Author of the greatest inspirational bestseller of our time offers positive strategies for success in business and personal life. The remarkable self-help phenomenon, The Power of Positive Thinking , plus the successful The Positive Principle Today and Enthusiasm Makes the Difference show why Norman Vincent Peale has helped millions of readers transform their lives and find joy and fulfillment.
Dr. Norman Vincent Peale (1898–1993) was a minister and author (most notably of The Power of Positive Thinking) and a progenitor of the theory of "positive thinking".
Peale was born in Bowersville, Ohio. He graduated from Bellefontaine High School, Bellefontaine, Ohio. He has earned degrees at Ohio Wesleyan University (where he became a brother of the Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta) and Boston University School of Theology.
Raised as a Methodist and ordained as a Methodist minister in 1922, Peale changed his religious affiliation to the Reformed Church in America in 1932 and began a 52-year tenure as pastor of Marble Collegiate Church in Manhattan. During that time the church's membership grew from 600 to over 5000, and he became one of New York City's most famous preachers.
'The Power of Positive Thinking' was part of the reading list for a course in Pastoral Counseling I was taking at the time. I picked this book up very cheaply at a local second hand book store, the additional two books in the volume being a bonus.
Rev. Beal was a pastoral counselor, of sorts. He was a motivational speaker and self help writer, as well as the pastor of a rater large Christian Church. However, though he did make Biblical references now and then, the wasn't a Bible thumper. His references to scripture were, more or less, to offer the possibility that someone in history had gone through a particular circumstance, and how that someone my have overcome that circumstance. He did make references at times to people he'd encouraged to start reading the Bible, which made them feel better emotionally.
In this book, and in all the other materiel produced by Rev. Beal to which I've been exposed, no one got sent to hell. I find that amazing, because Christian art and culture, including that in writing, is pretty much based on sending people to hell ... guilt trips, fear trips, condemnation. This alone makes Beal the most significant - in - effect Christian writer from the 20th Century, in my opinion. The materiel he produced, in my opinion, makes him one of the more significant self - help writers from the 20th Century.
Beals agenda in this, and the rest of his books, was to offer an aid to unhappy people changing their lives for the better. The Powder of Positive Thinking is written with encouragements, explanations, and examples, as well as actions steps at the end of each chapter.
These three books have influenced my life for the better. I am pretty cynical about authors who profess to know the answers, and was pleasantly surprised when I came across Dr. Peale's books. I've been reading a few pages every morning to get my day started off well, and now that I've finished the book I'll have to begin all over again!
I have read The Power of Positive Thinking before and was introduced to it by mom when I was a young teenager going through the typical first world problems of an everyday teenage girl. This book ended up on my bookshelf and although I don't read it often, sometimes it is the the only antidote to give insight, inspiration, hope and faith you need. It is written with lots of small stories to demonstrate how the principle works. Although it was written in a different time, the basic principles are the same, which makes it a great classic that can be passed on for years to come.
I research for vital information that I can use in my books. Norman Vincent Peale is a writers, writer with extraordinary concepts. He is a powerful writer when it comes to mind enhancement. I trust his wise use of words. LOL, BDC