Today’s Teacher: Edward Earle Purinton (1878 – 1942)
The Teaching
“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company… a church… a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past… we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude… I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you… we are in charge of our attitudes.”
— Often attributed to Charles Swindoll, but originally from Edward Earle Purinton’s work in the 1920s-1930s
Who Was Edward Earle Purinton?
Edward Earle Purinton was an American efficiency expert, motivational writer, and early pioneer of what we now call personal development. Writing primarily in the 1920s and 1930s, he contributed to magazines focused on business efficiency, character development, and success principles during the boom years before the Great Depression.
Purinton wasn’t a household name like Dale Carnegie or Napoleon Hill, and his work has been largely forgotten—or in some cases, misattributed to others (the quote above is often credited to pastor Charles Swindoll, but appears in Purinton’s earlier writings). He worked during an era of tremendous American optimism and industrial expansion, writing about efficiency, personal mastery, and the power of mental attitude.
What made Purinton’s work distinctive was his emphasis on attitude as the primary lever of control in life—not your circumstances, not your talents, not your resources, but your chosen response to everything that happens to you.
Writing during a time when many Americans faced genuine hardship—economic uncertainty, rapid social change, world war—Purinton insisted that the one thing that remains entirely within your control, regardless of external conditions, is your attitude.
Understanding the Wisdom
The 10/90 Principle
“Life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it.”
This is a radical claim. It says that the events themselves—what actually happens to you—matter far less than your interpretation of and response to those events.
The 10%: External events, circumstances, what others do, accidents, losses, opportunities, luck—all the things you cannot control.
The 90%: Your attitude, your interpretation, your response, your choices about what it means and what you’ll do—everything you CAN control.
This doesn’t mean:
- External events don’t matter
- Injustice is okay because you can choose your attitude
- Circumstances don’t affect outcomes
- You can attitude-adjust your way out of real problems
It means: Your power lies not in controlling what happens, but in controlling your response. And your response—your attitude—has far more impact on your life quality and outcomes than the events themselves.
More Important Than Everything Else
Purinton makes an extraordinary claim: attitude is more important than:
Facts – The objective reality matters less than your interpretation of it The past – What happened matters less than what you do with it Education – Knowledge matters less than mindset Money – Resources matter less than resourcefulness Circumstances – Your situation matters less than your response to it Failures – Past defeats matter less than present determination Successes – Past victories matter less than current attitude Other people’s opinions – What they think matters less than what you think Appearance – How you look matters less than how you approach life Giftedness – Natural talent matters less than chosen attitude Skill – Developed ability matters less than mental approach
This is almost offensive to modern sensibilities. We want to believe circumstances matter most. That education, money, and talent determine outcomes. That we’re victims of facts.
Purinton says: All those things matter. But attitude matters more.
“We Have a Choice Every Day”
This is the crucial insight: Attitude is not something that happens to you. It’s something you choose.
Every morning, you face a decision:
- Will I approach today with openness or defensiveness?
- Will I look for possibilities or problems?
- Will I respond to difficulty with resilience or resignation?
- Will I interpret setbacks as feedback or as proof I should quit?
- Will I focus on what I can control or what I cannot?
These are choices, not reflexes.
Most people experience attitude as something that happens to them: “I’m in a bad mood.” “I feel negative today.” “My attitude is poor right now.”
Purinton reframes it: Your attitude is your choice. Not always easy. Not always automatic. But always a choice.
“The Only String We Have”
“We cannot change our past… we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude.”
This is both liberating and demanding.
Liberating because: You can stop exhausting yourself trying to control the uncontrollable. Stop trying to change the past, fix other people, or prevent the inevitable.
Demanding because: You have no excuses. If the one thing you control is your attitude, then you’re responsible for that. You can’t blame circumstances, people, or bad luck for your attitude—that’s the one string you’re playing.
The metaphor matters: A musician with one string can still make music. A skilled player with one string is more effective than an unskilled player with many strings.
