Making Life a Masterpiece

by Orison Swett Marden

This Elibron Classics edition is a facsimile reprint of a 1916 edition by Thomas Y. Crowell Co., New York.

Genres: Self Help, Personal Development

Paperback

First published April 1, 2003

About the author

Orison Swett Marden (1850-1924) was an American writer associated with the New Thought Movement. He also held a degree in medicine, and was a successful hotel owner.

Marden was born in Thornton Gore, New Hampshire to Lewis and Martha Marden. When he was three years old, his mother died at the age of 22, leaving Orison and his two sisters in the care of their father, a farmer, hunter, and trapper. When Orison was seven years old, his father died from injuries incurred while in the woods, and the children were shuttled from one guardian to another, with Orison working as a "hired boy" to earn his keep. Inspired by an early self-help book by the Scottish author Samuel Smiles, which he found in an attic, Marden set out to improve himself and his life circumstances. He persevered in advancing himself and graduated from Boston University in 1871. He later graduated from Harvard with an M.D. in 1881 and an LL.B. degree in 1882. He also studied at the Boston School of Oratory and Andover Theological Seminary.

Reviews

[SURYA · Rating 4 out of 5]

'A man is not machine to be manipulated by outside forces. His motor power is inside of him. He can choose the direction in which he shall go. Ever day he can say to himself with absolute assurance-"Without capital, without influence, without pulls, yea, even in spite of the opposition of others, I can be true to myself, I can be a man, and can make my life a masterpiece. I am the only real enemy I shall ever have. The only one who can wreck my personal career, keep me from being a success is the man living inside my own skin. There is no destiny, no fate that can ruin me. Under God I am my own ,maker, my own destiny. I am the master of my fate, 'the captain of my soul' '' '

'Do not waste time dreaming of great far-away opportunities; do the best you can where you are. Open your petals of power and beauty and fling out the fragrance of your life in the place that has been assigned to you.'

'Man develops only through self effort'

'We are all reservoirs of power, and what we make of ourselves, what we achieve in life, what we do for the world, is dependent on the extent to which we draw on our hidden forces---'

GOSH! The above stated beautiful dynamites kept inside this marvelous book exploded right inside me-when I read this book in the year 1997 when I was only 21 year old---What a first ball, what a first kiss, what a maiden encounter and what a beginner's luck!.

Believe it or not, this is the first book which I accidentally purchased by looking at its front cover page containing little but stout green sprout/plant daring to grow on the edge of a very hard rock despite sheets of heavy rain falling over it at an angle of about 45 degree from the top---(I was interested in water colour painting and photography at that age in B.Sc. where I had not exposed to world and world of books except books of dry mathematics and nice records of chemistry and physics laboratory-- )--Thus this book --what a book!--rightly exposed me to the realities of life, possibilities of man and to the world of life enriching books---Next I wanted to read that type/genre of books, but I had no knowledge about 'self-Help' or 'Self-Improvement' or 'personality development' 'Motivational' etc name/brand for books--And please don't laugh---At that time I had no awareness or knowledge about such concepts itself! Ha! Ha! Ha!. I picked pencil and slightly shivering with joy, direction, excitement and empowerment(again, please don't laugh--while reading that book, my body and ears became hot!)I wrote many independent thoughts triggered in me in that book.

In India where I am born, there is a saying that once a tiger tastes human blood, later the other animals won't tastes good for it----The example/simile may not be accurate--yet something like that happened in my case---A shy slender single innocent boy, without siblings, curious and spirited yet like a frog living inside a small well, scoring well in silly academic examinations but lacking depth, maturity, emotional intelligence----This book awakened the real SPIRIT in ME which yearned to fling out like petals of power---Next I disrespected text books and all theoretical books---though I grudgingly read them and scored well---Once I sat on my thick mathematics/calculus[useless for my whole life]book to properly watch a good action movie screen from the first row infront of which there was a horizontal obstructing railing---

