed of millions
of such We should always think of the
body as a divinely forme d structure as
an ideal creation and we shoul d mentally
view its perfect elements its forces an d
laws in this manner as they perform their
daily miracles We should think of the
body as it is in its true inner self as it
is in its ne and d elicate structures and
we should not think of those im perfe c
tions in its appearance which our own
crude mental actions have produced ; for
when we form in min d the highest con
possible of the ideal physical
ce pt i o n
form we will not only cause the body to
grow more beautiful every year but we
will also enrich the mind with th oughts
of high and superior worth
When we think of the mind w e s h ould
.

not th ink of its aws or undeveloped

states but try to realize how great an d
wonderful the mind really is and then
hold attentio n upon our h ighest co n c ep
tion of true greatness
When all our
mental activitie s m ove towards th is lofty
idea of a bril l iant and prodigious mind
w e shall steadily develop our own mind
up to that superior state ; for a c cording
to a well known metaphysical law we
mentally move towards the ideals we
persistently hold in mind T h erefore by
directing our attention upon the greater
side of the mind we shall actually arise
into mental greatness thus tending
directly to develop superiority in our
own minds T h is is the path to mental
greatness but it is so simple that few
have found it
When we think about life we s h ould
always view the sunny side of personal
existence and the real life of interior
existence Instead of v1 ew 1 n g life as a
burden or as a misery to be endured now
that glory may come in th e future we
should think of the unbounded po s s ib i l
ities th at real life has in store h ere and
now
Our m i nd sho uld be co n c er ned
,

'

93

W1 t

t e rea
e 1 tse l an d s h ou l d seek
to form the very highest conceptions
possible of such a life
There is no
greater subject for thought than life
when we look at life as an eternity of
rich and marvelous possibilities And to
view life in this way will not only ele
vate an d enlarge t he mind but will also
give us the conscious realization of a
continuous increase in life And as life
increases everything in mind and per
s o n al ity will increase to correspond
A
great life pro d uces a great mind and a
high soul but to attain the greater life
we must enlarge our view of l ife And
this we do by turning all attention upon
real life itself and the marvelous possi
R ealizing these facts
b i l it i e s of real life
we should never think of that which is
small when we have the capacity to think
of that whic h is great And we all can
think of the great T here is a beautiful
an d a wonderful side to all life and the
possibilities of all life are unbounded
We therefore un d erstand the value of
training ourselves to take the correct
view of life for to think of the larger and
the more beautiful side of all life is to e n
.

'

94

large and beautify t h e life th at is in us

The same principle should be observed
in all our thought about nature and to
learn how to enter into th at perfect com
munion with nature where we can see
her real beauty and h er wonde rful power
is to apply a faculty that deserves the
highes t state of cultivation in every
mind
Those mental conceptions that
are formed while we are in perfect touch
with the true in nature are of exceptional
worth and will add largely to the power
and superiority of mind
Therefore
w hen we think of nature all attention
should be concentrated upon the ideal
the beautiful and true side When we
s e e what may seem to be aws it is wi s
d om to pass them b y and never permit
them to impress our minds
Even a
weed should be though t of wit h respect
because it is also a product of natural
law and it is our privilege to transform
the weed into something that has real
beauty and worth But her e it is highly
important to remember that our power
to perfect anything in nature can only
increase as we think less of its fl aws and
more of its h idden spl endor s

95

Wh en we come to th e subj ect of our

own personal life and experiences we
cannot apply too well the principle of
scientic thinking because what we
think of the experiences of to day will
largely determine what experiences we
are to have to morrow What we receive
from life passes through the channel of
experience and every channel tends to
mo d ify that which passes through The
subject therefore is vitally important
As frequently stated before scientic
thinking is thinking that pro d uces the
larger th e better the greater and the
superior ; thinking that promotes prog
ress ; thinking that pro d uces results And
suc h thinking is scientic because it is i n
harmony with the purpose of life which
is to a d vance constantly in the produc
ing of greater and greater results ; co n s e
quently to think scientically about ex
every
mental
conception
formed
r
n
e
i
ce
e
p
by experience should be formed in the
likeness of those facts th at will be found
back of the experience Every e x peri
ence can teach us something we do no t
know ; therefore instead of d eplor i ng the
exp eri en c e we should receive it with joy
,

6
9

and pro c eed at once to l ook for th e truth

it has come to convey No experience
will be unpleasant if we meet it with the
one desire to know what it has to teach ;
and wh at is better still when we think of
e xperience as a messenger of truth we
will form only lofty mental conceptions
of all experience We will t hus not only
gain much new truth but we will enrich
the mind wit h these many superior con
In the usual way we meet u n
c ept i o n s
pleasant experiences with a heavy heart
and we meet the pleasant ones with the
thought of personal gratication T h ose
mental conceptions that we form wh ile
thinking of our experiences in the usual
way will th erefore be ordinary and fre
quently detrimental In the meantime
the new trut h that those experiences
could have conveyed will remain u n
learned and undiscovered
The reverses and misfortunes of life
are usually looked upon with regret and
are deplored as so many obstacles in our
way but suc h though t is not conducive
to good results R everses come because
we have failed to comply wit h the laws
o f l ife t herefore instead of regretting
.

