第二章

思想对环境产生的影响

一个人的思想如同一座花园，它可以开满智慧之花，也可以任其荒芜；但是，无论是精心培养还是放任自流，里面的植物依然不断生长。如果没有智慧种子植入其中，那么大量无用的杂草种子会在心灵花园里野蛮生长，传宗接代。

正如一个园丁耕种他的园地，让杂草远离，种植他所需要的花朵和果实一样，一个人也可以精心打理他的心灵花园，清除所有错误的、不切实际的和不纯洁的思想，培养出完美的、正确的、有用的和纯洁的思想的花朵和果实。通过辛勤耕耘，一个人迟早明白，他是自己灵魂的园丁，是自己生活的主宰。他将发现自己内心的思想规律，并越来越准确地理解如何运用思想力量和思想工具塑造自己的性格、环境和命运。

思想和性格是一体的，因为性格只能通过环境和状况来体现，一个人生活的外部条件总是与他的内在状态紧密联系在一起。这并不意味着一个人在任何特定的时间和环境里，显示出他整个性格的标志，而是说这些环境情况与他内在的某些重要思想因素密切相关。因此，就目前而言，这些与环境情况紧密联系的思想因素对一个人的发展是不可或缺的。

每个人的人生都是自己选择的；他的思想决定他的性格，性格决定他的人生，毋庸置疑。对于那些感到与周围环境“不和谐”的人和那些对周围环境感到满意的人来说，情况也是如此。

人类不断进步和进化，人们在学习中成长；在任何情况下，如果人们去修炼身心，就能将思想提升到新境界。

如果人们认为自己是外界条件的产物，就会受到环境的影响，但当人们意识到自己拥有创造力，而且他可以得心应手地培养隐藏于思想中的土壤和种子不受外部环境影响，他就能掌控自己。

在遇到困难时，人们了解到，那些花时间进行自我控制和自我反省的人，他们反省越深刻，就越容易控制困难的局面。这是千真万确的，当一个人认真地弥补自己性格中的缺陷，成效明显时，他能很快克服困难。

灵魂是隐藏的港口，吸引着那些：它喜欢热爱的或它厌恶害怕的事物；心灵为此感到满足或失落；这些情况意味着灵魂接受自己的选择。

每一颗精选的，被允许扎根心田的思想种子，会自我生长，迟早都会开花，行动就是思想之花，在不同的机会和环境里结出自己的果实。好思想结好果子，坏思想结坏果子。

人们在与世间万物以及事件的互动中，形成自己的思想，无论愉快和不愉快的事情，都对自己有益。作为自我耕耘的收割者，人们从自身的痛苦和快乐中，学习良多。

跟随深藏于内心的欲望、抱负、思想，如果人们允许自己被这些意识支配（无论是崇高的或堕落的），这些愿望、抱负和思想将在他人生中一一实现。

一个人坐牢或沦落到救济院，不是因为命运或现实生活的刻意安排，而是因为卑躬屈膝的思想和低俗的欲望造成的。一个思想纯洁的人，不会因为外界的压力而突然犯罪；而是长期以来，犯罪思想一直被秘密地培养在人们的心中，伺机而发。

任何环境条件都不是直接决定人们性格的要素，只是一种自然而然的存在，痛苦或幸福不是外在条件影响的，而是内心感受，拥有邪恶思想，会痛苦堕落；不断向善，可以幸福快乐。因此，人作为思想的主人和主宰，人是自己的创造者，现实生活的塑造者和缔造者。人们在刚出生时，灵魂是处于归零的状态，在光怪陆离的红尘中，选择心性，通过不同的思想碰撞结合，在现实中通过行为表现出内心的状态：纯洁或肮脏、充满力量或脆弱不堪。

人们感兴趣的不是他们想要的东西，而是这些东西背后的意义。人们的突发奇想、充满幻想和雄心壮志的意志常常受到打击，内心的想法和欲望都是用自己的预期来满足的，不管是肮脏的还是干净的。“人性的终极是神性”存在我们自身之中；那才是我们真正的自己。人们常常作茧自缚。如果我们的灵魂被囚禁，变得低俗，思想和行动将成为命运的狱卒；如果我们的灵魂得到解放变得高尚，我们将是自由的天使。

