Think and Grow Rich in Babylon
Think and Grow Rich
by Napoleon Hill
The Richest Man in Babylon
by George S. Clason
The Science of Being Rich
by Wallace D. Wattles
Introduced and annotated by Mitch Horowitz
Published 2024 by Maple Spring Publishing
THINK AND GROW RICH IN BABYLON . Copyright © 2024 Maple Spring Publishing. Introductions and
annotations by Mitch Horowitz. All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be used, reproduced or transmitted in any manner whatsoever, by any means
(electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the author,
except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. No liability is assumed
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Front cover design by David Rheinhardt of Pyrographx
Interior design by Meghan Day Healey of Story Horse, LLC.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request
eISBN: 979-8-3505-0089-9
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
Think and Grow Rich
by Napoleon Hill
The Richest Man in Babylon
by George S. Clason
The Science of Being Rich
by Wallace D. Wattles
Think and Grow Rich
Napoleon Hill
Contents
Introduction:
The Enigma of Napoleon Hill by Mitch Horowitz
What Do You Want Most?
Tributes to the Author
Publisher’s Preface
Author’s Introduction
Chapter 1
General Introduction
Chapter 2
Desire • The First Step to Riches
Chapter 3
Faith • The Second Step to Riches
Chapter 4
Auto-Suggestion • The Third Step to Riches
Chapter 5
Specialized Knowledge • The Fourth Step to Riches
Chapter 6
Imagination • The Fifth Step to Riches
Chapter 7
Organized Planning • The Sixth Step to Riches
Chapter 8
Decision • The Seventh Step to Riches
Chapter 9
Persistence • The Eighth Step to Riches
Chapter 10
Power of the Master Mind • The Ninth Step to Riches
Chapter 11
The Mystery of Sex Transmutation • The Tenth Step to Riches
Chapter 12
The Subconscious Mind • The Eleventh Step to Riches
Chapter 13
The Brain • The Twelfth Step to Riches
Chapter 14
The Sixth Sense • The Thirteenth Step to Riches
Chapter 15
How to Outwit the Six Ghosts of Fear
Appendix A: Napoleon Hill’s Seventeen Laws of Success
Appendix B: A Prayer for True Prosperity
Appendix C: Genius and Sex Transmutation
by Mitch Horowitz
Appendix D: Forming Your Master Mind Group
by Mitch Horowitz
About the Author
Introduction
The Enigma of Napoleon Hill
I do not always admire the man—but of his success
program’s efficacy, I have no doubt
By Mitch Horowitz
Few writers have made as deep an impact on the past century as Napoleon
Hill (1883–1970). The Appalachian-born journalist virtually defined the
field of motivational and success literature. His influence appears in the
worldwide posterity of his most famous book, Think and Grow Rich,
published in 1937.
Although you can certainly find more hallowed works of therapeutic and
practical philosophy than Think and Grow Rich, few have attracted such
sustained and varied readership.
And few, I believe, do more to hone your abilities and sense of purpose.
My conviction grows from personal experience. Since I also write critically
of Hill as a man in this piece, I want to open with the reasons for my
enduring fealty to his work.
I write these words about ten years from when I returned to Think and Grow
Rich with real commitment in 2013. Until then I had read dozens of self-help
books (including Hill’s), worked for years as a publisher in the field, and
harbored something of a “been there, done that” attitude toward much of the
genre.
However, in fall of 2013, feeling that my longtime job as a publishing
executive might be in jeopardy, I revisited Think and Grow Rich with a new
sense of vigor and urgency.
For the first time, I did every exercise as though my life depended on it,
which I often call the “magic formula,” if there is any, to unlocking the book’s
benefits. As I did this, my work as a writer, narrator, and lecturer
dramatically expanded—work that is now my fulltime vocation.
Writing at age fifty-seven, I can state plainly: I’ve never been happier
waking in the morning. Rather than wring my hands over whether another
writer would fulfill his deadline and do his work in a quality fashion, I take
those burdens wholly—and gladly—on myself. I owe that, in significant
measure, to Hill’s program.
I’ve heard similar stories from many readers. Indeed, in more than
twenty years as a publisher of spiritual and self-help literature—and equal
time as a writer in these areas—I have never encountered a sustained reader
of Hill’s work who was not changed by it in concrete, measurable ways. Just
as I was completing this introduction, a reader wrote me: “My husband and
many clients of mine credit that book to their spiritual awakening. I was
skeptical of it because of the title but once I began to read I couldn’t believe
the gems inside!”
Hill’s success philosophy is not just for those who desire material
wealth or that alone. It is for anyone possessed of any wish—whether
student, soldier, teacher, artist, entrepreneur, or activist—that he or she
hungers to actualize. That said, Hill’s unsentimental attitude toward moneygetting resonates with many readers.
Hill’s work tends to polarize. I mentioned the dedication it evokes, including
my own.
In recent years, however, journalists have sharply questioned Hill’s
biography. I’ve likewise written critically of Hill, including in my 2014
history of the positive-mind movement, One Simple Idea, a point to which I
return. I have also encountered culture critics who blanketly deride Hill and
related self-help authors. (Whether they’ve read them is questionable.) As I
was working on this introduction, an academic tweeted at me about authors
who “make money selling popular books about wishful thinking to people
who don’t know any better.”
Such criticisms conceal subtle social snobbery (people who don’t know
any better) and, I believe, unacknowledged disdain for working and middleclass aspiration, not as politically idealized but as on-the-ground reality.
Those unfamiliar with lack rarely understand, or interact with, the types of
myriad and surprisingly varied readers who have brought greater sales to
Hill’s book in the twenty-first century than during his lifetime.*
In adulthood, I’ve met people—literally from movie producers to career
military officers—who hit a dead end in life only to immerse themselves in
Think and Grow Rich and discover a new set of practical, actionable
possibilities—of transforming fallow prospects into progressive ones.