97

th e e xperien c e we sh ou l d use it as a
means of nding wh erein we have failed
And having done this we may proceed
once more with t h e positive assurance o f
gaining increased success Misfortunes
may also be employed as builders of
character because there I S nothing that
strengthens the mind and the soul so
much as to pass through reverses with
out b eing mentally o r morally disturbe d
The spiritual giant can pass through
anything and gain good from anything
To h im misfortunes are not disagree
able ; they are 5 1 m pl y opportunities to
bring out greater life an d power to learn
more laws to ga i n a better understand
ing of things and thus achieve still
greater t hings when the next attempt is
made But though we may not have at
t a in e d such a lofty state we can at least
pass through reverses with our minds
xed c onstantly upon the high goal in
view The result will be greater moral
stability greater mental power and the
turning of fate in the direction we our
selves desire to move
T hat knowledge and power is gained
through pal n I S a well known belief a n d

8
9

it is one of th ose beliefs th at contains

much truth ; an d it i s also true that when
we h ave learned the lesson the pain c ame
to teach the pain disappears When the
pain i s felt attention should at once be
directed upon that ner and larger life
that lies back of the personal man We
feel pain because the outer forces are not
in harmony with the more perfect life
within ; therefore to remove the pain this
harmony must be restored To restore
this harmony we shou ld proceed to g ain
consciousness of the ner forces of the
inner life because when we become con
scious of the inner life which is always
in harmony the disorder of the outer life
will disappear The more we think of
t h e pain the more conscious we become
of the d iscord in th e outer life and the
more di ffi cult it become s to gain con
s c i o u s n e s s of the harmony of the inner
life
Therefore to th ink scientically
about pain i s to take the mind beyond
pain into the inner realms of life where
perfect harmony reigns. T he r eis u l t will
be freedom from pa i rt qd thex d is c o very
of a new interior worl d . Whe ngwe take
this high er view io f aini x eizrsesf fm is
.

m
)

3 )

fortune troubles and the like we grad

u al l y work ourselves out of the lower
and th e confused and will ere long get
out of them entirely It is therefore evi
dent that when w e think scientically
about the ills of life we procee d d irectly
to rise above them and will therefore
meet them no more This i s perfectly
natural because when your thoughts are
high you will rise in the scale ; you will
leave behind the inferior and the wrong
and you will enter into the possession of
the superior and the right
When we think about ourselves we
s hould always think about the unlimited
possibilities of th e within
Attention
should be directed upon the larger self
and every thought should be formed in
the likeness of the highest mental con
c ep t i o n s that we can form of the supe
rior We may however recognize the
existence of aws in our nature ; in fact
it is necessary to know where the weak
places are in order to remove them ; but
the min d sh cruld negver hold its attention
The
mental
eak pl a c e s
upon th os e w
f
eye s houl d never; look upon the imper
fdog
r it h m u gh it and direct
s fdul d f
gl
,

( (

its vision towards th e ideal And h ere

we nd the reason why the average per
son does not improve as he should The
fact is he thinks of himself as he appears
to be in the limited personal self He
patterns his thought after the small life
that he can see in the outer self And as
man is as h e thinks he will therefore not
rise above the quality or the nature of
his own thought No one can rise any
higher t h an his thoughts Therefore so
long as your thoughts are like your
present limited personal life you will
never become any more than you are
now
The mind h owever th at tran
scends its present states talents and
qualities and tr 1 es to gain mental con
c ept i o n s of the larger and the superior
will stea d ily ris e and become as large as
those new conceptions th at h ave been
formed and may later rise still h igh er
thus reach ing greater h eights of con
ability and power t h an was
s c i o u s n es s
dreamed of before
In the world of feeling th e th orough
application of the law of scientic
thought is extremely important ; the
reason being th at we generally live upo n
.

