Thoughts Are Things - The Power of Thought, Mental Influence, and the Law of Attraction

Thoughts Are Things is one of the foundational works of New Thought, a concise and powerful classic on the creative force of thought, mental discipline, personal magnetism, and spiritual self-development.

Prentice Mulford was among the earliest and most influential voices in the American New Thought movement, and Thoughts Are Things remains one of his best-known works. Written with directness, confidence, and unusual psychological insight, these essays argue that thought is not idle or abstract, but active, formative, and deeply connected to health, character, opportunity, courage, and success. Mulford’s central idea—that sustained mental habits shape the life one experiences—anticipated much of the later literature of positive thinking, manifestation, prosperity consciousness, and the Law of Attraction.

This classic work explores the power of the mind, the influence of belief, the cultivation of courage, the need to guard one’s mental atmosphere, and the importance of directing attention toward strength rather than weakness. Readers of Ralph Waldo Trine, Florence Scovel Shinn, Charles F. Haanel, Wallace D. Wattles, Ernest Holmes, and Joseph Murphy will find in Mulford an earlier and essential source: a writer who helped give form to the modern language of thought power, self-mastery, and spiritual success.

About the Author

Prentice Mulford (1834–1891) was an American author, humorist, essayist, and one of the formative figures of the New Thought movement. Born in Sag Harbor, New York, he lived a varied life before becoming known for his writings on thought power, mental influence, spiritual development, and the creative force of the mind. Mulford’s essays helped establish many of the ideas that later became central to New Thought, positive thinking, prosperity literature, manifestation, and the Law of Attraction. His works, including Thoughts Are Things and Your Forces and How to Use Them, continue to be read by those interested in self-help classics, metaphysical writing, mind-power literature, and the spiritual roots of modern personal development.

Prentice Mulford (1834-1891) was an American writer, humorist, lecturer, and one of the earliest influential voices of the New Thought movement. Drawing on an adventurous life that included years at sea, mining in California, journalism, and extensive travel, he developed a distinctive philosophy centered on the creative power of thought.His essays were collected in works including Thoughts Are Things and Your Forces and How to Use Them. Mulford's ideas about mental influence, positive expectation, spiritual development, and the attraction of corresponding circumstances helped shape later self-help and metaphysical writing.