一个人所获得的，与他的愿望和祈祷并不一致，而是他实际付出的回报。愿望和祈祷只有在思想和行动一致时，才能美梦成真。

在这个情况下，“与环境作斗争”的含义是什么？当一个人不断抗争却毫无结果，是否意味着而他一直从未改变内心的原因。

原因可能是有意而为的恶习或无意识的软弱；但不管它是什么，它顽固地阻碍了拥有者的努力，只有拥有强大的意志力的人，通过改变自己，才能改变现状。

人们渴望改善自己的境况，却不愿意改善自己；因此，心灵受到约束，情况不会改善。一个人不能忍受内心的痛苦和折磨，不可能完成他既定的目标，这是真理。即使一个人的唯一目标是获得财富，他也必须做好付出巨大代价的准备，然后才能实现目标。然而，到底怎么做才能让人生美满幸福呢？

一个可怜的穷人。他非常渴望改善环境和家庭舒适，但他总是逃避工作，他以工资不足为由去偷懒。这样的人既不明白真正成功的基本原则，也不可能脱离不幸沼泽，实际上，懒惰、自欺和没有担当的思想继续作祟，会把他推向不幸的深渊。

一个富人，他是因暴饮暴食得了让他痛苦不堪的慢性疾病。他愿意拿出一大笔钱来治疗疾病，却戒除不掉自己暴吃暴喝的恶习。他想满足味觉的追求却不节制，又妄想保持健康。这样的人不可能拥有健康的身体，因为他还没弄明白健康生活的首要原则。

一个老板，他采取了不正当的手段来避免支付约定的工资，妄想获得更大的利润，又再去降低工人的工资。这样的人不可能成功，当他发现自己在名誉和财富方面都破产时，他怨天尤人，他不会明白，他自己才是造成这种困境的唯一原因。

列举这三个案例，只想说明一个道理，即人们在他当前处境中（事实上外界因素以及环境因素几乎可以忽略不记），想达到一个好的目标，即使思想积极，但行动不一致的情况下，他不可能成功。这种情况是五花八门，数不胜数的，但都不是必然的。因为，只要读者愿意下定决心，在日常的思想和生活中，认知找出自己行为的思想成因，在这之前，外部因素不能作为推理的依据。

然而，情况是如此复杂，思想是如此根深蒂固，快乐幸福情况因个人而异，对于一个人的整体思想意识情况（可能只有他自己知道），另一个人无法通过这个人的生活的外部因素进行判断。

一个人在某些方面可能是诚实的，却一贫如洗；一个人可能在某些方面不诚实，却富甲天下。对于这样情况，通常会得出这样的结论：一个人因为特别诚实而失败，另一个人因为特别不诚实而成功，这是一种肤浅的判断结果。这种判断认为不诚实的人几乎糟糕透顶，诚实的人几乎天性善良。当我们追根问底、认真分析时，这种判断是错误的。不诚实的人可能有其他人所不具备的令人钦佩的美德；诚实的人也有其他人所没有的令人讨厌的恶习。诚实的人在诚实的思想和行为中获得好的结果；他也因自己恶习付出代价。所谓不诚实的人以同样方式，收获自己的痛苦或幸福。

值得高兴的是，人们相信：宝剑锋从磨砺出，梅花香自苦寒来，好品质是通过磨炼出来的。

但是，需要一个人从他的头脑中清除了一切病态的、痛苦的和不纯洁的思想，洗去了他灵魂中的一切罪恶的污迹，他才体会到，以前吃过的苦是他良好品质的起因，而不是他的坏品质的结果；在追求至善至美的大道上，他从自己的思想和生活中发现真理，它既不是以德报怨，也不是以怨报德。当他回顾过去，想起自己往日种种的盲目与无知时，他豁然开朗：原来他的人生，一直都是有规律可循，他过去所有的经历，无论好坏，都是他努力或没有努力的公平结果。（泰戈尔曾说过：你今天受的苦，吃的亏，担的责，扛的罪，忍的痛，到最后都会变成光，照亮你的路。）

好的思想和行动永远不会产生坏的结果；坏的想法和行为永远不会产生好的结果。正如，播种玉米获得玉米，种植荨麻，收获荨麻，而不是其他品种的果实。人们应该师法自然，并运用它；但是很少有人在精神和道德世界中理解它（尽管它一直以这样简单的道理运作），因为大多数人不去理解和运用它。

精神上的痛苦肯定是由某种的错误思想造成的。这是一个迹象，欲望得不到满足时，痛苦随之而来。对心灵进行净化，清除所有不切实际和不纯洁的想法，是去除痛苦唯一的、也是最好的方法，纯洁的人不再受苦。除去各种杂念，成为心性清明的人，让心灵不再受痛苦的折磨。