IOI

those planes wh ere our feelings are th e

strongest
All our feelings therefore
shoul d be transformed to the highest
planes of thought and living that we can
possibly think of
But since feeli ngs
deal principally with forces whether in
mind or personality it is in the world of
force that we shall have to direct our
attention if a change of feeling is to be
made And this is done very simply by
training the mind to always try to feel
the ner and the more powerful forces
that are back of every state condition or
action Whenever anything takes place
in your system try to feel the ner forces
in that part of the system where the
action is taking place This experience
may not give you any new sensation at
rst but you will gradually become con
scious of a whole universe of ner life
and action within yourself Then your
mind will be living in a much larger
world and in a much richer world T hese
ner life forces that you feel within your
self are t h e powerful creative energies of
the subconscious and it is these energies
that are so valuable in the development
of the mind and the reconstruction of the
.

1 02

body Therefore wh enever you exercise

the sense of feeling try to feel th e h igher
and the ner that is in you 'o u will
soo n succeed and the results will not
only add enjoyments bot h to mind and
personality but will also give you the
mastery of new and powerful forces
An expanding and ascending desire
should be back of every action of the
mind and all e ff orts to gain th e con
scious realization of the new s h ould aim
at the very largest mental scope and
realization possible Every desire should
desire the largest th e purest the most
rened and the most perfect e xpression
that present mental capacity can be con
scious of This will add remarkably to
t h e joy of l iving and will h ave a rening
e ffect upon the entire system T h e most
rened expressions of desire give the
greatest pleasure wh eth er th e channel of
expression be p hy sical mental or spirit
ual But no d esire s h ould be destroyed
The proper c ourse is to rene it and turn
it into ch annel s through wh ic h th e forces
back of th at desire can be wisely em
ployed now When we rene our desires
those desires will ne ver lead us into
.

to 3

wrongs or t em pt at l o n s b ecause t h e fa ct
is that a rened desire never desires t o
do wrong On the contrary every desire
that desires higher and higher expres
sions will through su c h a d esire tend t o
enter into the right the more perfect and
the superior
In this connection we
should remember that all ascen d ing
actions are right actions that all d escend
ing actions are wrong actions an d that
this is the only d i fference between right
and wrong
Every mental aim should h ave the
greater in view and every plan that is
forme d should embody the largest possi
Too many minds
b i l i t ies conceivable
fail because their plans are so small and
their aims too low ; but the larger and
the higher i s I nvariably the purpose of

scientic thought thought that thinks

for results Every mental force there
fore should be a n aspiring force and
should have the power to spur us on to
greater e fforts and higher goals This is
extremely important as we s ha ll kno w
when we learn that all forces are creative
When all the forces of your system are
trained to aspire everyth ing that is b e
.

1 04

ing created in your system will b e

created more perfectly and you will
stea d ily a d vance In like manner when
every mental action is constructive
everything t h at may be placed in action
in your mind will tend to build you up
and will tend to work for the purpose
you h ave in view Mental actions that
have n o particular aim are usually de
structive but every action of the mind
can be made constructive if we make it
a point to always think for results The
rst step in this connection and the only
really important step is to have a strong
desire for mental construction constantly
held in mind and to give this desire i n
creased attention w h en our mental a c
tions are especially strong In all our
e fforts our object shoul d be greater
things and to realize this obj ect no
buil d ing power in mind or personality
must be i d le or misdirected On the con
everything within us should be
t r a ry
trained to work for all those denite r e
s u l t s that we have in view and all actions
of mind and body shoul d be so perfectly
directed upon the production of those
results that everything we do under any
.

1 65

c irc um stance will tend to work con

It
s t an t l y and directly for those results
is wh en we proceed in this manner that
our thinking is right d es 1 gn ed and s c i e n
t i c an d it is suc h thinking alone that
we can employ w he n w e mm to think for
results
.

06

make the righ t use of

th ought we m ust make it
a practice t o th ink that
which is inherently true
Therefore whatever we
think about we must for
m u l at e our thoughts according to the
truth wh ic h we know to exist within
that of whic h we think When we think
about life we must think of life as it is in
itself and not as it appears to be in the
personal existence o f some one who does
not know how to use life There are
people who make life a burden but life
in itself is anything but a burden On
the contrary it is a rare privilege There
fore to thi nk of life as a burden is to
take the wrong view of life It is to
think the untruth about life
It is to
view life from the standpoint of one who
h as misapplied life
Accordingly what
we judge is not life but a mistaken
o p inion about life Our thought in the
matter will thus be foreign to life and
will naturally mislead us wh en w e try to
.

