James Allen (1864 – 1912) was a British philosopher and writer known for his inspirational books and poetry, and as a pioneer of the self-help movement. His best known work, As a Man Thinketh, has been mass-produced worldwide since its publication in 1903. It has been a source of inspiration to many millions of people. He earned a living as a journalist and reporter for a large portion of his life. In 1902 Allen began to publish his own spiritual magazine, The Light of Reason, later retitled The Epoch.
Quotes by James Allen…
As the heart, so is the life. The within is ceaselessly becoming the without. Nothing remains unrevealed. That which is hidden is but for a time; it ripens and comes forth at last. Seed, tree, blossom, and fruit is the fourfold order of the universe. From the state of a man’s heart proceed the conditions of his life; his thoughts blossom into deeds, and his deeds bear the fruitage of character and destiny.
Circumstance does not make the man; it reveals him to himself.
No act is aloof. Your most secret deed is invisibly reported, its good being protected in joy, its evil destroyed in pain.
Circumstance is a severe task master to the weak, an obedient servant to the strong.
If a man would find the Key of Knowledge, let him find himself.
Oh, thou that pinest in the imprisonment of the Actual, and criest bitterly to the gods for a kingdom wherein to rule and create, know this of a truth: the thing thou seekest is already within thee, here and now, couldest thou only see!
He that hath not unbroken gentleness hath not Truth.
That which is real cannot be destroyed, but only that which is unreal. When a man finds that within him which is real, which is constant, abiding, changeless, and eternal, he enters into that Reality, and becomes meek. All the powers of darkness will come against him, but they will do him no hurt, and will at last depart from him.
To find the permanent amid all the changes of life, and, having found it, adhere to it under all circumstances… this only is true happiness, this only is salvation and lasting peace.
Nothing is hidden from him who overcomes himself. Into the cause of causes shalt thou penetrate, and lifting, one after another, every veil of illusion, shalt reach at last the inmost Heart of Being. Thus becoming one with Life, thou shalt know all life, and, seeing into causes, and knowing realities, thou shalt be no more anxious about thyself, and others, and the world, but shalt see that all things that are, are engines of the Great Law.
