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The Power of Your Subconscious Mind by Joseph Murphy Review: A Foundational Classic in Self-Help
First published in 1963, Joseph Murphy's The Power of Your Subconscious Mind is an international bestseller and a foundational text in the personal development genre, arguing that the subconscious mind is a creative, neutral force that executes commands given to it by the conscious mind through belief and feeling — a premise it supports with real-life anecdotes and practical techniques designed to help readers improve their health, finances, and relationships.
LuvemBooks Verdict
Best for
Readers already drawn to the New Thought tradition — or to classics like Think and Grow Rich — who want a structured, technique-oriented guide to harnessing the subconscious mind across health, finances, relationships, and fear.
Worth it if
You're willing to engage Murphy's blended psychological and metaphysical framework on its own philosophical terms and are looking for actionable techniques rather than empirically grounded habit science.
Skip if
You prefer clinically or neuroscience-backed approaches to behaviour change, or are likely to be put off by religious framing, metaphysical claims, and mid-twentieth-century cultural assumptions that the Wilder Publications edition leaves uncontextualised.
What readers & critics say
Readtm.com notes the book's strength lies in its accessible explanation of abstract concepts, making it "a gateway for many into self-directed manifestation," while flagging a lack of empirical scientific backing as a key limitation. Butler-bowdon.com observes the book is simply written and tries to be free of culture or religion, though it is slightly repetitive — a quality that mirrors its own theory of subconscious programming.
Sources: readtm.com, butler-bowdon.com4.7from 7,281 Amazon ratings— reader ratings, not a LuvemBooks score
Look inside the book
Preview the actual pages, via Google BooksIn This Review
- What Works & What Doesn't
- What the Book Actually Is and Argues
- Significance and Place in the Genre
- Core Strengths: Scope and Practical Structure
- Genuine Limitations and Points of Friction
- Who This Book Is Genuinely For
What Works & What Doesn't
What Works
- An international bestseller with decades of sustained readership, attesting to its broad and lasting appeal
- Covers a wide range of life domains — health, finances, relationships, and overcoming fear — within a single structured framework
- Pairs theoretical explanation of how the conscious and subconscious minds interact with practical, real-life case studies and applicable techniques
- Bundled with Murphy's companion work How to Attract Money, extending the volume's scope
- Written in a direct, accessible voice shaped by Murphy's long career as a popular public lecturer
What Doesn't
- Murphy's framework blends psychological and metaphysical/religious language in ways that readers seeking a secular or science-based approach may find unconvincing
- At over sixty years old from its original 1963 publication, some examples and cultural assumptions reflect mid-twentieth-century attitudes that contemporary readers may find dated
A book that has sold in the millions and remained in print across decades, The Power of Your Subconscious Mind endures as one of the most widely read works in the self-help canon.
What the Book Actually Is and Argues
The Power of Your Subconscious Mind by Joseph Murphy front cover
The Power of Your Subconscious Mind is a self-help work rooted in the New Thought tradition. Its central thesis, as the record of the book's content makes clear, is that the subconscious mind is a powerful, neutral force that responds to the thoughts and beliefs fed to it by the conscious mind — and that by deliberately directing those thoughts, readers can produce real changes in their lives. Murphy frames the conscious mind as the seat of decision-making and the subconscious as the seat of emotion, habit, and creative execution. Chapter 1 presents the subconscious as a "treasure" within everyone, offering wisdom, power, and healing. Chapter 2 develops the relationship between the two mental layers, explaining that conscious thoughts sink into the subconscious, which then acts on them without distinguishing between positive and negative inputs. The practical upshot, as Murphy states in the book's own voice, is an urgent invitation: the text includes the direct address, "I urge you to study this book and apply the techniques outlined therein; and as you do, I feel absolutely convinced that you will lay hold of a miracle-working power."
Significance and Place in the Genre
Joseph Murphy (1898–1981) was a prolific New Thought minister and writer, a native of Ireland who resettled in America and lectured widely across both American coasts and in Europe, Asia, and South Africa. When the book first appeared in 1963, it entered a self-help landscape already shaped by works like Napoleon Hill's Think and Grow Rich, but Murphy's focus on the mechanics of the subconscious gave it a distinct identity. It has since become an international bestseller and is described by one analysis source as a foundational text in the personal development genre. The edition under review, published by Wilder Publications, also bundles Murphy's companion work How to Attract Money, making it a two-in-one volume that reflects the breadth of his thinking on auto-suggestion and metaphysical self-improvement.