一个人感到痛苦，是他的内心得不到满足的结果。一个人觉得幸福，是他的内心满足的结果。幸福，与物质财富无关，是衡量正确思想的尺度；不幸，并不是物质财富的缺乏的结果，是检测错误思想的标准。一个人可能非常富足，但遭受诅咒；他可能处于贫穷，但受到祝福。财富被正确和明智地使用时，幸福和财富可以结合在一起；穷人总是抱怨命运对自己不公时，才会陷入不幸。

贫穷和骄逸是不幸的两个极端。它们同样都是不正常心理的结果。一个人只有成为一个幸福、健康、有成就的人，才算拥有一个真正意义上的美好人生。幸福、健康和有成就，是内心与处境、人与周围环境和谐相处的结果。

只有当一个人停止抱怨和漫骂，开始端正思想、调整情绪，合理安排生活时，他才开始成为一个真正的男人。当他进行深刻反省，不再怨天尤人，而是积极地用正确的思想重构自己；不再抱怨自己的处境，而是积极利用当前环境下的各种资源，挖掘自我潜力，来帮助自己快速进步。

有序，而非混乱，是宇宙中的运行规则；公平，而非不公，是灵魂和生命的本质；正义，而非罪恶，是塑造精神世界的动力。既然如此，人类只有纠正自己，才能发现天地万物无过错。在纠正自己的过程中，他会发现，当他改变对事物和其他人的态度时，事物和其他人也会改变对他的态度。（如镜子里的自己，你对他微笑，他也对你微笑，你对他发怒，他也对你发怒。）

每个人都能体验到这样的真理：通过系统自我分析并自省自律，可以看到，当一个人从根本上改变他的思想，他会感叹自己的人生能翻天覆地的变化，反省越深刻，变化越巨大。

人们的思想可以保密，但行为不能；它迅速地结晶成习惯，习惯固化成境况。兽性的思想结晶为酗酒和性欲的习惯，并固化为死亡和疾病的境况；各种不纯洁的思想结晶为令人衰弱和困惑的习惯，并固化为分心和不利的境况；恐惧、怀疑和犹豫不决的思想结晶为软弱、无男子气概，犹豫不决的习惯，固化为失败、贫穷和奴性依赖的境况；懒惰的思想结晶为不洁和不诚实的习惯，固化为肮脏和乞讨的境况；仇恨和谴责的思想结晶为指责和暴力的习惯，它固化成伤害和迫害的境况；各种自私的思想结晶成损公肥私的习惯，固化成众叛亲离的境况。

另一方面，各种美好的思想结晶成优雅和善良的习惯，并固化成和蔼和阳光明媚的境况；纯洁的思想结晶成节制和自我控制的习惯，并固化成宁静和安宁的环境；勇气、自立、自信的思想，结晶成有责任、有担当的男子气概的习惯，这些习惯会凝结成成功、富裕和自由的境况；精力充沛的精神会凝结成纯朴勤劳的习惯，这些习惯会凝结成愉悦的境况：温和和宽容的思想会凝结成善待他人的习惯，它固化为防护和保护的境况；爱和无私的思想结晶为利他忘我的习惯，固化可持续发展的富足繁荣的境况。

持之以恒地进行对正确思想的求索，无论能领悟多少，都不会在性格和环境上产生不良后果。当一个人无法选择他的处境时，他可以调整他的思想，改变思想，肯定会间接地改变他的处境。

大自然让人心旷神怡、鼓舞士气，而机遇让善良与邪恶的思想立竿见影。

一个人抛掉他的歪思邪念，全世界都会对他变得温柔，并准备帮助他；当他把虚弱和病态的思想进行大清除，瞧！机会随处涌现，帮助他坚定信心；让他坚持向善，任何艰难的命运都不会把他束缚在不幸和羞耻之中。世界是你的万花筒，它在每一次变化呈现给你丰富多彩的颜色组合，都是你不断修正的思想、精细调整的画面。

人若要成就自己

请与“各种借口”诀别

借口只是弱者的词汇

强者从失败中找到错误的原因，征服困难

心灵不应为外在环境条件所困，自由飞翔

心灵掌握时间，征服空间；

心灵告别自欺，放弃侥幸，

心灵挑战困难，永不屈服，

人类的意志，

看不见的强大力量，

不死的灵魂的后代，

可以开辟通往任何目标的康庄大道，

即便前方有花岗岩墙阵的百般阻挠。

静心修炼

耐心等候

如等待知己爱人

升华后灵魂

剑锋所指

诸神将前来助阵

Chapter Two

Effect of Thought on Circumstances

A man's mind may be likened to a garden, which may be intelligently cultivated or allowed to run wild; but whether cultivated or neglected, it must, and will, bring forth. If no useful seeds are put into it, then an abundance of useless weed seeds will fall therein, and will continue to produce their kind.

