Above Life's Turmoil
James Allen 1910
Short essays examine how thought and self-control can bring calm amid life's troubles. One essay, The Uses of Temptation, considers how resisting temptation can strengthen character.
69 pages 1h 21m reading time
- A short collection of essays by an early pioneer of the self-help movement, best known for As a Man Thinketh.
- Argues that a person's life grows out of their habits of thought, much as a harvest grows from the seeds that were planted.
- Argues that lasting happiness comes from kindness and letting go of selfish wants, not from wealth or getting one's way.
Dawn on a hilltop
Allen is said to have climbed a hill near his home at dawn to think before writing each day.
Written by the sea
Allen wrote his books in Ilfracombe, a small seaside town in Devon, in southwest England.
Born in a magazine
Allen often built his books from essays first printed in The Light of Reason, a magazine he edited.