Indeed, I am continually touched by how regional, cultural, lifestyle, and
political differences melt away when enthusiastic readers of Hill encounter
one another.
Since I count myself among such readers—and venture that their
experiences likely intersect with mine—I will briefly share my own story.
When I grew up in Queens in the 1970s, my father was a Legal Aid
Society attorney who defended the poorest of the poor. For factors I deem
outside his control, he lost his job and profession, leaving us to consider
applying for food stamps and warming our always-unaffordable home with
kerosene heaters. We wore used clothes and scraped together change and
coupons to buy weekly groceries. There were no Hanukkah, Christmas, or
birthday gifts. My older sister and I would buy them with our own money,
earned from odd jobs, and pretend to friends that they came from our parents.
In the words of The Notorious B.I.G., “Birthdays was the worst days.”
One night, in desperation, my father stole my mother’s engagement ring
to pay debts, over which he may have been physically threatened. (He had
started carrying pepper spray.) They divorced. My sister and I got by through
after-school jobs, student loans, and precious availability of health benefits
through my mother’s labor union, the 1199 hospital workers. Given the
economic devastation visited on many American households, both during the
lockdown and the still-unhealed 2008 recession, I do not consider our story
exceptional.
This sense of need is, quite simply, what got me on the scent trail of
practical metaphysics. There is, of course, a strong mind-metaphysics
component to Think and Grow Rich. But critics or passersby rarely realize
that Hill’s program is also, and above all, one of action. Anyone who begins
his book without that commitment will almost certainly not finish it.
(Commonplace critical comparisons between Think and Grow Rich and The
Secret reveal an observer’s lack of familiarity with either.)
In various books and articles, I have noted my refusal to regard inspirational
figures—even those, like Hill, whose work has touched me—as agreeable
cyphers devoid of ethical failures, corruption, or weaknesses. Sycophancy
does not honor the memories of people whose work we admire. Indeed,
artists, writers, and activists—no less motivational figures—cannot be
maturely understood from either the hagiographic haze of semi-worshippers
(or franchisees) nor the vitriol of cultural detractors. I reject both approaches
in considering Hill’s life.
Oliver Napoleon Hill was born October 26, 1883, in a cabin in the
Appalachian town of Pound in southwest Virginia. His mother died when he
was nine. By the turn of the century, Hill began writing newspaper stories
and embarked on a checkered career in business as both a “man Friday” and
entrepreneur.
In Hill’s autobiographical writings, he displays a repugnant lack of
moral feeling as a young man by helping local businessmen conceal the 1902
killing of a black bellhop in Richlands, Virginia. Less than ten years before,
the southwestern town was the site of a lynching of five black railroad
workers. The bellman died after a drunken bank cashier—an employee of
Hill’s boss Rufus Ayers, Virginia’s former attorney general—dropped a
loaded revolver, which went off, killing the attendant. Nineteen-year-old Hill
sprang into action as the consummate fixer, coaxing local authorities to label
the criminally negligent death as “accidental,” he wrote, and getting the
victim quickly buried. Ayers rewarded Hill by naming him manager of an
area coal mine—the youngest such manager in the nation, Hill proudly
reckoned.*
This incident reflected the troubling pattern of Hill’s life: he identified
with power so fully that he almost never questioned the decency, ethics, and
general outlook of the man in the corner office (or, for that matter, of
himself). Nowhere in Hill’s accounts of high climbers is there any
countervailing consideration of cunning, ruthlessness, or amorality—or of the
kind of corrupt obsequiousness that Hill displayed in Richlands. Nor did Hill
seem over-troubled by truthfulness when in 1914 he falsely claimed on his
personal stationary to be a lawyer; he attended no law school.
It was not an isolated episode. In 1918, state authorities in Illinois
accused the educational entrepreneur of fraudulently inflating the valuation of
his Chicago success school to prospective investors.* In a disturbing pattern
of his early business record, Hill darted among experiences where either he
or those around him were accused of fraud or malfeasance.** These episodes
played out during periods when the writer claimed, without evidence, to
have advised presidents Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Roosevelt.
Hill’s interest in the “philosophy of success” seems to have emerged around
1908 while working as a reporter, including for Bob Taylor’s Magazine. It
was an inspirational and general-interest monthly published by the former
governor of Tennessee who continued his enterprise as a U.S. senator. As
publisher, Taylor favored up-by-the-bootstraps life stories of business
leaders. Through Taylor’s connections, Hill was able to score the ultimate
“get”: an interview with steel magnate Andrew Carnegie. Or so he said.
Hill described his encounter with Carnegie—“the richest man that the
richest nation on earth ever produced,” as he wrote in 1945 in The MasterKey to Riches—in terms that brought to mind Moses receiving the tablets on
Mount Sinai. During their interview, Hill said, the industrialist gave him
marching orders to codify a philosophy of success, which formed the basis
for Hill’s 1928 book The Law of Success and the wealth-building classic that
followed nine years later, Think and Grow Rich.
Whatever impression Hill may have left on Carnegie, the industrialist
made no mention of the younger man in his writings. Nor did Hill begin
making references to their fateful meeting until nearly a decade after
Carnegie’s death in 1919, a story he related with greater drama and
vividness as the years passed. (I must also note that the “tributes to the author
from great American leaders” at the front of Think and Grow Rich are all
from figures deceased by its 1937 publication.) Critics question whether the
Carnegie encounter occurred at all. I am agnostic on the matter. Bob Taylor’s
Magazine featured how-I-did-it stories of millionaires—a staple of the day’s
popular literature—and the job (and Taylor’s position) could have facilitated
contact between journalist and subject.
