he or she is negative,
and so open to forces and influences from without. The law operating
here is one with that great law of the universe,--that like attracts
like, so that one continually attracts to himself forces and influences
most akin to those of his own life. And his own life is determined by
the thoughts and emotions he habitually entertains, for each is building
his world from within. As within, so without; cause, effect.

A stalk of wheat and a stock of corn are growing side by side, within an
inch of each other. The soil is the same for both; but the wheat
converts the food it takes from the soil into wheat, the likeness of
itself, while the corn converts the food it takes from the same soil
into corn, the likeness of itself. What that which each has taken from
the soil is converted into is determined by the soul, the interior life,
the interior forces of each. This same grain taken as food by two
persons will be converted into the body of a criminal in the one case,
and into the body of a saint in the other, each after its kind; and its
kind is determined by the inner life of each. And what again determines
the inner life of each? The thoughts and emotions that are habitually
entertained and that inevitably, sooner or later, manifest themselves in
outer material form. Thought is the great builder in human life: it is
the determining factor. Continually think thoughts that are good, and
your life will show forth in goodness, and your body in health and
beauty. Continually think evil thoughts, and your life will show forth
in evil, and your body in weakness and repulsiveness. Think thoughts of
love, and you will love and will be loved. Think thoughts of hatred, and
you will hate and will be hated. Each follows its kind.

It is by virtue of this law that each person creates his own
"atmosphere"; and this atmosphere is determined by the character of the
thoughts he habitually entertains. It is, in fact, simply his thought
atmosphere--the atmosphere which other people detect and are influenced
by.

In this way each person creates the atmosphere of his own room; a
family, the atmosphere of the house in which they live, so that the
moment you enter the door you feel influences kindred to the thoughts
and hence to the lives of those who dwell there. You get a feeling of
peace and harmony or a feeling of disquietude and inharmony. You get a
welcome, want-to-stay feeling or a cold, want-to-get-away feeling,
acco