Developing Our Character

"Character is built in the same way as a tree or a house is built-namely, by ceaseless addition of new material, and that material is thought. By the aid of millions of bricks a city is built; by the aid of millions of thoughts a mind, a character is built. 'Rome was not built in a day,' and a Buddha, a Plato, or a Shakespeare is not built in a lifetime.

Every person is a mind-builder, whether they recognize it or not. Every person must by necessity think, and every thought is another brick laid down in the edifice of mind. Such 'brick-laying' is done loosely and carelessly by a vast number of people, the result being unstable and tottering characters that are ready to go down under the first little gust of trouble or temptation."

James Allen
Excerpt | The Mastery of Destiny