Inspirational Quotations

Inspirational Quotes by James Lane Allen (American Novelist)

James Lane Allen (1849–1925) was an American novelist and short story writer, renowned for his works depicting life in the American South. His literary contributions explored themes of morality, personal struggle, and social change, making him an important figure in late 19th- and early 20th-century American literature.

Born in Lexington, Kentucky, Allen spent his youth in Lexington during the Antebellum era, the American Civil War, and the Reconstruction periods. He graduated from the University of Kentucky in Lexington and taught in various locations, including Fort Spring, Richmond, and Lexington, Missouri. He later became principal of the academy at the University of Kentucky (1877–79) and taught modern languages. In 1880, he joined Bethany College in West Virginia as a professor of Latin and English before leading a private school in Lexington, Kentucky.

Allen’s best-known works often explore the inner lives of individuals, particularly within the context of moral and social dilemmas. His novel A Kentucky Cardinal (1894) is considered one of his seminal works, presenting a story of love, loss, and personal growth set in the Kentucky countryside. The book was highly praised for its detailed portrayal of the Southern landscape and its exploration of human emotion. Another important work, The Choir Invisible (1897,) examines the moral and spiritual journey of its characters, focusing on themes of duty, faith, and the meaning of life. He was also a contributor to Harper’s Magazine, The Atlantic Monthly, and other popular magazines of the time.

More: Wikipedia READ: Works by James Lane Allen

The more tranquil a man becomes, the greater is his success, his influence, his power for good. Calmness of mind is one of the beautiful jewels of wisdom.
James Lane Allen
Topics: Serenity, Influence

Thus meditating you will no longer strive to build yourself up in your prejudices, but, forgetting self, you will remember only that you are seeking the Truth.
James Lane Allen
Topics: Meditation

In all human affairs there are efforts, and there are results, and the strength of the effort is the measure of the result.
James Lane Allen
Topics: Determination, Success, Effort

Let there be nothing within thee that is not very beautiful and very gentle, and there will be nothing without thee that is not beautiful and softened by the spell of thy presence.
James Lane Allen
Topics: Beauty

The outer conditions of a person’s life will always be found to reflect their inner beliefs.
James Lane Allen
Topics: Belief

Our life is what our thoughts make it. A man will find that as he alters his thoughts toward things and other people, things and other people will alter towards him.
James Lane Allen
Topics: Thinking, Thought, Thoughts

All that a man achieves and all that he fails to achieve is the direct result of his own thoughts.
James Lane Allen
Topics: Thoughts, Thinking, Reason, Achievement, Thought

The more intense the nature of a man, the more readily will he find meditation, and the more successfully will he practice it.
James Lane Allen
Topics: Meditation

Harmony is one phase of the law whose spiritual expression is love.
James Lane Allen
Topics: Harmony, Peace

Until thought is linked with purpose there is no intelligent accomplishment.
James Lane Allen
Topics: Purpose, Goals

No temptation can gravitate to a man unless there is that is his heart which is capable of responding to it.
James Lane Allen
Topics: Control

To desire is to obtain; to aspire is to achieve.
James Lane Allen
Topics: Desire, Desires

As you think, you travel, and as you love, you attract. You are today where your thoughts have brought you; you will be tomorrow where your thoughts take you.
James Lane Allen
Topics: Optimism, Destiny, Reason, Thinking, Thought, Thoughts, Positive Attitudes

A man is literally what he thinks.
James Lane Allen
Topics: Thoughts, Thought, Optimism, Thinking, Belief, Think, Positive Attitudes

If you real desire is to be good, there is no need to wait for the money before you do it; you can do it now, this very moment, and just where you are.
James Lane Allen
Topics: Desire, Opportunity

The aphorism, “As a man thinketh in his heart, so he is,” embraces the whole of man’s being. It is so comprehensive that it reaches out to every condition and circumstance of life. A man is literally what he thinks. His character is the sum of his thoughts.
James Lane Allen
Topics: Character

You are the handicap you must face. You are the one who must choose your place.
James Lane Allen
Topics: Self-reliance, Decisions

By the power of faith every enduring work is accomplished.
James Lane Allen
Topics: Faith

If there is no peace, there must be strength; if there is to be security, there must be stability; if there is to be lasting joy, there must be no leaning upon things which at any moment may be snatched away for ever.
James Lane Allen
Topics: Peace

It is a process of diverting one’s scattered forces into one powerful channel.
James Lane Allen
Topics: Focus, Concentration

The selfishness must be discovered and understood before it can be removed. It is powerless to remove itself, neither will it pass away of itself. Darkness ceases only when light is introduced; so ignorance can only be dispersed by Knowledge; selfishness by Love.
James Lane Allen
Topics: Selfishness

The greatest achievement was at first and for a time a dream. The oak sleeps in the acorn, the bird waits in the egg, and in the highest vision of the soul a waking angel stirs. Dreams are the seedlings of realities.
James Lane Allen
Topics: Achieve, Dream, Achievement, Vision

You will never do anything in this world without courage. It is the greatest quality of the mind next to honor.
James Lane Allen
Topics: Honor, Success, Bravery, Character, Courage, Quality, Difficulty, Obstacles

Man is manacled only by himself; thought and action are the jailers of Fate.
James Lane Allen

Circumstances do not make the man, they reveal him.
James Lane Allen
Topics: Chance, Character, Circumstance

He who would accomplish little must sacrifice little; he who would achieve much must sacrifice much; he who would attain highly must sacrifice greatly.
James Lane Allen
Topics: Sacrifice

Good thoughts bear good fruit, bad thoughts bear bad fruit.
James Lane Allen
Topics: Goodness, Consequences, Thinking, Honesty

Man is made or unmade by himself. By the right choice he ascends. As a being of power, intelligence, and love, and the lord of his own thoughts, he holds the key to every situation.
James Lane Allen
Topics: Choice

Self is ingenious, crooked, and, governed by subtle and snaky desire, admits of endless turnings and qualifications, and the deluded worshippers of self vainly imagine that they can gratify every worldly desire, and at the same time possess the Truth.
James Lane Allen
Topics: Selfishness

When mental energy is allowed to follow the line of least resistance and to fall into easy channels, it is called weakness.
James Lane Allen
Topics: Weakness

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