Thoughts Matter

As A Man Thinketh - James Allen - 1903

"The aphorism, “As a man thinketh in his heart so is he”, not only embraces the whole of a man's being, but it is so comprehensive as to reach out to every condition and circumstance of his life. A man is literally what he thinks, his character being the complete sum of all his thoughts.
As the plant springs from, 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, 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.
If one endure 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 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."