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独学をテーマにブログを書いているイッキュウです。 主に資格、読書、自己啓発、英語に力を入れています。
このブログでは英語を学びながら、自己啓発にもなる学習ツールを提案します。
つまり、世にある自己啓発本の原点と言われる「As a Man Thinketh」、訳本としては「原因と結果の法則」がベストセラーになりましたが、その英文を取り上げて、和文で要約し、英語学習に良い単語を整理したものです。
ただし、原文（1903年）だと古典英語でわかりにくいので、チャットGPTなどを利用して現代の米国英語で編集しました。
「原因と結果の法則」に衝撃を受け、英語の原文にトライするも、古典英語は私には難しくて全然頭に入ってこなかった・・それでこのブログを書こうと思い立ったわけです。構成は次の通りです。
現代英語（原文・重要単語を添付）
↓
和訳の要約（自己啓発的な意義）
全文を10回に分けて、現代の米国英語でブログにまとめます。
Thought and Character (Modernized Version)
※原文でも十分に分かりやすいものはそのまま（イタリック調）としています。
① The saying, ‘As a man thinks in his heart, so is he,’ not only defines a person’s true nature but also applies to every aspect of their life. A person’s character is essentially the total sum of all their thoughts.
② Just as a plant grows from a seed and cannot exist without it, every action a person takes comes from hidden thoughts and wouldn’t happen without them. This is true for both actions we think of as spontaneous or ‘unplanned’ and those that are carefully thought out.
③ Action is the result of thought, and joy or suffering are its fruits. In this way, a person reaps the sweet or bitter outcomes of their own efforts and choices.
④ Our thoughts shape who we are. What we become is built by our thoughts. If a person’s mind is filled with harmful thoughts, pain will follow them, just as a cart follows the ox pulling it. But if one holds on to pure thoughts, joy will follow them as surely as their shadow.
⑤ A person grows naturally, not through artificial means, and the law of cause and effect works the same in our thoughts as it does in the physical world. A virtuous and noble character isn’t by luck or chance—it’s the result of consistently thinking positive and elevated thoughts. In the same way, a negative character comes from repeatedly focusing on low and harmful thoughts.
⑥ Among all the wonderful truths about the soul that have been rediscovered in this era, none is more uplifting or full of divine promise than this: a person is the master of their thoughts, the shaper of their character, and the creator of their circumstances, environment, and destiny.
⑦As a being of Power, Intelligence, and Love, and the Lord of his own thoughts, man holds the key to every situation, and contains within himself that transforming and regenerative agency by which he may make himself what he wills.
⑧ A person is always in control, even in their weakest and most lost moments. But in those times, they act like a careless master who mismanages their life. When they start thinking about their situation and looking for the laws that guide their existence, they become a wise master, using their energy wisely and shaping their thoughts toward good results. This happens when they discover the laws of thought within themselves through patience, self-reflection, and experience.
⑨ Gold and diamonds are only found through diligent searching and mining, and in the same way, a person can uncover all truths about themselves by exploring deeply within their soul. By observing, controlling, and changing their thoughts, and seeing how those thoughts affect themselves, others, and their circumstances, they can prove that they are the creator of their character, life, and destiny. This requires patience, persistence, and learning from every experience, even the smallest daily events, to gain true understanding, wisdom, and power. In this process, the law is unchanging: Those who seek will find, and to those who knock, the door will be opened.” Only through persistence and effort can one enter the door to true knowledge.
saying – 格言、ことわざ nature – 本質、性質 aspect – 側面、局面 thought – 考え、思考 spontaneous – 自発的な、自然発生的な reap – 刈り取る、収穫する cart – 荷車 ox – 雄牛 artificial – 人工的な、不自然な rediscover – 再発見する era – 時代 virtuous – 高潔な、徳のある none – どの〜も〜でない uplift – 高揚、向上 lord – 主、主人 agency – 力（内に秘める）circumstance – 状況、環境 being – 存在、人間 patience – 忍耐、我慢 persistence – 粘り強さ、持続性
the sum total – 全体、総計 cause and effect – 原因と結果 most lost moment – 最も迷っている時 seek and find – 探し求めて見つける
※⑦は原文が分かりやすくそのままです。
Thought And Character
①The aphorism, “As a man thinketh in his heart so is he” not only embraces the whole of a man’s being, but is so comprehensive as to reach out to every condition and circumstance of his life. A man is literally what he thinks, his character being the complete sum of all his thoughts.
