Greatest Living Power

Excerpt from Thoughts are Things, Alfred J. Parker

The greatest living power in the universe is thought and speech. It is the power that establishes the human being at the top of the evolutionary scale of being, as the steward of the earth having precedent over all things.

The world judges one's quality of intelligence by what one says, which is naturally the result of what one thinks. Unfortunately, the origin of thought and speech is little understood; only the mechanics of the latter as spelling, reading, grammar, punctuation, and the intricacies of literature are really understood. Why and how a person speaks, with certainty or uncertainty, intelligently or otherwise, is still one of the greatest mysteries of life.

Little has been taught about the yardstick of thought and speech, i.e., logic and reason, and that logic is the closest thing to exact truth as is possible on this finite plane of ours.

The quality and experiences of one's whole life depend upon the quality and balance of one's thinking and speech, and these too must have attached to them an ideal which represents a plan or theory of progressive refinement and culture of the mind.


Thought for the Day

  • If you are depressed, you are living in the past.
    If you are anxious, you are living in the future.
    If you are at peace, you are living in the present. –Unknown

  • An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind. –Mahatma Gandhi

  • Love is the world's greatest antidote to selfishness. –Alfred J. Parker

  • The most profound saying to remember is, "A still tongue makes a wise head." Do much thinking before you do much talking. –Alfred J. Parker

Link to master list of quotes