William Walker Atkinson

“ Either the Universe is without Law—without meaning—without reason, or it is the manifestation of Supreme and Infinite Reason. Either it is the work of a Demon who sits somewhere and grins and gloats over our misfortunes—our trials—our troubles—our pain—our follies, or it is the work of an All-knowing—All-powerful—All-present Intelligence-Power-Presence which has taken into consideration everything within the Universe, down to the tiniest thing—down to the merest detail. ”

“ I believe that whilst all men are brothers, and each a part of a mighty Whole, still each one must stand squarely upon his own feet—must work out his own salvation—must do his own thinking. I believe that Truth is everywhere—in everything, and that we may uncover a bit of it wherever we may happen to dig. I do not believe that any person has a corner on the Truth—a monopoly of Knowing. I do not believe in Popes, in or out of the New Thought. Each of us will uncover his own little bit of the Truth, but we must not imagine that we have the Whole Thing. ”

“ With those who understand us well, we can best commune in Silence. Hand in hand—cheek to cheek—sit those who love well. The tale of love is told and re-told without a word. Words serve their purpose in conveying the commonplaces of life, but seem strangely inadequate to express the deeper utterances of the soul. The tale of love—the story of sorrow—needs no words. The soul understands the message of the soul—mind flashes the message to mind—and all is known. The fondest memory of the one whom you loved and lost, is not of moments in which he spoke even the most endearing words. ”

“ And after you have traveled round and round the circle of thought and find that you are but covering the same ground over and over again—after you have run into the intellectual cul de sac, the blind alley of Logic—after you have beaten your wings against the cage of the Unknowable and fall exhausted and bruised—after you have done all these things and have learned your lesson—then listen to the voice within, see the tiny flame which burns steadily and cannot be extinguished, feel the pressure of the Something Within and let it unfold. ”

“ Each feels the frightful solitude which comes to the soul when first it recognizes what it is. And yet, in that dreadful moment each knows itself to be in touch with all of life. Each feels that intense longing for a closer soul union—a reunion of the separated parts of the whole. And yet each realizes the impossibility of the consummation of that desire at this time—and they show their grief—they place the head upon the shoulder of the other—they clasp the hand of the other—they touch the flesh of the other—all as a symbol of the desire for the union of the soul. ”

“ AT HOME. Don't be afraid—You are at home—Not here by chance—You belong here—YOU are the soul—YOU cannot be hurt—YOU cannot be banished—YOU are right in the universe, and there is no outside—Great things are before you—Make yourself at home.
Don't be afraid. You're living in your own home. This Universe was built for you to inhabit—to occupy—to enjoy. Do not feel strange—make yourself at home. The wonderful laws of nature—those which have been discovered, and those which remain to be discovered—are all laws for your use, when you grow large enough to understand how to make use of them. ”

“ To accomplish, we must be possessed of earnest desire—must be as confident of ultimate success as we are of the rising of to-morrow's sun—we must have Faith. And we must work out the end with the tools and instruments that will present themselves day by day. We will find that Desire, Confidence, Faith and Work will not only brush aside the obstacles from our path, but will also begin to assert that wonderful force, as yet so little understood—the Law of Attraction—which will draw to us that which is conducive to our success, be it ideas, people, things, yes, even circumstances. ”

“ We pore over the writing of the philosophers and learned writers of the past and present, but find them as but husks to the hungering soul. We seek in creeds and dogmas that comforting something, the need of which we feel, but of the nature of which we are ignorant—but we find no satisfaction there. We, perhaps, go from creed to creed, from philosophy to philosophy, from one scientific theory to another scientific theory, but still we hunger. At last we get to a position in which we feel that life is not worth the living and that all is a ghastly mockery. ”

“ He begins to see things in their proper relations. He does not take himself (or things) too seriously. He enjoys the pleasure of the game—but he knows it to be but the play and pleasure of the child—he laughs, but is not deceived. He suffers, also, the sorrow, grief, disappointment, humiliation and chagrin of the child-nature—but even though the tears are falling he, knowing, smiles. He laughs with joy—with pain he cries, but he knows—he knows. He enjoys the playthings, gifts, rewards, but he knows them for what they are—he knows. ”

“ I believe that we have no right to condemn—"let him who is without sin cast the first stone." I believe that he who Hates, is an assassin; that he who Covets, is a thief; that he who Lusts, is an adulterer; that the gist of a crime is in its desire. Seeing this—looking into our own hearts—how can we Condemn? I believe that Evil is but Ignorance. I believe that "to know all is to forgive all." I believe that there is good in every man; let us help him to manifest it. I believe in the absolute equality of the Man and the Woman—sometimes I think that the odds are slightly in favor of the Woman. ”

“ Some people are not happy unless they have some old faded sorrow hugged up close to their bosoms, and they feel guilty if they happen to smile and forget the old thing for even a moment. Oh, how they do gloat over their own revamped unhappiness—how they enjoy the relieving of the pains and sorrows, mistakes and ignorance of years gone by. How they love to hold the fox to their sides and let it eat out their heart. These people are really happy in the unhappiness, and life would not be worth living if they were deprived of their pet sorrows. ”

“ And from these depths, now and then, rise into our consciousness beautiful thoughts—beautiful images—which we reproduce on paper—canvas—marble. We do not understand these things, and we join with others in the feeling of wonder inspired by the sight of the reproduction of that which came from the depths of our mental being. And some, who have grown closer to the Real Self within them, see beauties in our work to which we are blind. Not until the scales fall from our eyes, do we realize the full meaning of our work. ”

