William Walker Atkinson

William Walker Atkinson (1862–1932) was an American writer associated with New Thought and early self-development literature. Thought-Culture; or, Practical Mental Training, published in 1909, discusses attention, observation, memory, imagination and reasoning, with exercises intended to develop these faculties. His writing reflects early twentieth-century ideas about intellectual ability and mental habits, offering material for studying the history of self-help and its connections with American spiritual and philosophical movements.