As a Man Thinketh

So much wisdom in this and you can read it or listen too to it in just a few minutes. I think I’m gonna do it every day for a week.

The book is about 25 pages. I thought it would not take very long to finish reading it. But the book is so intriguing, and I spent more time thinking about what I learned from each chapter than I expected. Here are the key highlights from each chapter. The first chapter is about thought and character. Essentially, our character is the complete sum of all our thoughts. Act is the blossom of thoughts, and joy and suffering are its fruits. Good thoughts bear good fruit, bad thoughts bad fruit. Effect of thought on circumstances. Our minds are like a garden that may be intelligently cultivated or allowed to run wild. The outer conditions of a person's life will always be found to be harmoniously related to his inner state. One cannot choose his/her thoughts, yet surely, shape his/her circumstances. Effect of thought on health and the body. The body is the servant of the mind. It obeys the operations of the mind. Strong, pure, and happy thoughts build up the body in vigor and grace. Clean thoughts make clean habits. Protect your body and guard your mind. Renew your body and beautify your mind. Thought and purpose. Until thought is linked with purpose, there is no intelligent accomplishment. One should conceive of a legitimate purpose in his/her heart and set out to accomplish it. To cut away aimlessness and weakness, begin to think with purpose. The thought factor in achievement. All that a man or woman achieves, and all that she fails to achieve, is the direct result of his own thoughts. There can be no progress and no achievement without sacrifice. S/he who would accomplish little must sacrifice little; s/he who would achieve much must sacrifice much; s/he who would attain highly must sacrifice greatly. Visions and ideals. To desire is to obtain; to aspire is to achieve. Your vision is the promise of what you shall one day be; your ideal is the prophecy of what you shall at last unveil. In all human affairs, there are efforts and results, and the strength of the effort is the measure of the result. Serenity. Calmness of mind is one of the beautiful jewels of wisdom. Self-control is strength; right thought is mastery; calmness is power. The more tranquil a man becomes, the greater his success, his influence, and his power for good.

"As a Man Thinketh" is a timeless guide that really makes you reflect on the power of your thoughts. The book is concise but packed with wisdom about how mindset shapes your life, habits, and outcomes. Reading it feels like a gentle but firm nudge to take responsibility for your own growth and to align your thoughts with the life you want to create. Highly recommend for anyone ready to do some self-reflection and personal development

I read the kindle version. I don't know if that is the "original" version. It's very thought provoking. I would recommend it to someone who is just getting started in "changing their mind" as it is a fairly short read and holds your attention. If you have been wondering about all this--whatever you call it: self-help, metaphysical, new-age, spirituality, being positive, "The secret", Dr. Wayne Dyer, Tony Robbins, Deepak Chopra stuff is--well this is not new stuff, it's a revival of what great thinkers thought and wrote about before. There were great thinkers in the "middle" of the 20-century like Earl Nightingale, Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, Dorthea Brande; but there were great thinkers before that in the 19th century like Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and James Allen. All of these writers are focused on self-fufillment and controlling your thoughts--at least in their mainstram self-help books. The books written by these people are not strictly philosophical or religous and that is what is so great about them, but you do have to be at least a little open-minded because how can you think about fulfillment without considering spirituality, philosophy, or religion? You don't have to be a devout muslim, christian, or jew to appreciate them, in fact it would probably strengthen your religion if one of your goals is to be more religious. I think you can benefit if you are atheist or aganostic as well because one of the themes of all these great authors and their books is that you can control your fate and that much of your happiness or lack of happiness or how you view yourself depends upon your perception of yourself and your abilities. This is nothing new in psychology or personal performance in hobbies, work, sports, etc. Everything else aside, and whether or not this is the best or worst review on amazon, the only way great books like this cannot help you is if you believe that every single event in your life had already been pre-planned and you have no possible way to change your own future, which is simply ridiculous because sometime today or tommorow, you will have an important choice or a very unimportant choice to make. And when you make a choice, you are in fact determining your future. How you choose to think is a choice, but learning to control your thoughts is very tough, but the most rewarding thing you can do for yourself.

How is it that I am 31 years old and only now reading this? What seems most refreshing about this book, despite its age, is the refinement of ideas that clearly endure. We find ideas as ancient and enduring as those found in The Bible and the philosophy of Stoicism and as contemporary as the understanding that stress and anxiety reak havoc on the body (though it should be noted the “Thought and its effect on the body” chapter should be taken with a grain of salt. There is an effortless and seamless synthesis of principles that account for a wide variety of perspectives on happiness, peace, and success. It is unfortunate that it is written in a way that portrays a “masculine” point of reference, but if one can instead think of the phrase “a man” as a collective of our species, as in ‘huMANity’ then this book is truly for everyone.

Great book to add to your collection a must read for anyone looking to grow in life loved it a lot.

Why is this not required reading in primary school??? The flow of this book is fantastic. I would recommend this read for everyone to grab a hold of and take an hour to sew thru and absorb great lessons

En éste libro se describe claramente lo que cualquiera que esté buscando su desarrollo personal necesita: controlar sus pensamientos es controlar su destino.

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comprei de capa normal, muito lindo, pequeno, acredito que da pra finalizar em um final de semana🙏

This book deeply changed my life. I'm not the same any more... I recommande it for those who really want to move along in life and build their futur.

Me ha gustado mucho! Lo cogí para practicar el inglés. He leído otros que se me han hecho más pesados porque eran interminables pero este está bien.