Overview
Florence Scovel Shinn presents a New Thought approach to life built around affirmations, faith, intuition, forgiveness, and the expectation of positive change.
This title is catalogued in Self-Help & Personal Development. Its reading profile is Short and Easy, with themes including affirmations, faith, prosperity, forgiveness, intuition.
One-Page Summary
Florence Scovel Shinn's The Game of Life and How to Play It presents life as a spiritual game governed by principles that, in her view, can be learned and practiced. She blends biblical language with New Thought ideas about the power of words, imagination, belief, forgiveness, nonresistance, intuition, and the subconscious mind. Shinn argues that people often undermine themselves through fearful expectations and destructive speech, while clearer faith and more deliberate thought can change the direction of their lives. Her famous “game” metaphor turns spiritual law into something practical: give, receive; refuse to obsess over appearances; speak carefully; release resentment; and trust a deeper order rather than trying to control every outcome.
The book is filled with brief stories and illustrative cases rather than a systematic philosophical argument. That makes it easy to read but also means that its claims are best understood as part of the New Thought tradition rather than as scientific explanations of how reality works. What remains striking is its confidence in language and attention as forces that shape experience. It invites the reader to watch what they repeatedly say, imagine, expect, and fear—and then ask what kind of life those habits are rehearsing.
Key Themes
Affirmations: This title is tagged with affirmations as one of its main themes.
Faith: This title is tagged with faith as one of its main themes.
Prosperity: This title is tagged with prosperity as one of its main themes.
Forgiveness: This title is tagged with forgiveness as one of its main themes.
Intuition: This title is tagged with intuition as one of its main themes.
Self help: This title is tagged with self help as one of its main themes.