The key ideas

The Power of Positive Thinking

Norman Vincent Peale, 1952

For many years, a New York pastor listened to people held back by fear and by the feeling that they were no good at anything. From those conversations and from his faith, he put together a simple system: prayer, images of success, and the habit of changing your thoughts. The book became a bestseller and gave rise to a whole culture of positive thinking, and along with it, debates about where such an approach reaches its limits.

Who it is for

For anyone held back by anxiety and self-doubt, and for anyone curious about where the whole culture of “positive thinking” came from.

Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities!

What the book is about

In 1952, a New York pastor published a book whose first chapter opens with two short exclamations: “Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities!” It became one of the best-selling books of its time. And almost immediately, theologians and psychiatrists began to criticize it sharply.

For many years, Norman Vincent Peale had listened to people who came to him with anxiety, exhaustion and the feeling that they were no good at anything. From those conversations, from prayer and from the Bible, he put together a simple system: the thoughts you repeat can change the way you live. This is, in many ways, where what we now call “positive thinking” came from.

It's important to understand from the very start: this is a book of faith and of the author's personal experience, not a scientific study. Ahead are his main techniques, and at the end, a conversation about why this book was criticized. Wanting to understand it, rather than just taking it on faith, is a good way to begin a book like this.

Idea 1. A picture of yourself that wins

Peale writes that he met many capable people who, as it seemed to him, were held back by feelings of inferiority, even though they had plenty of talent. They saw themselves as losers in advance and behaved accordingly.

His first rule against this is to form a clear mental picture of yourself succeeding and keep it before your eyes. When a thought of failure comes, he advises answering it right away with the opposite thought. Another piece of advice sounds almost like bookkeeping: make an honest estimate of your abilities, then raise that estimate by ten percent.

For Peale, confidence rests on faith. He suggests repeating the words of the apostle Paul: “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” Today, a short, confident phrase like this would be called an affirmation.

Before a job interview, you keep replaying in your head how you stumble over the first question. You could try replaying a different scene: you answering calmly.

In the author's view, the image you hold in your mind can nudge your behavior in its direction. That's why he suggests choosing that image deliberately.

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About the author

Norman Vincent Peale was an American Protestant minister who served as pastor of Marble Collegiate Church in New York for more than half a century. Together with the psychiatrist Smiley Blanton, he worked to bring faith and psychiatric care together.

All books by this author: Norman Vincent Peale

Terms from the book

  • Affirmation
  • positive thinking
  • Feelings of inferiority: The sense that you're worse than others and are bound to fail before you even start. Peale considered it one of the common reasons capable people hold themselves back.
  • Emptying the mind: The author's technique: regularly and deliberately letting go of fears and resentments, and then filling the freed-up space with calm thoughts.
  • Prayerize, picturize, actualize: Peale's three-step formula: pray about your goal, picture it clearly, and act to make it happen.

All terms

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