The Power of Positive Thinking Peale's work in an article in "The Nation" dated May 7, 1955. He compares Peale's message in "The Power of Positive Thinking" to that of hypnosis, writing that "self knowledge, in Mr. Peale's understanding, is unequivocally bad; self hypnosis is good." Murphy explains that such repeated hypnosis defeats an individual's self-motivation, sense of reality, and ability to think critically. He describes Peale's understanding of the mind as inaccurate and his description of the workings of the mind as deceptively simplistic and false. Murphy states that if man's unconscious “can be conceptualized merely as a container for a small number of
The Power of Positive Thinking picture yourself as succeeding, think a positive thought to drown out a negative thought, minimize obstacles, do not attempt to copy others, repeat “If God be for us, who can be against us?” ten times every day, work with a counselor, repeat “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” ten times every day, develop a strong self-respect, affirm that you are in God's hands, and believe that you receive power from God. The next chapter describes the importance of creating a peaceful mind, which can be done through inspirational reading, clearing one's mind, or visualization. Peale continues