Who was James Allen?
Although his book, As A Ma n T h i n ket h , has inspired millions
around the world and is partly res ponsible for launching an entire
self-improvement industry, very little is known about its author,
James Allen. He was born in Leicester, England in
1864 and worked as a personal secretary for an
executive of a large English co rporation until 1902. At
the age of 38 he "retired" to writing and moved with his
wife to a small cottage at Ilfracombe, England. He
penned more than 20 works before suddenly passing
away at the age of 48.
As A Man Thinketh has influenced many contemporary writers
including Norman Vincent Peale, Earl Nightingale, Denis Waitley
and Tony Robbins, among others.
His "little volume", as he called it, has been translated into five
major languages, inspiring millions of readers to recognize that
man's visions can become reality, simply through the power of
thought.
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Forward
T h is little volume (the r esult of meditation and experience) is
not intended as an exhaustive treatise on the much-written-upon
subject of the power of thought. It is suggestive rather than
explanatory, its object being to stimulate men and women to the
discovery and perception of the truth that "T hey themselves are
makers of themselves" by virtue of the thoughts which they choose
and encourage; that mind is th e master weaver, both of the inner
garment of character and the outer garment of circumstance, and
that, as they may have hitherto wo ven in ignorance and pain they
may now weave in enlightenment and happiness.
Ja m e s Allen
I l f r a com be, Engla n d
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I
Thought And Character
T h e aphorism, "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he," not
only embraces the whole of a man's being, but is so comprehensive
as to reach out to every condition and circumstance of his life. A
man is literally what he thinks, his character being the complete
sum of all his thoughts.
As the plant springs from, and could not be without, the seed,
so every act of man springs from the hidden seeds of thought, and
could not have appeared without them. T h is applies equally to
