Prentice Mulford

Born in Sag Harbor, New York, in 1834, Prentice Mulford led an unusually wide-ranging life before becoming known as an author. He went to sea, traveled to California during the gold-rush era, and later drew on those experiences in lively writing about life on land and at sea.

Mulford became known first as a literary humorist and lecturer, and later as an early voice in the New Thought movement. His essays and books, especially Your Forces and How to Use Them, explored the power of thought, personal discipline, and spiritual independence in a way that influenced later self-help and metaphysical writing.

He died in 1891, but his work continued to circulate long afterward. Readers still return to him for his mix of practical encouragement, curious philosophy, and the sense that he was always trying to test big ideas against real experience.