Our people page on Ralph Waldo Trine

More from and about
Ralph Waldo Trine
(biographical info at bottom of page)

In brief--to be honest, to be fearless, to be just, joyous, kind. This will make
our part in life's great and as yet not fully understood play one of greatest
glory, and we need then stand in fear of nothing--life nor death; for death is
life. Or rather, it is the quick transition to life in another form; the putting
off of the old coat and the putting on of the new; a passing not from light to
darkness, but from light to light according as we have lived here; a taking up
of life in another form where we leave it off here; a part in life not to be
shunned or dreaded or feared, but to be welcomed with a glad and ready
smile when it comes in its own good way and time.

There are many who are living far below their possibilities because they are continually handing over their individualities to others. Do you want to be a power in the world? Then be yourself. Be true to the highest within your soul and then allow yourself to be governed by no customs or conventionalities or arbitrary man-made rules that are not founded on principle.

A miracle is nothing more or less than this. Anyone who has come into a knowledge of his or her true identity, of his or her oneness with the all-pervading wisdom and power, this makes it possible for laws higher than the ordinary mind knows of to be revealed to this person. I have often said to friend and acquaintance during the last two or three years that there is perhaps no one quality men need so much, and right down in their hearts long for so much, as the quality of courage. For courage to me is nothing more or less than a positive, creative type of thought. It not only keeps us going, but all the time works out effects on the course of our journeying. Thoughts are forces, subtle, vital, creative, continually building and shaping our lives according to their nature. It is in this way that the life always and inevitably follows the thought.

Our complex modern life, especially in our larger centers, gets us running so many times into grooves that we are prone to miss, and sometimes for long periods, the all-around, completer life. We are led at times almost to forget that the stars come nightly to the sky, or even that there is a sky; that there are hedgerows and groves where the birds are always singing and where we can lie on our backs and watch the treetops swaying above us and the clouds floating by an hour or hours at a time; where one can live with his or her soul or, as Whitman has put it, where one can loaf and invite one's soul.

Every thought you entertain is a force that goes out, and every thought comes back laden with its kind.

One carries one's success or failure with oneself;
it does not depend on outside conditions.

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Those who, forgetting self, make the object of their lives service,
helpfulness and kindness to others, find their whole nature
growing and expanding, themselves becoming large-hearted,
magnanimous, kind, sympathetic, joyous, and happy;
their lives becoming rich and beautiful.

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.

Let this great principle of service, helpfulness, love,
and self-devotion to the interests of one's fellow-people
be made the fundamental principle of all lives, and see
how simplified these great and all-important questions
will become. Ay, they will almost solve themselves.

Ralph Waldo Trine was a philosopher, mystic, teacher and author of many books, and was one of the early mentors of the New Thought Movement. His writings had a great influence on many of his contemporaries including Ernest Holmes, founder of Religious Science. He was a true pioneer in the area of life-transforming thought. No other New Thought author has sold more books than he, his writings reaching far beyond New Thought circles out to the general public, which has bought and read Trine's books without ever knowing that they were New Thought.

Trine was born on 6th September, 1866, in Mount Morris, northern Illinois. He was educated at Carthage College Academy, Knox College, A.B. 1891; and studied at the University of Wisconsin and later at John Hopkins University in the fields of history and political science. He was much interested in social and economic problems, having won a $100 prize for an essay on "The Effects of Human Education on the Prevention of Crime." After spending some time as a graduate student at the latter University, Ralph was a special correspondent for The Boston Daily Evening Transcript. While working in this capacity, he built himself a little cabin on the edge of a pine grove -- testament to the peace and simplicity of the man. He married a graduate of the School of Expression (which became Curry College) who became Grace Hyde Trine, an author and poetess in her own right, and together they had a son, Robert. Trine lived for years at Mt. Airy, New York, and was deeply involved in the metaphysical seminars at Oscawana.

He began his writing career in his early 30s. He was much influenced by the writings of Fitche, Emerson and the Scottish scientist/evangelist, Henry Drummond, his "What All the World's A-Seeking" expanding on a number of the themes covered in Drummond's inspirational classic, "The Greatest Thing in the World." His remarkable seminal book, "In Tune with the Infinite" was launched in 1897 and went on to sell over 2 million copies, and has stood the test of time for over a century. It was read by such luminaries as Queen Victoria, Janet Gaynor and Henry Ford. It is interesting that Henry Ford, pioneer of mass produced automobiles, attributed his success directly to having read "In Tune with the Infinite." After reading the book, Ford ordered it en masse, and distributed copies freely to high profile industrialists. It's a true mark of how powerful the book was and still is!

Trine wrote over a dozen books and was still writing into his 70s. He died peacefully at a fine age of 91 on 22nd February, 1958, in an elderly living facility for religious professionals, Plymouth Place, Claremont, California. He moved there years earlier from a home in the Hudson River valley. In California, Trine spent his time in quiet leisure, planting and tending fruit trees. He retired there with his wife only a few years before his death.

Although he never sought fame or fortune for himself, and although his name remains largely unknown to the masses, he left as his legacy an indelible mark on the world in the form of his elevated thinking and inspired writings, and so has influenced countless people for the good of mankind.

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