The Heart of New Thought - Illustrated Edition

by Ella Wheeler Wilcox

This book is noteworthy as an interpretation of "New Thought." That which was vague, mystic, unreal, has become, in the hands of Mrs. Wilcox, a lovable philosophy of simplest construction. The backbone of this philosophy is The Power of Right Thought. Startling as are some of the tenets expressed, they are probably true here and now. It is possible that the very simplicity of this book will encourage careless criticism from those who believe that genius and ambiguity is twin. But Mrs. Wilcox is ever the voice of the people: what she says is practical; what she thinks is clear; what she feels is plain. Let the people judge this book

Genres: Spirituality, Nonfiction

42 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 31, 1942

About the author

Ella Wheeler Wilcox was an American author and poet.

Her best-known work was "Poems of Passion". Her most enduring work was the poem "Solitude", which contains the lines:

"Laugh, and the world laughs with you;
Weep, and you weep alone".

Her autobiography, "The Worlds and I", was published in 1918, a year before her death.

Reviews

[Teressa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I listened to the Audible version of this book read and by Karen Commins.

"Heart of the New Thought Lacks Heart"

I'm on the fence with "The Heart of the New Thought." The audiobook didn't feel like it had much heart in it. The physical book was written over 100 years ago by Ella Wheeler Wilcox, perhaps loosely based on the 'New Thought movement' which was of the belief system that illness originates in the mind, and through God one could overcome any illness since illness was derived from erroneous beliefs. This very closely sounds like Christian Science. I found there were a few pearls of wisdom (very few) within this audiobook but the way in which they were put across sounded negative.

Karen Commins narrative of this book was mostly monotone. I would have liked it much better if it had been more upbeat and positive.

"This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of Audiobook Blast."

[Malola · Rating 4 out of 5]

Better than I thought it would be...

EWW doesn't give any true foundation (read: ontology and epistemology) for her philosophy (which by default I find annoying); however overall the book was nice. (It actually reminded me somewhat of Marcus Aurelius' Meditations with the assertions she makes.)

The meditation part (breathing exercises, habits of mind, power of thought) stroke a chord.
I reject the appeals to a god/higher power, but still it's worth reading.