The New Thought Authors

Neville Goddard was a mystic and pioneer of the 'consciousness is the only reality' philosophy. He taught that imagination, when properly directed through feeling, creates reality. His emphasis on the 'feeling is the secret' principle and techniques like SATS (State Akin To Sleep) revolutionised manifestation teaching.

James Allen wrote 'As a Man Thinketh,' one of the foundational self-help texts. He taught that thought is the master weaver of character, circumstance, and destiny, emphasising personal responsibility and the transformative power of disciplined thinking.

Wallace D. Wattles wrote the seminal 'The Science of Getting Rich,' teaching that wealth creation follows exact scientific principles. He emphasised creative thought over competitive action, systematic application of universal laws, and the importance of gratitude in manifestation.

Florence Scovel Shinn was an artist, teacher, and metaphysical author who blended spiritual law with practical action. Known for her emphasis on affirmations and 'the power of the spoken word,' she taught that life is a game to be played with faith, fearlessness, and right action.

Charles F. Haanel was a businessman and New Thought author best known for The Master Key System, a 24-week course in mental science and manifestation. He taught that focused thought connects the individual mind to universal intelligence, enabling the deliberate creation of circumstances through disciplined mental practice.

Thomas Troward was a judge and philosopher who developed the mental science philosophy that deeply influenced the New Thought movement. He taught that the creative power of thought operates through clear understanding of universal principles and scientific mental practice.

Ralph Waldo Trine was one of the most influential New Thought authors of the early 20th century. His book In Tune with the Infinite sold over two million copies and taught that aligning with divine flow creates health, prosperity, and inner peace.

Joseph Murphy was a minister and author who specialised in the power of the subconscious mind. He taught that the subconscious accepts what is impressed upon it and works to manifest those impressions, making mastery of mental patterns essential for life transformation.

Ernest Holmes founded Religious Science and wrote 'The Science of Mind.' He systematised mental and spiritual laws into a comprehensive philosophy, teaching that thought is creative and that understanding one's divine nature unlocks unlimited potential.

William Walker Atkinson was a Baltimore-born attorney whose severe mental and physical breakdown in the late 1880s became the catalyst for his recovery through Mental Science - and a writing career that produced over 100 books. Relocating to Chicago in 1900, he became a central figure in the New Thought movement, writing under pseudonyms including Theron Q. Dumont, Swami Panchadasi, and Yogi Ramacharaka. His legal background gave his metaphysical writing an unusually methodical, evidence-forward quality that modern readers find more credible than Secret-style inspiration.

Emmet Fox was a minister and author who made metaphysical Christianity accessible to mainstream audiences. Known for works like 'The Sermon on the Mount,' he taught that changing one's thinking changes one's life and that prayer is scientific mental treatment.

Genevieve Behrend was the only personal student of Thomas Troward. She wrote 'Your Invisible Power,' teaching mental visualisation and the law of attraction. She emphasised that mental images held with feeling must manifest into physical reality.

Christian D. Larson was an American New Thought author and pioneer of optimism-based personal development. He taught that every person possesses unlimited inner resources and that consistent positive thinking transforms both character and circumstance. His 'Optimist Creed' became one of the most widely shared inspirational texts of the 20th century.

Charles Fillmore co-founded Unity Church with his wife Myrtle. He taught that health, prosperity, and spiritual awakening come through understanding divine principle and right thinking. His work emphasised metaphysical Christianity and affirmative prayer.

Myrtle Fillmore co-founded Unity Church and pioneered Christian metaphysical healing. She taught that affirming divine truth and rejecting negative thought patterns could heal illness. Her own healing journey became the foundation of Unity's healing ministry.

H. Emilie Cady wrote 'Lessons in Truth,' Unity's foundational text. A homeopathic physician turned metaphysical teacher, she made complex spiritual principles accessible through clear, practical lessons on divine presence, affirmation, and spiritual unfoldment.

Henry Thomas Hamblin was a British New Thought author and founder of The Science of Thought Review journal. After overcoming personal tragedy through mental science, he taught that the power within each person is connected to infinite source and that right thinking transforms every area of life.

Orison Swett Marden was the founder of SUCCESS Magazine and a prolific New Thought author. He taught that mental attitude determines life outcomes, that ambition paired with right thinking creates achievement, and that cheerfulness and determination are practical tools for success.

Russell Conwell was a Baptist minister, lawyer, and founder of Temple University. His famous lecture 'Acres of Diamonds,' delivered over 6,000 times, taught that opportunity and wealth exist right where you are.

Ralph Waldo Emerson was a philosopher, essayist, and leader of the Transcendentalist movement. He taught self-reliance, the divinity within each person, and that nature reflects spiritual truths. His work 'Self-Reliance' remains a cornerstone of American philosophy.

Henry David Thoreau was a philosopher, naturalist, and author of 'Walden.' He taught that simple living in natural surroundings reveals profound truths about consciousness and existence, emphasising direct experience over secondhand knowledge.

Napoleon Hill is the author of Think and Grow Rich and The Law of Success - two of the most widely read books on wealth and achievement ever published. Claiming to have distilled twenty years of interviews with five hundred successful people, Hill built a philosophy of achievement around Definite Chief Aim, burning desire, autosuggestion, faith, and the Mastermind Alliance that remains in continuous circulation nearly ninety years after publication.

Emma Curtis Hopkins was the most influential teacher in the history of New Thought - called the 'Teacher of Teachers' because so many of the movement's major figures studied directly under her. She developed one of the most systematic denial-and-affirmation methods in the tradition, and her students went on to found Religious Science, Unity, and Divine Science.

Prentice Mulford was one of the earliest and most original New Thought thinkers - a writer, prospector, and journalist who articulated the idea that thought is a tangible force before most of his contemporaries had put it into words. His White Cross Library essays were among the first to describe the mind as both a transmitter and a receiver, anticipating Atkinson's Law of Attraction by twenty years.

Claude M. Bristol was a journalist and advertising executive whose two short books on the power of belief became enduring classics of the mind-power tradition. The Magic of Believing taught that the believing state - a specific physiological condition of settled conviction - is the switch that activates the subconscious to produce results. His mirror technique remains one of the most practically powerful tools in the New Thought canon.

Robert Collier was an American New Thought author whose Secret of the Ages (1925) became one of the most widely read prosperity books of the 20th century. A direct-mail pioneer and prolific writer, he taught that the subconscious mind - properly impressed through vivid mental imagery held with feeling - is the creative power behind all wealth and achievement.

Emile Coue was a French pharmacist and psychologist who developed the method of conscious autosuggestion - and with it, the most neurologically precise formula for belief change in the entire New Thought tradition. His key insight - that imagination always defeats will when the two conflict - explains why most affirmation practice fails and how to fix it.

Nona Brooks was a co-founder of Divine Science and one of the first women ordained as a minister in the United States. Healed from a serious illness through affirmative prayer in 1887, she spent five decades building one of New Thought's most significant institutions and developing a healing practice grounded in the recognition of divine omnipresence.

Phineas Parkhurst Quimby is the founder of the New Thought movement - a self-taught clockmaker and healer who discovered that illness is maintained by belief and healed by changing it. Every author in this collection traces back to him, directly or indirectly. He healed thousands of patients in Portland, Maine before his death in 1866, among them Mary Baker Eddy, whose Christian Science drew heavily from his work.

P. T. Barnum was an entrepreneur, showman, and author of The Art of Money Getting. His 20 rules for accumulating wealth emphasised mindset, persistence, right action, and the moral use of money - principles that align closely with prosperity consciousness teaching.