People, Ideas, and Movements That Shaped New Thought
Biographies and contributions of key individuals in New Thought.
Emma Curtis Hopkins, a mystic, feminist, and healer, shaped the New Thought movement as its founder and ‘teacher of teachers,’ mentoring the founders of Unity, Religious Science, and other metaphysical traditions.
Warren Felt Evans (1817–1889) was the first author of the New Thought movement, a former Methodist minister turned Swedenborgian who became a pioneer of mental healing. His spiritual journey and published works shaped the intellectual foundations of mind cure and influenced later New Thought leaders like Charles Fillmore.
Phineas Parkhurst Quimby (1802–1866) was an American folk healer and mesmerist whose ideas about the mental origins of illness laid the groundwork for the New Thought movement. His influence reached Mary Baker Eddy, Emma Curtis Hopkins, and countless others, making him a pivotal figure in metaphysical spirituality.