As A Man Thinketh - Chapter 5
The
Thought-Factor In Achievement
All that a man achieves and all that he fails to achieve is
the direct result of his own thoughts.
In a justly ordered universe, where loss of equipoise would mean total destruction, individual responsibility must be absolute.
A man's weakness and strength, purity and impurity, are his own and not another man's.
They are brought about by himself and not by another; and they can only be altered by himself, never by another.
His condition is also his own, and not another man's. His sufferings and his happiness are evolved from within.
As he thinks, so is he; as he continues to think, so he remains.
A strong man cannot help a weaker unless that weaker is willing to be helped. And even then the weak man must become strong of himself.
He must, by his own efforts, develop the strength which he admires in another. None but himself can alter his condition.
It has been usual for men to think and to say, "Many men are slaves because one is an oppressor; let us hate the oppressor!"
But there is amongst an increasing few a tendency to reverse this judgment and to say, "One man is an oppressor because many are slaves; let us despise the slaves."
The truth is that oppressor and slaves are cooperators in ignorance, and, while seeming to afflict each other, are in reality, afflicting themselves.
A perfect knowledge perceives the action of law in the weakness of the oppressed and the misapplied power of the oppressor.
A perfect love, seeing the suffering which both states entail, condemns neither; a perfect compassion embraces both oppressor and oppressed.
He who has conquered weakness and has pushed away all selfish thoughts belongs neither to oppressor nor oppressed.
He is free.
A man can only rise, conquer, and achieve by lifting up his thoughts.
He can only remain weak, abject, and miserable by refusing to
lift up his thoughts.
Before a man can achieve anything, even in worldly things,
he must lift his thoughts above slavish animal indulgence.
He may not, in order to succeed, give up all animality and
selfishness, necessarily, but a portion of it must, at least, be sacrificed.
A man whose first thought is bestial indulgence could neither think clearly nor plan methodically.
He could not find and develop his latent resources and
would fail in any undertaking. Not having begun to manfully control his thoughts,
he is not in a position to control affairs and to adopt serious
responsibilities.
He is not fit to act independently and stand alone.
But he is limited only by the thoughts that he chooses.
There can be no progress nor achievement without sacrifice, and a man's worldly success will be by the measure that he sacrifices his confused animal thoughts, and fixes his mind on the development of his plans, and the strengthening of his resolution and self-reliance.
The higher he lifts his thoughts, the greater will be his success, the more blessed and enduring will be his achievements.
The universe does not favor the greedy, the dishonest, the vicious, although on the mere surface it sometimes may appear to do so.
It helps the honest, the magnanimous, the virtuous.
All the great teachers of the ages have declared this in varying ways, and to prove it and to know it a man has but to persist in making himself increasingly virtuous by lifting his thoughts.
Intellectual achievements are the result of thought consecrated to the search for knowledge or for the beautiful and true in nature.
Such achievements may sometimes be connected with vanity and ambition, but they are not the outcome of those characteristics. They are the natural outgrowth of long and arduous effort, and of pure and unselfish thoughts.
Spiritual achievements are the consummation of holy aspirations.
He who lives constantly in the conception of noble and
lofty thoughts, who dwells upon all that is pure and selfless, will, as surely
as the sun reaches its zenith and the moon its full, become wise and noble in
character and rise into a position of influence and blessedness.
Achievement of any kind is the crown of effort, the diadem of thought.
By the aid of self-control, resolution, purity, righteousness, and well-directed thought a man ascends. By the aid of animality, indolence, impurity, corruption, and confusion of thought a man descends.
A man may rise to high success in the world, even to lofty attitudes in the spiritual realm, and again descend into weakness and wretchedness by allowing arrogant, selfish, and corrupt thoughts to take possession of him.
Victories attained by right thought can be maintained only by watchfulness.
Many give way when success is assured, and rapidly fall back into failure.
All achievements, whether in the business, intellectual, or spiritual world, are the result of definitely directed thought.
They are governed by the same law, and are of the same method.
The only difference lies in the object of attainment.
He who would accomplish little need sacrifice little; he who would achieve much must sacrifice much.
He who would attain highly must sacrifice greatly.
Prof Comfort Akujobi
ReplyDeleteAll that a man achieves and all that he fails to achieve is the direct result of his own thoughts
A man's weakness and strength, purity and impurity are his own and not another man's. They are brought about by himself and not by another, and they can only be altered by himself, never by another just like Robert Nesta Marley sang that "none but ourselves can free our own mind"
A man can only rise, conquer and achieve by lifting up his thoughts
DR.DENNIS EKWEDIKE: All that a man achieves and all that he fails to achieve is the direct result of his own thoughts.
ReplyDeleteA man can only rise,conquer and achieve by lifting up his thoughts and he who would attain highly must sacrifice greatly.
Victories attained by right thought can be maintained only by watchfulnes!
1.Nobody except man himself can alter his own condition.
ReplyDelete2.A man is limited only by the thoughts that he chooses.
3.The level of our sacrifices determines the level of our achievements.
My thoughts have a direct bearing to what I'll achieve or fail to achieve.
ReplyDeleteI am responsible for my strengths and weaknesses.
The level of my sacrifice would determine how much I attain, whether little or much.
My thoughts by dr uzoma
ReplyDeleteThoughts have a direct bearing on what one will achieve or fail to achieve
By aid of self control,resolutions, purity,righteousness and well directed thoughts a man ascends .the converse is true.
DOMINIC ASOMBA
ReplyDelete1.
All that a man achieves and all that he fails to achieve is the direct result of his own thoughts. Our thoughts shapes our actions.
2. A strong man cannot help a weaker unless that weaker is willing to be helped. Most at times, our success and failure is as a result of the choices we made.
3.There can be no progress nor achievement without sacrifice, life teaches us that, before you can reap, you must sow.
A man can rise and conquer by lifting up his thoughts, as he thinks so is he: as he continues to think, so he remains.
ReplyDeleteA man of high thoughts never sees him self as oppressed. He also has the knowledge to be unbaised towards the oppressed or oppressor.
Success Is governed by the strength of a man thought which helps him to achieve and conquer. In the absence of a strong though that stand firm, man becomes weak, miserable and unimportant. It's not just to be strong that matters but the ability to sustain it by been watchful.
ReplyDeleteChapter 5
ReplyDeleteA man can only rise, conquer, and achieve by lifting up his thoughts.
The universe does not favor the greedy, the dishonest, the vicious, although on the mere surface it sometimes may appear to do so
Victories attained by right thought can be maintained only by watchfulness.
Chukwuebuka Asadu
*Chapter 5*
ReplyDeleteBefore a man can achieve anything, even in worldly things, he must lift his thoughts above slavish animal indulgence.
There can be no progress nor achievement without sacrifice.
loss of balance in interest or force would mean total destruction, individual responsibility must be absolute.
Jombo Promise