In December 1908, under his birthname Oliver Napoleon Hill—one of
the last times he used that byline—Hill produced for Taylor a regional essay
on “Mobile and Southern Alabama,” accompanied by an author photo of the
bow-tied writer. No interview with Carnegie ever appeared, nor have I
found further bylines for Hill in the magazine.
In any case, Carnegie’s memoirs do paint the image of a man who
enjoyed discussing the metaphysics of success. In his autobiography,
published posthumously in 1920, Carnegie recalls that as an adolescent he
“became deeply interested in the mysterious doctrines of Swedenborg,” the
eighteenth century scientist-mystic. A Spiritualist aunt encouraged the young
Carnegie to develop his psychical talents, or “ability to expound ‘spiritual
sense’.”
Indeed, the industrialist was eager to be taken seriously as an author and
reveled in probing whether there exist natural laws of money and
accumulation. In June 1889, Carnegie published an essay “Wealth” for the
North American Review, which might have been forgotten if not for its nearimmediate republication by England’s evening newspaper The Pall Mall
Gazette under the more alluring title by which it won fame: “The Gospel of
Wealth.”
Taking a leaf from the neo-Darwinian views of philosopher Herbert
Spencer, Carnegie described a “law of competition,” which he believed
brought a rough, necessary order to the world:
While the law may be sometimes hard to the individual, it is best for the race, because it
ensures the survival of the fittest in every department. We accept and welcome, therefore, as
conditions to which we must accommodate ourselves, great inequality of environment, the
concentration of business, industrial and commercial, in the hands of a few, and the law of
competition between these, as being not only beneficial but essential for the future progress of
the race.
Although contemporaneous success authors such as Ralph Waldo Trine
and Wallace D. Wattles extolled creativity above competition, Carnegie
welcomed “laws of accumulation” as a necessary means of separating life’s
winners from losers. At his steel mills, the magnate sometimes backed his
belief through ruthless and, by way of surrogates and business partners,
brutal labor practices. Seven of his workers were killed by Pinkerton guards
during the Homestead Strike of 1892.
Yet Carnegie’s wealth essay contained a surprising wrinkle. He
emphasized that great fortunes—which he saw emergent chiefly from
production of raw materials, real estate, utilities, and inventions (the
manufacturer disdained financial speculation)—are the product of the
community. And should ultimately be returned to it. Wealth, Carnegie argued,
is amassed as a passive result of an industrialist or investor benefiting from
mass shifts in demography, migration, and public need. The world’s
reputedly richest man wrote that riches should be restored to the public
rather than passed down through generations of family inheritance.
But in a sentiment that won jeers from contemporaneous radicals and
reformers, Carnegie counseled that millionaires should electively dispense
their money in acts of philanthropy during their lifetimes. He considered this
disbursement the legitimate culmination of success, arguing that monopolistic
capitalism must be leavened by voluntary largesse. The multimillionaire’s
sense of volunteerism had limits, however: should the rich not find ways to
disperse their fortunes through philanthropy during their lifetimes, Carnegie
called for a nearly 100 percent estate tax to settle the matter for them.
Whether one agrees with Carnegie on every point—and I do not—it is
worth noting that he followed through on his statements with wide-ranging
acts of structured philanthropy. In so doing, the industrialist helped presage
the nonprofit field as it exists today.
It is this outlook—not the imaginary dialogues with Carnegie that Hill
ploddingly devised in his 1948 Think Your Way to Wealth—that reflects the
authentic Carnegie philosophy, at least as publicly stated. Carnegie’s counsel
is for each individual to assess, but of one point he leaves no doubt—and it
would’ve made him few friends among tech magnates of our era: great
fortunes accrue not primarily due to the ability of their holders but to
ancillary events and circumstances that emerge from public need and growth.
Back to Hill’s version of events. As he tells it, at their 1908 meeting, the
fetching reporter questioned Carnegie about his success-building secrets. The
manufacturer urged Hill to speak with other captains of commerce to
determine whether a definable set of steps led to their accomplishments.
Carnegie offered to open doors for Hill.
Hill writes that he spent the next twenty years studying and interviewing
businessmen, diplomats, generals, inventors, and other high achievers in an
effort to map out their shared principles. He finally named seventeen traits
(distilled to thirteen in Think and Grow Rich) that these outliers seemed to
share.* They included concentrating your energies on one definite major
aim; doing more work than you are paid for; cultivating intuition, or a sixth
sense; showing persistence; reprogramming your thoughts through
autosuggestion; practicing tolerance of opinion; gaining specialized
knowledge; and convening around you a collaborative Master Mind group,
whose members could blend their mental energies and ideas.
As alluded, Hill’s books never attracted critical attention other than to
be dismissed or waved aside for shallow vulgarity. Indeed, New Thought
and self-help literature became a category of book that went mostly unread
by its detractors. But Hill was often subtler, shrewder, and surer in his
understanding of human nature than many scoffers supposed.
I have written critically of Hill the man. But let me be clear—
contradictions be damned—about the quality of Hill’s program of
achievement: it is, in my experience as a writer, publisher, and seeker, the
finest that has emerged from the motivational field.
Whatever the source of Hill’s inspiration, it is evident that the writer
spent something like the twenty years claimed studying the lives of high
achievers of all types—inventors, generals, diplomats, artists, statesmen—
and cataloged their common traits into a step-by-step program. Hill was
certain (as are many of his readers) that he created a model of what
exceptional people do when translating an idea from conceptual to actual. I
must add, crucially, that his written program is not one of trickery but of
clean ledgers, ethical practices, and plain dealing. I have written disdainfully
of popular books, such as The 48 Laws of Power, that counsel otherwise.
