In Tune with the InfiniteTheosophy / New ThoughtMystical / EsotericEnglishShareIn Tune with the Infinite 17Project Gutenberg #23559 - EnglishMoreVersion - 1 availableProject Gutenberg #23559LanguageEnglishEspañol‹In Tune with the Infinite 2In Tune with the Infinite 17In Tune with the Infinite 18In Tune with the Infinite 19In Tune with the Infinite 20In Tune with the Infinite 21In Tune with the Infinite 22In Tune with the Infinite 23In Tune with the Infinite 24In Tune with the Infinite 25In Tune with the Infinite 26In Tune with the Infinite 27In Tune with the Infinite 28In Tune with the Infinite 29›Prelude.In Tune with the Infinite 17ListenPlay this chapter in spoken English.Save chapterListen to chapter1The optimist is right. The pessimist is right. The one differs from the other as the light from the dark. Yet both are right. Each is right from his own particular point of view, and this point of view is the determining factor in the life of each. It determines as to whether it is a life of power or of impotence, of peace or of pain, of success or of failure. 2The optimist has the power of seeing things in their entirety and in their right relations. The pessimist looks from a limited and a one-sided point of view. The one has his understanding illumined by wisdom, the understanding of the other is darkened by ignorance. Each is building his world from within, and the result of the building is determined by the point of view of each. The optimist, by his superior wisdom and insight, is making his own heaven, and in the degree that he makes his own heaven is he helping to make one for all the world beside. The pessimist, by virtue of his limitations, is making his own hell, and in the degree that he makes his own hell is he helping to make one for all mankind. 3You and I have the predominating characteristics of an optimist or the predominating characteristics of a pessimist. We then are making, hour by hour, our own heaven or our own hell; and in the degree that we are making the one or the other for ourselves are we helping make it for all the world beside. 4The word heaven means harmony. The word hell is from the old English hell, meaning to build a wall around, to separate; to be helled was to be shut off from. Now if there is such a thing as harmony there must be that something one can be in right relations with; for to be in right relations with anything is to be in harmony with it. Again, if there is such a thing as being helled, shut off, separated from, there must be that something from which one is held, shut off, or separated. ‹Previous chapterIn Tune with the Infinite 2Next chapterIn Tune with the Infinite 18›Similar passagesBy tradition and source labelFind similarCompare selectedCompare with similarAsk Deep ThoughtSelect passages to search for parallels.Tap any verse to select it, then compare selected passages or ask Deep Thought. Public domain in the USA