You have one string. Play it masterfully.
How to Practice This Wisdom Today
1. Morning Attitude Declaration (5 minutes)
Start your day by exercising your choice over attitude.
Before checking your phone, before seeing what the day holds:
Stand or sit upright. Take three deep breaths.
Say aloud (or write):
“Today, I choose my attitude. I cannot control what happens to me, but I can control how I respond. Today I choose:
- [Name the attitude you want: optimism, curiosity, patience, courage, openness, resilience]”
Be specific: Not just “a good attitude,” but the actual quality you’re choosing.
Examples:
- “Today I choose patience with frustration and curiosity about problems.”
- “Today I choose resilience when things don’t go as planned.”
- “Today I choose openness to possibility rather than defensiveness.”
Then remind yourself: “This is the one string I have complete control over. I will play it well.”
2. The 10/90 Practice (Throughout the Day)
When something happens today—good or bad—practice distinguishing the 10% from the 90%.
Something happens (the 10%):
- Traffic jam
- Critical email
- Unexpected expense
- Disappointment
- Conflict
- Opportunity
- Challenge
Pause. Identify:
The 10%: The objective fact. “Traffic is stopped. I will be late.”
The 90%: My response. This is where my power is.
Poor 90%:
- “This always happens to me!”
- Rage, honking, stress
- Arrive angry and carry it into the day
- Let this ruin my mood for hours
Powerful 90%:
- “Traffic is reality right now. I can’t change it.”
- Call ahead: “I’ll be 15 minutes late.”
- Use the time to listen to something meaningful or just breathe
- Arrive calm, apologize briefly, move on
- Don’t let this determine my day
The event is the same. The day is completely different based on the 90%—your attitude and response.
Practice throughout the day: Event happens → Identify what I can’t control (10%) → Choose my response (90%)
3. The Attitude Adjustment (Midday Reset)
By midday, your chosen morning attitude may have degraded. Practice resetting.
Pause. Check in:
What’s my actual attitude right now?
- Frustrated, defensive, resigned, overwhelmed, bitter?
Is this the attitude I want?
- Is this serving me?
- Is this making my day better or worse?
- Is this the string I want to play?
If not, choose again:
You don’t have to justify why you lost your good attitude. You don’t have to feel guilty. You just choose again.
“Right now, in this moment, I choose [new attitude].”
This is the practice: Not choosing once and being done, but choosing again and again, as many times as needed.
Purinton would say: The remarkable thing is you can do this. At any moment. No matter what’s happened. The choice remains yours.
4. Evening Attitude Inventory (10 minutes)
Before bed, review your day through the lens of attitude.
Journal:
- What happened today that I couldn’t control (the 10%)?
- List the events, circumstances, other people’s choices
- How did I respond (the 90%)?
- What attitudes did I choose?
- Where did I respond powerfully?
- Where did I give away my power by letting circumstances determine my attitude?
- Where did my attitude make things better or worse?
- Specific examples of attitude improving outcomes
- Specific examples of poor attitude making things harder
- What attitude will I choose tomorrow?
- Based on today’s learning
- What quality do I need most?
The practice: Building awareness that you’re always choosing your attitude, whether consciously or unconsciously. The goal is to choose more consciously.
A Modern Application: The Job Loss
Let’s apply Purinton’s wisdom to something difficult: losing your job unexpectedly.
The situation: You’re laid off. Not for performance—just restructuring. You lose your income, your identity as “person who works at X,” your daily structure, your sense of security. This is genuinely difficult.
The 10% (what you can’t control):
- You lost your job
- The decision was made
- The past cannot be changed
- The economy is what it is
- Other people got to keep their jobs
- This feels unfair
- You have bills to pay
- The job market is competitive
These are facts. Real. Important. And completely outside your control now.
The 90% (your response—what you CAN control):
Attitude Option 1: Victim
- “This is the worst thing that could happen.”
