The Heavenly Life

As always, his advice is both spiritual and practical. His words are as valuable today as when they were first written, and provide a welcome balm to uneasy souls in an uncertain world.
"THE secret of life, of abundant life, with its strength, its felicity, and its unbroken peace is to find the Divine Centre within oneself, and to live in and from that, instead of in that outer circumference of disturbances—the clamours, cravings, and argumentation which make up the animal and intellectual man. These selfish elements constitute the mere husks of life, and must be thrown away by him who would penetrate to the Central Heart of things—to Life itself."

About the Author:
James Allen was born in Leicester, England in 1864. After leaving school at the age of fifteen to support his family, Allen worked, read, and carefully observed the world around him. It was not until he was thirty-eight that he wrote From Poverty to Power, one of the first motivational books. His next book, As a Man Thinketh, established his reputation as an inspirational writer. Other books on spirituality included The Eight Pillars of Wisdom and From Passion to Peace. Although his writing career lasted for only ten years, until his death in 1912, Allen produced twenty titles that influenced millions in the same manners as the words of Dale Carnegie and Norman Vincent Peale.

Born in Leicester, England, in 1864, James Allen experienced profound tragedy early in life. When he was just fifteen, his father traveled to America in search of better economic opportunities, only to be robbed and murdered before the family could join him. This sudden loss forced Allen to abandon his formal education and enter the workforce to support his family, taking on various clerical and secretarial jobs for British manufacturing firms over the next two decades.

Despite his abbreviated schooling, Allen was a voracious reader with a deeply inquisitive mind. He immersed himself in the works of Leo Tolstoy, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and various Eastern philosophical and religious texts, cultivating a profound understanding of spiritual principles. In 1902, drawing from years of quiet reflection, he published his first book, From Poverty to Power, and subsequently launched a spiritual magazine titled The Light of Reason to share his evolving insights on personal empowerment.

The following year, Allen published the work that would cement his legacy: As a Man Thinketh. A seminal text in the New Thought movement, the brief philosophical essay argued that individuals hold the key to their own happiness, health, and success through the mastery of their thoughts. With its empowering message that a person's character and outer circumstances are the direct result of their inner mind, the book became a foundational pillar of modern self-help literature and has continuously influenced readers for over a century.

Following his initial literary success, Allen retired from his corporate work and moved with his wife, Lily, to the coastal town of Ilfracombe in Devon. There, he embraced a quiet, contemplative lifestyle dedicated entirely to writing, meditation, and gardening. Over the course of a brief but remarkably prolific decade, he produced a total of nineteen books before his untimely death in 1912 at the age of forty-seven, leaving behind an enduring legacy of inspirational philosophy.