English Art/Literary Philosophy

Hello everyone,

We often hear people spoken of as idealists. The fact is we are all idealists to a certain extent, and upon the ideals we picture depends our ultimate success. You must have the mental image if you are to produce the material thing. Everything is first created in the mind. When you control your thoughts you become a creator. You receive divine ideas and shape them to your individual needs. All things of this world **are to you just what you think they are**. Your happiness and success depend upon your ideals

You are responsible for every condition you go through, either consciously or unconsciously. The next step you take determines the succeeding step. Remember this; it is a valuable lesson. By concentrating on each step as you go along, you can save a lot of waste steps and will be able to choose a straight path instead of a roundabout road.

Concentrate Upon Your Ideals and They Will Become Material Actualities. Through concentration we work out our ideals in physical life. Your future depends upon the ideals you are forming now. Your past ideals are determining your present. Therefore, if you want a bright future, you must begin to prepare for it today.

What does the phrase in question mean:

1. that we create the surrounding world by our thinking?
2. that by our perception of the surrounding world we determine if it will good or bad, etc (in other words, something is good because we think that it is good and something is bad simply because we think it is bad)?

Thank you.