The 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. This
applies equally to those acts called "spontaneous" and
"unpremeditated" as to those which are deliberately executed.
Act is the blossom of thought, and joy and
suffering are its fruit; thus does a man garner in the sweet and
bitter fruitage of his own husbandry.
Man is a growth by law, and not a creation by
artifice, and cause and effect are as absolute and undeviating in
the hidden realm of thought as in the world of visible and material
things. A noble and God-like character is not a thing of favor or
chance, but is the natural result of continued effort in right
thinking, the effect of long-cherished association with God-like
thoughts. An ignoble and bestial character, by the same process, is
the result of the continued harboring of groveling thoughts.
Man is made or unmade by himself. In the armory
of thought he forges the weapons by which he destroys himself. He
also fashions the tools with which he builds for himself heavenly
mansions of joy and strength and peace. By the right choice and
true application of thought, man ascends to the divine perfection.
By the abuse and wrong application of thought he descends below the
level of the beast. Between these two extremes are all the grades
of character, and man is their maker and master.
Of all the beautiful truths pertaining to the
soul which have been restored and brought to light in this age,
none is more gladdening or fruitful of divine promise and
confidence than this—that man is the master of thought, the molder
of character, and the maker and shaper of condition, environment,
and destiny.