Thought and character tells the relationship between a man’s thinking in past tense and the character he possesses currently, that a man could and can have control over the thinking and the character that will form be cause and effect.
Thought and Character
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 yet to every condition and circumstance of his life. A man is literally what he thinks, his character being the complete sum of all hos thougths.
As the plant springs from the tree, and could not be without the seed, so every act of a 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 fruits: thus does a man garner in the sweet and bitter fruitage of his own husbandry.
Thought in the mind hath made us, What we are By thought was wrought and built. If a man’s mind Hath evil thoughts, pain comes on him as comes The wheel the ox behind….
In purity of thought, joy follows him
As his own shadow — sure.
Man is a growth by law, and not a creation by artifice, and cause and effect is as absolute and under´viating in the hidden realm of thought as in the world of visible and material things. A noble and Godlike character is not a thing of favor or chance, but is the natural result of continued effortin right thinking, the effet of long-cherised association with Godlike thoughts. Anignoble 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 heavenlu meansions 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. Betweenthese two extrenes are all the gradesof 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 mater of though, the molder of character, and the maker abd shaper of conditionm environment, and destiny.
As a being of Power, Intelligence, and Love, and the lord of his own thoughts, man holds the key to every situation, and contains within himself that transforming and regenerative agency by which he may make himself what he wills.
Man is always the master, even in his waker and most abandoned state. but in his weakness and degradation he is the foolish master who misgoverns his -household. When he begins to refelect upon his veing is esablished, he then becomes the wise master, directing his energies with intelligence, and fashioning his thoughts to fruiful issues. Such is the conscious master, and man can onl thus become by discovering awithin himself the laws of thought, which discovery is totally a matter of application, self-analysis, and experience.
Only by much searching and mining, are gold and diamonds obtained, and man can find every truth connected with his being, if he will dig deep into the mine of his soul, and that he is the maker of his character, the molder of his life, and the builder of his destiny, he may unerringly provem if he will watch, control, and alter his thoughts tracing their effects upon himself, upon others, and upon his life and circumstances, linking cause and effect by patient practice and incestigation, and utilizing his everyday experience, even to the most trivial everyday occurence, as a means of obtaining that kniwlegdeof himself which is Understanding. Wisdom, Power in this direction as in no other, is the law absolute that – He that seekethfindeth, and to him that knicketh it shall be opened, – for only by patience, practive, and ceaseless importunity can a man enter the Door of the Temple of Knowledge.
Man is a distributor of knowledge and whether He thinks he cannot or can He is right. His character is formed through his thinking and patience of focus.