Norman Vincent Peale Positive Thinking · Updated & Direct

However, Peale is less reliable as a complete spiritual or ethical system. To face the full spectrum of human existence—grief, injustice, absurdity, and moral failure—one needs more than optimism. One needs lament, solidarity, tragedy, and grace. The wise reader will take Peale for what he is: a master technician of the everyday will. Use his tools to climb your personal hills, but look to deeper wells when you find yourself in the valleys. The power of positive thinking is real, but it is not, by itself, enough.