And I chased--yes chased and hunted for such life enriching books [Thanks to my Village called Vittal, D.K.,Karnataka State where I still happily live which has NO BOOK SHOP even today!, yet it has many cell phone shops and internet cafe and what not!].Next, regularly, I bought [My deceased good father/my best friend generously gave money with all joy to quench my thirst on books] all available books of that Author Orison Swett Marden, from Mangalore [50km from my home---It was as if I was trvelling to Antartica]read it and bought, by bargaining, second hand type books of Anthony Robbins, Joseph Murphy, Wayne W.Dyer, Kevin Hogan, Desmond Morris, Brain Tracy, Vivekananda, Patanjali, Chanakya, Rama Krishna Praramahamsa, Swamy Paramananda, J.K., Chris J.Witting Jr, Shakti Gawain, Edward de buno, John C.Maxwell, Zig Ziglar, Robert Greene, Robert Stone, Eric Bern---and Oh!-Victor E.Frankl['Man's Search For Meaning'], E.M.Hemingway ['The Old Man And The Sea'-Ah!], aaaaAAWOw--Fydoor Dostovesky, Kafka,Joseph Conrad, Arun Joshi, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Saki, Shakespeare[Yes!],Robert Frost,Osho,Napolean Hill, Stehen R.Covey, Maxwell Maltz,Robin Sharma, Khalil Gibran----one, two, three --some times a dozen of books together---
Recently I am passionate about books of Marcus Aurilius, Goethe, Garry Kasparov, Lao Tzu, Bruce Lee, Robert Greene, Brian Tracy, Anthony Robbins, Osho, Ryan Holiday, Orison Swett Marden---Full Circle---Continuing---Flowing-----
About 12 years ago, I completely divorced Television. Silenced my cellphone about 6 years ago. See my Facebook once in an year!. Deleted Whats App from my ancient cellphone. Formd a Master Mind Group. Very passionate about my work and family. 'Family'-It boundaries are hard to define for me.

What can I say when my colleagues and relatives ask me 'Why you are always cheerful---motivating---how can you focus so well to finish such a big matter in such a neat and comprehensive way---Where do you get that grit and determination poweer even though you seldom exercise and you often eat a lot of sweets ----how can you connect and mingle with any person---even if you don't know their language or culture----why you are obsessed with reality, beauty, individuality, originality---'

BOOKS ARE MY RESOURCEFUL BROTHERS AND CHEERFUL SISTERS!. My these brothers and sisters are the main cause behind what I am today--Brilliant Lawyer(Not bragging, not self boasting) and occasional Author(1 book only! Ha! Many articles), Motivational Speaker [1 Audio CD, too many horrible stentorious talks!], Trainer, Learner--- Mother, Wife and 10 yer old son-KAIZEN.S-and few friends trusts me. The point is not about my impomptu semi autobiography----but HOW A RIGHT BOOK and life enriching books---their company and the people with whom we often associate and the thoughts an habits which we often dwell upon or focus shapes ourselves---That's sure.

With all humbleness and joy I frankly express my deep GRATITUDE to Orison Swett Marden and all other HUMAN SPIRITS whose books, thoughts, words, deeds and lives have been really enriching my life. They all assisted me to find out my real purpose in life-;TO MOTIVATE AND ENRICH MYSELF AND AS MANY OTHERS AS POSSIBLE!'

FRIEND!,
You have good patience---and as I guess, compassion too. The very fact that you have read this from top till this line proves it!. My love affair with books---life enriching books are rampantly going on!.
THANK YOU.

[drozdj · Rating 5 out of 5]

Phenomenal. Every piece of it.

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. Found it actually printed by a local publisher when I was in India. Great prose that gets to the heart of the matter in areas of self-development. Even though published in the early 20th century its insights can resonate very well with a modern audience. It is a fast read but the power is in the daily actions that you actually take from it.