Can one finally distinguish between author and output? I have come to
regard Hill in a similar vein to Carlos Castaneda (1925–1998), the selfmade chronicler of indigenous North American magick: although his
biography and encounters may be large parts fiction, Castaneda, like Hill,
produced writing and insights that retain their hold on posterity due not to
gullibility of audience but depth of insight. Critiques of Hill—while valid to
varying degrees—are mitigated by the remarkable effectiveness of his
program.
Wells either slake thirst or get abandoned.
Hill’s career matters because of his work as a writer. In that vein, let me
highlight several of the most impactful themes of his outlook:
1. A Definite Chief Aim. If a reader opts to select one idea from Hill’s
work, this should be it. In my experience, nothing does more to
productively reorder your life than one penetrating, actionable, and
obsessively felt aim to which all else is subordinated. The urge to this
kind of exclusivity understandably evokes argument and pushback. Life
places many demands on us—don’t we need to meet each on its own
terms? There is validity in that objection. But I consider it a tough truth
of life that unitary focus affords the greatest likelihood of arrival. Think
of your heroes. Whatever their myriad and private traits, they are known
for one core dedication. To clarify such an aim requires radical selfhonesty. I should note that one well selected goal can cover many
different bases and concerns in life.
2. Reciprocity. As noted, Hill’s written program is ethical: he emphasizes
transparency, non-prejudice, and delivering clear benefits to your end
user, client, or employer. He stresses how gossip, trash-talk, and
frivolous opining degrade you and deter your goals. As I’ve often
written, people have no idea the extent to which they degrade their
sense of self-respect by indulging in meaningless vitriol; the shame one
feels—or sublimates—is coped with by throwing another stone,
creating an endless loop. Nothing will make you stand taller more
quickly than desistance from the perverse and fleeting thrill of gossip,
smears, and lowbrow sarcasm.
3. Applied Faith. I once defined faith as persistence; but Hill’s work has
taught me that faith is persistence combined with warranted confidence
that you will, in some fashion, succeed based on immutable laws of
effort and growth, which his program helps you identify. Rather than
engage in toothless “wishful thinking,” most people, in fact, grossly
underestimate their abilities and hesitate to exercise them. Absent
extreme countervailing measures—which, it must be noted, do exist—
persistence avails some form of personal deliverance.
4. Overcoming Procrastination and Fear. These two traits are the same.
Learning to control one controls the other. For practical purposes, begin
your effort with overcoming procrastination, which is task-specific and
thus easier to work on than fear in general. If procrastination proves an
unyielding barrier, it may indicate that you’re pursuing the wrong aim or
one for which you’re emotionally mismatched.
5. Leadership. Hill defines leadership as initiative: doing what’s
necessary without being told. You cannot claim leadership or have it
bestowed on you. It is a form of behavior that stems from accountability
and know-how. A real leader asks no one to do a task that he or she
wouldn’t—or is afraid to. Anyone else is just a boss.
6. The Master Mind. A Master Mind is a harmonious support group of
two or more people convened at least weekly to support each member’s
wishes. Hill taught that such a group pools and heightens each
participant’s insights, intuition, enthusiasm, and acumen. It is vital to his
program.
7. Sex Transmutation. In a note resounding in esoteric spiritual traditions
from Tantra and Kabbalah to Gnosticism and Hermeticism, Hill taught
that sexual desire is the force of life seeking expression. When you
place the sexual urge at the back of your efforts, he wrote, you heighten
your abilities and insights. His formula is simple: upon feeling sexual
desire mentally shift your attention away from physical satisfaction and
toward the achievement of a vital task. Do this at times of your own
choosing. Does it work? Yes, in my experience.
8. Rebounding from Failure. Rather than impeding growth, obstacles
often facilitate it. Setbacks and failures frequently impel refining plans,
abilities, ideas, and relationships. Without opposition we would remain
mental and emotional children. Search every failure for commensurate
seeds of compensation. Are there assholes in your life? If you cannot get
away from them determine, at least for the time being, to use their
provocations as inducements to refinement.
9. Cosmic Habit Force. Generative habits and natural rotations, Hill
writes, like orbital movement of celestial objects, changing of seasons,
and cycles of birth and death, are the dynamic through which physicality
maintains itself. This comports with ideas found in Taoism and
Transcendentalism. When you dwell within the right personal habits and
environment, Hill teaches, you merge, like a twig carried downstream,
with waves or cycles of regenerative power and development.
Hill writes alluringly of a “secret” that runs throughout Think and Grow
Rich. This secret, he says, appears at least once in every chapter and no less
than one hundred times throughout the book. But he does not specifically
name it. Hill writes that it is more beneficial for you to arrive at the secret
yourself. Some readers, he says, grasp it almost immediately. For others, it
takes multiple readings. Sometimes, right in the midst of a chapter, the secret
may flash into your mind, he explains.
I have previously written that the secret of Think and Grow Rich can be
put this way: “Emotionalized thought directed toward one passionately held
aim—aided by organized planning and the Master Mind—is the root of all
accomplishment.” I stand by that. But a more basic conception of Hill’s
secret, comporting with the last point mentioned, occurred to me during this
writing: the “secret” of Think and Grow Rich is to place yourself within
the overall scheme of creation, obeying natural laws that inevitably and
invariably beget growth, expansion, and renewal.
Each step in Hill’s work is designed to bring you into natural alignment
with your surroundings. Once you are in this alignment and function within its
flow—toward growth, utility, and regeneration—laws of creation appear at
your back. You become like the seedling that eventually bursts through the
soil. All of nature facilitates this. Unlike the seedling or twig, however, a
sentient being can consciously and selectively labor. Indeed, these laws
possess greater potential for an aware being than for the seedling because
they not only aid expansion but also allow for dramatic re-creation of self.
