'The problem of life consists in learning how to live. It is like the problem of addition or subtraction to the school-boy. When mastered, all difficulty disappears, and the problem has vanished. All the problems of life, whether they be social, political, or religious, subsist in ignorance and wrong-living. As they are solved in the heart of each individual, they will be solved in the mass of men. Humanity at present is in the painful stage of “learning.” It is confronted with the difficulties of its own ignorance. As men learn to live rightly, learn to direct their forces and use their functions and faculties by the light of wisdom, the sum of life will be correctly done, and its mastery will put an end to all the “problems of evil.” To the wise, all such problems have ceased. '

In this short work, Allen explores the way in which our minds create and interact with our circumstances, travelling from the inner world of thoughts to the final conquest of the spirit. On the way he explores the way in which we create our own futures through the habits we choose, how bodily conditions are no excuse for spiritual weakness, and how true poverty is of the mind, not the circumstances.