1 07

apply it in connection with real livin g

When we th ink about l ife we must
think about real life and not about some
illusio n that we might have of life The
average person s th ought about life
however is simply an opinion about his
misunderstanding about life and there
fore his thinking is never designe d con
structive nor scientic L ife itself is a
joy a ric h blessing and it means so
muc h th at an eternity of mental gro wth
will be required to comprehend it s entire
meaning
L ife is not something that
co m es and goes ; it is someth ing that
always is Neither 1 3 life something that
can be produced or d estroyed L ife is
ine x haustible an d indestructible and con
tains within itself a denite an d eternal
purpose We should therefore view life
according to this idea And when we
gain this right idea of life we can become
more deeply conscious of real life and
thus gain possession of more life This
is extremely important because it is only
as we gain added life that we can gain
a dd ed ability an d power When we gain
a correct conception of life we also enter
into h armo ny with the p urpo se o f life

wh ich means to enter th e path of c on

t in u o u s advancement along all lines the
result of whic h will be perpetually in
creased in al l things
W h en you th ink about y ourself view
yourself as you are at your best and not
as you appear when in the midst of fail
ure You never fail wh en you are at
your best and you are true to yourself
only when you are at your best There
fore i f you wis h to think the truth about
yourself think about yourself as you are
when you are true to yourself and not as
you appear to be when you are false to
yourself
S cientic thinking does not
recognize weakness of mind or bo dy b e
cause you yourself are not weak and
you would never fee l weak if you were
always true to yourself
Thought s
\
should never be formed in the likeness
of a weak condition because such think
mg will perpetuate the condition of
weakness W h en weakness is felt thi nk
the truth ab out yourself ; that is that
you are inherently strong and the weak
ness will disappear Form your th ought
in th e likeness of yourself as you are in
your real and larger self ; th at is as you
,

1 09

wh en you are true to y o ur wh ole

self full of life strength and vi gor

And your th ought will become the
thought of strength conveying strength
to every part of your system
In the right use of thought we never
permit ourselves to say that we cannot
On the contrary we continue to believe

an d say I can do wh atever I undertake

'
to do an d I am equal to every occasion
This is our rm conviction when we h ave
come to that place wh ere we really know
what 1 s l n us and it is a conviction that
is based upon actual scientic fact U n
limited possibilities are latent in every
mind ; therefore man is inhere n tly equal
to every occasion and he should claim
his whole power at all times If he does
not make himself equal to every occa
sion the cause is that he fails to e xpress
all that i s in him But the greater capac
ity that is within anyone cannot fully
express itself so long as thought is cre
ated in the likeness of weakness doubt
an d limitations T herefore the right and
scientic use of tho ught becomes the
d ire c t channe l t hrough which th e great
are

I I O

ness th at is within man may come forth

and a c t in real li fe
Man is not naturally in the h ands of
fate for the truth is that fate is in the
hands of man Man may appear to be
controlled by a destiny that seems dis
tinct fr o m himself but the real truth is
that h e himself h as created the very life
and the v ery tendency of that destiny
The destiny of every man in h is o w n
creation be it good or otherwise but so
long as he thinks h e is in t h e hands of
this destiny h e will fail to intelligently
employ his own creations and will a c
originate adverse circum
c o r d i n gl y
stances Many h ave speculat ed as to the
real cause of adverse circumstances bad
luck and t h e like but the cause is simply
this th at wh en man n d s himself in
adversity h e has neglected to direct con
and intelligently t h e forces
s c io u s l y
which he himself has placed in action ;
and this neglect can invariably be traced
to th e belief that we are all controlled
more or less by wh at we call fate For
this reason the sooner we eliminat e t h at
belief abs olutely the better
No man will attempt to co ntro l the
.

III

forces o f li fe so l ong as h e thinks h e i s

u n avm d ab l y controlled by those forces ;
b ut if those forc es are not intelligently
c ontrolled their action will be aimless
an d we shall have th at confusion which
Every
i s otherwise termed adversity
word every thought and every action
gives expression to certain life forces
and what those forces will do depends
rst upon their original nature and se c
ond upon how they are d irected in their
c ourse s The sum total of all the words
thoughts and actions expressed by man
will constitute the forces of his destiny
and the result of t h ose forces will con
What those forces are
s t it u t e h is fate
in the beginning depends upon what
man create d them to be and what those
forces will unitedly produce will depe n d
upon whether they are directed by m an
h imself or left to act aimlessly
But
m a n c an make his words thoughts and
actions what he wishes them to be H e
can direct them intelligently into chan
nels of constructive and perpetual
gro wth
It is therefore simply un d er
sto o d how man is unconsciously the
and how h e c an co n
c aus e of his fa te
,

