Other editions of book Your Mind and How to Use It

In recent times the philosophy and practices promoted by the New Thought movement have attracted much attention through the burgeoning of the self-help industry and films such as The Secret. Among New Thought authors, William Walker Atkinson was not only one of the most eminent, but also one of the most prolific. Using a number of pseudonyms, he wrote extensively on a wide range of subjects, including yoga, religious history, reincarnation, and, in particular, training of the mind. Although they have been criticized for their lack of academic rigour, his works have enjoyed enduring popularity due to the power of the concepts the author presents, as well as his succinct style of writing. One of his most notable works is the mental training manual, Your Mind and How to Use It, first published in 1911. A new recording of a self-help classic, narrated by Denis Daly.

Excerpt:IT is of the utmost importance that the individual develop, cultivate, and train his will so as to bring it under the influence of the higher part of his mental and moral being. While the will is used most effectively in developing and training the intellect and building character, it itself must be trained by itself to habitually come under the guidance of the intellect and under the influence of that which we call character.The influence of the trained will upon the several mental faculties is most marked. There are no faculties which may not be cultivated by the will. The first and great task of the will in this direction is the control and direction of the attention. The will determines the kind of interest that shall prevail at the moment, and the kind of interest largely determines the character of the man, his tastes, his feelings, his thoughts, his acts. Gordy says: "Coöperating with a pre-existing influence, the will can make a weaker one prevail over a stronger. * * * It determines which of pre-existing influences shall have control over the mind."

A manual of practical psychology. The values to be derived from such a work are necessarily suggestive, and nothing is more powerfully helpful to any one than suggestions. So when considering in this book the subjects of mind and will, ably and interestingly presented by Mr. Atkinson, the reader must be benefitted, for it is the law of suggestion that attributes, elements of greatness within respond to suggestions from without. No one, therefore, can carefully read this book without awakening responsiveness and obtaining a further knowledge and control of the faculties therein treated.

PSYCHOLO~Y is generally considered to be thescience of mind, although more properly it isthe science of mental states-thoughts, feelings,and acts of volition. It was formerly the customof writers on the subject of psychology to begin by anattempt to define and describe the nature of mind,before proceeding to a consideration of the subject ofthe various mental states and activities. But morerecent authorities have rebelled against this demand,and have claimed that it is no more reasonable to holdthat psych()logy should be held to an explanation of theultimate nature of mind than it is that physical sciencebe held to an explanation of the ultimate nature ofmatter. The attempt to explain the ultimate nature ofeither is futile-no actual necessity exists for explanationin either case. Physics may explain the phenomenaof matter, and psychology the phenomena of mind,without regard to the ultimate nature of the substanceof either.The science of physics hasTable of Contents I WHAT IS THE MIND · • 6; II To MECBANISM OF MENTAL STAT118 11; IlL THE GREAT NnVE CENTERS 17; IV CoNSCIOUSNESS • 24; V ATTENTION 29; VI PERCEPTION · • • 36; VII MEMORY • • • 46; YIIL MEMORY (eontinued) • 54; IX IMAGINATION • • • 62; X THE FEELINGS • '12; D THE EMOTIONS • • '19; XII THE INSTINCTIVE EMOTIONS • • 88; XIII; THE P ABSIONS • 96; -XIV THE SocIAL EMOTIONS • • 104; xv THE RELIGIOUS EMOTIONS · • 111; XVI THE )ESTHETIC EMOTIONS · • • 117; XVII Tn INTELLECTUAL EMOTIONS · 126; XVIII THE ROLE OF THE EMOTIONS • 131; XIX THE EMOTIONS AND HAPPINESS

William Walker Atkinson was one of the most prominent contributors to the literature of the New Thought movement, a non-denomination spiritual philosophy which developed in the late Nineteenth Century. Although he achieved eminence in a number of professions, Atkinson never sought personal publicity, and many of his numerous works were published under a variety of pseudonyms.

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