New Thought Common Sense and What Life Means to Me

Concentration of thought, unswerving purpose and intensity of feeling are what brings results in this life...We remember those people because they were vital influences in the world; they felt, thought and lived intensely. Ella Wheeler Wilcox was perhaps the most widely read American poet of the 19th century. Enormously popular and often controversial-her collected Poems of Passion caused an uproar with its allusions to female sexual desire-the warm sentiment and bright optimism of her writing endeared her to millions. Her sprightly personality shines through in this volume of her essays on the early New Age philosophy, by which proponents sought to harness a mystical pan-religious spirituality for health and happiness. In her inimitable breezy voice, Wilcox discusses the value of learning not to be easily offended, how not to let misfortune weigh down the soul, the "high calling" of parenthood, and much more. Cheery and cheering, Wilcox's thinking is just as pertinent today as it was a century ago.