Who is James Allen

James Allen (28 November 1864 in Leicester, England ? 1912) was a philosophical writer of British nationality known for his inspirational books and poetry.

As a Man Thinketh is a literary essay of James Allen, published in 1902. The title is influenced by a verse in the Bible from the Book of Proverbs chapter 23 verse 7, ?As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.?

The full passage, taken from the King James Version, is as follows:

"Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats:

For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he:

Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.

The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up, and lose thy sweet words."

The passage seems to suggest that one should consider the true motivations of a person who is being uncharacteristically generous before accepting his generosity - while in the title and content of James Allen's work the passage is in a different context; In the Bible the passage is referring to another person, and in James Allen's work the passage is adopted to primarily refer to the reader himself.

It is now in the public domain within the United States and most other countries. It was released the 1st of October 2003 as a Project Gutenberg eText edition.

This book is written in terms of responsibility assumption.

The lyrics to the song Good Thoughts, Bad Thoughts by Funkadelic are loosely based on this book.

The book opens with the statement:

: Mind is the Master power that moulds and makes,

: And Man is Mind, and evermore he takes

: The tool of Thought, and, shaping what he wills,

: Brings forth a thousand joys, a thousand ills: ?

: He thinks in secret, and it comes to pass:

: Environment is but his looking-glass.

Chapter 1 starts with the quote from Dhammapada where effect of karmas is explained.