Literature
he world is full of ""New
Thought"
Literature. It is helpful and in-
spiring to read.
It is worth many dollars to any
one who will live its philosophy.
I talked to a man who has
been studying along these lines for some years.
"Oh, I know all that philosophy," he said;
"it is nothing new. I am perfectly familiar
with it."
Yet this man was continually allowing himself
to grow angry over the least trifle; he was quick
to see and speak of the faults in others; he was
demanding more of those he associated with in
the way of consideration and justice than he was
willing to give, and he was untidy in his person
and improvident in his use of money.
Now it is the merest waste of time for this man
to read "New Thought" literature or practice
"deep breathing", since he will not put into
daily and hourly practice what is taught by the
New Religion.
He is like the orthodox Christian who mum-
bles through the Lord's Prayer and then goes
forth to do exactly as he would not be done by
in business, social and domestic life.
Man is what he thinks. Not what he
says,
reads or hears. By persistent thinking you can
undo any condition which exists. You can free
yourself from any chains, whether of poverty, sin,
ill health or unhappiness. If you have been
thinking these thoughts half a lifetime you must
not expect to batter down the walls you have built,
in a week, or a month, or a year. You must
work and wait, and grow discouraged and stumble
and pick yourself up and go on again.
You cannot in an hour gain control over a
temper which you have let fly loose for twenty
years. But you can control it eventually, and
learn to think of a burst of anger as a vulgarity
like drunkenness or profanity, something you
could not descend to.
If you have allowed yourself to think despond-
ent thoughts and believe that poverty and sick-
ness were your portion for years, it will take time
to train your mind to more cheerful and hopeful
ideas; but you can do it by repeated assertions
and by reading and thinking and living the beau-
tiful New Thought Philosophy.
The Heart of the New Thought by Ella Wheeler Wilcox.
Chicago : The Psychic Research Company, c1902.
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