- “My life is ruined.”
- “Why does this always happen to me?”
- “Everyone else has it easier.”
- Spend weeks in bitterness and paralysis
- Let this confirm your worst beliefs about yourself and the world
- Make no productive moves because “what’s the point?”
Attitude Option 2: Resilience
- “This is difficult and painful. I acknowledge that.”
- “This is also not the end. People recover from this.”
- “I have skills, experience, and capability.”
- “This might redirect me to something better.”
- Give yourself a few days to process the loss
- Then start taking small actions: update resume, reach out to network, apply to positions
- Look for what this makes possible (new city? new field? new start?)
- Choose to see this as a chapter, not the whole story
The objective facts are identical in both scenarios.
Your experience, your outcomes, your mental health, your next steps—all completely different based on the 90%: your chosen attitude.
Purinton isn’t saying:
- Losing your job doesn’t matter (it does)
- You shouldn’t feel upset (you will)
- Attitude alone will get you a new job (it won’t)
He’s saying:
- The 10% happened and can’t be changed
- The 90% (your attitude and response) determines what happens next
- You have far more power in the 90% than you think
- That’s where to focus your energy
The person with Attitude 1 might stay unemployed for a year—not because of the job market, but because of attitude-driven paralysis.
The person with Attitude 2 might find something even better within months—not because they’re luckier, but because attitude enabled action.
Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it.
The Deeper Philosophy
Stoicism Meets American Optimism
Purinton was writing in an era of tremendous American optimism—the Roaring Twenties, when anything seemed possible through effort and positive thinking.
But his insight is actually ancient Stoicism repackaged:
The Stoics (Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius, Seneca) taught exactly this: You cannot control events. You can only control your response. Your power lies in your attitude and judgment.
What Purinton adds: An American emphasis on choice and daily practice. Not just philosophical principle, but daily decision: “What attitude am I choosing today?”
The combination is powerful: Ancient wisdom about what’s in your control + modern emphasis on agency and daily choice.
The Limits of Attitude
It’s important to acknowledge what attitude cannot do:
- Attitude cannot change oppressive systems
- Attitude cannot replace material resources when you have none
- Attitude cannot heal serious mental illness alone
- Attitude cannot make traumatic experiences okay
- Attitude cannot substitute for justice or fairness
Purinton was writing for a specific audience: Mostly white, middle-class Americans with real opportunities. His advice worked within that context.
For people facing genuine systemic barriers, discrimination, poverty, or trauma: Attitude matters, but it’s not the whole story. Material conditions matter. Justice matters. Support matters.
The wisdom remains valuable: Even within difficult circumstances, attitude is still the one thing you control. It’s not sufficient for everything, but it’s necessary for anything.
Attitude as Habit
Purinton understood that attitude isn’t just one choice—it’s hundreds of small choices that become habit.
You build a habitual attitude through:
- Consistent daily practice (morning declaration)
- Repeated response patterns (choosing resilience over resignation)
- Catching yourself and resetting (midday adjustment)
- Reflection and learning (evening inventory)
Over time, the attitude you practice becomes your default attitude.
If you practice victim attitude, that becomes your automatic response.
If you practice resilient attitude, that becomes your automatic response.
Purinton’s insight: You get to choose which habit you’re building. Every day. Every response.
Your Practice for Today
Here’s your challenge based on Purinton’s teaching:
Today, consciously choose your attitude and notice the difference it makes.
The Practice:
Morning (5 minutes):
Stand up. Take three deep breaths.
Say aloud: “Today, I choose [specific attitude: patience, curiosity, optimism, resilience, openness].”
“This is my one string. I will play it well.”
Throughout the day:
When something happens (anything—good, bad, neutral):
- Identify the 10%: What actually happened (objective fact)
- Notice your automatic response: Is this the attitude I want?
- Choose the 90%: How will I respond from my chosen attitude?
Midday reset:
Check: What’s my actual attitude right now?
