Attitude of Platitude

<p>The famous coinages of inspirational giant Christian D. Larson (1874-1962) appear everywhere: &ldquo;be all you can be;&rdquo; &ldquo;attitude of gratitude;&rdquo; &ldquo;live the simple life;&rdquo; &ldquo;make yourself over;&rdquo; and &ldquo;live in the present.&rdquo;</p> <p>Today&rsquo;s culture would sound differently without the influence of the twentieth-century motivational icon.</p> <p>While displaying a serene demeanor and relentlessly upbeat tone, however, Larson pursued a dual existence as both a visionary author who shaped the language of self-help and a sharp-elbowed businessman who violated ethical boundaries in his publishing empire.</p> <p><img alt="" src="https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:606/1*OBEZ1yGxkaQf4LJhIYs-4Q.png" style="height:736px; width:606px" /></p> <p>Rare image of Larson.</p> <p>Born to Norwegian immigrant parents in the near-wilderness of northern Iowa in 1874, Larson had planned on a career as a Lutheran minister. But after a year at a Lutheran seminary in Minneapolis in 1894, he grew interested in Unitarianism, Transcendentalism, and the new mind-power philosophies sweeping the Western world, particularly following an experience of &ldquo;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmic_Consciousness" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">cosmic consciousness</a>&rdquo; &mdash; the state of inner awareness and elevated perspective described by Richard Maurice Bucke (1837&ndash;1902) and William James (1842&ndash;1910). In 1898 Larson moved to Cincinnati, where he began writing and publishing New Thought tracts &mdash; the umbrella term for the nation&rsquo;s positive-mind theologies &mdash; and quickly burgeoned into one of the field&rsquo;s most prolific and dynamic voices.</p> <p><a href="https://mitch-horowitz-nyc.medium.com/attitude-of-platitude-1df587cb0578"><strong>Read More</strong></a></p>