Core Strengths: Scope and Practical Structure
The book is designed to be both explanatory and actionable. It covers a wide range of life domains — money, relationships, physical well-being, and overcoming fear — and pairs its theoretical framework with real-life case studies and step-by-step techniques intended to be applied by readers directly. The structure moves from foundational concepts (how the two minds interact) outward to specific applications, giving readers a clear progression rather than a collection of loosely related advice. The inclusion of How to Attract Money as a bonus work extends the volume's practical reach. Murphy's background as a popular lecturer is evident in the book's direct, conversational address to the reader, which has contributed to its accessibility across generations and cultures.
Genuine Limitations and Points of Friction
Readers approaching the text from a scientific or secular standpoint will encounter friction. Murphy's framework blends psychological concepts with religious and metaphysical language — including prayer as a mechanism for engaging the subconscious — and the two are not always cleanly separated. Some reader commentary notes agreement with the general principle that positive thinking and conviction can benefit mood and health, while finding the theological framing less persuasive on its own terms. Additionally, the book is now more than sixty years old at its original copyright, and certain examples, cultural references, and assumptions reflect mid-twentieth-century attitudes that contemporary readers may find dated. The Wilder Publications edition reviewed here does not appear to include updated commentary or scholarly apparatus to contextualize those passages.
Who This Book Is Genuinely For
The Power of Your Subconscious Mind is best suited to readers who are open to the New Thought tradition and its premise that mental and spiritual discipline can reshape material circumstances. It has demonstrated broad, sustained appeal — the web of editions, translations, and millions of copies sold attests to that — but it rewards readers who are willing to engage its framework on its own philosophical terms. Those seeking clinically grounded or neuroscience-based approaches to habit and behavior change will find the methodology here more metaphysical than empirical. For readers already drawn to works like Think and Grow Rich or The Master Key System, however, Murphy's text occupies a natural place on the same shelf, offering a focused, technique-oriented companion to the wider canon of motivational classics.
Frequently Asked Questions
is The Power of Your Subconscious Mind by Joseph Murphy worth reading
It depends heavily on your openness to the New Thought tradition — the review is clear that the book rewards readers willing to engage its framework on its own philosophical terms, not as a clinically grounded or neuroscience-based guide. If you're already drawn to works like Think and Grow Rich or The Master Key System, Murphy's text is described as a natural companion on the same shelf, offering a focused, technique-oriented approach. Skeptics of metaphysical or religious framing will likely hit friction.
What is this book actually about
The book's central argument is that the subconscious mind is a powerful, neutral force that responds to the thoughts and beliefs fed to it by the conscious mind — and that deliberately directing those thoughts can produce real changes in health, finances, and relationships. Murphy frames the conscious mind as the seat of decision-making and the subconscious as the seat of emotion, habit, and creative execution. The structure moves from foundational concepts outward to specific, actionable techniques across multiple life domains.
Does this book actually work
The review notes that some readers agree with the general principle that positive thinking and conviction can benefit mood and health, while finding the theological framing less persuasive on its own terms. Murphy's methods blend psychological concepts with religious and metaphysical language — including prayer as a mechanism for engaging the subconscious — so whether it "works" depends a lot on how comfortable you are with that mix. It isn't an empirical or evidence-based system.
Is this book too outdated to bother with
The book was first published in 1963, and the review flags that certain examples, cultural references, and assumptions reflect mid-twentieth-century attitudes that contemporary readers may find dated. The Wilder Publications edition reviewed doesn't include updated commentary or scholarly apparatus to contextualize those passages. That said, the book has remained in print across decades and sold millions of copies, suggesting its core framework still resonates for many readers despite its age.
Is this book good for people who aren't religious
The review is honest that Murphy's framework blends psychological concepts with religious and metaphysical language — including prayer — and the two are not always cleanly separated, which creates friction for readers approaching from a scientific or secular standpoint. You don't have to be religious to get something from it, but you do need to be open to New Thought ideas about mental and spiritual discipline reshaping material circumstances. Purely secular readers seeking habit science will likely find the methodology more metaphysical than empirical.
Is this book similar to Think and Grow Rich
Yes, the review explicitly places them in the same tradition — when Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill was already shaping the self-help landscape in 1963, Murphy's book entered it with a distinct identity focused on the mechanics of the subconscious. The review recommends Murphy's text as a natural companion for readers already drawn to Think and Grow Rich or The Master Key System. Both share the New Thought premise that disciplined thinking can reshape material outcomes.
What do you get in this book wilder publications edition
The Wilder Publications edition is a two-in-one volume that bundles Murphy's main text with his companion work How to Attract Money, extending the book's practical reach into auto-suggestion and metaphysical self-improvement. The review notes this makes for a broader look at Murphy's thinking across related themes. However, the edition does not appear to include updated commentary or scholarly apparatus to contextualize the book's more dated passages.
Sources & Further Reading
The key facts and claims in this review are grounded in the retrieved, verified sources listed below.
- Cited in this review
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- Further reading
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Joseph Murphy, Wikipedia
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web.iitd.ac.in
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