In that vein, I want to quote what I consider one of the most important
passages from Think and Grow Rich. It appears in the chapter on
“Imagination” and directly pertains to what I’ve been referencing:
You are now engaged in the task of trying to profit by Nature’s method. You are (sincerely and
earnestly, we hope), trying to adapt yourself to Nature’s laws, by endeavoring to convert
DESIRE into its physical or monetary equivalent. YOU CAN DO IT! IT HAS BEEN DONE
BEFORE!
You can build a fortune through the aid of laws which are immutable. But, first, you must
become familiar with these laws, and learn to USE them. Through repetition, and by
approaching the description of these principles from every conceivable angle, the author hopes
to reveal to you the secret through which every great fortune has been accumulated. Strange
and paradoxical as it may seem, the “secret” is NOT A SECRET. Nature, herself, advertises it
in the earth on which we live, the stars, the planets suspended within our view, in the elements
above and around us, in every blade of grass, and every form of life within our vision.
Nature advertises this “secret” in the terms of biology, in the conversion of a tiny cell, so
small that it may be lost on the point of a pin, into the HUMAN BEING now reading this line.
The conversion of desire into its physical equivalent is, certainly, no more miraculous!
As Hill conveys, you can derive warranted confidence, realistic faith,
renewed sense of self, and authentic help by placing yourself within the
cyclical scheme of nature or creation.
After reading Hill and following his steps, I venture that you will
approach your work (which is often the deepest part of a person’s life,
whether or not acknowledged) more effectively, fully, and successfully. By
committing yourself to the ideas in Think and Grow Rich you will experience
progressive change. This is my own critical testimony.
I also recognize that Hill’s sometimes overwrought language, gee-whiz
tone, outdated cultural references, ready use of spiritual metaphors, and even
his title strike some readers as lowbrow, vulgar or gauche. I recognize that
not every one of us feels at ease being judged by friends or peers for reading
such literature. My advice: get over it. Ersatz seriousness is the greatest
impediment to individual experiment and development. Most peer judgments
are little more than personal taste informed by image-maintenance and the
wish for security. If I’ve conveyed any sense that Think and Grow Rich may
hold something for you, let no psychologized excuses deter you.
I finally want to close with a word of exceedingly—and deceptively—
simple advice that Hill delivered in a transcribed but undated and
unpublished talk. His statement touches, indirectly but penetratingly, on
everything I’ve tried to get across: “Avoid persons and circumstances which
make you feel inferior.”
Live with that for six months. See what occurs.
This Maple Spring edition of Think and Grow Rich reproduces Hill’s text
largely as it appeared in 1937, inclusive of his word choices and grammar.
This edition also includes several appendices that expand on some of Hill’s
key ideas: Appendix A: Napoleon Hill’s Seventeen Laws of Success;
Appendix B: A Prayer for True Prosperity; Appendix C: Genius and Sex
Transmutation; and Appendix D: Forming Your Master Mind Group. It is
my hope that they provide a clarifying adjunct to Hill’s landmark text.
*
A reissue edition of Think and Grow Rich that I published in 2004, when the book was otherwise
languishing on backlists, netted approximately a million copies, renewing Hill’s sales worldwide in myriad
editions.
*
The story of Hill covering up the bellhop’s death is from A Lifetime of Riches: The Biography of
Napoleon Hill by Michael J. Ritt Jr. and Kirk Landers (Dutton, 1995). The book is basically an
authorized biography; it is to the authors’ credit that the episode is included at all.
*
“Two Warrants Out for Modest Napoleon Hill: ‘Carnegie of Educational World’ Accused of ‘Blue
Sky’ Stuff,” Chicago Tribune, June 4, 1918.
**
“The Untold Story of Napoleon Hill, the Greatest Self-Help Scammer of All Time” by Matt Novak,
Gizmodo, December 6, 2016. Novak’s highly critical article is an important resource and cannot be
discounted by any serious reader. That said, I have my criticisms of the piece. The writer displays
intense interest in his subject for every reason but the one for which Hill is famous: his writing. Like
journalist Albert Goldman in his “takedown” biographies of John Lennon and Elvis Presley, Novak
appears so zealous to undo his subject’s reputation that a reader could easily believe (as many probably
did aforethought) that such an author has nothing to offer. Novak’s research is laudable but his
persistently caustic tone and frank unfamiliarity with Hill’s key book detracts from an otherwise
significant historical investigation. E.g., Novak’s allegation that Rhonda Byrne’s The Secret “essentially
plagiarized” Think and Grow Rich is patently absurd and revealing of an insouciant lack of attention to
the contents of either book; likewise offkey is his claim that Norman Vincent Peale’s “ideas were
borrowed heavily from Hill.” Indeed, in an earlier version of the article, Novak confused the title of
Peale’s famous Power of Positive Thinking with an unrelated book by Hill and W. Clement Stone,
Success Through a Positive Mental Attitude. New Thought has a long and diffuse history in America;
Hill intersected with the philosophy considerably less than Byrne or Peale. These varying works,
although nondescript to the ardent critic, are by no means interchangeable.
*
See Appendix A: “Napoleon Hill’s Seventeen Laws of Success.”
What Do You Want Most?
Is It Money, Fame, Power, Contentment,
Personality, Peace of Mind, Happiness?
The Thirteen Steps to Riches described in this book offer the shortest
dependable philosophy of individual achievement ever presented for the
benefit of the man or woman who is searching for a definite goal in life.
Before beginning the book you will profit greatly if you recognize the
fact that the book was not written to entertain. You cannot digest the
contents properly in a week or a month.
After reading the book thoroughly, Dr. Miller Reese Hutchison,
nationally known Consulting Engineer and long-time associate of Thomas A.