I I

'

and intelligently create hi s own

fate To c reate h is ow n fat e h owever
he must mak e th e righ t u se o f t h oug ht ;
th at is h e mus t think for r esults
T o th ink sc ientically ab o u t th e p eop l e
we meet it is necessar y to app ly t he sam e
principle w hic h we app ly to our true
t hought about l i fe We m ust th ink of
people as th ey are in t hemselves and not
as they app ear t o b e w h il e o u t of h ar
mony with existen c e
W h en we are
judging man w e s h ould judge th e real
man and not h is mistakes T h e mistakes
o f th e man do n o t constitut e th e man
any m o re th an th e absence of l ight c on
T h e usua l w ay h owever
s t it u t es light
of judging man i s to loo k at h is we ak
points and then after c omparing th ese
with h is strong p o ints cal l the resul t the
man h imself But this is as uns c ientic
as t o c ombin e black with wh ite and
speak of th e r esul t as p ure wh ite . T h e
weaknesses th at w e nd i n man may dis
appear in a day. T h e y frequ ently do
while h is vi rtues an d superior qualities
may doub l e in power at any tim e. T h en
we have anoth er man and we say h e has
ch anged wh i ch i s n o t stri ctly true The
s c io u s l y
.

1 1

real man h as not c h anged Th e real man

i s al ready unbounded in life and power
does not h ave to c han ge . The
an d
ch ange that we see I S S imply th is t h at
more of th e true w orth of his re al being
has b een expressed
O ur t h oughts about oth er peop l e ar e
mor e or less deeply impressed upon our
own m inds ; t h erefore we cann o t a fford
to th ink a nything wrong about anybody
The b etter we understand life the more
convinced we become that th e average
person is doing th e best h e knows h ow
For this reason we shall be training our
m inds to think t h e whole truth about the
h uman race wh en we take this view and
wh at is h ighly important suc h a V iew
will tend to keep our own min ds whole
some and clean Then when we add to
this t h e larger Vi ew of man himself in
his true glory and power our thought
about man will become as we wish it to
be stri ctly scientic
In thinking fo r re sults al l c irc um
stances sh ould be viewed as opportuni
ties because th at is what they are in
reality And to th ink correctly we must
think of things according t o what there
.

'

1 1

really is in them No circumstance is

actually against us though we may go
against a circumstance and thus produce
a clash A C ircums tance is usually sim
It may de
il ar to an electrical force
stroy or it may serve depending upon
The power h ow
h o w it is approac h ed
ever is th ere and we are th e ones to
determine what that power i s to do Our
r e l ation to anyth ing in the external de
pends upon how we view the circum
stances involved
When we think of
c ircumstances as adverse w e become
antagonistic to t h ose circumstances and
in consequence produce discord trouble
and misfortune But when we think of
circumstan ces as O pportunities to take
advantage of and contro l we relate our
selves h armon iously to th e power that is
contained in those circumstances Thus
by entering into harm ony with that
power we will perpetuate more and more
o f it unti l w e ha ve made it our own
altogether
W h en disappointments app ear it is
not scienti c to feel depressed nor to
view the experience as a misfortune To
the advancing mind a disappointment is
.

1 1

always an open door to someth ing better

When you fail to get what you want
there is something better at hand f or
you ; that is if you are moving forward
Therefore to every advancing mind so
called disappointments may be viewed
as prophecies of better things If you
are not moving forward a disappoint
ment indicates that you h ave not made
yourself equal to your ideal But the
fact that you h ave felt disappointment
proves that you h ave seen th e ideal and
to see an ideal indicates th at th at ideal
is within your reach ready for you to
possess i f you will press forward steadily
and surely unti l the goal is reached
Therefore n o matter what your condi
tion may be in life a disappointment in
d i c at e s that there is something better at
hand for you if you will go an d work for
it
For this reason instead of feeling
depressed you should rejoice and then
press on with more faith and enthusiasm
than ever that you may meet your own
at th e earliest possible moment
Thes e tho ughts are not presented
a mply to give encouragement or cheer
The fact is they are thoroughly s c i e n

'

1 1

and based upon two well establis h ed

laws in metaphysics The rst law is
that no person can feel disappointed u n
less he h as h ad a perception of some
thing better And t h e sec o nd l aw is that
whoever is far enough advanced to per
c e 1 ve t h e better has t h e capacity to ac
quire th at something better though he
must make full use of the power at hand
Too many minds t h at see the ideal s im
ply dream about i t and feel depressed
because t h e ideal h as not been reached
while in the meantime th ey do nothing
to work themselves up to t hat i d eal
Instead such minds should take a s c i e n
t i c view of the entire subj ect and the n
press on to wards th e goal b efo re them
They positively will succeed
When we l oo k up o n a disap p ointment
as a misfortune the depressed thought
that f ollows will t ak e us down and away
from th e open door of the better things
and will in consequence prevent us from
realizing t h e greater good wh ic h was in
store We s hall then have to give much
time and e ff ort to the bringing of our
selves back again to the gates of the
ideal w e h ad in vi ew. 'ut s u ch ta c tics
t i c

