Emmet Fox Quotes & Sayings

What we see in the outer is but a reflection of the inner, because we surround ourselves with a picture of our own beliefs. In other words, we manifest in general what we seriously think and believe. So if we want to find out what our habitual thinking is like, we have but to look around us and ask ourselves what we really see. — Emmet Fox

You must not allow yourself to dwell for a single moment on any kind of negative thought. — Emmet Fox

You are not happy because you're healthy, you are healthy because you're happy — Emmet Fox

It is the Law that any difficulties that can come to you at any time, no matter what they are, must be exactly what you need most at the moment, to enable you to take the next step forward by overcoming them. The only real misfortune, the only real tragedy, comes when we suffer without learning the lesson. — Emmet Fox

Criticism is an indirect form of self-boasting. — Emmet Fox

Fear is the ultimate cause of failure and disappointment. — Emmet Fox

Here's an experiment: For one whole day think, speak, and act exactly as you would if you were absolutely convinced of the truth of the statements that God has all power and infinite intelligence, and that His nature is infinite goodness and love. To think in this manner all day will be the most difficult thing, because thought is so subtle. To speak in accordance with these truths will be easier, if you are vigilant. To act in accordance with them will be the easiest part, although it may require much in the way of moral courage. — Emmet Fox

You must pray for yourself constantly. How could it be otherwise? We worship God by believing in Him, trusting Him, and loving Him wholeheartedly - and we can attain to that only through prayer. The sole object of our being here is that we may grow like Him - and we can do that only through prayer. The more we pray for ourselves the more power will our prayers have for any other purpose whatever; so praying for ourselves is the reverse of selfishness - it is truly glorifying God. — Emmet Fox

The art of life is to live in the present moment and to make that moment as perfect as we can by the realization that we are the instruments and expression of God himself. — Emmet Fox

That a double-minded man is unstable in all his ways, and that such a person need expect nothing from the Great Law. If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, — Emmet Fox

All the old traditions tell us that there is more than one path to the great Goal ... The shortest and easiest pathway of all is the pathway of Love. It is the one pathway that is open to all, irrespective of what their personal conditions or circumstances may be. For every person, everywhere, true attainment awaits through the yoga of Love, for yoga means union and it is our union with God that makes the attainment possible. — Emmet Fox

As thy days, so shall thy strength be which, in modern language, may be translated as thy thoughts so shall thy life be. — Emmet Fox

Read The Golden Key several times. Do exactly what it says, and if you are persistent enough you will overcome any difficulty. — Emmet Fox

When you are in difficulties, look upon the overcoming of them as a great adventure. — Emmet Fox

The word treatment is usually applied to a prayer that is made for some specific purpose, as distinct from a general prayer, which is really a visit with God. You must remember that a treatment is a definite practical action, having a definite object and a definite beginning and end. It is in fact a surgical operation on the soul. Let us suppose that you decide to heal a certain difficulty by prayer. You know that your difficulty must be caused by some negative thought charged with fear and located in the subconscious mind. You therefore turn to God, and remind yourself of His goodness, His limitless power, and His care for you. As you work the fear will begin to dissolve, and the awareness of the Truth corrects the erroneous beliefs themselves. Thank God for the healing that you believe will come - and then you keep your thought off the matter until you feel led, after an interval, to treat again. He sent his word, and healed them ... (Psalm 107:20). — Emmet Fox

If people would reflect that one can only do one thing at a time and therefore there is never more than one thing to do at a time, there would be less fatigue in the world. — Emmet Fox

Stop thinking about your difficulties, whatever they are, and start thinking about God instead. — Emmet Fox

When things are going wrong declare constantly that you are not going to be afraid or intimidated by any outer condition. — Emmet Fox

You cannot expect to reach port if you are faithful in your prayers and meditations for a time, and then for a time you forget God. — Emmet Fox

Whatever you think rightly concerning will go well. Whatever you think wrongly concerning, will go ill. — Emmet Fox

A dynamic person is one who really makes a difference in the world; who does something that changes things or other people. The magnitude of the work done may not be great, but the world is different because that person has lived and worked. The real secret of a dynamic personality is to believe that God works through you, whatever you may be doing; to put his service first, and to be as sincere, practical, and efficient as you know how. — Emmet Fox

You must not under any pretense allow your mind to dwell on any thought that is not positive, constructive, optimistic, kind. — Emmet Fox

What we experience is our own concept of things. That is why no two people see quite the same world, and why, in many cases, different people see such different worlds. To put it another way, we make our own world by the way in which we think; for we really do live in a world of our own thoughts. — Emmet Fox

