Spiritual Quotes

Cultivating Good Habits

Our subconscious mentality is a great storehouse for all sorts of suggestions from ourselves and others and, as it is the “habit-mind,” we must be careful to send it the proper material from which it may make habits. —William W. Atkinson, Thought Vibration

“As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.” The “is” part is his character. His character is the sum total of his habits. His habits have been formed by• his conscious acts; but every conscious act is, as we have found, preceded by a thought. And so we have it—thought on the one hand, character, life, destiny on the other. And simple it becomes when we bear in mind that it is simply the thought of the present moment, and the next moment when it is upon us, and then the next, and so on through all time. —Ralph Waldo Trine, Character-Building Thought Power

If [the subconscious mind] has accepted wrong suggestions, the sure method of overcoming them is by the use of a strong counter suggestion, frequently repeated, which the mind must accept, thus eventually forming new and healthy habits of thought and life, for the subconscious mind is the seat of Habit. That which we do over and over becomes mechanical; it is no longer an act of judgment, but has worn its deep grooves in the subconscious mind. This is favorable for us if the habit be wholesome and right. —Charles Haanel, The Master Key System

If you wish to eliminate fear, then concentrate on courage. If you wish to eliminate lack, then concentrate on abundance. If you wish to eliminate disease, then concentrate on health. Always concentrate on the ideal as an already existing fact. —Charles Haanel, The Master Key System

Every thought creates an impression on the brain, that these impressions create mental tendencies, and these tendencies create character, ability, and purpose, and that the combined action of character, ability, and purpose determines the experiences with which we shall meet in life. —Charles Haanel, The Master Key System

The power of attention is called concentration; this power is directed by the will; for this reason we must refuse to concentrate or think of anything except the things we desire. Many are constantly concentrating upon sorrow, loss, and discord of every kind; as thought is creative it necessarily follows that this concentration inevitably leads to more loss, more sorrow, and more discord. —Charles Haanel, The Master Key System

If you are in the habit of losing your poise, form the habit of reading literature that has a quieting power. Just the second you feel your poise slipping, say, “Peace,” and then hold this thought in mind and you will never lose your self-control. —Theron Q. Dumont, The Power of Concentration

Everyone has some habits that can be overcome by concentration. We will say for instance, you are in the habit of complaining, or finding fault with yourself or others; or, imagining that you do not possess the ability of others; or feeling that you are not as good as someone else; or that you cannot rely on yourself; or harboring any similar thoughts or thoughts of weakness. These should be cast aside and instead thoughts of strength should be put in their place. Just remember every time you think of yourself as being weak, in some way you are making yourself so by thinking you are. Our mental conditions make us what we are. Just watch yourself and see how much time you waste in worrying, fretting and complaining. The more of it you do the worse off you are. —Theron Q. Dumont, The Power of Concentration

All habits are governed consciously or unconsciously by the will. Most of us are forming new habits all the time. Very often, if you repeat something several times in the same way, you will have formed the habit of doing it that way. But the oftener you repeat it the stronger that habit grows and the more deeply it becomes embedded in your nature. After a habit has been in force for a long time, it becomes almost a part of you, and is therefore hard to overcome. But you can still break any habit by strong concentration on its opposite. —Theron Q. Dumont, The Power of Concentration

No one but yourself is responsible for your habits. You are free to form the habits that you should and if everyone could realize the importance of forming the right kind of habits what a different world this would be. How much happier everyone would be. Then all instead of the few might win success. —Theron Q. Dumont, The Power of Concentration

Seize the very first possible opportunity to act on every resolution you make, and on every emotional prompting you may experience in the direction of the habits you aspire to gain. —Theron Q. Dumont, The Power of Concentration

If you keep your resolutions you form a most valuable habit. If you break them you form a most dangerous one. So concentrate on keeping them, whether important or unimportant, and remember it is just as important for this purpose to keep the unimportant, for by so doing you are forming the habit. —Theron Q. Dumont, The Power of Concentration

In order to overcome undesirable habits, two things are necessary. You must have trained your will to do what you want it to do, and the stronger the will the easier it will be to break a habit. Then you must make a resolution to do just the opposite of what the habit is. Therefore one habit must replace another. If you have a strong will, you can tenaciously and persistently concentrate on removing the bad habit and in a very short time the good habit will gain the upper hand. —Theron Q. Dumont, The Power of Concentration

If you are in the habit of worrying over the merest trifles, just concentrate on this a few minutes and see how needless it is; if you are also in the habit of becoming irritable or nervous at the least little thing, check yourself instantly when you feel yourself becoming so; start to breathe deeply; say, “I will not be so weak; I am master of myself,” and you will quickly overcome your condition. —Theron Q. Dumont, The Power of Concentration

