James Allen, the author of As a Man Thinketh, was a member of the New Thought movement, which emerged in the late 19th century as a response and successor to the philosophies of thinkers from various ancient cultures. The New Thought movement centers on the “primacy of ideas,” meaning that thoughts shape the material world (Cheston, Becky. “New Thought (Religious Movement).” EBSCO, 2024).

Followers of New Thought believe that a person’s thoughts shape the world around them, and the positive or negative circumstances of their life result from either positive or negative thoughts. New thinkers believe that illness, unhappiness, and poverty result from bad thinking and that good thinking requires opening one’s mind up to God and God’s wisdom (Cheston). New Thought is both a philosophical and spiritual movement, and the spiritual element stems from Christianity. The founders of New Thought were Christian and believed in a singular, omnipresent deity that offered wisdom that people could harness to influence the outcome of their lives through “constructive thinking” (Dolbee, Sandi. “New Thought - Timeline Movement.” The Association of Religion Data Archives).

One of the first proponents of New Thought was Phineas Quimby. Quimby was an American clockmaker from Maine who initially followed mesmerism (Cheston). Mesmerism describes the beliefs popularized by 18th-century German physician Franz Anton Mesmer. These beliefs dictate that a fluid controls the body, and Mesmer called this fluid “animal magnetism” (Martin, Christy. “Mesmerized.” Science History Institute, 2023). Mesmer believed that he could control this fluid with magnets, and though notable scientists, including Benjamin Franklin and Antoine Lavoisier, debunked animal magnetism, mesmerism briefly returned to prominence in the 19th century (Martin). Quimby took the core tenet of mesmerism, which dictates that the mind influences the body, and disregarded Mesmer’s ideas of animal magnetism (Martin). Quimby instead believed that God grants people the ability to heal themselves, and his work as a healer centered on his belief that he could use optimism and God’s influence to heal people’s ailments, often using hypnosis and the power of suggestion to improve patients’ outcomes (Cheston). Quimby inspired Mary Baker Eddy, one of his former patients, to create Christian Science, a separate religious sect that denounces medical science in favor of spiritual healing. Emma Curtis Hopkins, one of Eddy’s contemporaries, helped organize Quimby’s ideas into the more cohesive New Thought movement (Cheston).

Another important piece of the New Thought movement is that it was influenced by American Transcendentalism. Transcendentalism was a 19th-century school of theological and philosophical thought that “combined respect for nature and self-sufficiency with elements of Unitarianism and German Romanticism” (“Transcendentalism.” History, 2025). Unitarianism was a sect of Christian theology that valued reason and believed that Jesus Christ was mortal. The Transcendentalists split from the rational Unitarians and turned toward German Romanticism for greater spiritual, emotional, and supernatural influence, blending these ideas into a new, disparate movement that they called “Transcendentalism.” Transcendentalists, like poet and philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson, advocated a personal connection with God and nature and eschewed materialism.

When Allen began engaging with New Thought, the movement was young, and As a Man Thinketh is an example of an early publication espousing New Thought ideas. The New Thought movement still exists in contemporary society, though in a less cohesive manner, and many New Thought ideas, particularly about the power of positive thought, persist in the self-help nonfiction genre.