Ralph Waldo Trine
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Ralph Waldo Trine (October 26, 1866 – November 8, 1958) was an American philosopher, author, and teacher. He wrote many books on the
New Thought movement The New Thought movement (also Higher Thought) is a spiritual movement that coalesced in the United States in the early 19th century. New Thought was seen by its adherents as succeeding "ancient thought", accumulated wisdom and philosophy from ...
. Trine was a close friend of
Henry Ford Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947) was an American industrialist, business magnate, founder of the Ford Motor Company, and chief developer of the assembly line technique of mass production. By creating the first automobile that mi ...
and had several conversations with him about success in life. Trine attended several different colleges and universities. His studies were on writing, journalism, history, and social science. He took up work as a journalist and eventually became an author of many books in philosophy.


Early life

Born September 9, 1866, in
Mount Morris, Illinois Mount Morris is a village in Mt. Morris Township, Ogle County, Illinois, Mount Morris Township, Ogle County, Illinois, Ogle County, Illinois, United States. The population was 2,998 at the 2010 census, down from 3,013 in 2000. Geography Mount Mor ...
, Trine was the son of Samuel G. Trine and Ellen E. Newcomer. He attended
public school Public school may refer to: * State school (known as a public school in many countries), a no-fee school, publicly funded and operated by the government * Public school (United Kingdom), certain elite fee-charging independent schools in England an ...
, and after graduating from high school at the age of 16 he began work as a farmer and lumberjack. Later he worked as a
bank teller A bank teller (often abbreviated to simply teller) is an employee of a bank whose responsibilities include the handling of customer cash and negotiable instruments. In some places, this employee is known as a cashier or customer representative. ...
for a time before going to college.


Education and career

Trine attended the
University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...
in his early twenties and shows in the 1891 yearbook that covered 1889/90 and their alumni magazine of 1900. In his mid twenties he attended Knox College in Illinois and graduated receiving a Master of Arts degree in 1891. He then attended
Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...
studying history, social science, and political science where he concurrently worked as a journalist for the ''
Boston Daily Evening Transcript The ''Boston Evening Transcript'' was a daily afternoon newspaper in Boston, Massachusetts, published from July 24, 1830, to April 30, 1941. Beginnings ''The Transcript'' was founded in 1830 by Henry Dutton and James Wentworth of the firm of D ...
''. Trine earned a large cash prize for an essay he wrote in the late 1800s on how education lowered crime. Trine was both a student and teacher of rhetoric at
Emerson College Emerson College is a private college with its main campus in Boston, Massachusetts. It also maintains campuses in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California and Well, Limburg, Netherlands ( Kasteel Well). Founded in 1880 by Charles Wesley Emerson as a ...
in 1892 where he had an influence on
E. W. Kenyon Essek William Kenyon (1867–1948) was a pastor of the New Covenant Baptist Church and founder and president of Bethel Bible Institute in Spencer, Massachusetts. Biography Kenyon was born on April 25, 1867, in Hadley, New York. At age 17, he ...
, who went on to become the father of the Word of Faith Movement, an Evangelical Christian philosophy. He then moved to
Mount Airy, New York Often referred to as Mt. Airy, this neighborhood is situated immediately south of Furnace Woods and north of Croton, and is partially situated in both unincorporated Cortlandt and the village of Croton-on-Hudson in Westchester County, New York, ...
area where he built a cabin when he was 30 years old in 1896. Situated near a grove of pine trees, the property provided an ideal environment for his writing talents. At this time he met his future wife Grace Hyde an author of poetry and plays. Living in the area for many years, while raising their only child, Robert, they became involved in
metaphysical Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that studies the fundamental nature of reality, the first principles of being, identity and change, space and time, causality, necessity, and possibility. It includes questions about the nature of conscio ...
seminars that were held at
Lake Oscawana Lake Oscawana is a lake at the heart of Putnam Valley, New York State, United States. The lake has a depth that ranges from to at its deepest. The lake is fed by a stream from its north end and it drains out into Oscawana Creek at the middle o ...
. Later they moved to California and continued writing. He liked raising fruit trees as a hobby, which became a labor of love. Trine was influenced by writings of
Emmet Fox Emmet Fox (30 July 1886 – 13 August 1951) was an Irish New Thought spiritual leader of the early 20th century, primarily through years of the Great Depression, until his death in 1951. Fox's large Divine Science church services were held in Ne ...
,
Johann Gottlieb Fichte Johann Gottlieb Fichte (; ; 19 May 1762 – 29 January 1814) was a German philosopher who became a founding figure of the philosophical movement known as German idealism, which developed from the theoretical and ethical writings of Immanuel Kan ...
,
Ralph Waldo Emerson Ralph Waldo Emerson (May 25, 1803April 27, 1882), who went by his middle name Waldo, was an American essayist, lecturer, philosopher, abolitionist, and poet who led the transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century. He was seen as a champ ...
and Henry Drummond. Trine's book ''What All the World's A-Seeking'' amplified on ideas and concepts Drummond brought up originally in his book, ''The Greatest Thing in the World and Other Addresses.'' Trine's primary work, ''In Tune with the Infinite'' was published in 1897. It has been translated into some twenty languages and millions of copies have been sold. It was a favorite of
Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...
and
Janet Gaynor Janet Gaynor (born Laura Augusta Gainor; October 6, 1906 – September 14, 1984) was an American film, stage, and television actress. Gaynor began her career as an extra in shorts and silent films. After signing with Fox Film Corporation (later ...
. Henry Ford attributed his automobile business and financial success to ideas he picked up from Trine's book. He gave away copies of Trine's book to executive industrialists he knew. Ford considered Trine an old friend and had several intimate conversations with him about life and success. He attributed many aspects of his success in life directly to these talks with Trine. A blood-stained copy of ''In Tune with the Infinite'' was found in the pocket of German war poet
August Stramm August Stramm (29 July 1874 – 1 September 1915) was a German war poet and playwright who is considered the first of the expressionists. Stramm's radically experimental verse and his major influence on all subsequent German poetry has caused him ...
after he was killed in action on the Eastern Front during
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. Trine was a philosopher and teacher besides being the author of many books related to the New Thought movement. He was introduced to the movement in the late nineteenth-century and was an advocate in the early twentieth-century of the related ideas. He was one of the first of its representatives to write books on it. His writings had an influence on other religious people including Ernest Holmes, a pioneer of Religious Science. Trine's books of the early twentieth-century on New Thought ideas have promoted and sold more than any other of this genre. The basic principles that Trine wrote about were later published by other self-help authors like Napoleon Hill,
David Schwartz David Schwartz is an American composer, known for his scoring of the music for several television series. He composed most of the songs for ''Arrested Development'', and he returned as the series composer for the fourth season, which debuted on ...
and Brian Tracy.