Let us impress upon you again and again that that which we call Personality is but the outer mask of the Individual Within. The mask may be changed by an effort of the Will, aided by an intelligent discrimination. First find out what kind of Personality you should have, and then set to work to cultivate it—to grow it, in fact. Form the Mental Image of what you want to be—then think of it—desire it ardently—will that you shall have it—then Act It Out, over and over again; rehearsal after rehearsal, until you will actually materialize your ideal into objective reality. Make a good mental pattern or mold, and then pour in your mental material steadily, and slowly! From the mold will come forth the Character and Personality that you desire and need. Then polish up this newborn Personality until it becomes radiant with the brightness of Culture. —William W. Atkinson, The Secret of Success

We begin to master thoughts of hate and force by first thinking and doing the little component acts that constitute love. Begin today to be a little more patient. Practice kindness. Be generous in thought and act. When you are tempted to lose your temper, say, “I have a good temper.” Affirm your truthfulness under all circumstances. —Charles Fillmore, Teach Us to Pray

The best way to overcome the habit of Fear is to assume the mental attitude of Courage, just as the best way to get rid of darkness is to let in the light. It is a waste of time to fight a negative thought-habit by recognizing its force and trying to deny it out of existence by mighty efforts. The best, surest, easiest and quickest method is to assume the existence of the positive thought desired in its place; and by constantly dwelling upon the positive thought, manifest it into objective reality. —William W. Atkinson, Thought Vibration

There is no use fighting an objectionable thought with the purpose of “downing” it—that is a great waste of energy, and the more you keep on saying, “I won’t think of this thing!” the more it keeps on coming into your mind, for you are holding it there for the purpose of hitting it. Let it go; don’t give it another thought; fix the mind on something entirely different, and keep the attention there by an effort of the will. A little practice will do much for you in this direction. There is only room for one thing at a time in the focus of attention; so put all your attention upon one thought, and the others will sneak off. Try it for yourself. —William W. Atkinson, Thought Vibration

The great thing in all education is to make our nervous system our ally instead of our enemy. For this we must make automatic and habitual, as early as possible, as many useful actions as we can and as carefully guard against growing into ways that are likely to be disadvantageous. In the acquisition of a new habit, or the leaving off of an old one we must take care to launch ourselves with as strong and decided initiative as possible. Never suffer an exception to occur until the new habit is securely rooted in your life. Seize the very first possible opportunity to act on every resolution you make and on every emotional prompting you may experience, in the direction of the habits you aspire to gain. —William James, quoted by William W. Atkinson in Thought Vibration

In forming a new habit, or in breaking an old one, we should throw ourselves into the task with as much enthusiasm as possible, in order to gain the most ground before the energy expends itself when it meets with friction from the opposing habits already formed. We should start in by making as strong an impression as possible upon the subconscious mentality. Then we should be constantly on guard against temptations to break the new resolution “just this once.” This “just once” idea kills off more good resolutions than any other one cause. —William W. Atkinson, Thought Vibration

Each time you resist temptation the stronger does your resolution become. Act upon your resolution as early and as often as possible, as with every manifestation of thought in action, the stronger does it become. You are adding to the strength of your original resolution every time you back it up with action. —William W. Atkinson, Thought Vibration

Thoughts take form in action; and in turn actions influence thought. So by “acting out” certain lines of thought, the actions react upon the mind, and increase the development of the part of the mind having close relation to the act. Each time the mind entertains a thought, the easier becomes the resulting action, and each time an act is performed, the easier becomes the corresponding thought. —William W. Atkinson, Thought Vibration

If a man has frequent intercourse with others, either in the way of conversation, entertainment, or simple familiarity, he must either become like them, or change them to his own fashion. A live coal placed next a dead one will either kindle that or be quenched by it. Such being the risk, it is well to be cautious in admitting intimacies of this sort, remembering that one cannot rub shoulders with a soot-stained man without sharing the soot oneself. —The Golden Sayings of Epictetus

A thought put into the mind is the beginning of a line of conduct: the thought first sends down its roots into the mind, and then pushes forth into the light in the forms of actions or conduct, which evolve into character and destiny. Hateful, angry, envious, covetous, and impure thoughts are wrong beginnings, which lead to painful results. Loving, gentle, kind, unselfish and pure thoughts are right beginnings, which lead to blissful results. This is so simple, so plain, so absolutely true! and yet how neglected, how evaded, and how little understood! —James Allen, Byways of Blessedness