New Thought: A Cult of Success

Abstract

New Thought had its main roots in the mesmerism of Quimbly and the transcendentalism of Emerson and the Concord Group. It is a system of high-powered mental telepathy which held that matter could be spiritualized and brough under the complete domination of though, and, conversity, that all thoughts become matter. It appeared as a concerted movement in 1890 and by 1915 had achieved a prodigious growth. It had no church and was essentially a metropolitan religion. Its adherents were impelled mainly by the motive of profit, and few were masters of its theology and metaphysics. Like Puritanism, it recognized the law of prosperity as a cardinal statute. By personal magnetism the adherent could attract, persuade, influence, or control his fellows, and success in business was assured. The writings of New Thought accord with the traditional American philosophy of success. They banish luck and reaffirm the economic potency of character. Faith in equality of opportunity is sustained. The bulk of the literature contains little but esoteric directions for making money. The very novelty of New Though gave it popularity.