Аллен Джеймс

Аллен Джеймс (англ. James Allen; 28.11.1864 (Лестер, Англия) – 1912),  британский писатель, известный своими мотивирующими книгами и поэзией. 

А. было 15 лет, когда его отец, бизнесмен, был ограблен и убит. Он оставил школу, чтобы работать полный день для поддержки своей семьи. Позднее он женился на Лили Аллен и стал исполнительным секретарем крупной компании. В возрасте 38 лет, инспирируемый творчеством Льва Толстого он уходит с работы и с женой и дочерью Норой переезжает в небольшой дом в городке Ильфракомб графства Девон, чтобы жить простой жизнью. Там А. за 9 лет написал 19 работ и кроме того издавал журнал "The Light of Reason". 

Книги А. иллюстрируют использование силы мысли для изменения человеческих возможностей. При своей жизни он не достиг ни славы ни богатства, однако и сейчас его работы продолжают оказывать влияние на людей всего мира.

Наиболее известная книга А. «Как человек думает» (As a Man Thinketh) была опубликована в 1902 году и сейчас считается классической работой по саморазвитию человека. Основная идея книги такова, что мысли формируют человека: благородные мысли создают благородного человека, низкие мысли делают человека низким.

После его смерти в 1912 году, его жена продолжала публиковать журнал под названием «The Epoch».

James Allen (November 28, 1864–1912) was a British philosophical writer known for his inspirational books and poetry and as a pioneer of the self-help movement. His best known work, As a Man Thinketh, has been mass produced since its publication in 1903. It has been a source of inspiration to motivational and self-help authors.

Born in Leicester, England, into a working class family, Allen was the eldest of two brothers. His mother could neither read nor write while his father, William, was a factory knitter. In 1879, following a downturn in the textile trade of central England, Allen's father traveled alone to America to find work and establish a new home for the family. Within two days of arriving his father was pronounced dead at New York City Hospital, believed to be a case of robbery and murder. At age fifteen, with the family now facing economic disaster, Allen was forced to leave school and find work.

For much of the 1890s, Allen worked as a private secretary and stationer in several British manufacturing firms. In 1893, Allen moved to London where he metLily Louisa Oram who he then wed in 1895. In 1898, Allen found an occupation in which he could showcase his spiritual and social interests as a writer for the magazine The Herald of the Golden Age. At this time, Allen entered a creative period where he then published his first book of many books, From Poverty to Power (1901). In 1902, Allen began to publish his own spiritual magazine, The Light of Reason, later retitled The Epoch.

In 1903, Allen published his third and most famous book As a Man Thinketh. Loosely based on the biblical proverb, "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he," the small work eventually became read around the world and brought Allen posthumous fame as one of the pioneering figures of modern inspirational thought. The book's minor audience allowed Allen to quit his secretarial work and pursue his writing and editing career. In 1903, the Allen family retired to the town of Ilfracombe where Allen would spend the rest of his life. Continuing to publish the Epoch, Allen produced more than one book per year until his death in 1912. There he wrote for nine years, producing 19 works.

Following his death in 1912, his wife continued publishing the magazine under the name The Epoch. Lily Allen summarized her husband's literary mission in the preface to one of his posthumously published manuscripts, Foundation Stones to Happiness and Success saying:

"He never wrote theories, or for the sake of writing; but he wrote when he had a message, and it became a message only when he had lived it out in his own life, and knew that it was good. Thus he wrote facts, which he had proven by practice."

Bibliography

• From Poverty to Power; or, The Realization of Prosperity and Peace (1901) [Contains The Path to Prosperity and The Way of Peace.]

• As a Man Thinketh (1902)

• As a Man Thinketh (Authorized Edition, New York, Thomas Y. Crowell Company publishers)

• All These Things Added (1903) [Contains Entering the Kingdom and The Heavenly Life.]

• Through the Gates of Good; or, Christ and Conduct (1903)

• Byways of Blessedness (1904)

• Out from the Heart (1904)

• The Path of Prosperity (Copyright, 1907 by R. F. Fenno & Company, Barse & Hopkins New York)

• Poems of Peace, including the lyrical-dramatic poem Eolaus (1907)

• The Life Triumphant: Mastering the Heart and Mind (1908)

• Morning and Evening Thoughts (1909)

• The Mastery of Destiny (1909)

• Above Life’s Turmoil (1910)

• From Passion to Peace (1910)

• Eight Pillars of Prosperity (1911)

• Man: King of Mind, Body and Circumstance (1911)

• Light on Life’s Difficulties (1912)

• Foundation Stones to Happiness and Success (1913)

• James Allen’s Book of Meditations for Every Day in the Year (1913) [Collection of earlier texts, compiled by his wife Lilly L. Allen]

• Meditations; A Year Book (1913) [U.S. version of James Allen's Book of Meditations for Every Day in the Year]

• Men and Systems (1914)

• The Shining Gateway (1915)

• The Divine Companion (1919)