Just as a gardener cultivates his plot, keeping it free from weeds, and growing the flowers and fruits which he requires, so may a man tend the garden of his mind, weeding out all the wrong, useless, and impure thoughts, and cultivating toward perfection the flowers and fruits of right, useful, and pure thoughts. By pursuing this process, a man sooner or later discovers that he is the master-gardener of his soul, the director of his life. He also reveals, within himself, the laws of thought, and understands, with ever-increasing accuracy, how the thought-forces and mind-elements operate in the shaping of his character, circumstances, and destiny.

Thought and character are one, and as character can only manifest and discover itself through environment and circumstance, the outer conditions of a person's life will always be found to be harmoniously related to his inner state. This does not mean that a man's circumstances at any given time are an indication of his entire character, but that those circumstances are so intimately connected with some vital thought-element within himself that, for the time being, they are indispensable to his development.

Every man is where he is by the law of his being; the thoughts which he has built into his character have brought him there, and in the arrangement of his life there is no element of chance, but all is the result of a law which cannot err. This is just as true of those who feel "out of harmony" with their surroundings as of those who are contented with them.

As the progressive and evolving being, man is where he is that he may learn that he may grow; and as he learns the spiritual lesson which any circumstance contains for him, it passes away and gives place to other circumstances.

Man is buffeted by circumstances so long as he believes himself to be the creature of outside conditions, but when he realizes that he is a creative power, and that he may command the hidden soil and seeds of his being out of which circumstances grow, he then becomes the rightful master of himself.

That circumstances grow out of thought every man knows who has for any length of time practiced self-control and self-purification, for he will have noticed that the alteration in his circumstances has been in exact ratio with his altered mental condition. So true is this that when a man earnestly applies himself to remedy the defects in his character, and makes swift and marked progress, he passes rapidly through a succession of vicissitudes.

The soul attracts that which it secretly harbors; that which it loves, and also that which it fears; it reaches the height of its cherished aspirations; it falls to the level of its unchastened desires; and circumstances are the means by which the soul receives its own.

Every thought-seed sown or allowed to fall into the mind, and to take root there, produces its own, blossoming sooner or later into act, and bearing its own fruitage of opportunity and circumstances. Good thoughts bear good fruit, bad thoughts bad fruit.

The outer world of circumstance shapes itself to the inner world of thought, and both pleasant and unpleasant external conditions are factors which make for the ultimate good of the individual. As the reaper of his own harvest, man learns both by suffering and bliss.

Following the inmost desires, aspirations, thoughts, by which he allows himself to be dominated (pursuing the will-o'-the-wisp of impure imagining or steadfastly walking the highway of strong and high endeavor), a man at last arrives at their fruition and fulfillment in the outer condition of his life.

The laws of growth and adjustment everywhere obtain.

A man does not come to the almshouse or the jail by the tyranny of fate or circumstance, but by the pathway of groveling thoughts and base desires. Nor does a pure-minded man fall suddenly into crime by stress of any mere external force; the criminal thought had long been secretly fostered in the heart, and the hour of opportunity revealed its gathered power.

Circumstance does not make the man; it reveals him to himself. No such conditions can exist as descending into vice and its attendant sufferings apart from vicious inclinations; or ascending into virtue and its pure happiness without the continued cultivation of virtuous aspirations; and man, therefore, as the lord and master of thought, is the maker of himself, the shaper and author of environment. Even at birth the soul comes to its own, and through every step of its earthly pilgrimage it attracts those combinations of conditions which reveal itself, which are the reflections of its own purity and impurity, its strength and weakness.

Men do not attract that which they want, but that which they are. Their whims, fancies, and ambitions are thwarted at every step, but their inmost thoughts and desires are fed with their own food, be it foul or clean. The "divinity that shapes our ends" is in ourselves; it is our very Self. Man is manacled only by himself. Thought and action are the jailers of Fate - they imprison, being base; they are also the angels of Freedom - they liberate, being noble.

Not what he wishes and prays for does a man get, but what he justly earns. His wishes and prayers are only gratified and answered when they harmonize with his thoughts and actions.

