As a Man Thinketh This classic work from the "new thought" school was a bestseller when first published in 1902 and continues to be widely read today. James Allen wrote many self-help books but this continues to be his most popular. The Mastery of Destiny James Allen was a philosophical writer known for his inspirational books. They have been read by millions over the years and continue to inspire. His most famous book is As a Man Thinketh. In The Mastery of Destiny, he delves even farther into the themes in that famous work, the ideas that concentrations, willpower and motivation can lead to happiness and prosperity. Above Life's Turmoil James Allen wrote this little book eight years after the phenomenal success of As a Man Thinketh. His forward gives an apt description of the book: "We cannot alter external things, nor shape other people to our liking, nor mould the world to our wishes but we can alter internal things - our desires, passions, thoughts - we can shape our liking to other people, and we can mould the inner world of our own mind in accordance with wisdom, and so reconcile it to the outer world of men and things. The turmoil of the world we cannot avoid, but the disturbances of mind we can overcome. The duties and difficulties of life claim our attention, but we can rise above all anxiety concerning them. Surrounded by noise, we can yet have a quiet mind; involved in responsibilities, the heart can be at rest; in the midst of strife, we can know the abiding peace. The 20 pieces which comprise this book, unrelated as some of them are in the letter, will be found to be harmonious in the spirit, in that they point the reader towards those heights of self-knowledge and self-conquest which, rising above the turbulence of the world, lift their peaks where the heavenly silence reigns."