Maxim

Your thoughts shape your life.

“All that we are is the result of what we have thought: it is founded on our thoughts, it is made up of our thoughts.”

— The Buddha, Dhammapada 1, tr. F. Max Müller · source Verified
Buddhism · Ancient (before 200 BCE)
Translation: public-domain translation (Müller)

What we dwell on becomes the lens we see through, and then the ground we stand on. Tending the mind is tending the life.

Related expressions

“And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind.”
— Paul the Apostle, Romans 12:2 (KJV)
Watch on YouTube: Joe Dispenza with Chris Williamson ↗Joe Dispenza discusses changing your thinking (Modern Wisdom)
ChristianityClassical (200 BCE – 600 CE)relation: similarVerifiedsourceTranslation: King James Version (public domain)
“I think, therefore I am (COGITO ERGO SUM).”
— René Descartes, Discourse on Method (1637), Part IV, tr. John Veitch
RationalismEarly modern (1500 – 1800)relation: partialVerifiedsourceTranslation: public-domain translation (Veitch)
“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way.”
— Viktor E. Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning (1946; English tr. 1959), tr. Ilse Lasch; checked in an Internet Archive scan of the English edition (punctuation corrected to match it)
Echoes The Buddha, Dhammapada 1: “All that we are is the result of what we have thought”
Watch on YouTube: Lori Gottlieb: How changing your story can change your life ↗Lori Gottlieb discusses the stories we tell ourselves (TED)
Modern psychology & self-helpModern (1800 – 1950)relation: partialVerifiedsource

Moral Rank 48.6 · Evidence E = 10.88

E = ln(1+1.83) + √1.83 + 3·1.83 + 1.5·2 = 10.88