Christian D. Larson

Christian Daa Larson (1874–1954) was an American New Thought leader, teacher, and prolific author of metaphysical and New Thought books. Born near Forrest City, Iowa, and of Norwegian descent, he came of age during a period when American religious and philosophical circles were giving new attention to mind, healing, optimism, and the power of thought. Horatio Dresser credited him as one of the founders of the New Thought movement, and Larson’s books remained in print more than a century after their first publication.

Larson’s education helped shape the direction of his work. He attended Iowa State College and Meadville Theological School, a Unitarian theological school in Meadville, Pennsylvania. In his early twenties he became interested in the Mental Science teachings of Helen Wilmans, Henry Wood, Charles Brodie Patterson, and others. Those influences placed him among writers and teachers who explored the relation between thought, health, character, success, and spiritual life.

In 1898 Larson moved to Cincinnati, Ohio. In January 1901, he organized the New Thought Temple at his home at 947 West 17th Street. That same year, in September, he began publishing Eternal Progress, which became, for several years, one of the leading New Thought periodicals and reached a circulation of more than a quarter of a million. At the same time, he began the book-writing career for which he became widely associated with the movement.

His books included The Great Within and Mastery of Fate in 1907, How To Stay Young and On the Heights in 1908, The Ideal Made Real or Applied Metaphysics for Beginners in 1909, and Your Forces and How to Use Them in 1910. In 1912 alone he published titles such as Business Psychology, Mastery of Self, The Mind Cure, Thinking for Results, What is Truth, and How the mind works. His later works included The Pathway of Roses, Nothing Succeeds Like Success, Healing Yourself, and Concentration.

Around 1911 Larson moved to Los Angeles, California. He married Georgea L. DuBois on February 14, 1918, and they had two children, Louise DuBois Larson and Christian D. Larson Jr. The family lived in Beverly Hills for many years. Larson later became honorary president of the International New Thought Alliance and lectured widely during the 1920s and 1930s. In 1918 he joined Science of Mind Magazine as an associate editor and frequent contributor, and he served on the permanent faculty of Ernest Holmes’ Institute of Religious Science.

Larson’s influence reached other New Thought figures, including Religious Science founder Ernest Holmes. Fenwicke Holmes wrote that Larson’s thought strongly affected Ernest Holmes, ranking The Ideal Made Real with Ralph Waldo Trine’s In Tune with the Infinite in its influence on him. Larson also wrote a 1912 poem that later became the Optimist Creed, adopted in 1922 by Optimist International. His words still appeal to readers because they are direct, hopeful, and built around a simple claim: that disciplined thought can shape a person’s inner life and outward action.