If it’s not what you want: Choose again. “Right now, I choose [attitude].”
Evening (10 minutes):
Journal:
- Where did I let circumstances determine my attitude? (gave away power)
- Where did I consciously choose my attitude? (used my power)
- What difference did my attitude make in outcomes?
- What attitude will I choose tomorrow?
The goal: Not perfection. Awareness. Building the habit of conscious choice rather than automatic reaction.
Purinton’s promise: Life is 10% what happens and 90% how you respond. Master the 90%, and you’ve mastered your life.
Essential Reading: Dive Deeper into Attitude and Response
Since Purinton’s work is largely out of print, here are related books that carry forward his insights:
Stoic Philosophy (Ancient Roots):
The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday
- 366 meditations on controlling your response
- Same principle as Purinton, ancient wisdom
- Daily practice format
- Highly practical
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
- Roman emperor’s private notes on attitude
- Classic text on what you control vs. don’t
- Timeless wisdom
- Where these ideas originated
Modern Applications:
Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl
- Holocaust survivor choosing attitude in camps
- Ultimate test of the 10/90 principle
- Profound and essential
- Proves attitude matters even in extremity
- Research on fixed vs. growth mindset
- How attitude toward abilities affects outcomes
- Scientific validation of attitude’s importance
- Practical applications
The Obstacle Is the Way by Ryan Holiday
- Turning obstacles into advantages through attitude
- Stoic principles applied to modern challenges
- Many examples of the 10/90 principle
- Action-oriented
On Choice and Response:
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey
- Habit 1: Be Proactive (choosing response)
- Response-ability as power
- Circle of concern vs. circle of influence
- Practical framework
Emotional Agility by Susan David
- Responding to emotions rather than being controlled by them
- Psychological flexibility
- Research-based approach to attitude choice
- Modern, scientific perspective
The Gap and the Gain by Dan Sullivan
- Choosing which way to measure progress
- Attitude toward achievement and growth
- Practical framework for entrepreneurial mindset
- About choosing your measuring stick
Closing Reflection
Edward Earle Purinton has been mostly forgotten by history. His books are out of print. His ideas have been attributed to others.
But his core insight remains as relevant today as it was a century ago:
Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it.
You cannot control:
- The economy
- Other people’s choices
- The past
- Many circumstances
- Accidents and losses
- What happens to you
You can control:
- Your interpretation
- Your response
- Your attitude
- Your focus
- Your next action
- Who you choose to be in response to what happens
That’s your one string. That’s your power.
Today, things will happen. Some good, some bad, most neutral. These are the 10%.
Your day will be determined not by the 10%, but by the 90%—how you respond.
Will you let circumstances determine your attitude? Or will you consciously choose your attitude regardless of circumstances?
Will you give away your power by blaming events for your state of mind? Or will you claim your power by choosing your response?
Purinton wrote during the optimistic 1920s, before the Depression, before World War II, before all the evidence that circumstances DO matter.
But his insight survived because it’s true:
Even when circumstances are terrible, attitude is still the one thing you control. And that one thing has more impact than you think.
Life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it.
Today, how will you play your one string?
Reflection Questions
Take a moment to journal or contemplate:
- What circumstances am I blaming for my attitude that I could actually choose to respond to differently?
- Where am I giving away my power by letting the 10% determine my 90%?
- What attitude would serve me best today, regardless of what happens?
- How would my life be different if I truly mastered my attitude—my one string?
Tomorrow’s Wisdom
Join us tomorrow as we explore a teaching from Mahatma Gandhi, whose nonviolent resistance transformed nations, on being the change you wish to see and how personal transformation is the foundation of social transformation.
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Essential Reading: 📚 The Daily Stoic – Daily practice of choosing response 📖 Man’s Search for Meaning – Choosing attitude in extremity 🎯 Mindset – Research on attitude’s impact 💪 The Obstacle Is the Way – Turning obstacles into advantages
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