As a Man Thinketh

Category: stoicism. Date read: March 1, 2016. My rating: 3/5. Buy on Amazon.

Highly motivational, although without supporting studies or evidence, to convince you to improve your life. You're the sum of your thoughts; change your thoughts to change yourself.


Beware of your thoughts, as you are the sum of them. You are made or unmade by your thoughts. Whatever you achieve or fail is a result of them. Act is the result of thought.

You are in the exact place you need to be so you can learn and evolve.

Take care and cultivate your thoughts. Get rid of the wrong, useless and impure thoughts.

Find the purpose to your thoughts. Purposeless thoughts are useless and void.

Practice right thinking to make your thoughts stronger, just as you can exercise to make your muscles stronger. Be patient, as in everything, it takes time.

Conquer doubt and fear to be free from failure. Actions triggered by them never accomplished anything. They use up all your energy, energy that should be used on right thoughts.

Improve yourself to improve your circumstances. You don't attract what you want, but what you are. Circumstances does not make you, they reveal to you.

If you sacrifice little, you'll achieve little. If you sacrifice much, you'll achieve much. Decide how much you want to achieve and act accordingly.

Before associating luck with success, try to look for the sacrifices, daunting efforts, right thoughts, and previous failures that made that success possible.

Watch and maintain your successes. If left alone, they'll quickly become failures.

Your body is a reflection of your thoughts. Cultivate pure thoughts and you'll reflect them in your body.

Protect your body by protecting your mind. Once your mind is pure, you'll no longer desire impure food.

Cultivate the calmness of mind. Not numbness, but calmness. A calm man knows how to adapt himself for others, and is reverenced by them. A calm man can control the passion, grief, anxiety, and doubt that is so natural to humanity.

Self-control is strength; Right Thought is mastery; Calmness is power. — James Allen