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Chapter 5 -- The Thought-Factor In Achievement
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ALL that a man achieves and all that he fails to
achieve is the direct result of his own thoughts.
In a justly ordered universe, where loss of
equipoise would mean total destruction,
individual responsibility must be absolute. A
man's weakness and strength, purity and
impurity, are his own, and not another man's;
they are brought about by himself, and not by
another; and they can only be altered by
himself, never by another. His condition is also
his own, and not another man's. His suffering
and his happiness are evolved from within. As
he thinks, so he is; as he continues to think, so
he remains.
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A strong man cannot help a weaker unless that weaker is willing to be helped, and even then the
weak man must become strong of himself; he must, by his own efforts, develop the strength which
he admires in another. None but himself can alter his condition.
It has been usual for men to think and to say, "Many men are slaves because one is an
oppressor; let us hate the oppressor." Now, however, there is amongst an increasing few a
tendency to reverse this judgment, and to say, "One man is an oppressor because many
are slaves; let us despise the slaves."
The truth is that oppressor and slave are co-operators in ignorance, and, while seeming to afflict
each other, are in reality afflicting themselves. A perfect Knowledge perceives the action of law in
the weakness of the oppressed and the misapplied power of the oppressor; a perfect Love, seeing
the suffering, which both states entail, condemns neither; a perfect Compassion embraces both
oppressor and oppressed.
He who has conquered weakness, and has put away all selfish thoughts, belongs neither to
oppressor nor oppressed. He is free.
A man can only rise, conquer, and achieve by lifting up his thoughts. He can only remain weak,
and abject, and miserable by refusing to lift up his thoughts.
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 animality and selfishness, by any
means; but a portion of it must, at least, be sacrificed. 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 undertaking. Not having commenced to manfully control
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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 sacrifices his
confused animal thoughts, and fixes his mind
on the development of his plans, and the
strengthening of his resolution and
self-reliance. And the higher he lifts his
thoughts, the more manly, upright, and
righteous he becomes, the greater will be his
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Thought and Purpose | The Thought - Factor In Achievement | Visions and Ideals
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his success, the more blessed and enduring will be his achievements.
The universe does not favour 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 varying 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 consecrated to the search for knowledge, or
for the beautiful and true in life and nature. Such achievements may be sometimes 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 unselfish thoughts.
Spiritual achievements are the consummation of holy aspirations. He who lives constantly in the
conception of noble and lofty thoughts, who dwells upon all that 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, resolution, purity, righteousness, and well-directed thought a man ascends; by the
aid of animality, indolence, impurity, corruption, 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 attained by right thought can only be maintained by watchfulness. Many give way when
success is assured, and rapidly 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.
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