EXTRACTS FROM AS A MAN THINKETH by James Allen (Part 3)

The outer world of circumstances shapes itself (in accordance) to the inner world of thought. 9

Man, in the outer conditions of his life, always arrives at the fruition and fulfillment of the inmost desires, the aspirations, and the thoughts he allows himself to be dominated by. 9 (paraphrased)

A man does not come to the alms-house (beggary) or the jail by the tyranny of fate or circumstance, but by the pathway of grovelling thoughts and base desires. Nor does a pure-minded man fall suddenly into crime by stress (pressure) or any mere external force. The criminal thought had long been fostered in the heart, and the hour of opportunity revealed its gathered power. 9-10

Circumstance does not make the man; it reveals him to himself. 10

No such conditions can exist as descending into vice and its attendant sufferings apart from vicious inclinations, or ascending into virtue and its pure happiness, without the continued cultivation of virtuous aspirations. 10

Man, as the lord and master of thought, is the maker of himself and the shaper of and author of (his) environment. 10

Even at birth, the soul comes of its own and through every step of its earthly pilgrimage…attracts those conditions which reveal itself, which are the reflections of its own purity and impurity, its strength and weakness. 10

Men do not attract that which they want, but that which they are. Their whims, fancies, and ambitions are thwarted at every step, but their inmost thoughts and desires are fed with their own food, be it foul or clean. 10

Man is manacled (chained) only by himself; thought and action are the jailors of Fate – they imprisoned, when they are base; they are also the angels of Freedom – they liberate, when they are noble. 10 (paraphrased)

Man does not get what he wishes and prays for; he gets what he justly earns (paraphrased). “His wishes and prayers are only gratified and answered when they harmonize with his thoughts and actions.” 10

In the light of this truth, what then is the meaning of “fighting against circumstances?” It means that a man is continually revolting against an outside effect, while all the time he is nourishing and preserving its cause in his heart… And this cause may be a vice or an unconscious weakness; but whatever it is, it is stubbornly retarding the efforts of its owner, and by so doing is calling aloud for urgent remedy. 10 (paraphrased)

Men are anxious to improve their circumstances, but are unwilling to improve themselves; they therefore remain bound. 10

The man who does not shrink from self-crucifixion can never fail to accomplish an object upon which his heart is set. 10

Man is the causer [though nearly always unconsciously] of his circumstances, and…whilst aiming at the good end, he is continually frustrating its accomplishment by encouraging thoughts and desires which cannot possibly harmonize with that end. 11

The honest man reaps the good results of his honest thoughts and acts; he also brings upon himself the sufferings which his vices produce. The dishonest man likewise garners his own suffering and happiness. 12