I stop my thoughts, movement in my muscles, joints, hands, and eyes".
Since that moment over a century ago, different strands and movements evolved, with some, such as the Word of Faith, or prosperity gospel, drawing on 19th century New Thought movements, and decidedly unorthodox quasi-theology that emphasised the power of positive thinking.
New Urbanism, with its focus on building walkable neighborhoods and reestablishing population density in the urban core and its ability to inspire generations of citizen planners, is among the most successful thought movements of our time.
Together, Kurtz says, they represent "the largest free-thought movement in the history of this country".
These adaptations started with the New Thought movement, founded in the nineteenth century by a Maine clockmaker and hypnotist named Phineas Quimby.
The romanticism and idealism of the 19th century also influenced the New Thought movement, of which Phineas P. Quimby (1802 66) is usually cited as the earliest proponent.
The psychologist William James, who popularized the ideas of the New Thought movement, wrote of the "all-saving power of healthy-minded attitudes".
Fifty years later, the New Thought movement, which the psychologist and philosopher William James called "the religion of the healthy minded," expressed a very similar view: by focusing on positive thoughts and avoiding negative ones, people could banish illness.
The second movement, from 1880 to 1920, included the founding of the Y.M.C.A., the New Thought Movement, which encouraged believers to replace negative thoughts with positive ones, and a new slew of fitness fanatics.