Edison, said:
“This is not a novel. It is a textbook on individual achievement that came
directly from the experiences of hundreds of America’s most successful men.
It should be studied, digested, and meditated upon. No more than one chapter
should be read in a single night. The reader should underline the sentences
which impress him most. Later, he should go back to these marked lines and
read them again. A real student will not merely read this book, he will
absorb its contents and make them his own. This book should be adopted by
all high schools and no boy or girl should be permitted to graduate without
having satisfactorily passed an examination on it. This philosophy will not
take the place of the subjects taught in schools, but it will enable one to
organize and apply the knowledge acquired, and convert it into useful
service and adequate compensation without waste of time.”
Dr. John R. Turner, Dean of the College of The City of New York, after
having read the book, said:
“The very best example of the soundness of this philosophy is your own
son, Blair, whose dramatic story you have outlined in the chapter on Desire.”
Dr. Turner had reference to the author’s son, who, born without normal
hearing capacity, not only avoided becoming a deaf mute, but actually
converted his handicap into a priceless asset by applying the philosophy here
described.
THE MOST PROFITABLE WAY TO USE THIS
BOOK
After reading the story you will realize that you are about to come into
possession of a philosophy which can be transmuted into material wealth, or
serve as readily to bring you peace of mind, understanding, spiritual
harmony, and in some instances, as in the case of the author’s son, it can help
you master physical affliction.
The author discovered, through personally analyzing hundreds of
successful men, that all of them followed the habit of exchanging ideas,
through what is commonly called conferences. When they had problems to be
solved they sat down together and talked freely until they discovered, from
their joint contribution of ideas, a plan that would serve their purpose.
You, who read this book, will get most out of it by putting into practice
the Master Mind principle described in the book. This you can do (as others
are doing so successfully) by forming a study club, consisting of any desired
number of people who are friendly and harmonious. The club should have a
meeting at regular periods, as often as once each week. The procedure
should consist of reading one chapter of the book at each meeting, after
which the contents of the chapter should be freely discussed by all members.
Each member should make notes, putting down ALL IDEAS OF HIS OWN
inspired by the discussion. Each member should carefully read and analyze
each chapter several days prior to its open reading and joint discussion in the
club. The reading at the club should be done by someone who reads well and
understands how to put color and feeling into the lines.
You, who read this book, will get most out of it by putting into
practice the Master Mind principle described in the book.
By following this plan every reader will get from its pages, not only the
sum total of the best knowledge organized from the experiences of hundreds
of successful men, but more important by far, he will tap new sources of
knowledge in his own mind as well as acquire knowledge of priceless value
FROM EVERY OTHER PERSON PRESENT.
If you follow this plan persistently you will be almost certain to uncover
and appropriate the secret formula by which Andrew Carnegie acquired his
huge fortune, as referred to in the author’s introduction.
Tributes to the Author
From Great American Leaders
“Think and Grow Rich” was 25 years in the making. It is Napoleon Hill’s
newest book, based upon his famous Law of Success Philosophy. His work
and writings have been praised by great leaders in Finance, Education,
Politics, Government.
Dear Mr. Hill:
I have now had an opportunity to finish reading your Law of Success
textbooks and I wish to express my appreciation of the splendid work you
have done in the organization of this philosophy.
It would be helpful if every politician in the country would assimilate
and apply the 17 principles upon which your lessons are based. It contains
some very fine material which every leader in every walk of life should
understand.
I am happy to have had the privilege of rendering you some slight
measure of help in the organization of this splendid course of “common
sense” philosophy.
Sincerely yours,
William H. Taft
(Former President and former Chief Justice of the United States)
King of the 5 and 10 Cent Stores
“By applying many of the 17 fundamentals of the Law of Success philosophy
we have built a great chain of successful stores. I presume it would be no
exaggeration of fact if I said that the Woolworth Building might properly be
called a monument to the soundness of these principles.”
—F. W. WOOLWORTH
A Great Steamship Magnate
“I feel greatly indebted for the privilege of reading your Law of Success. If I
had had this philosophy fifty years ago, I suppose I could have accomplished
all that I have done in less than half the time. I sincerely hope the world will
discover and reward you.”
—ROBERT DOLLAR
Famous American Labor Leader
“Mastery of the Law of Success philosophy is the equivalent of an insurance
policy against failure.”
—SAMUEL GOMPERS
A Former President of the United States
“May I not congratulate you on your persistence. Any man who devotes that
much time … must of necessity make discoveries of great value to others. I
am deeply impressed by your interpretation of the ‘Master Mind’ principles
which you have so clearly described.”
—WOODROW WILSON
A Merchant Prince
“I know that your 17 fundamentals of success are sound because I have been
applying them in my business for more than 30 years.”
—JOHN WANAMAKER
World’s Largest Maker of Cameras
“I know that you are doing a world of good with your Law of Success. I
would not care to set a monetary value on this training because it brings to
the student qualities which cannot be measured by money, alone.”
—GEORGE EASTMAN
A Nationally Known Business Chief
“Whatever success I may have attained I owe, entirely, to the application of
your 17 fundamental principles of the Law of Success. I believe I have the
honor of being your first student.”
—WM. WRIGLEY, JR.
Publisher’s Preface
THIS book conveys the experience of more than 500 men of great wealth,
who began at scratch, with nothing to give in return for riches except
THOUGHTS, IDEAS and ORGANIZED PLANS.
Here you have the entire philosophy of moneymaking, just as it was
organized from the actual achievements of the most successful men known to
the American people during the past fifty years. It describes WHAT TO DO,
also, HOW TO DO IT!
It presents complete instructions on HOW TO SELL YOUR PERSONAL
SERVICES.