②As the plant springs from, and could not be without, the seed, so every act of a man springs from the hidden seeds of thought, and could not have appeared without them. This applies equally to those acts called ‘spontaneous’ and ‘unpremeditated’ as to those which are deliberately executed.
③Act is the blossom of thought, and joy and sufferings are its fruits; thus does a man garner in the sweet and bitter fruitage of his own husbandry.
④Thought in the mind hath made us.
What we are
By thought was wrought and built. If a man’s mind
Hath evil thoughts, pain comes on him as comes
The wheel the ox behind … If one endures
In purity of thought, joy follows him
As his own shadow — sure.
⑤Man is made or unmade by himself, in the armory of thought he forges the weapons by which he destroys himself; he also fashions the tools with which he builds for himself heavenly mansions of joy and strength and peace. By the right choice and true application of thought, man ascends to the Divine Perfection; by the abuse and wrong application of thought, he descends below the level of the beast. Between these two extremes are all the grades of character, and man is their maker and master.
⑥Of all the beautiful truths pertaining to the soul which have been restored and brought to light in this age, none is more gladdening or fruitful of divine promise and confidence than this — that man is the master of thought, the moulder of character, and the maker and shaper of condition, environment, and destiny.
⑦As a being of Power, Intelligence, and Love, and the Lord of his own thoughts, man holds the key to every situation, and contains within himself that transforming and regenerative agency by which he may make himself what he wills.
⑧Man is always the master, even in his weakest and most abandoned state; but in his weakness and degradation he is the foolish master who misgoverns his household. When he begins to reflect upon his condition, and to search diligently for the Law upon which his being is established, he then becomes the wise master, directing his energies with intelligence, and fashioning his thoughts to fruitful issues. Such is the conscious master, and man can only thus become by discovering within himself the laws of thought; which discovery is totally a matter of application, self-analysis, and experience.
⑨Only by much searching and mining are gold and diamonds obtained, and man can find every truth connected with his being if he will dig deep into the mine of his soul; and that he is the maker of his character, the moulder of his life, and the builder of his destiny, he may unerringly prove, if he will watch, control, and alter his thoughts, tracing their effects upon himself, upon others, and upon his life and circumstances, linking cause and effect by patient practice and investigation, and utilising his every experience, even to the most trivial, everyday occurrence, as a means of obtaining that knowledge of himself which is Understanding, Wisdom, Power. In this direction, as in no other, is the law absolute that “He that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened”; for only by patience, practice, and ceaseless importunity can a man enter the Door of the Temple of Knowledge.
要約と意義
人間の心で考えることは、その人の人生に反映されます。
「心の中で考えていることは、確実に実現されます」とあるように、私たちの行動や結果は、思考が種となって生まれるのです。
植物が種から花を咲かせるように、人生も原因（思考）があるから結果（成果）が生まれます。この因果関係は自然界と同じく絶対です。
行動は思考の結晶であり、喜びや苦しみは蒔いた種の結果です。
結果を見直せば原因を理解できます。そして、人間は心をコントロールする力を持ちます。心を支配することで環境や状況を変え、運命を方向づけることが可能です。
宝の山で金やダイヤを探すように、自分の内面を掘り下げる努力を通じて価値や真実を見つけられます。
忍耐強く日々の経験から学び、自分の思考をコントロールすることで、本当の幸福や成功が得られるのです。
まとめ
本ブログのポイントは、原文を読みやすい現代英語でリライトした英訳版です。
これをしっかり読み込めば自己啓発の根本である「思考は現実化する」「人は考えた通りの人になる」が理解できるようになります。
その２に続きます。
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