Two great general public domain book sites are:

Project Gutenberg: http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page

and

The Online Books Page: http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/

One of my favourite books is As A Man Thinketh, by James Allen, published in 1902.

“Man 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.”
http://www.soilandhealth.org/03sov/0304spiritpsych/030405thinketh/030405thinketh.toc.html

I get from this book the same sense of personal power (and personal responsibility) that I believe Jesus taught about in such lessons as:

“I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” Matthew 17:20

I believe we were created in God’s image, and that that means we were created to be mini-Creators, and that we create by power of thought (faith). The faith is not faith in God, per se, but faith that God has given US the power to do anything, if we only believe.

I credit Allen’s book as the inspiration for my being able to eliminate illness entirely from my life. I just don’t believe in it now for me, and it just doesn’t ever materialize. Good word that ‘materialize’, think about what it means and implies.

Another good source of books is the Soil and Health Library site.
http://www.soilandhealth.org/

Especially the social criticism of Ralph Borsodi and the books on living in peace by Annie Payson Call (written at the beginning of the 20th Century, and sometimes for “ladies’ journals”, but still full of wisdom).

“So universal is the habit of blaming circumstances or other people for the troubles of our own lives that I know a strong assertion of the fact that the source of all trouble lies entirely within ourselves will meet with contradiction and resentment from many readers. It takes courage to look to one’s self entirely for pain which seems to be caused by others, but if once we do it, and are thoroughly clean-cut about it in every thought and word and action, the release from bondage seems almost miraculous.” Preface, How To Live Quietly.

From her books, one thing I learned is that to attempt to control another human being, in any way, is tantamount to converting that person into an animal in your mind. The liberation from the need or desire to control others that comes with that realisation is pure joy.

Will definitely check them out. I just read “The Dip” on your last recommendation. For myself, the tone of the boo didn’t completely mesh, but I did pick up a lot on realizing I need to push myself harder. to gain more rewards. When I weight lift, I never looked forward to the end of the set, but now I’m going to try to reverse my outlook to anticipate and push through the end of the set.

not completely related, but here’s a great video i found that has also been inspirational to me:

8 keys to greatness is amazing as well!

have a happy thanksgiving

brad