“ Each one is connected with all, yet each one stands alone. One figure extends a hand to her brother just ahead of her, and on her shoulder rests the tired head of the brother following her. Hand in hand, or head on shoulder stand they, each giving to the other that human touch and contact so dear to the soul craving that companionship of one who understands.
Each face shows sorrow, pain, and longing—that longing for that complete union of soul with soul—that longing that earth-life cannot satisfy. And each feels and knows that the other has the same longing. ”

“ Oh, if only those young people—and all young people—and all people young or old—would take to their hearts these words, and "let a little sunshine in." It is not sufficient that you merely agree that the advice is good—that you merely repeat the words mechanically—you must make thought take form in action, and not only say the words—not only think them—but you must ACT them. Make them a part of your life—incorporate the idea in your being—train yourself into the habit of opening yourself to the sunshine of Life—get into the way of letting it flow in. ”

“ Well, at such times we storm and fume and fret, and complain at our inability to solve the problem. We set up ideas only to tear them down again. We assume and then abandon one position after another, until there is nothing left. And the end of all the intellectual debauch is to say finally, "I do not know." And then, after the struggle is over, we see, just as plainly as ever before, the glimpse of Truth that has come to us from within—we hear the words of the soul—we have the same old consciousness. We say to ourselves, "I may not get this thing intellectually, but I KNOW it is true. ”

“ Come, friends, let us get out of this habit of poisoning the air with Fear, Worry and Hate Thought. Let us join the ranks of the Don't Worry company—the Fearless brigade—the invincible, conquering army of Love. Let us be bright, cheerful and happy—the other things are not worth while. Let us be Confident, Expectant, Hopeful and Fearless—these things are winners. Let us be filled with Love for all men—and we will find that Life is one sweet song. Love, Faith and Fearlessness, are the ingredients of Life's great Anti-Toxin. ”

“ THE HUNGER OF THE SOUL. The soul, as well as the body and mind, requires nourishment—The want, a promise of the fulfillment—The law of unfoldment—Nourishment provided when it is needed—Provided for in the Divine Plan—The feast of good things.
The Soul, as well as the body and the mind, requires nourishment. We have felt that hunger for spiritual knowledge which transcended our hunger for bread—exceeded our craving for mental sustenance. We have felt soul-hungry and knew not with what to appease it. The Soul has cried out for food. ”

“ Rich mines of knowledge are there—uncut gems rest there awaiting the day when they will be uncovered and brought into the bright light of consciousness—rich veins of precious metals are there awaiting in patience the day when some Divine Adventurer will search for them and bring them to light. The human mind is a wonderful storehouse, concealing all sorts of treasures and precious things, only a fraction of which have been discovered so far. ”

“ You still find that memory to be a stimulus to great efforts—a comforting thought in times of weakness and trial. You have been able to accomplish much by the aid of the lingering vibrations of the mighty thought.
In times of great peril—grave perplexities—life and death struggles, a feeling of calm confidence and strength often comes to us, and we are borne on by a power of us and in us (and yet in everything else, too) that seems to lift us off our feet and sweep us on to safety—to peace—to rest. We are possessed of an abiding sense of power, reserve force and security. ”

“ It merely knows that it IS, and has ALWAYS BEEN, and ALWAYS WILL BE. "I" allows Intellect to indulge in speculations, but contents itself with the knowledge that it IS—it frets not itself with the problems of the past or future, but lives in the NOW, and knows itself to be a part of the WHOLE. "I" knows that it cannot be destroyed or injured—that it exists in accordance with Law (and that Law is Good) and asks no further light at this time, knowing that in its progress through matter, discarding sheath after sheath, more knowing will surely come. ”

“ We will realize that the power which called into being this Life of ours, knew just what it was about—that this Power placed within that Life the energy which is expressing itself in changing form and color, but which has but one real object—growth toward the sun, and when we realize this truth we will begin to have Faith, and will trust the Law to do that which is best to be done—will realize the folly of imagining that the weight of the Universe rests upon our shoulders. ”

“ The boy lives in the Now, and enjoys every moment of his existence—his winnings, his losings, his victories, his defeats, while we, his elders and superiors in wisdom groan at the heat of the day and the rigor of the game and are only reconciled to our tasks by the thought of how we will enjoy the possession of the marbles, when we get them at the end of the game. The Boy sucks his orange and extracts every particle of its sweet contents, while we throw away the juicy meat and aim only to secure the pips. ”

“ He looks on the bright side of things, and gets all there is in Life—he LIVES. He manages to extract "fun" out of the most unpromising conditions and things, and goes on his way with a smile, and a cheerful song, an abiding faith in the Absolute. He lives his life, one day at a time, loving all of God's creatures and letting the creatures know it—carrying a message of hope, and courage, and a helpful suggestion to all mankind. He is the salt of the earth, and Life would lose its flavor if he were taken from us. ”

“ Yes, yes, the Law expects every man to do well the work that lies to his hand—and to do it well, whether it is irksome or distasteful or otherwise; and as soon as he ceases to rebel and beat his wings against the bars of the cage, the way is opened for the next step; and if he does not take that step, he must work away until he learns to take it. And so on, and on, the lesson of each task to be learned before the next is presented. Work? why certainly you must work. Everything in the Universe works unceasingly. ”

“ And we will learn our little lesson of Love—of Comradeship. We will learn by experience that if we lead the narrow, selfish life we will miss the joy that falls to the lot of those who have learned to express more fully the love-nature within them—we will find that Love begets Love—that the love-nature, expressed, attracts to itself the love in the hearts of our little playmates. ”