From Poverty to Power Book Summary – Best Classic Book

Book – From Poverty to Power (Summary)

Author – James Allen

Genre – Classic Self-help Book

Published in – 1901

Whether looking for material success, inner peace, and happiness or on a spiritual journey, this classic Book can significantly help. From Poverty to Power connects both world accomplishments and helps conquer both by mastering the self.

From Poverty to Power was published over 100 years ago, in 1901, yet it is as relevant today as initially published. The Book captures the power of working on self well.

About the Author –

James Allen was a British writer. He worked several jobs before devoting himself to writing in 1902, after publishing his first Book in 1901, From Poverty to Power. He wrote more than 18 books after that, though he is widely known for his Book As a Man Thinketh, published in 1903.

All his works were developed from his strong belief in the bible’s teachings and Asian religions. He urges readers to read his career with an open mind and reflect on it before accepting or rejecting the idea and whether to work on it.

About the Book –

From Poverty to power is about conquering self before looking for permanent success, whether material, personal, or spiritual.

As he puts it in the Book – I saw sorrow and suffering in the world, looked for the reason outside, and found nowhere. And then I looked within and found there both cause and remedy.

He found one law, the law of love, one life, the life of adjustment to that law, one truth, the truth of a conquered mind, and a quiet and obedient heart.

A few Points that Stand Out in the Book –

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The lesson of Evil and Pain –

• No heart in the world has not felt pain, no mind that has not been tossed around the difficult time, no eyes that have not wept hot, blinding tears of anguish.

• Most of us in difficult situations look for escape in temporary relief by chasing sensual excitements, and we don’t work on the real issues and permanent solutions.

• We don’t realize that all circumstances we call disasters or challenging times have come to teach us the necessary lessons for the growth we seek.

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The world is a Reflex of Mental States.

• What you are, so is your world. It matters everything that you are within, for everything without will be mirrored and colored accordingly.

• Every soul attracts its own, and nothing that does not belong to it comes to it.

• The exact circumstances serve different people differently, based on their mental state and perception of any situation.

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Way Out of the Undesirable Conditions

• In undesirable situations, instead of grumbling, think of what is there to learn. Alter your outlook upon life, and your outward life will alter.

• There is no practice more degrading, debasing, and soul-destroying than that of self-pity. Cast it out from you.

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Secret of Health, Success, and Power

• The author claims that time is not far where it will be common knowledge that all disease has its origin in the mind.

• If you would be free from all physical aches and pains and enjoy perfect physical harmony, put your mind in order and harmonize your thoughts.

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Way to Happiness

• Most people agree that selfishness is the reason for all unhappiness in the world and then add it is someone else’s selfishness, not their own.

• I entered Paradise by taking the first step with a good thought, the second with a good word, and the third with a good deed.

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Embrace Meditation

• The author suggests meditation to embrace the inner power of silent forces. Meditation is the intense dwelling on a thought or theme.

• If what you pray is far from you, you are praying for one thing while living out in thought and acting another.

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Choose Self or Truth

• There is self, and there is truth; where self is, truth is not; where truth is, self is not – Buddha.

• Jesus declared that he, who would be his disciple, must deny himself daily. Are you willing to deny yourself and give up your lusts, prejudices, and opinions?

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Two statements that I can say stayed with me to date

• Until you can regard people of all religions and faiths with the same impartial spirit, freedom from dislike, and perfect equanimity, you have yet to strive for that love that bestows upon its possessor freedom and salvation.

• Names, religions, and personalities pass away, but the law of love remains. It is because of the effort of the soul to realize this law that we humans come again and again to live, to suffer, and to die; and when discovered, suffering ceases, personality is dispersed, and the fleshy life and death are destroyed, for consciousness becomes one with eternal.

I have also created a video of a few quotes from the Book – I hope you like it. Please do subscribe to my YouTube channel – Myread4change.

Conclusion –

From Poverty to Power will expand your perspective about all aspects of life and take you toward the journey within. The Book covers the essence of peaceful life so brilliantly. I highly recommend this Book.

I hope this post helps you understand what you can expect from the Book. Read it once, and you will keep reading it occasionally and benefit from the wisdom it shares.

Please share your thoughts in the comment below.

Thank you for your time.

Muzammil.