Annie Besant 
Thought Power Its Control and Culture 

The Introduction may offer some difficulties to the lay reader, and may perhaps be skipped by such at the first reading. It is necessary, however, as a foundation for those who would see the relation of the intellect to the other parts of their nature and to the outer world. And those who would fulfill the maxim Know thyself must not shrink from a little mental exertion, nor must expect mental food to drop ready-cooked from the sky into a lazily opened mouth. If the booklet helps even a few earnest students, and clears some difficulties out of the way, its purpose will have been served. The value of knowledge is tested by its power to purify and ennoble the life, and all earnest students desire to apply the theoretical knowledge acquired in their study of Theosophy to the evolution of their own character and to the helping of their fellow-men.