Great Throughts Treasury

"A smile is an investment. It costs nothing in money, time, or effort, effects your whole body. It disarms suspicion, melts away fear and anger, and brings forth the best in the other person."

"A man’s problems arise because of some lack within himself."

"A covenant is a contract. When two people enter into a covenant, it means that one party undertakes to do certain things provided the other party does certain other things. Thus it is a mutual agreement… If you think only kindly, , optimistic, and constructive thoughts, if you will speak only positive and helpful words at all times, if you will do only good and constructive deeds, you will be fulfilling your side of the great covenant – and in no circumstances could God fail to fulfill His."

"Every condition in your life is the out-picturing of a belief in the subconscious. Every ailment, every difficulty that you have, is but the embodiment of a negative idea somewhere in your subconscious, which is actuated by a charge of fear. Prayer wipes out these negative thoughts and then their embodiment must disappear too. The healing must come."

"Do we not learn from suffering? Yes, often; and some people will learn only in that way; but we still learn by overcoming and not by encouraging or accepting the negative thing. The man who accepts his trouble “with resignation” is not learning; he is steeping himself in more error."

"If you try to see the Presence of God everywhere. If you realize that fundamentally you have nothing to deal with but your own thoughts. If, in short, you understand that you are in a mental universe, that things are thoughts, and that one’s life history is fundamentally the expression of his belief about God."

"Every small improvement is a part of the bridge between today’s location and your heart’s desire."

"Anger is really but fear in disguise. Love is always creative, and fear is always destructive."

"Defend those who are absent. Hear the other side before you judge. Use company manners on the family. Every day do something to help someone else."

"In the Bible the word “wicked” really means “bewitched” or “under a spell.” The Judgment is not a great trial to take place at the end of time; it is a process that goes on every day."

"Life is a state of consciousness."

"It is the quality of your habitual thinking that matters. That is what makes or mars your life It is not so much a particular thought, good or bad, but the general quality or tone of your thinking that determines your fate."

"Like produces like. Good produces good. If our all day thinking is positive, constructive, kindly, we produce health, success, and freedom. If our hour-to-hour thinking is negative, pessimistic, mean, we produce sickness, failure, and unhappiness. If our life is governed by Faith we become younger, more prosperous, and more joyous, as the years pass. If our life is governed by fear, the fleeting years bring age, decrepitude, and frustration."

"Reverence for God is the beginning of wisdom."

"Put all your weight on the side of harmony, and results must come."

"Spiritual growth comes from putting into practice the knowledge we already possess. Instead of reading another book, read your favorite book once more and apply it more carefully than ever in your practical life."

"The art of life is to live in the present moment, and to make that moment as perfect as we can by the realization that we are the instruments and expression of God Himself."

"The food of events is thought. Your habitual thoughts nourish your conditions and cause them to increase and multiply. Fear thoughts, gloomy and critical thoughts, selfish thoughts, are the food of unhappiness, sickness, and failure. When you supply this food in abundance these things come into your life – because they seek their food. Thoughts of God, thoughts of kindness, of optimism, and good will, are the food of health, joy, and success; and if you furnish a bountiful supply of this food you will attract these things instead."

"Spiritual progress must be slow as long as we are worried, frightened, resentful, sick, or discouraged – and those things can be overcome only through prayer. It is a duty and a joy to help others, wisely, and to leave the world a better place than we found it – and we can do that only through prayer. The more we pray for ourselves the more power will our prayers have for any other purpose whatsoever; so we see that praying for ourselves is the reverse of selfishness – it is truly glorifying God."

"The law of the universe is thought first, and then expression; and never can this law be reversed."

"The loftiest and most profound spiritual knowledge alike must be capable of being understood by any reasonably intelligent person over ten years of age."

"The only way to know God is to seek to express Him in our lives."

"The only way to get rid of your problem is to change your belief, or reverse the false process of thought. Fear is always present when there is in harmony, and an affirmation will not in itself destroy fear. You must refuse to be intimidated by the seeming danger, whatever it is, and put your reliance on the Love of God. Then fear will begin to go."

"There is a big difference between what you really believe, and what you think you ought to believe, or what you want to believe. You demonstrate what you really believe."

"The present moment is never intolerable. It is always what is coming in five minutes or five days that makes people despair. The Law of Life is to live in the present, and this applies to both time and place. Keep your attention to the present moment, and in the place where your body is now."

