“As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he” (Proverbs 23:7) means a person’s true character, actions, and life are defined by their deep-seated thoughts and beliefs rather than outward appearances. The ‘heart’ represents the core of one’s being, meaning consistent inner thoughts manifest as external reality.
“The aphorism, ‘as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he,’ not only embraces the whole of a man’s being, but is so comprehensive as to reach out to every condition and circumstance of his life. A man is literally what he thinks, his character being the complete sum of all his thoughts. A noble and Godlike character is not a thing of favor or chance, but is the natural result of continued effort in right thinking, the effect of long cherished association with God-like thoughts. An ignoble and bestial character, by the same process, is the result of continued harboring of groveling thoughts.
The soul attracts that which it secretly harbors; that which it loves, and also that which it fears. That circumstances grow out of thought … every man knows who has for any length of time practiced self-control and self-purification, for he will have noticed that the alteration in his circumstances has been in exact ratio with his altered mental condition. So true is this that when a man earnestly applies himself to remedy the defects in his character, and makes swift and marked progress, he passes rapidly through a succession of vicissitudes (a change of circumstances or fortune).
Men do not attract that which they want, but that which they are. Their whims, fancies, and ambitions are thwarted at every step, but their inmost thoughts and desires are fed with their own food, be it foul or clean. The ‘divinity that shapes our ends’ is in ourselves; it is our very self. Only himself manacles man: thought and action are the ‘jailers of Fate’ – they imprison, being base; they are also the ‘angels of Freedom’ – they liberate, being noble.
Not what he wishes and prays for does a man get, but what he justly earns. His wishes and prayers are only gratified and answered when they harmonize with his thoughts and actions.
Man’s mind may be likened to a garden, which may be intelligently cultivated, or allowed to run wild; but whether cultivated or neglected, it must and will bring forth. If no useful seeds are put into it, then an abundance of useless weed-seeds will fall therein and will continue to produce their kind.
Every thought-seed sown or allowed to fall into the mind, and to take root there, produces its own blossoming sooner or later into act, and bearing its own fruitage of opportunity and circumstance. Good thoughts bear good fruit, bad thoughts bear bad fruit.
The outer world of circumstance shapes itself to the inner world of thought, and both pleasant and unpleasant external conditions are factors, which make for the ultimate good of the individual. As the reaper of his own harvest, man learns both by suffering and bliss.
Just as a gardener cultivates his plot, keeping it free from weeds, and growing the flowers and fruits which he requires, so
may a man tend the garden of his mind, weeding out all the wrong, useless and impure thoughts and cultivating toward perfection the flowers and fruits of right, useful and pure thoughts. By pursuing this process, a man sooner or later discovers that he is the master-gardener of his soul.”