It provides you with a perfect system of self-analysis that will readily
disclose what has been standing between you and “the big money” in the
past.
It describes the famous Andrew Carnegie formula of personal
achievement by which he accumulated hundreds of millions of dollars for
himself and made no fewer than a score of millionaires of men to whom he
taught his secret.
Perhaps you do not need all that is to be found in the book—not one of
the 500 men from whose experiences it was written did—but you may need
ONE IDEA, PLAN OR SUGGESTION to start you toward your goal.
Somewhere in the book you will find this needed stimulus.
The book was inspired by Andrew Carnegie, after he had made his
millions and retired. It was written by the man to whom Carnegie disclosed
the astounding secret of his riches—the same man to whom the 500 wealthy
men revealed the source of their riches.
Perhaps you do not need all that is to be found in the book—
not one of the 500 men from whose experiences it was written
did—but you may need ONE IDEA, PLAN OR SUGGESTION
to start you toward your goal.
In this volume will be found the thirteen principles of money-making
essential to every person who accumulates sufficient money to guarantee
financial independence. It is estimated that the research which went into the
preparation, before the book was written, or could be written—research
covering more than twenty-five years of continuous effort—could not be
duplicated at a cost of less than $100,000.00.
Moreover, the knowledge contained in the book never can be duplicated,
at any cost, for the reason that more than half of the 500 men who supplied
the information it brings have passed on.
Riches cannot always be measured in money!
Money and material things are essential for freedom of body and mind,
but there are some who will feel that the greatest of all riches can be
evaluated only in terms of lasting friendships, harmonious family
relationships, sympathy and understanding between business associates, and
introspective harmony which brings one peace of mind measurable only in
spiritual values!
All who read, understand and apply this philosophy will be better
prepared to attract and enjoy these higher estates which always have been
and always will be denied to all except those who are ready for them.
Be prepared, therefore, when you expose yourself to the influence of this
philosophy, to experience a CHANGED LIFE which may help you not only
to negotiate your way through life with harmony and understanding, but also
to prepare you for the accumulation of material riches in abundance.
The Publisher.
Author’s Preface
In every chapter of this book, mention has been made of the money-making
secret which has made fortunes for more than five hundred exceedingly
wealthy men whom I have carefully analyzed over a long period of years.
The secret was brought to my attention by Andrew Carnegie, more than a
quarter of a century ago. The canny, lovable old Scotsman carelessly tossed
it into my mind, when I was but a boy. Then he sat back in his chair, with a
merry twinkle in his eyes, and watched carefully to see if I had brains enough
to understand the full significance of what he had said to me.
In every chapter of this book, mention has been made of the
money-making secret which has made fortunes for more than
five hundred exceedingly wealthy men whom I have carefully
analyzed over a long period of years.
When he saw that I had grasped the idea, he asked if I would be willing
to spend twenty years or more, preparing myself to take it to the world, to
men and women who, without the secret, might go through life as failures. I
said I would, and with Mr. Carnegie’s cooperation, I have kept my promise.
This book contains the secret, after having been put to a practical test by
thousands of people, in almost every walk of life. It was Mr. Carnegie’s idea
that the magic formula, which gave him a stupendous fortune, ought to be
placed within reach of people who do not have time to investigate how men
make money, and it was his hope that I might test and demonstrate the
soundness of the formula through the experience of men and women in every
calling. He believed the formula should be taught in all public schools and
colleges, and expressed the opinion that if it were properly taught it would so
revolutionize the entire educational system that the time spent in school could
be reduced to less than half.
His experience with Charles M. Schwab, and other young men of Mr.
Schwab’s type, convinced Mr. Carnegie that much of that which is taught in
the schools is of no value whatsoever in connection with the business of
earning a living or accumulating riches. He had arrived at this decision,
because he had taken into his business one young man after another, many of
them with but little schooling, and by coaching them in the use of this
formula, developed in them rare leadership. Moreover, his coaching made
fortunes for every one of them who followed his instructions.
In the chapter on Faith, you will read the astounding story of the
organization of the giant United States Steel Corporation, as it was conceived
and carried out by one of the young men through whom Mr. Carnegie proved
that his formula will work for all who are ready for it. This single
application of the secret, by that young man—Charles M. Schwab—made
him a huge fortune in both money and OPPORTUNITY. Roughly speaking,
this particular application of the formula was worth six hundred million
dollars.
These facts—and they are facts well known to almost everyone who
knew Mr. Carnegie—give you a fair idea of what the reading of this book
may bring to you, provided you KNOW WHAT IT IS THAT YOU WANT.
Even before it had undergone twenty years of practical testing, the secret
was passed on to more than one hundred thousand men and women who have
used it for their personal benefit, as Mr. Carnegie planned that they should.
Some have made fortunes with it. Others have used it successfully in creating
harmony in their homes. A clergyman used it so effectively that it brought him
an income of upwards of $75,000.00 a year.
Arthur Nash, a Cincinnati tailor, used his near-bankrupt business as a
“guinea pig” on which to test the formula. The business came to life and
made a fortune for its owners. It is still thriving, although Mr. Nash has gone.
The experiment was so unique that newspapers and magazines, gave it more
than a million dollars’ worth of laudatory publicity.
The secret was passed on to Stuart Austin Wier, of Dallas, Texas. He
was ready for it—so ready that he gave up his profession and studied law.
Did he succeed? That story is told too.
I gave the secret to Jennings Randolph, the day he graduated from
College, and he has used it so successfully that he is now serving his third
term as a Member of Congress, with an excellent opportunity to keep on
using it until it carries him to the White House.
