Allen frequently uses anecdotes, or “a usually short narrative of an interesting, amusing, or biographical incident,” in As a Man Thinketh to help readers connect his ideas with their own lived experience. In the second section, “Effect of Thought on Circumstances,” he gives three hypothetical anecdotes of people acting unethically in various ways and reaping the negative consequences of their unrighteous thoughts and actions. After Allen finishes describing them, he writes:

I have introduced these three cases merely as illustrative of the truth that man is the causer […] of his circumstances […] Such cases could be multiplied and varied almost indefinitely, but this is not necessary, as the reader can […] trace the action of the laws of thought in his own mind and life (17-18).

Allen, writing what contemporary scholars would refer to as a “self-help” book, uses anecdotes, both hypothetical and from his own life, to guide readers in applying the philosophical ideas he describes to the world around them. Through Allen’s stories of himself and others, readers can extrapolate his moralizing advice to their own lives and experiences, making the message of As a Man Thinketh more tangible.