Master of thought

Excerpt from "As A Man Thinketh" by James Allen (1903):

Man is a growth by law and not a creation by artifice, and cause and effect are as absolute and undeviating 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 it is the natural result of continued effort in right thinking, the effect of long cherished association with Godlike thoughts. An ignoble and bestial character, by the same process, is the result of the continued harbouring 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 heavenly mansions 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. Between these two extremes are all the grades of character, and man is their maker and master.

Of all the beautiful truths pertaining to the soul which have been restored and brought to the light in this age, none is more gladdening or fruitful of divine promise and confidence than this - that man is the master of thought, the moulder of character, and the maker and shaper of condition, environment, and destiny.
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As a being of power, intelligence, and love, and the lord of his own thoughts, man holds the key to every situation, and contains with himself that transforming and regenerative agency by which he may make himself what he wills.