1 1

we cannot afford to e m ploy if our obj ect

is to work and think for results We
conclude therefore that W hatever comes
or does not come th e best way is alw ays
to smile and pres s on
It is scientic to recognize only the
sunny side of everything and t o expect
only th e best results from every e ff ort
because the sunny side is the real side
and the substantial side and our think
ing sh o uld be concerned only with th e
substantial or with th at which has real
or possible worth Failure is an empty
place so to speak; or a condition i nvo l v
ing a group o f misdirected actions To
think of failure therefore is to produce a
mental tendency towards mi sdirected or
abortive actions and at the same time
create thoughts that waste energy To
dwell mentally on t h e sunny side h ow
ever is to turn all th e actions of the
mind towards the construction of
greater worth in the mind ; and accord
i n gl y t h e h abit of dwelling upon the
sunny side will invariably tend to de
clearness of
ve l o p brilliancy of mind
thought and greater intellectual c apac
ity
The prin c ip al reaso n for this is
.

found in t h e fa ct t h at su ch a m ind deals

almos t entirely with the l arger the
greater and the li m itless of th e p otential
Mind therefore naturally e xpands and
develops and steadily gains i n power
comprehension and lucidity along all
lines To act in h armony with this prin
c ip l e we should exp ect the best results
from every e ffort because the best r e
s u l t s do exist potentially in ever y effor t ;
and to be scienti c we must think of
things as they really are in themselves
and not as they appear while in the
hands o f th e i ncompetent
It is not our
purpose to dwell mentally upon t h e ab
sence of results but to give all our
though t and attention to the righ t use of
t hose p o wers within us t h at a c tuall y can
produce resul ts
To think s cientically about t h e h ealth
and the wh oleness of mind and body I S
one of the most important essentials of
all because h ealth is indispensable to the
highest attainments and th e greatest
achievements
The pr1 n c1 pl e h owever
is th at the real man is we l l and that you
yourself are th e real m an
W h en you
are thi nkin g ab out y ourse lf as y o u really
,

are and since you the real 'O U th e

individuality are always well your
thought of yourself is not right and con
structive unless you think of yourself as
absolute l y and permanently well E very
condition in th e personal man i s th e t e
sult of h abits o f thought
Therefore
when you think of yourself as being abS o
l u t el y and permanently well you will
through that mode of thinking give ah
solute and permanent health to the e n
tire system This is a law that is as
strong as life itself And we are not
making extravagant statements when we
declare that if this law were universally
employed disease would be practically
banishe d from o ff the face of the earth
This law is the absolute truth and every
student of mo d ern metaphysics knows
that it i s the truth That its power is i n
vincible no one can deny Therefore the
wise course to pursue is to apply this law
t h o ro il gh l y under all sorts of circum
stances and never lose faith in its e ffe c
t ive n e s s for a mo m ent
In training ourselves to think for r e
s u l t s we must constantly bear in mind
the great fact th at man invariably grows
,

1 20

into th e l ik eness o f th at w h ic h h e thinks

of the most Therefore think constantly
of what you want to become and your
life will daily grow in that direction
T hink c onstantly of health power abil
ity capacity worth and superiority and
the powers of your being will gradually
and steadily produce all those qualities in
yo ur own system But all such thinking
must be deep persistent and of the heart
It is that thinking which is in touch with
the under currents of life that shapes h u
m a n destiny ; therefore all such thinking
should always be as we wish to become
No thoughts should ever enter the min d
that do not contain in the ideal the very
things that we wish to attain or a c co m
l
h
i
s
i
the
real
But
to
train
ourselves
n
p
in th is mod e of thinking is not difcult
It is only a matter of deciding what we
want in life ; then to think the most of
those th ings and make such thinking
deep p ersist ent po sit ive and stro ng
.

train the mind to think

for results there are four
essentials that must be
provi d ed The rst i s to
c arry on all thinking in the
attitude of right mental
states . T h e second is to think only such
th oughts as will push your work and that
will constantly promote your present
purpose in life T he third is to employ
only suc h creative processes in the mind
as will tend directly to produce the
larger th e better and the superior And
the fourth is to th ink only the real truth
about all things ; that is to fashion all
thought according to the most perfect
in e n t al conception that can be formed of
the real in everyth ing of which we may
think
The rst three e ssentials have
been fully considered in the preceding
pages We shall th erefore conclu d e by
giving our att ention to the fourth And
in doing so we must prepare ourselves
for thought th at is somewh at deeper than
the usual
'

1 22

'

