Classic Minds — As a Man Thinketh by James Allen (Includes The Mastery of Destiny)
The Original 1902 Classic

You become what you think.

James Allen's 1902 masterpiece on the power of thought — the slim, timeless book behind a century of self-improvement — in a complete Reader's Library Classics edition that also includes The Mastery of Destiny.

  • Complete, unabridged 1902 text
  • Includes The Mastery of Destiny — two works in one
  • Buy 1, get 1 50% off — two copies for $44.99
Paperback
$29.99
Buy 1, Get 1 50% Off
2 for $44.99
As a Man Thinketh — the Original 1902 Classic, includes The Mastery of Destiny — James Allen, Reader's Library Classics paperback
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Read it in an hour.
Keep it for life.

Most self-help books stretch one idea across 300 pages. James Allen made his case in a single sitting's read — and made it so well that the genre has been paraphrasing him ever since. The idea: your character, your circumstances, your health, and your achievements all grow from the seeds of your own thinking.

First published in 1902, As a Man Thinketh became the quiet source code of modern personal development. Earl Nightingale, Norman Vincent Peale, Tony Robbins — the thinkers who built careers on the power of thought all point back to this little book.

This edition pairs it with The Mastery of Destiny, Allen's practical follow-up on self-control, will, and concentration. Two complete works in one slim paperback — and for $44.99 you can take two: one to keep, one to give.

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1902
Originally Published
120+
Years in Print
2
Complete Works Inside
17
Chapters, Cover to Cover
What's Inside

Two complete works. One slim volume.

Work I As a Man
Thinketh
James Allen
As a Man Thinketh
1902 · Seven Chapters

The short, fierce essay that launched a century of self-improvement: you are the maker of your character and your circumstances, through the thoughts you choose to hold.

  1. Thought and Character
  2. Effect of Thought on Circumstances
  3. Effect of Thought on Health and the Body
  4. Thought and Purpose
  5. The Thought-Factor in Achievement
  6. Visions and Ideals
  7. Serenity
Work II The Mastery
of Destiny
James Allen
The Mastery of Destiny
1909 · Ten Chapters

Allen's practical follow-up — how to actually govern the mind. Self-control, the training of the will, concentration, and purpose, turned into daily practice.

  1. Deeds, Character, and Destiny
  2. The Science of Self-Control
  3. Cause and Effect in Human Conduct
  4. Training of the Will
  5. Thoroughness
  6. Mind-Building and Life-Building
  7. Cultivation of Concentration
  8. Practice of Meditation
  9. The Power of Purpose
  10. The Joy of Accomplishment
Why This Edition

The original text, complete — not a summary.

Plenty of editions rewrite, "modernize," or trim Allen's text. This Reader's Library Classics edition doesn't — it's the complete 1902 original, exactly as he wrote it, in a paperback made to be underlined.

And because knowing that thought shapes life raises the obvious question — how do I govern my thoughts? — it includes The Mastery of Destiny in full: Allen's handbook on self-control, the training of the will, concentration, and purpose.

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01
Complete & Unabridged
Every word of the 1902 original — all seven chapters, from Thought and Character to Serenity. No abridgment, no "updated" language.
02
Two Works, One Book
The Mastery of Destiny is included in full: ten chapters that turn Allen's philosophy into daily practice — will, self-control, concentration, purpose.
03
One to Keep, One to Give
Buy one for $29.99 and get a second at 50% off — two copies for $44.99. It's the book people re-read for years, and the one they hand to a friend.
From the Pages

In Allen's own words.

On the making of a life
Man is made or unmade by himself; in the armoury 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.
As a Man Thinketh — Thought and Character
On circumstance
Circumstance does not make the man; it reveals him to himself.
As a Man Thinketh — Effect of Thought on Circumstances
On vision
Cherish your visions; cherish your ideals; cherish the music that stirs in your heart, the beauty that forms in your mind, the loveliness that drapes your purest thoughts, for out of them will grow all delightful conditions, all heavenly environment; of these, if you but remain true to them, your world will at last be built.
As a Man Thinketh — Visions and Ideals
Buy 1, Get 1 50% Off

Master your thoughts. Master your destiny.

As a Man Thinketh and The Mastery of Destiny — James Allen's two most enduring works, complete in one Reader's Library Classics paperback. $29.99, or two for $44.99.

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