Editor's entry
~1 min readFlorence Scovel Shinn's 1925 New Thought primer treats life as a game governed by spiritual laws — particularly the law of attraction and the affirmation of spoken word — and teaches readers to use vivid mental images and short verbal formulas to alter outer circumstances. The prose is colloquial and example-driven, drawn from her practice as a metaphysical teacher in New York between the wars.
One of the foundational texts of the New Thought movement, the book circulates as a primary source in prosperity-spirituality and Law of Attraction reading. Louise Hay and the modern affirmation industry trace direct lineage through her short prose works. Critics inside and outside academic religion have flagged the same issue every generation: the framework offers no accountability for affirmations that don't materialise, and the case studies are unverifiable anecdotes from her own practice.
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First lines
opening of the bookMost people consider life a battle, but it is not a battle, it is a game. It is a game, however, which cannot be played successfully without the knowledge of spiritual law, and the Old and the New Testaments give the rules of the game with wonderful clearness.
Contents
10 chapters- The Game
- The Law of Prosperity
- The Power of the Word
- The Law of Nonresistance
- The Law of Karma and the Law of Forgiveness
- Casting the Burden — Impressing the Subconscious
- Love
- Intuition or Guidance
- Perfect Self-Expression or the Divine Design
- Denials and Affirmations
Reception
editor-collectedOne of the foundational texts of the New Thought movement and a continuous-print classic for a hundred years; her short books circulate inside prosperity-spirituality and Law of Attraction circles as primary sources. Louise Hay and the modern affirmation industry trace lineage directly through her. Critics inside and outside academic religion have flagged the same issue every generation: the framework offers no accountability for affirmations that don't materialise, and the case studies are unverifiable anecdotes from her own practice.
Index reception note
Frequently asked
3 questions- What is The Game of Life and How to Play It about?
- A short 1925 New Thought primer arguing that outer circumstances respond to the spoken word and to vivid mental images. The ten chapters move from "The Game" and "The Law of Prosperity" through forgiveness, love, intuition and the divine design, closing with sample denials and affirmations.
- How did Florence Scovel Shinn influence later authors?
- She is one of the direct sources of the twentieth-century affirmation tradition. Louise Hay credited Shinn as an influence, and her short prose books continue to circulate inside prosperity-spirituality and Law of Attraction reading as primary New Thought texts.
- Is the book in the public domain?
- Yes — the original 1925 L.N. Fowler edition entered the public domain decades ago and is freely available in full on the Internet Archive. Modern reprints exist from many publishers; the text itself is unchanged.
Catalogue record
- Author
- Florence Scovel Shinn
- Title
- The Game of Life and How to Play It
- Publisher
- L.N. Fowler & Co
- Year
- 1 January 1925
- Pages
- not yet recorded
- Language
- English
- ISBN
- 9781571747228
- Shelf
- New Thought · Consciousness · Awakening
Availability
By the same author
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