PERSONAL POWER (Complete 12 Volume Edition). William Walker Atkinson

      I

       FOREWORD

       Table of Content

      THIS BOOK is devoted to the subject of the development, cultivation and manifestation of Personal Power—Personal Power in all its phases, aspects and modes of manifestation and expression. “Personal Power,” as understood and taught in this book, may be defined as: “The ability or strength possessed by the human individual, by which he does, or may, accomplish desired results in an efficient manner, along the lines of physical, mental, and spiritual effort and endeavor.”

      This book is not written with the purpose of reforming the world, nor of conducting a propaganda for the advancement of some particular creed, belief, body of teaching or doctrine; nor is it written on behalf of any particular organization, cult, society, or school interested in enlarging its membership, or in spreading its doctrines. Instead, it is written for YOU—YOU are the individual in whom we are interested, and for whom this instruction is intended.

      You have been attracted to this book, and it to you, by reason of certain ever­operative though little­known laws of life and being. You have long awaited the coming of this book; you are now ready to absorb its teachings; “your own has come to you” after your period of watching and waiting; and you will recognize it as your own, by reason of a certain intuitive perception which comes to those who are ready to receive that which it contains. You have demanded this book: here it is.

      This book is different in many respects from anything that you ever have read. A careful and earnest study of the truths presented in it will work a marked change in you, though you may not fully realize it at this time. You will never be exactly the same after its reading: it will have left its indelible impress upon you.

      You may come to think that you have put it aside, and that you have no further interest in its teachings. But you will find that certain memories of the statements contained in it will abide with you, and that echoes of its teachings will ring in the ears of your mind. In the words of Whitman, its “words will itch in your ears till you understand them.” Its basic truths, and the suggestions as to their application, will stick in your mind as the burr sticks in the fleece of the sheep which has acquired it in its wanderings.

      You can no more escape from the influence of the truths presented in its pages than you can run away from your own shadow. At every turn and cross­roads of the path of experience hereafter, you will find yourself almost unconsciously applying the principles of this instruction, and employing some of the methods taught in it. You are hereby warned that such will be the case: if you are not willing to experience such results, now is your time to put away the book.

      If, however, you decide to proceed with the reading and study of this book, we have several suggestions to make to you. You need not expect to master this instruction at the first reading. There is much solid food contained in it—many things requiring careful mental mastication, digestion, and assimilation. You will need to read the book several times, from start to finish, with intervals between each reading. Yet the instruction is quite simple, and at each reading you will acquire many important facts, principles, and methods.

      The proper way in which to read this book for the purpose of study—in which to extract from its pages that which is condensed in them—is to start by reading it carefully, from beginning to end, but without trying to memorize