In the light of this truth, what, then, is the meaning of "fighting against circumstances"? It means that a man is continually revolting against an effect without, while all the time he is nourishing and preserving its cause in his heart.

That cause may take the form of a conscious vice or an unconscious weakness; but whatever it is, it stubbornly retards the efforts of its possessor, and thus calls aloud for remedy.

Men are anxious to improve their circumstances, but are unwilling to improve themselves; they therefore remain bound. The man who does not shrink from self-crucifixion can never fail to accomplish the object upon which his heart is set. This is as true of earthly as of heavenly things. Even the man whose sole object is to acquire wealth must be prepared to make great personal sacrifices before he can accomplish his object; and how much more so he who would realize a strong and well-poised life?

Here is a man who is wretchedly poor. He is extremely anxious that his surroundings and home comforts should be improved, yet all the time he shirks his work, and considers he is justified in trying to deceive his employer on the ground of the insufficiency of his wages. Such a man does not understand the simplest rudiments of those principles which are the basis of true prosperity, and is not only totally unfitted to rise out of his wretchedness, but is actually attracting to himself a still deeper wretchedness by dwelling in, and acting out, indolent, deceptive, and unmanly thoughts.

Here is a rich man who is the victim of a painful and persistent disease as the result of gluttony. He is willing to give large sums of money to get rid of it, but he will not sacrifice his gluttonous desires. He wants to gratify his taste for rich and unnatural viands and have his health as well. Such a man is totally unfit to have health, because he has not yet learned the first principles of a healthy life.

Here is an employer of labor who adopts crooked measures to avoid paying the regulation wage, and, in the hope of making larger profits, reduces the wages of his work-people. Such a man is altogether unfitted for prosperity, and when he finds himself bankrupt, both as regards reputation and riches, he blames circumstances, not knowing that he is the sole author of his condition.

I have introduced these three cases merely as illustrative of the truth that man is the cause (though nearly always unconsciously) of his circumstances, and that, whilst aiming at a good end, he is continually frustrating its accomplishment by encouraging thoughts and desires which cannot possibly harmonize with that end. Such cases could be multiplied and varied almost indefinitely, but this is not necessary, as the reader can, if he so resolves, trace the action of the laws of thought in his own mind and life, and until this is done, mere external facts cannot serve as a ground of reasoning.

Circumstances, however, are so complicated, thought is so deeply rooted, and the conditions of happiness vary so vastly with individuals, that a man's entire soul condition (although it may be known to himself) cannot be judged by another from the external aspect of his life alone.

A man may be honest in certain directions, yet suffer privations; a man may be dishonest in certain directions, yet acquire wealth; but the conclusion usually formed that the one man fails because of his particular honesty, and that the other prospers because of his particular dishonesty, is the result of a superficial judgment, which assumes that the dishonest man is almost totally corrupt, and honest man almost entirely virtuous. In the light of a deeper knowledge and wider experience, such judgment is found to be erroneous. The dishonest man may have some admirable virtues which the other does not possess; and the honest man obnoxious vices which are absent in the other. The honest man reaps the good results of his honest thoughts and acts; he also brings upon himself the sufferings which his vices produce. The dishonest man likewise garners his own suffering and happiness.

It is pleasing to human vanity to believe that one suffers because of one's virtue; but not until a man has extirpated every sickly, bitter, and impure thought from his mind, and washed every sinful stain from his soul, can he be in a position to know and declare that his sufferings are the result of his good, and not of his bad qualities; and on the way to that supreme perfection, he will have found working in his mind and life, the Great Law which is absolutely just, and which cannot give good for evil, evil for good. Possessed of such knowledge, he will then know, looking back upon his past ignorance and blindness, that his life is, and always was, justly ordered, and that all his past experiences, good and bad, were the equitable outworking of his evolving, yet unevolved self.

Good thoughts and actions can never produce bad results; bad thoughts and actions can never produce good results. This is but saying that nothing can come from corn but corn, nothing from nettles but nettles. Men understand this law in the natural world, and work with it; but few understand it in the mental and moral world (though its operation there is just as simple and undeviating), and they, therefore, do not cooperate with it.

Suffering is always the effect of wrong thought in some direction. It is an indication that the individual is out of harmony with himself, with the Law of his being. The sole and supreme use of suffering is to purify, to burn out all that is useless and impure. Suffering ceases for him who is pure. There could be not object in burning gold after the dross had been removed, and a perfectly pure and enlightened being could not suffer.