To begin we must realiz e that there is

a vast di fference between what seems to
be true and wh at really is true and that
all thinking to be right w h olesome con
structive and scientic must deal directly
with that which really is true To illus
trate we will consider th e being of man
V iewed externally man se ems t o h ave
many imperfections to be limited in all
things and to be more or less in the
hands of fate But when we consider not
the present conditions of the p ersonal
man but th e possibilities of his marvel
ous interior nature we nd that imper
fe ct i o n s are simply greater things in the
process of development We nd th at
there is no limit to h is power and in
herent capacity and we nd th at he is
strong enoug
h
i
f
h
e
applies
all
his
\
strength t o o verco m e any fate to c h ange
any circumstance and to positively deter
mine his own destiny
W h en we examine oth er t hings we nd
the same t o be true ; th at is th at th ere is
more in everything than what appears on
the surface And th erefore wh at appears
to be true of things wh en viewed e xter
nally is not t h e wh o l e truth ; in fact it
,

1 2

may frequently be the very O pposite of

the real truth The right use of thought
however mus t c oncern itsel f with the
real truth or t h e inside facts in the case ;
therefore in th inking for results we must
fashion our thoughts according to what
really is in those th oughts of wh i ch we
may be th inking
In dealing wit h th e inside fa c ts of any
case condition or obje c t the question al

ways is :
W h at are th e possibilities ;
what can be do n e wit h wh at is in the
thing ; and what results can be gained
from the full use of everything t ha t this
circumstance or that obj ect may con
'
tain ?
And it is highly important to
answer this question as fully and as cor
r ec t l y as possible because we are as we
think and our thoughts are always like
th e things we think about Besi d es we
must be conscious of th e real interior
possibility of those th ings with which we
deal in or d er to secure t h e greatest r e
If we think only of the im perfec
su l ts
tions and the limitations th at appear on
the surface our thinking will be inferior
and we will become ordinary both in
mind and p erso nality. 'ut i f we th ink
.

1 24

'

of what is really true of th e greater possi

b il it i es of all t h ings we will think far
reater
th
ughts
and
we
will
t
h
ink
i
n
o
g

spiring though ts thoughts t h at will stir

the mind to greate r ambition and greater
achievement and th e mind will accord
i n gl y enter more and more into a larger
reater
and
ric
h
er
world
In
consequence
g
our mental powers along all lines will
steadily increase
To think what is really true about all
th ings is therefore to think of the greater
powers and p ossibilities th at are in all
things ; and t o think the truth in the
broadest s ense is to direct th e mind u po n
the wh ole o f lif e with all its possibilities
and to d eal m entally with all th e ric h
ness all t h e power and all t h e marvelous
ness that can be discerned in everything
pertaining to life . Or to state it brie y
you have begun t o th ink w h at is really
true wh en your m md has begun to move
constantly tow ards th e v astness of the
greater th ings that lie b efore us And
here we must remember that there is no
end to that vastness ; n o limit to the
greatness that is inherent in life T h ere
fore we may go o u and o n ind enitely
,

1 25

t h ink ing more and mor e truth about

e v erything ; and as we d o w e s h al l con
tinn e to enric h and e nl arg e b oth th e tal
ents and th e powers o f th e mind .
It is th erefor e evident th at wh en We
think th e truth about al l th ings th at is
think o f wh a t is real ly possib le in all
things we w i l l c ause the mind t o en large
and expand co nstantly b ec aus e as we
think of t h e l arger we invariab ly enlarge
the mind. An d th e real truth about all
things gro w s l arger and l arger th e fur
ther we advance in the pursuit o f truth
And t h e importance of such a mode of
thinking becomes more and more e vident
as we realize that an ever enlarging mind
i s an absolute n ec essity i f o ur ai m is to
th ink for results
W h en we pro c eed t o th ink the tru th
about things we naturally th ink o f the
true state of affairs within th ose th ings
We think of t he power itself and not of
its past use Therefore su ch th ink ing
wi l l invariably keep th e mind in a wh ole
some and h armonious condition Th at
whic h is true of the real nature of th ings
must be good and wh olesome and th ere
fore to th i nk of that wh i ch is true must
\

1 26

necessarily produce w holesome c ondi

tions in th e mind And h ere it is well
to emphasize th e fact that th e mind t h at
is wholesome and harmonious is far more
powerful than t h e mind th at is not S uch
a mind therefore may secure far greater
results n o matter what its work or pur
pose may be
T O think wh at is really true about
everything will for t h e same reason pre
vent the formation O f detrimental and
perverted sta tes o f mind and will also
prevent the misdirection of mental
energy This is a fact of great import
ance to those wh o aim for results b e
c ause l n the average mind the majority
of the energies placed in action are either
misdire cted or applied in such a way as
Anoth er
t o be of no permanent value
fact th at needs emph asis in this connec
tion is that the thinking of truth will tend
to bring out all that is in us And the
reason is that when we th ink o f what
there really is in everything t h e mind b e
comes more penetrating as wel l as more
compreh ensive in its scope of action The
result therefore wi ll naturally be th at our
own m ental a ct i ons w i ll p enetr ate more
.

