Nuggets of the New Thought

William Atkinson

William Walker Atkinson

Nuggets of the New Thought / Several Things That Have Helped People

PREFACE

I do not like writing a preface – it seems too much like an apology. I have no special apology to tender for offering this collection of New Thought nuggets. They may possess no literary merit, but they have helped men and women. With the exception of "The Secret of the I Am," these essays appeared from month to month in "New Thought," of which magazine I am associate editor. They were written hastily, principally upon the demand of the printer for "copy," and, for the most part, were printed just as they were written, there being no time for revision or polishing up. You may pick up any one of them and find many sentences needing straightening out – many thoughts which could be better expressed by the change of a few words. Knowing these things, I first thought that I would go over each essay and add a little here, and take away a little there, polishing up and burnishing as I went along. But when I looked over them, my heart failed me. There they were just as they were written – just as they were dug out of my mind – and I hadn't the heart to change them. I remembered the circumstances surrounding the writing of every one of them, and I let them alone. A "nugget" polished up would be no longer a nugget. And these thoughts are nuggets – I dug them myself. I will not say much regarding the quality of the metal – that is for you – but you see them just as they came from the mine – rough, unpolished, mixed with the rock, queerly shaped. If you think that they contain metal of sufficiently good quality, refine them, melt them and fashion them into something useful or ornamental. For myself, I like things with the bark on – with the marks of the hammer – with the original quartz adhering to the metal. But others are of different taste – they like everything to feel smooth to the touch. They will not like these nuggets. Alas, I cannot help it – I cannot produce the beautifully finished article – I have nothing to offer other than the crude product of the mine. Here they are, polish them up yourself if you prefer them in that shape – I will not touch them.

В В В В W. W. A.

Chicago, October 2, 1902.

THE KEYNOTE

"I Can and I Will" – The recognition – Equal to any task – A feeling of calm confidence – An abiding sense of power, reserve force and security – The Something within – The triple key to the door of attainment – The vibrations of Success.

"I Can and I Will!!!" Have you ever said these words to yourself with a firm conviction that you were speaking the truth – with the strong feeling that needed no other proof. If so, you then felt within you a thrill which seemed to cause every atom of your being to vibrate in harmony with some note in the grand scale of Life, sounded by the Real Self. You caught a momentary glimpse of the Inner Light – heard a stray note of the Song of the Soul – were conscious for the moment of YOURSELF. And in that moment of ecstasy you knew that untold power and possibilities were yours. You felt that you were in touch with all Strength, Power, Knowledge, Happiness and Peace. You felt that you were equal to any task – capable of executing any undertaking. For the moment there was no Fear in the world for you. All the Universe seemed to vibrate in the same key with your thought. For the moment you Recognized the Truth.

But alas, the spirit of doubt, distrust, fear and unfaith called you again to Earth – and the vision faded. And yet, the remembrance of the sight – the echo of the sound – the remnant of the new-found strength – is with you still. You still find that memory to be a stimulus to great efforts – a comforting thought in times of weakness and trial. You have been able to accomplish much by the aid of the lingering vibrations of the mighty thought.

In times of great peril – grave perplexities – life and death struggles, a feeling of calm confidence and strength often comes to