Nature always takes you at your own valuation. Believe that you are the child of God. Believe that you express Life, Truth, Love. Believe that Wisdom guides you. Believe that you are a special enterprise on the part of God - and what you really believe, that you will demonstrate. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be ... (1 John — Emmet Fox

Life is a state of consciousness. — Emmet Fox

Many people look upon change with dread and foreboding. But for those on the spiritual path-for those who believe in God and the power of prayer-change is a fuller expression of life. When a problem or condition arises in your life that indicates a change, rely upon God, and realize that it is not so much that a door has closed on a chapter of your life, but rather that a door has opened on new and more interesting things. — Emmet Fox

The present moment is never intolerable. It is always what is coming in five minutes or five days that makes people despair. The Law of Life is to live in the present, and this applies to both time and place. Keep your attention to the present moment, and in the place where your body is now. Do a fair day's work, and then stop. Overwork is not productive in the long run. — Emmet Fox

There are as many universes as there are individuals to form them through thinking. — Emmet Fox

Recognize success with thanksgiving and build more success on that. — Emmet Fox

All day long the thoughts that occupy your mind, your Secret Place, as Jesus calls it, are moulding your destiny for good or evil; in fact, the truth is that the whole of our life's experience is but the outer expression of inner thought. Now we can choose the sort of thoughts that we entertain. It will be a little difficult to break a bad habit of thought, but it can be done. We can choose how we shall think - in point of fact, we always do choose - and therefore our lives are just the result of the kind of thoughts we have — Emmet Fox

You will presently find that you are safely and comfortably out of your difficulty - that your demonstration is made. In order to "Golden Key" a — Emmet Fox

Suppose your whole world seems to rock on its foundations. Hold on steadily, let it rock, and when the rocking is over, the picture will have reassembled itself into something much nearer to your heart's desire — Emmet Fox

The story of your life is really the story of the relations between yourself and God. — Emmet Fox

Never forget that the circumstances of your life for tomorrow are molded by your mental conduct today. — Emmet Fox

Life is consciousness. — Emmet Fox

A smile costs nothing in money, time, or effort but it is literally true that it can be of supreme importance in ones life. — Emmet Fox

Where you stand today does not matter; it is the direction in which your are moving, and the rate at which you travel, that count. — Emmet Fox

We grow into that which we admire. — Emmet Fox

Some day (when we have enough spiritual growth) we will come to see that the seemingly disjointed happenings, the apparent accidents, are really part of an orderly pattern. — Emmet Fox

God is bigger than any problem. God in you is greater than any difficulty you have to meet. God cares for you more than it is possible for any human being to realize. God can help you in proportion to the degree in which you worship him. You worship God by really putting your trust in him instead of in outer conditions, or in fear, or in depression, or in seeming dangers, and so forth. You worship God by recognizing his presence everywhere, in all people and conditions that you meet; and by praying regularly. You pray well when you pray with joy. — Emmet Fox

I will not entertain or dwell on negative things. — Emmet Fox

Your Heart's Desire is the Voice of God, and that Voice must be obeyed sooner or later. — Emmet Fox

To be afraid is to have more faith in evil than in God. — Emmet Fox

Your fixed convictions concerning the things that really matter mold your destiny. — Emmet Fox

It is the food which you furnish to your mind that determines the whole character of your life. — Emmet Fox

There is a place for analysis, but it is apt to be quite fatal in prayer and meditation. Do not dissect the love of God, but feel it. Do not dissect divine intelligence, but realize it. Do not wonder how God can possibly solve this problem, but just watch Him do it in His own way-and He will if you will give Him a chance. You know that God is Love. So go ahead on that, and do not get theoretical about it. — Emmet Fox

Whatever you experience in your life is really but the outpicturing of your own thoughts and beliefs. Now, you can change these thoughts and beliefs, and then the outer picture must change too. The outer picture cannot change until you change your thought. — Emmet Fox

Supply yourself with a mental equivalent, and the thing must come to you. — Emmet Fox

When the mind changes the outer expression must change to correspond. We are transferred by the renewing of our minds. — Emmet Fox

The root of all difficulties is a lack of the sense of the Presence of God. — Emmet Fox

Constant rhythmical movement is necessary to health and harmony. Much ill health is due to emotional congestion. — Emmet Fox

Make friends with nature by working in harmony with her and she will make friends with you. — Emmet Fox

Attention is the key to life. Whatever you really give your attention to, you become. Whatever you really concentrate upon will come into your life. We grow into the thing that fills our thoughts as inevitably as the stream merges into the ocean at last. — Emmet Fox