Personal life

Trine married Grace Steele Hyde in Mohawk, New York, in 1898.Knox College questionnaire filled out by Trine in 1936. It is on file at the college library in Alumni file No. 818. She was a graduate of Curry College in 1897 and wrote poetry and plays. They had one child, Robert, born 1906.In Knox University library file for Ralph Waldo Trine – The Centennial Directory of Knox People (Dec 28, 1936) Trine was involved in social problems related to animals and became director of the American Humane Society and the
Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals The Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals-Angell Animal Medical Center (MSPCA-Angell) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization with its main headquarters on South Huntington Avenue in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Bos ...
. He was a
vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter. Vegetarianism m ...
. He received an honorary Doctorate of Laws degree in 1938.News Release from Knox College dated June 7, 1938 received from their library they have in Alumni file #818 (Trine, Ralph Waldo). American artist
Kathryn Woodman Leighton Kathryn Woodman Leighton (March 17, 1875 − July 1, 1952) was an American artist, based in Los Angeles, California, best known for her Western landscapes and for portraits of Native Americans. Early life and education Kathryn Woodman was born i ...
painted a portrait of Trine in the early 1930s. This painting was given to Knox College by his widow in 1960. A 50th anniversary edition of ''In Tune With The Infinite – Fullness of Peace, Power and Plenty'' was published in 1947. Bobbs-Merrill published a commemorative book ''The Best of Ralph Waldo Trine'' in 1957. Trine and his wife retired to a retirement community for religious professionals in 1955. He died in 1958 in
Claremont, California Claremont () is a suburban city on the eastern edge of Los Angeles County, California, United States, east of downtown Los Angeles. It is in the Pomona Valley, at the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains. As of the 2010 census it had a popul ...
, at the age of 92.


Published works

He wrote more than a dozen books, writing into his 70s. : ''What All the World's A-Seeking'' : ''The Greatest Thing Ever Known'' : ''Character-Building Thought Power'' : ''This Mystical Life of Ours'' : ''Thoughts From the Highway'' : ''In the Hollow of His Hand'' : ''The Higher Powers of Mind & Spirit'' : ''The Wayfarer on the Open Road'' : ''World's Balance Wheel'' : ''Land of Living Men'' : ''Character Building Thought Power'' : ''The New Alignment of Life'' : ''In the Fire of the Heart'' : ''Power That Wins'' (with Henry Ford) :''Thoughts From Trine: An Anthology'' : ''My Philosophy and My Religion'' : ''Through the Sunlit Year'' : ''Winning of the Best'' : ''The Man Who Knew'' : ''In Tune With The Infinite: Fullness of Peace, Power and Plenty'' (1910)


References


Sources

* * * * * * * * * * *


External links

*
Ralph Waldo Trine's Online Library Collection, New Thought Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Trine, Ralph Waldo 1866 births 1958 deaths 19th-century American theologians 19th-century American philosophers 20th-century mystics American political philosophers American spiritual writers American vegetarianism activists Animal welfare workers Emerson College faculty Johns Hopkins University alumni Knox College (Illinois) alumni New Thought writers People associated with the MSPCA-Angell People from Mount Morris, Illinois University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni Writers from Illinois