Browse 10 quotations connecting James Allen with Goals, with meanings, source notes and related themes.
Each quotation is included because its central idea connects with this theme, not simply because one matching word appears in the sentence.
Sources represented here include As a Man Thinketh, The Mastery of Destiny. Keeping the work and source note beside each quotation makes differences in setting, speaker and emphasis easier to see.
Sources represented here include As a Man Thinketh, The Mastery of Destiny.
“He who would achieve much must sacrifice much.”
Large aims usually require giving up some competing comforts, distractions, or immediate rewards.
Source note: As a Man Thinketh, “Achievement”; this is the middle clause of Allen’s three-part conclusion.
“The will to do springs from the knowledge that we can do.”
Belief in possible action strengthens willingness to act, connecting confidence with persistence.
Source note: As a Man Thinketh, “Thought and Purpose.”
“He who has conquered doubt and fear has conquered failure.”
Allen frames fear and doubt as forces that can stop effort before circumstances have actually decided the outcome.
Source note: As a Man Thinketh, “Thought and Purpose.”
“Dream lofty dreams, and as you dream, so shall you become.”
Ambitious ideals can shape development when they influence what a person practices and pursues.
Source note: As a Man Thinketh, “Visions and Ideals.”
“The greatest achievement was at first and for a time a dream.”
Large achievements begin before they are visible, as imagined possibilities that must survive long enough to become plans and sustained effort.
Source note: As a Man Thinketh, chapter “Visions and Ideals”; Allen follows with natural images of the oak in the acorn and the bird in the egg.
“Until thought is linked with purpose there is no intelligent accomplishment.”
Purpose gives thought a direction, turning ideas into a standard for choosing and completing useful work.
Source note: As a Man Thinketh, “Thought and Purpose.”
“Cherish your visions; cherish your ideals; cherish the music that stirs in your heart.”
Sustained ideals can organize attention and effort, giving a person a picture of the kind of life or work they intend to build.
Source note: As a Man Thinketh, chapter “Visions and Ideals”; this is an excerpt from Allen’s longer exhortation to remain true to constructive ideals.
“The Vision that you glorify in your mind, the Ideal that you enthrone in your heart—this you will build your life by, this you will become.”
Repeatedly honored ideals influence choices and habits, so the picture a person keeps returning to can become a practical standard for action.
Source note: As a Man Thinketh, end of “Visions and Ideals”; Allen summarizes the chapter by linking dominant ideals with the life a person builds.
“Dispersion is weakness; concentration is power.”
The contrast argues that scattered attention weakens useful effort while concentrated attention increases the force available for a chosen task.
Source note: The Mastery of Destiny, opening of “The Power of Purpose”; Wikisource 1909 text. The sentence is Allen’s own framing, not an attributed example.
“Purpose is the key-stone in the temple of achievement.”
Allen presents concentrated purpose as the structural element that holds effort together and directs it toward a defined achievement.
Source note: The Mastery of Destiny, “The Power of Purpose”; Wikisource 1909 text. This compact sentence follows Allen’s contrast between scattered thought and concentrated purpose.