Your Forces And How To Use Them; Volume 4 by Prentice Mulford

Prentice Mulford (5 April 1834 – 27 May 1891) was a well-known California author and literary humorist. He also aided in the founding of the New Thought movement. He was also the one who coined the phrase Law of Attraction. Mulford was born in Sag Harbor, New York, and moved to California in 1856, spending the following 16 years there. Mulford spent several years in mining communities at this time, hoping to strike it rich in gold, copper, or silver.

Mulford ran for a seat in the California State Assembly in Sacramento after leaving the mining industry. Although being nominated, he was ultimately defeated in the election. He returned to San Francisco and began writing for The Golden Age, a weekly newspaper. Mulford worked as a writer and editor for numerous newspapers for five years and was dubbed a Bohemian by many San Franciscans due to his contempt for money.

Poverty, according to Mulford's memoirs (Prentice Mulford's Tale 130), pushed for us having more brains. He became well-known for his witty writing style and detailed descriptions of both mining and sea life. Mulford returned to New York City in 1872, where he rose to prominence as a comedic lecturer, poet, and essayist, as well as a columnist for [The New York Daily Graphic] from 1875 to 1881. Mulford, along with other important writers such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, was instrumental in the founding of the popular philosophy known as New Thought.

Thoughts are Things, Mulford's book, acted as a guide to this new belief system and is still popular today.