The circumstances which a man encounters with suffering are the result of his own mental inharmony. The circumstances which a man encounters with blessedness are the result of his own mental harmony. Blessedness, not material possessions, is the measure of right thought; wretchedness, not lack of material possessions, is the measure of wrong thought. A man may be cursed and rich; he may be blessed and poor. Blessedness and riches are only joined together when the riches are rightly and wisely used; and the poor man only descends into wretchedness when he regards his lot as a burden unjustly imposed.

Indigence and indulgence are the two extremes of wretchedness. They are both equally unnatural and the result of mental disorder. A man is not rightly conditioned until he is a happy, healthy, and prosperous being; and happiness, health, and prosperity are the result of a harmonious adjustment of the inner with the outer, of the man with his surroundings.

A man only begins to be a man when he ceases to whine and revile, and commences to search for the hidden justice which regulates his life. And as he adapts his mind to that regulating factor, he ceases to accuse others as the cause of his condition, and builds himself up in strong and noble thoughts; ceases to kick against circumstances, but begins to use them as aids to his more rapid progress, and as a means of discovering the hidden powers and possibilities within himself.

Law, not confusion, is the dominating principle in the universe; justice, not injustice, is the soul and substance of life; and righteousness, not corruption, is the molding and moving force in the spiritual government of the world. This being so, man has but to right himself to find that the universe is right, and during the process of putting himself right, he will find that as he alters his thoughts toward things and other people, things and other people will alter toward him.

The proof of this truth is in every person, and it therefore admits of easy investigation by systematic introspection and self-analysis. Let a man radically alter his thoughts, and he will be astonished at the rapid transformation it will effect in the material conditions of his life.

Men imagine that thought can be kept secret, but it cannot; it rapidly crystallizes into habit, and habit solidifies into circumstance. Bestial thoughts crystallize into habits of drunkenness and sensuality, which solidify into circumstances of destruction and disease: impure thoughts of every kind crystallize into enervating and confusing habits, which solidify into distracting and adverse circumstances: thoughts of fear, doubt, and indecision crystallize into weak, unmanly, and irresolute habits, which solidify into circumstances of failure, indigence, and slavish dependence: lazy thoughts crystallize into habits of uncleanliness and dishonesty, which solidify into circumstances of foulness and beggary: hateful and condemnatory thoughts crystallize into habits of accusation and violence, which solidify into circumstances of injury and persecution: selfish thoughts of all kinds crystallize into habits of self-seeking, which solidify into circumstances more of less distressing.

On the other hand, beautiful thoughts of all kinds crystallize into habits of grace and kindliness, which solidify into genial and sunny circumstances: pure thoughts crystallize into habits of temperance and self-control, which solidify into circumstances of repose and peace: thoughts of courage, self-reliance, and decision crystallize into manly habits, which solidify into circumstances of success, plenty, and freedom: energetic thoughts crystallize into habits of cleanliness and industry, which solidify into circumstances of pleasantness: gentle and forgiving thoughts crystallize into habits of gentleness, which solidify into protective and preservative circumstances: loving and unselfish thoughts crystallize into habits of self-forgetfulness for others, which solidify into circumstances of sure and abiding prosperity and true riches.

A particular train of thought persisted in, be it good or bad, cannot fail to produce its results on the character and circumstances. A man cannot directly choose his circumstances, but he can choose his thoughts, and so indirectly, yet surely, shape his circumstances.

Nature helps every man to the gratification of the thoughts which he most encourages, and opportunities are presented which will most speedily bring to the surface both the good and evil thoughts.

Let a man cease from his sinful thoughts, and all the world will soften toward him, and be ready to help him; let him put away his weakly and sickly thoughts, and lo! opportunities will spring up on every hand to aid his strong resolves; let him encourage good thoughts, and no hard fate shall bind him down to wretchedness and shame. The world is your kaleidoscope, and the varying combinations of colors which at every succeeding moment it presents to you are the exquisitely adjusted pictures of your ever-moving thoughts.

You will be what you will to be;

Let failure find its false content

In that poor word, "environment,"

But spirit scorns it, and is free.

It masters time, it conquers space;

It cows that boastful trickster, Chance,

And bids the tyrant Circumstance

Uncrown, and fill a servant's place.

The human Will, that force unseen,

The offspring of a deathless Soul,

Can hew a way to any goal,

Though walls of granite intervene.

Be not impatient in delay,

But wait as one who understands;

When spirit rises and commands,

The gods are ready to obey.