"The word “salvation,” in the Bible, means perfect health, harmony, and freedom. Man wears away his life in the pursuit of outer things, when his salvation lies in discovering the within."

"There is no end to prayer. It echoes on forever in your soul. Long after the visible demonstration has been made and forgotten, the prayer that produced it continues to work for your spiritual advancement, for the creative power of a God-thought is unlimited and eternal."

"Train yourself to eat, drink, exercise, sleep, and work intelligently."

"We demonstrate what we believe."

"Truth is true because it is true – not because we make it so. Prayer does not change things for us, but it changes them by tuning us in to the eternal Truth. You have nothing to deal with but your own thoughts, and your own beliefs. “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

"What you think upon grows. Whatever you allow to occupy your mind you magnify in your own life. Whether the subject of your thought be good or bad, the law works and the condition grows. Any subject that you tend to keep out of your mind tends to diminish in your life, because what you do not use atrophies."

"When you give your attention to anything, you are building that thing into your consciousness, for good or evil. When you are faced with some negative condition in your own life, the scientific way to handle it is to withdraw your attention form it by building the opposite into your subconscious, and when you have done this the undesirable thing falls away like an overripe fruit... Don’t tear away people’s crutches (or your own). When they are no longer needed they will fall away. Dissolve the need."

"Whatever you believe with feeling, that you bring into your life."

"You can only live in the present… only act in the present… only experience in the present. What you call the future, things that you may be planning, or things that you may be dreading – all this is still but a present state of mind. This is the real meaning of the traditional phrase, The Eternal Now. The only joy you can experience is the joy you experience now. A happy memory is a present joy. The only pain you can experience is the pain of the present moment. Sad memories are present pain."

"You positively owe no loyalty to anyone or anything but your own soul – and that is the most sacred loyalty you could have. Your loyalty is due to God, through your own spiritual development."

"Your contact with God lies in recognizing your identity, the “I am.” The “I am” is everything you arrogate to yourself in thought. If you say, “I am sick,” you have ordered your own. If you say, “I am well, I am one with God,” you have ordered your own. God is universal - “I am what I am” - and you as an individual particularize it when you say, “I am.” When you use your “I am” in an inverted or negative sense, you are using it against yourself and will bring sickness, poverty, controversy, and fear into your life. When you particularize, or individualize, Divine Power by using “I am” constructively, then you will get health, prosperity, and abounding happiness, for you will have identified yourself with God - the gold mine within."

"You grow in grace and understanding by solving your daily problems as they arise, by the Practice of the Presence of God, by a tolerant attitude toward others, by plan horse sense (which is Divine Wisdom in you), by sincere and honest dealing at all times, and by cultivating a true sense of humor – which always brings us nearer to God. The great point is that life is to be met and mastered. Outer conditions and appearances are simply of no importance in themselves except as they supply material for growth."

"It is the Law that any difficulties that can come to you at any time, no matter what they are, must be exactly what you need most at the moment, to enable you to take the next step forward by overcoming them. There need be no unqualified evils. The only real misfortune, the only real tragedy, comes when we suffer without learning the lesson."

"Your destiny depends entirely on your own mental conduct. It is the thoughts that you allow yourself to dwell upon all day long that makes your mentality what it is and circumstances are made by your mentality."

"Never forget that the circumstances of your life for tomorrow are molded by your mental conduct today."

"Spiritual treatment is a change of mind. When the mind changes the outer expression must change to correspond. we are transfered by the renewing of our minds."

"You have nothing to deal with but your own thoughts."

"It is not possible that you can turn to God in prayer without receiving help."

"Serve God and fear no one."

"You are continually treating your conditions with the thoughts that you hold concerning them. What you really think about anything is your treatment of that thing."

"It is the food which you furnish to your mind that determines the whole character of your life. "

"You must not under any pretense allow your mind to dwell on any thought that is not positive, constructive, optimistic, kind. "

"If you could only love enough, you could be the most powerful person in the world. "

"Attention is the key to life. Whatever you really give your attention to, you become. Whatever you really concentrate upon will come into your life. We grow into the thing that fills our thoughts as inevitably as the stream merges into the ocean at last."

"Pray definitely for yourself every day or you will get no where."