The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale

First published: New York: Prentice-Hall, 1952

Genre(s): Nonfiction

Subgenre(s): Guidebook; handbook for living

Core issue(s): Daily living; doubt; fear; guidance; psychology; self-knowledge

Overview

Norman Vincent Peale was ordained in the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1922 and held several pastorates until changing his affiliation to the Dutch Reformed Church so that he could become the pastor in 1932 of Marble Collegiate Church, a Dutch Reformed Church founded in 1628. He remained as that church’s pastor of Marble Collegiate for fifty-two years. He and his wife, Ruth, founded Guideposts magazine in 1945; by the 1950’s, it had the largest circulation of any religious magazine in America. Peale’s life was the subject of a 1964 movie entitled One Man’s Way.

The theme of The Power of Positive Thinking is that one’s faith in oneself will allow good things to happen. The book is a guide to enhancing self-esteem and thereby achieving success. Thus, despite the fact that its author is a religious man, the volume is not strictly a religious book. Peale took his inspiration from his own life. He acknowledged having had an inferiority complex as a younger man and believed that his feeling of inferiority held him back. As a result, he had long preached a message that merged theology and psychology: that maintaining a positive attitude will lead to success and happiness. He was subsequently called the father of the self-esteem gospel, a mixture of modern psychology and the Bible. Peale was not one to use the Bible like a baseball bat, to swat the unknowing reader heavy-handedly. Rather, he was tolerant of his readers’, and parishioners’, weaknesses. His book recognizes that prayer is the greatest energy in the universe and a link between people’s thoughts, feelings, and actions. One reviewer stated that the book should be called “The Power of Prayer.”

Peale preaches that perseverance is the key to success in any activity and that faith releases enormous power in the believer. Thus, the key to success in any endeavor is to think positively. In fact, the first sentence in the book reads, “Believe in yourself,” and that is a good summary of the book. Peale offers dozens of examples of real-life experiences during which people used the principles presented in his book to change their lives or otherwise develop their faith. Peale advises readers to apply positive thinking in every aspect of their lives; he encourages them, for example, to try to like people that they do not particularly like. Although he does not specifically advise readers to be phony, Peale supports contrived emotions when he says that individuals should practice liking other people until they genuinely do. Peale observes that getting involved in other people’s problems can take one’s mind off one’s own difficulties.

Another of the book’s motivational approaches is based on goal setting. Peale argues that many people do not accomplish anything because they do not know what it is that they really want to accomplish. This aspect of Peale’s thought is only a minor part of the book, but it would lead to hundreds of similarly focused books by other writers.

Despite the book’s popularity, there were criticisms. Simply making religion compatible with success was objectionable to some critics. Some thought the material “too positive.” One reviewer argued that Peale was implying that the primary purpose of God was to dispense divine vitamins to those who wanted improved health and wealth. Some fundamentalist groups believed Peale’s message to be blasphemous because of his absence of fear-based theology. It was argued by some that positive thinking was not really religious and was applicable only to the salvation that concerned modern man—namely that which occurs in this world, not the next. The book was criticized for neglecting the commandments of humility and self-sacrifice and for teaching that Christianity was a practical discipline. Some Christians looked askance at Peale’s evident philosophy that worldly success could indicate a blessedness to come.

Peale was one of America’s most influential clergymen during the 1950’s and throughout the remainder of his life. For more than half a century, he was heard on his daily radio show, and in later years his sermons were broadcast on television. He was constantly in demand as a motivational speaker. His rhetoric only made his books more popular. He wrote more than forty books, and The Power of Positive Thinking was published in forty-one languages. He was a major influence on religion and the field of personal motivation.

Christian Themes

The heart of The Power of Positive Thinking deals with how to eliminate the handicap of self-doubt and how to reduce worry, stress, and resentment. Included are prayerful exercises that readers can use daily to reinforce the habit of eliminating negative thoughts. The book is spiritual in that it advocates a fuller life in Christ. The dominant theme is that negative thoughts prevent people from achieving happiness and success, but the power of positive thinking will result in a positive change in an individual’s life. There is no fear-based theology in the book. Peale does, however, invoke positive biblical passages throughout, such as “If God be for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31) and “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:13). In fact, Peale often told people to recite the passage from Philippians to enhance their belief in themselves.

One of Peale’s biographers, Carol George, called his theology “eclectic, synthetic, obviously uncreedal, and unsystematic.” She went on to say that his theological blend of “evangelical Protestantism, metaphysical spirituality, and the American dream” was perfectly suited to the cultural currents of the 1950’s. Based on the book’s continuing sales, that blend is also apparently well suited to the cultural currents and modern sensibilities of decades since. Essentially, Peale’s message combines hope, faith, and Christian symbols with an individualized program in self-help and healing. The book has remained a classic for more than half a century because it speaks of simple faith as the most powerful thing in the universe. Peale framed his religious experiences within the world of which he was a part. Just as Christ spoke and taught in a simple manner with parables, so does Norman Vincent Peale. Peale’s book enabled him to comfort and offer personal direction to the lives of millions.

Peale wrote several sequels to The Power of Positive Thinking, which share the original’s theme and continue to promote sales of the original volume. Peale’s work was also the inspiration for books by Dr. Robert H. Schuller, who preaches a concept known as “possibility thinking.”

Sources for Further Study

George, Carol V. R. God’s Salesman: Norman Vincent Peale and the Power of Positive Thinking. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993. Partly biographical and partly analytical, George’s book is widely available in libraries.

Gordon, Arthur. One Man’s Way: The Story and Message of Norman Vincent Peale, a Biography. New York: Prentice-Hall, 1972. Excellent biography of Peale to the time of publication; does not cover the last thirty years of his life.

Peale, Norman Vincent. The Power of Positive Living. New York: Doubleday, 1990. A sequel to the classic volume, with the principles being extrapolated for the 1990’s generation of readers.

Peale, Norman Vincent. This Incredible Century. Pauling, N.Y.: Peale Center for Christian Living, 1991. Essentially a biography of the twentieth century, written from Peale’s perspective of positive thinking.

Peale, Norman Vincent. The True Joy of Positive Living. New York: Morrow, 1998. An autobiography and memoir in which Peale explains how positive thinking influenced his life.

Peale, Norman Vincent, and Smiley Blanton. The Art of Real Happiness. London: Vermilion, 2000. Shows readers how to cope with depression and anxiety, and how to find peace of mind and contentment.