'

'

1 2

and more every element an d p ower that

is in us and thus arouse more and more
of everyth ing th at is in us
In other
words the mind will proceed to a c t pos
it ivel y upon everything t h at exists in the
vast domain of our own mental worl d
conscious and sub conscious and will
actually think into activity every power
an d faculty we possess
When we think the real trut h about
everything in life including our own self
we invariably focus attention upon the
best the largest and the richest that ex
i s t s in everything
And this we must
do if our purpose is to secure greater and
better results the further we go in our
progress toward attainment an d achieve
ment Your min d your thought your
ability yo ur power in brief everything
of worth in your system cannot be fully
and e ffectively applied unless your atten
tion is constantly concentrated upon
the greater ; unless you are men
tally moving towards the greater ;
unless you are giving your whole life and
power to the greater ; an d to this end
y our attention must constantly be fo
,

1 28

upon th e best and th e greatest th at

can
possibly
picture
in
your
mind
u
.
o
y
When you think the truth y o u think o f
what can be done You do not think o f
weakness obstacles or possible failure ;
nor do you consider what may be dark
adverse or detrimental in your present
circumstances Instead you think of the
tremendous power that is within you
and you try to turn on the full current
of th at power so that what you want to
accomplish positively will be a cco m
l
But
in
turning
on
that
full
cur
i
h
e
s
d
p
rent you make a special e ffort to make
every act l o n l n your system constructive
whether it be physical or mental because
in working for results you want all th at
is in you to work thoroughly continu
o u s l y and directly for those self same t e
We realize therefore the import
s ul t s
ance of training t h e mind to think the
truth accor d ing to th is larger view of the
truth in order that the best use the full
est use and the most e ffective use of
every power of mind and thought may
be applied ; and we shall nd as we pro
c ee d t h at the art of thinking the truth in
th is manner can be readily mastered by
c u s ed

1 29

anyone wh ose desire is to make h is life

as large as rich and as perfect as life
can be made
To restate the pri nciples and ideas
upon which th e right use of the mind is
b a s e d w e nee d simply return to the four
essentials mentione d in the beginning of
th is chapter We proceed by pl ac in g t h e
mind in certain mental states calle d right
mental states because the min d has more
power while acting in such states and
can act more e ff ectively while acting
through the wholesome constructive atti
tudes of those states We continue by
thin king only such thoughts as will tend
to work with us and give their full force
to the pr omotion of our purpose We
avoid thoughts and mental states that are
against us and permit only those that are
positively and absolutely for us
We
place in action only such mental pro c esses
the better
as tend to create the larger
and the superior in ourselves because our
obj ect is not simply to secure results
now but to secure greater an d greater t e
s u l t s ; and to promote this object we must
c onstantly develop the larger the better
and the superior in ourselves L astly we
,

0
3

make it a spe c ial point to th ink th e real

truth about all th ings ; that is we form
our mental con c eptio ns our ideas and our
t h oughts in th e exact likeness of the
great th e marvelous and the limitless
th at is inh erent in all life
We aim to fashion our th oughts ac
cor d ing to everything that is great lofty
and of superior worth so th at we may
t h ink great thoughts because we are as
we think When our thoughts are small
we will become small weak and in ef
cient ; but when our thoughts are great
we will become great powerful and ef
cient This is the law and as we apply
this law as fully and as e ff ectively as we
possibly can we shall positively become
much an d achieve much and the obj ect
we have in \viewthe securing of greater

and greater results will be realized

Therefore in all our thinking we focus all
the actions of mind upon the unbounded
possibilities that are inherent in ourselves
that are i nh erent in all things that are
inh erent in t h e vastness of the c o smos
We turn all our thoughts upon the rich
th e limitless and the sublime so that we
may l i ve constantly l n a larger an d supe
,


r ior mental worl d a worl d th at we are
d etermined to make larger and larger
every day And as we live think and
work in that ever growing mental world
we i nsist that everything we do shall
with a certainty build for that greater
future we now have in view ; and that
every action of mi nd and body shall be a
positive force moving stea d ily surely and
perpetually towards t h 0 s e sublime
heights of attainment and achievement
that we have longe d for so much while
inspired by the spirit of ambition s lofty
dream
.

32