Marden Orison Swett

Orison Swett Marden (1850 - 1924) was an American writer associated with the New Thought Movement. He also held a degree in medicine, and was a successful hotel owner. Marden was born in Thornton Gore, New Hampshire to Lewis and Martha Marden. When he was three years old, his mother died at the age of 22, leaving Orison and his two sisters in the care of their father, a farmer, hunter, and trapper. When Orison was seven years old, his father died from injuries incurred while in the wood, and the children were shuttled from one guardian to another, with Orison working as a "hired boy" to earn his keep. Inspired by an early self-help book by the Scottish author Samuel Smiles, which he found in an attic, Marden set out to improve himself and his life circumstances. He persevered in advancing himself and graduated from Boston University in 1871. He later graduated from Harvard with an M.D. in 1881 and an LL.B. degree in 1882. He also studied at the Boston School of Oratory and Andover Theological Seminary. Marden supported himself during his college years by working in a hotel and afterward by becoming the owner of several hotels and a resort. Financial reverses ended that career, and in 1893, he was again working as a hotel manager, in Chicago, during the time that the World's Columbian Exposition was attracting visitors to that city from all over the world. It was during this period that he began to write down his philosophical ideas, with the goal of inspiring others as he had been inspired by Samuel Smiles. In addition to Smiles, Marden cited as influences on his thinking the works of Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. and Ralph Waldo Emerson, both of whom were influential forerunners of what, by the 1890s, was called the New Thought Movement. Marden's first book, Pushing to the Front, was published in 1894. He followed this with several more volumes on the subjects of success, the cultivation of will-power, and positive thinking. He founded Success Magazine in 1897 and was also a regular contributor to Elizabeth Towne's New Thought magazine Nautilus during the first two decades of the 20th century. Like many proponents of the New Thought philosophy, Marden believed that our thoughts influence our lives and our life circumstances. He said, "We make the world we live in and shape our own environment."[1] Yet although he is best known for his books on financial success, he always emphasized that this would come as a result of cultivating one's personal development: "The golden opportunity you are seeking is in yourself. It is not in your environment; it is not in luck or chance, or the help of others; it is in yourself alone." [2] Marden died in 1924 at the age of 74. [3]

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Books written by Marden Orison Swett

An Iron Will

Author: Marden Orison Swett
Genre: Motivational

One of the representatives of the New Thought Movement was an American author Orison Swett Marden (1850-1924). He was not only a writer but also a doctor and a prosperous hotel owner. When being a student, he worked in a hotel and then purchased several hotels and a resort. He had some financial problems and had to give up this job. In 1893 he started working again and gained a position of a hotel manager in Chicago. It was at the time when many tourists from all over the world used to come to Chicago to see the World's Columbian Exposition. At that period of time he started to note his philosophical ideas as he wanted to inspire others like Samuel Smile gave inspiration to him. In 1894 Pushing to the Front, Marden's first novel appeared. His next several books were devoted to the questions of success, will-power and positive thinking. In 1897 Swett Marden started Success Magazine and for the next 23 years he wrote regularly for Elizabeth Towne's New Thought magazine Nautilus.