Text of the meditation
Only the choosing of wise thoughts, and necessarily the doing of wise deeds, leads to wisdom. The multitudes, unenlightened concerning their spiritual nature, are the slaves of thought, but the sage is the master of thought. The multitudes follow blindly; the sage chooses intelligently.
The multitudes obey the impulse of the moment, thinking of their immediate pleasure and happiness; the sage commands and subdues impulse, resting upon what is permanently right. The multitudes, obeying blind impulse, violate the law of righteousness; the sage, conquering impulse, obeys the law of righteousness.
The sage stands face to face with the facts of life. The sage knows the nature of thought, and understands and obeys the law of their being. Thought determines character, conditions and knowledge.
James Allen (1864–1912), Book of Meditations for Every Day in the Year (1913) – public-domain text, gently modernised.
The original 1913 text is in the public domain.
