When Henley wrote the
poetic lines, "I am the master of my fate, I
am the captain of my soul," he could have
informed us that we are the masters
of our fate because
we are masters, first, of our attitudes. Our attitudes shape our future. This is a universal law. The poet could have told us with great emphasis that
this law works whether the attitudes are
destructive or constructive. The law states that we
translate into physical reality the thoughts and
attitudes which we hold in our minds, no matter what they
are. We translate into reality thoughts of poverty
just as quickly as we do thoughts of riches. But when our attitude toward ourselves is big, and our attitude
towards others is generous and
merciful, we attract big and generous portions of success.
Napoleon Hill and W. Clement Stone
Success Through a Positive Mental Attitude
pp. 7-8
