The Oak Sleeps in the Acorn

The oak sleeps in the acorn; The bird waits in the egg;
And in the highest vision of the soul a waking angel stirs.
-As a Man Thinketh, by James Allen

Man is buffeted by circumstances so long as he believes himself to be the creature of outside conditions, but when he realizes that he is a creative power, and that he may command the hidden soil and seeds of his being out of which circumstances grow, he then becomes the rightful master of himself.
-As a Man Thinketh " , by James Allen

Men do not attract that which they want, but that which they are. Their whims, fancies, and ambitions are thwarted at every step, but their inmost thoughts and desires are fed with their own food, be it foul or clean. The "divinity that shapes our ends" is in ourselves, it is our very self. Man is manacled only by himself: thought and action are the jailers of Fate- they imprison, being base; they are also the angels of Freedom- they liberate, being noble. Not what he wishes and prays for does a man get, but what he justly earns. His wishes and prayers are only gratified and answered when they harmonize with his thoughts and actions.
-As a Man Thinketh " , by James Allen