You can never solve a problem on the same level as the problem. — Emmet Fox

Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you (Matthew 6:33). The principle that Jesus expressed in these words is the basic law that underlies all answer to prayer. Many people know this in theory but are confused about putting it into practice. They think, "I will ignore this problem and think about God instead." Here there is a subtle mistake; because they are really thinking of their problem as existing in one place, of God as existing in another, and of themselves as going in thought from the first place to the second place. This, of course, is by implication to reaffirm the existence of the problem in its own place, and such a belief will not heal. What we have to do is to seek the Kingdom in the very place where the trouble seems to be. We have to know that in Truth and reality it is not there, because God is there. When we succeed in doing this, the difficulty disappears. — Emmet Fox

Affirm for yourself that you are a success. Affirm that you are successful in getting rid of your clutter. If you are having a hard time getting started, be grateful that you are such a successful clutterer. Who else could have amassed such a collection of stuff? — Emmet Fox

Love is by far the most important thing of all. — Emmet Fox

There is no difficulty that enough love will not conquer: no disease that love will not heal: no door that enough love will not open ... It makes no difference how deep set the trouble: how hopeless the outlook: how muddled the tangle: how great the mistake. A sufficient realization of love will dissolve it all. If only you could love enough you would be the happiest and most powerful being in the world ... — Emmet Fox

Look where you are going because you will inevitably go where you are looking. — Emmet Fox

In the spiritual life you must practice. And the only way to practice is by trying to solve your problems with prayer. This develops your spiritual power and it also trains you to use that spiritual power in the most effective way. — Emmet Fox

A man dies daily, only to be reborn in the morning, bigger, better and wiser. — Emmet Fox

As you grow in true spiritual power and understanding you will actually find that many outer rules and regulations will become unnecessary; but this will be because you have really risen above them; never, never, because you have fallen below them. This point in your development, where your understanding of Truth enables you to dispense with certain outer props and regulations, is the Spiritual Coming of Age. When you really are no longer spiritually a minor, you will cease to need some of the outer observances that formerly seemed indispensable; but your resulting life will be purer, truer, freer, and less selfish than it was before; and that is the test. — Emmet Fox

Welcome any change that comes into any phase in your life; insist that it is going to turn out for the better - and it will. See the Angel of God in it, and the Angel of God will make all things new. — Emmet Fox

Live in the present moment and find your interest and happiness in the things of today. — Emmet Fox

I send out thoughts of love and peace and healing to the whole universe: to all trees and plants and growing things, to all beasts and birds and fishes, and to every man, woman and child on earth, without any distinction. — Emmet Fox

When you resist a difficulty you antagonize it, and it bites back. — Emmet Fox

The universe is run exactly on the lines of a cafeteria. Unless you claim - mentally - what you want, you may sit and wait forever. — Emmet Fox

You are not happy because you are well. You are well because you are happy. You are not depressed because trouble has come to you, but trouble has come to you because you are depressed. You can change your thoughts and feelings, and then the outer things will come to correspond, and indeed there is no other way of working. — Emmet Fox

The great difference between the two feelings is that love is always creative, and fear is always destructive. — Emmet Fox

Realizing God as Truth will save you hours of work in research in any field. You will be led to the right book or the right place or the right person without loss of time, or the necessary information will come to you in some other way. — Emmet Fox

If you have no time for prayer and meditation, you will have lots of time for sickness and trouble. — Emmet Fox

Bless a thing and it will bless you. Curse it and it will curse you ... If you bless a situation, it has no power to hurt you, and even if it is troublesome for a time, it will gradually fade out, if you sincerely bless it. — Emmet Fox

It is not possible that you could ever find yourself anywhere where God was not fully present, fully active, able and willing to set you free. — Emmet Fox

And the Truth turns out to be nothing less than the amazing but undeniable fact that the whole outer world -whether it be the physical body, the common things of life, the winds and the rain, the clouds, the earth itself -is amenable to man's thought, and that he had dominion over it when he knows it. — Emmet Fox

a small spark can start a great fire — Emmet Fox

A tragic mistake that is often made is to assume that the will of God is bound to be something very dull and uninviting, if not positively unpleasant. Consciously or not some persons look upon God as a hard taskmaster, or a severe parent ... The truth is that the will of God for us always means greater freedom, greater self-expression, newer and brighter experience, wider opportunity of service to others-life more abundant. — Emmet Fox

