AS A MAN THINKETH

	      Chapter 5B -- THE THOUGHT FACTOR IN ACHIEVEMENT, PART II

	   Before a man can achieve anything, even in worldly things, he
	must lift his thoughts above slavish animal indulgence.  He may
	not, in order to succeed, give up all all animality and selfish-
	ness, by any means; but portion of it must, at least, be sacri-
	ficed.  A man whose first thought is bestial indulgence could
	neither think clearly nor plan methodically; he could not find
	and develop his latent resources, and would fail in any under-
	taking.  Not having commenced manfully to control his thoughts,
	he is not in a position to control affairs and to adopt serious
	responsibilities.  He is not fit to act independently and stand
	alone.  But he is limited only by the thoughts which he chooses.

	   There can be no progress, no achievement without sacrifice,
	and a man's worldly success will be in the measure that he sac-
	rifices his confused animal thoughts, and fixes his mind on the
	development of his plans, and the strengthening of his resolu-
	tion and self-reliance.  And the higher he lifts up his thoughts,
	the more manly, upright, and righteous he becomes, the greater
	will be his success, the more blessed and enduring will be his
	achievments.
	   The universe does not favor the greedy, the dishonest, the
	vicious, although on the mere surface it may sometimes appear
	to do so; it helps the honest, the magnanimous, the virtuous.
	All the great Teachers of the ages have declared this in vary-
	ing forms, and to prove and know it a man has but to persist
	in making himself more and more virtuous by lifting up his
	thoughts.
	   Intellectual achievements are the result of thought con-
	secrated to the search for knowledge, or for the beautiful
	and true in life and nature.  Such achievements may be some-
	times connected with vanity and ambition, but they are not
	the outcome of those characteristics; they are the natural
	outgrowth of long and arduous effort, and of pure and unsel-
	fish thoughts.
	   Spiritual achievements are the consummation of holy as-
	pirations.  He who lives constantly in the conception of
	noble and lofty thoughts, who dwells upon all the is pure
	and unselfish, will, as surely as the sun reaches its zenith
	and the moon its full, become wise and noble in character,
	and rise into a position of influence and blessedness.
	   Achievement, of whatever kind, is the crown of effort,
	the diadem of thought.  By the aid of self-control, resolu-
	tion, purity, righteousness, and well-directed thought a man
	ascends; by the aid of animality, indolence, impurity, cor-
	ruption, and confusion of thought a man descends.
	   A man may rise to high success in the world, and even to
	lofty altitudes in the spiritual realm, and again descend into
	weakness and wretchedness by allowing arrogant, selfish, and
	corrupt thoughts to take possession of him.
	   Victories aimed by right thought can only be maintained by
	watchfulness.  Many give way when success is assured, and rap-
	idly fall back into failure.
	   All achievements, whether in the business, intellectual, or
	spiritual world, are the result of definitely-directed thought,	
	are governed by the same law and are of the same method; the
	only difference lies in the object of attainment.
	   He who would accomplish little must sacrifice little; he
	who would achieve much must sacrifice much; he who would attain
	highly must sacrifice greatly.



様様様様様様様様様様様様様様様* Notes / Thoughts *様様様様様様様様様様様様様

     1.  There seems to be a great stress here on a man's standing on his
	 own and working independently:  a tremendous focus, then, on self-
	 reliance.  Do you believe that self-reliance is consistent with
	 the teachings of Jesus Christ?  



	My thoughts:
         I believe that we are a community of faith who work together, not
	 alone.  It seems to me that the ministry of Jesus Christ seeks to
	 remind us how interconnected we all are and seeks to remind us
	 that how we relate to other people is more important than acting
	 independently and standing alone.  

	 For in standing alone and acting independently, we also en-
	 able certain belligerent forces to come to the forefront,
	 if we let them.  We become the self-motivated man or woman
	 that seems so important in today's employment want-ads ...
	 and we may become forgetful of being motivated for the sake
	 of others.  And, when we are not careful, our self-motivation
	 can become quite selfish indeed.  And in those selfishnesses,
	 we can belligerantly do only for ourselves, and not for others.

	 If acting independently and standing alone is the desired goal,
	 then, man indeed may limit himself by focusing on that goal,
	 its being the thought-pattern in which he chooses to engage.