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As a man thinketh...

By
Services for Real Estate Pros with Holzmann & Associates

I was continuing to work on developing the new habit of reading this morning and came across a passage that included the famous phrase above... well, not exactly.  But I believe it's the passage from which the phrase above was derived.

The actual phrase I came across read, "For as he thinks within himself, so he is," which in olde english is rendered, "For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he."

Sound pretty close?  I thought so.

I remembered that phrase as a famous self-improvement phrase.  The idea tied with it was something along the lines of "If you think long enough and hard enough about something or in a particular way, you will get that thing or attain that state of being."  It was described as a way to move from surface, forced thoughts to self-actualization.

But the strange thing was that in context it was saying something very different.  Almost the opposite.

What is the context?  Here's the full passage, first in olde english, then in a few modern translations.  (I should probably note, this was originally written thousands of years ago, in Hebrew and only relatively recently (a few hundred years ago) translated into English.)

Olde English:

Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, 
         neither desire thou his dainty meats:
For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he:
         Eat and drink, saith he to thee;
         but his heart is not with thee.
The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up,
         and lose thy sweet words.

Modern word-by-word translation:

Do not eat the bread of a selfish man,
         Or desire his delicacies; 
For as he thinks within himself, so he is.
         He says to you, "Eat and drink!"
         But his heart is not with you. 
You will vomit up the morsel you have eaten,
         And waste your compliments.

Modern phrase-by-phrase translation:

Do not eat the food of a stingy man,
       do not crave his delicacies;
for he is the kind of man
       who is always thinking about the cost. 
       "Eat and drink," he says to you,
       but his heart is not with you.
You will vomit up the little you have eaten
       and will have wasted your compliments.

Modern paraphrase:

Don't accept a meal from a tightwad;
   don't expect anything special.
He'll be as stingy with you as he is with himself;
   he'll say, "Eat! Drink!" but won't mean a word of it.
His miserly serving will turn your stomach
   when you realize the meal's a sham.

My take on this: Our thoughts will betray who we really are, and who we really are will be demonstrated (sooner or later) by our actions and/or the final results.

The point of this passage isn't to tell us to think happy or prosperous thoughts and thereby become happy or prosperous.  No, the point is to tell us to be careful who we associate closely with because their character will affect us.

And I take this as more encouragement to be careful who I look to for guidance.  If the one giving to me is "evil" or "selfish" or "stingy" or "a tightwad," I will later live to regret their "gifts."

Comments (2)

Don Draughn - Mortgage Professional
High Point, NC
Matthew 12:24 tells us that "out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks."  Who and what we really are will manifest itself in out daily conversation and lives.
Feb 24, 2008 11:51 PM
David Holzmann
Holzmann & Associates - Mountain View, CA
Great quote, Don.  You're absolutely right.  Thank you!
Feb 25, 2008 04:31 AM