Of what does the consecrated life consist? Your life is a consecrated one when you are ready at all times to do the will of God - when you are willing and anxious that God may be fully expressed through you, through your thoughts, words, and deeds, during every hour of the day. You are not concerned with the question of results. Results belong to God. Here am I; send me (Isaiah 6:8). — Emmet Fox

Have enough faith in the love of God to believe that a short heartfelt prayer is just as good as a long one. Too long a session of prayer usually means that in your heart you really doubt the love of God, and think that a great deal of effort and toil will be necessary to move Him. Pray quietly and sincerely for a reasonable time-and then leave the matter, expecting success. — Emmet Fox

Each day is a new life. Each moment is really a new life. What we call memories are really present thoughts. What we call anticipations are really present thoughts. No one has ever lived in any moment except the present. — Emmet Fox

Whenever you are afraid of something you are worshipping it. Whatever you fear, you bow down to and give it power. — Emmet Fox

If you are looking to outer, passing, mutable things for either happiness or security, you are not putting God first. — Emmet Fox

If you could only love enough, you could be the most powerful person in the world. — Emmet Fox

If you seem to yourself to be lacking in certain necessary qualities, if your character seems to lack strength, ask God to give you what you need - and He will. You can build any quality into your mentality by meditating upon that quality every day. — Emmet Fox

To radiate any quality, that quality must be within yourself. — Emmet Fox

Let us be merciful in our mental judgments of our brothers and sisters, for, in truth, we are all one, and the more deeply they seem to err, the more urgent is the need for us to help them with the right thought, and so make it easier for them to get free. — Emmet Fox

It makes no difference how deeply seated may be the trouble, how hopeless the outlook how muddled the tangle, how great the mistake. A sufficient realization of love will dissolve it all. — Emmet Fox

God is life. I understand that and express it. God is perfect Truth. I understand that and express it. God is Love. I understand that and express it. I radiate thoughts of love and peace and healing to the whole universe. If anyone has ever injured me or done me any harm, I fully and freely forgive that person now, and the thing is done forever. I go free. — Emmet Fox

Claim your divine, glorious selfhood. Think it, talk it, live it and it will demonstrate itself in your life. — Emmet Fox

Love is always creative, fear always destructive. — Emmet Fox

Most people who have a problem concentrate on the problem. They take it to bed with them and stay awake all night thinking it over. Let go of that problem. Rise above it in consciousness. — Emmet Fox

We affirm the harmony that we seek in order to provide the subconscious with a blue print of the work to be done. — Emmet Fox

Do it trembling if you must, but do it! — Emmet Fox

DYNAMITE (13 Sticks for Immediate Use - Handle with Care) PLAN tomorrow's work today. Review the events of the day, very briefly before retiring. Keep your voice down. No screamers wanted. Train yourself to write very legibly. Keep your good humor even if you lose your shirt. Defend those who are absent. Hear the other side before you judge. Don't cry over spilt milk. Learn to do one thing as well as anyone on earth can do it. Use your company manners on the family. If you must be rude, let strangers have it. Keep all your goods and possessions neat and orderly. Get rid of things that you do not use. Every day do something to help someone else. Read the Bible every day. These points may seem to be trite and obvious, but each one has hidden behind it, an invincible law of psychology and metaphysics. Try them. — Emmet Fox

If you want to dismiss a negative thought, the only way to do so is to think of something positive and constructive. — Emmet Fox

To become proficient in any field you must practise. There is simply no achievement without practice and the more practice, provided it is done intelligently, the greater will the proficiency be and the sooner will it be attained. — Emmet Fox

You cannot be healthy; you cannot be happy; you cannot be prosperous; if you have a bad disposition. — Emmet Fox

What you think upon grows. Whatever you allow to occupy your mind you magnify in your life. Whether the subject of your thought be good or bad, the law works and the condition grows. Any subject that you keep out of your mind tends to diminish in your life, because what you do not use atrophies. The more you think of grievances, the more such trials you will continue to receive; the more you think of the good fortune you have had, the more good fortune will come to you. — Emmet Fox

Human nature is such that humans can turn to God anywhere at any time, and by believing in His care and protection, and thinking in accordance with this belief, fill their hearts with peace and poise, rebuild their bodies into health and strength, and surround themselves with harmonious and joyous conditions. — Emmet Fox

We build in thought the conditions that will later come into manifestation on the physical plane. — Emmet Fox

Chosen to hold; and therefore they are of our own ordering; and therefore there is perfect justice in the universe. No suffering for another man's original sin, but the reaping of a harvest that we ourselves have sown. We have free will, but our free will lies in our choice of thought. — Emmet Fox