Native Publishing House

Originally published in 1903, James Allen’s As a Man Thinketh reveals the fundamental truth of human nature: “A man is literally what he thinks.” Allen’s deceptively simple principle has changed the lives of millions of readers and listeners, making As a Man Thinketh a classic best seller for decades. Allen explains that our character, identity, ability, and success are all determined by the thoughts in our minds. Instead of finding ourselves victims of the world, there exists within each of us the ability to shape and define our own destinies.

The poem relates the experiences of a sailor who has returned from a long sea voyage. The mariner stops a man who is on the way to a wedding ceremony and begins to narrate a story. The wedding guest's reaction turns from bemusement to impatience to fear to fascination as the mariner's story progresses, as can be seen in the language style: Coleridge uses narrative techniques such as personification and repetition to create a sense of danger, the supernatural, or serenity, depending on the mood in different parts of the poem.