While serving as Advertising Manager of the LaSalle Extension
University, when it was little more than a name, I had the privilege of seeing
J. G. Chapline, President of the University, use the formula so effectively that
he has since made the LaSalle one of the great extension schools of the
country.
The secret to which I refer has been mentioned no fewer than a hundred
times, throughout this book. It has not been directly named, for it seems to
work more successfully when it is merely uncovered and left in sight, where
THOSE WHO ARE READY, and SEARCHING FOR IT, may pick it up.
That is why Mr. Carnegie tossed it to me so quietly, without giving me its
specific name.
If you are READY to put it to use, you will recognize this secret at least
once in every chapter. I wish I might feel privileged to tell you how you will
know if you are ready, but that would deprive you of much of the benefit you
will receive when you make the discovery in your own way.
If you are READY to put it to use, you will recognize this secret
at least once in every chapter.
While this book was being written, my own son, who was then finishing
the last year of his college work, picked up the manuscript of chapter two,
read it, and discovered the secret for himself. He used the information so
effectively that he went directly into a responsible position at a beginning
salary greater than the average man ever earns. His story has been briefly
described in chapter two. When you read it, perhaps you will dismiss any
feeling you may have had, at the beginning of the book, that it promised too
much. And, too, if you have ever been discouraged, if you have had
difficulties to surmount which took the very soul out of you, if you have tried
and failed, if you were ever handicapped by illness or physical affliction,
this story of my son’s discovery and use of the Carnegie formula may prove
to be the oasis in the Desert of Lost Hope, for which you have been
searching.
This secret was extensively used by President Woodrow Wilson, during
the World War. It was passed on to every soldier who fought in the war,
carefully wrapped in the training received before going to the front. President
Wilson told me it was a strong factor in raising the funds needed for the war.
More than twenty years ago, Hon. Manuel L. Quezon (then Resident
Commissioner of the Philippine Islands), was inspired by the secret to gain
freedom for his people. He has gained freedom for the Philippines, and is the
first President of the free state.
A peculiar thing about this secret is that those who once acquire it and
use it, find themselves literally swept on to success, with but little effort, and
they never again submit to failure! If you doubt this, study the names of those
who have used it, wherever they have been mentioned, check their records
for yourself, and be convinced.
There is no such thing as SOMETHING FOR NOTHING!
The secret to which I refer cannot be had without a price, although the
price is far less than its value. It cannot be had at any price by those who are
not intentionally searching for it. It cannot be given away, it cannot be
purchased for money, for the reason that it comes in two parts. One part is
already in possession of those who are ready for it.
The secret serves equally well, all who are ready for it. Education has
nothing to do with it. Long before I was born, the secret had found its way
into the possession of Thomas A. Edison, and he used it so intelligently that
he became the world’s leading inventor, although he had but three months of
schooling.
The secret was passed on to a business associate of Mr. Edison. He used
it so effectively that, although he was then making only $12,000 a year, he
accumulated a great fortune, and retired from active business while still a
young man. You will find his story at the beginning of the first chapter. It
should convince you that riches are not beyond your reach, that you can still
be what you wish to be, that money, fame, recognition and happiness can be
had by all who are ready and determined to have these blessings.
How do I know these things? You should have the answer before you
finish this book. You may find it in the very first chapter, or on the last page.
While I was performing the twenty year task of research, which I had
undertaken at Mr. Carnegie’s request, I analyzed hundreds of well known
men, many of whom admitted that they had accumulated their vast fortunes
through the aid of the Carnegie secret; among these men were:
Henry Ford
William Wrigley Jr.
John Wanamaker
James J. Hill
George S. Parker
E.M. Statler
Henry L. Doherty
Cyrus H.K. Curtis
George Eastman
Theodore Roosevelt
John W. Davis
Elbert Hubbard
Wilbur Wright
William Jennings Bryan
Dr. David Starr Jordan
J. Odgen Armour
Charles M. Schwab
Harris F. Williams
Dr. Frank Gunsaulus
Daniel Willard
King Gillette
Ralph A. Weeks
Judge Daniel T. Wright
John D. Rockefeller
Thomas A. Edison
Frank A. Vanderlip
F.W. Woolworth
Col. Robert A. Dollar
Edward A. Filene
Edwin C. Barnes
Arthur Brisbane
Woodrow Wilson
Wm. Howard Taft
Luther Burbank
Edward W. Bok
Frank A. Munsey
Elbert H. Gary
Dr. Alexander Graham Bell
John H. Patterson
Julius Rosenwald
Stuart Austin Wier
Dr. Frank Crane
George M. Alexander
J.G. Chapline
Hon. Jennings Randolph
Arthur Nash
Clarence Darrow
These names represent but a small fraction of the hundreds of well
known Americans whose achievements, financially and otherwise, prove that
those who understand and apply the Carnegie secret, reach high stations in
life. I have never known anyone who was inspired to use the secret, who did
not achieve noteworthy success in his chosen calling. I have never known any
person to distinguish himself, or to accumulate riches of any consequence,
without possession of the secret. From these two facts I draw the conclusion
that the secret is more important, as a part of the knowledge essential for
self-determination, than any which one receives through what is popularly
known as “education.”
What is EDUCATION, anyway? This has been answered in full detail.
As far as schooling is concerned, many of these men had very little. John
Wanamaker once told me that what little schooling he had, he acquired in
very much the same manner as a modern locomotive takes on water, by
“scooping it up as it runs.” Henry Ford never reached high school, let alone
college. I am not attempting to minimize the value of schooling, but I am
trying to express my earnest belief that those who master and apply the secret
will reach high stations, accumulate riches, and bargain with life on their
own terms, even if their schooling has been meager.
Somewhere, as you read, the secret to which I refer will jump from the
page and stand boldly before you, IF YOU ARE READY FOR IT! When it
appears, you will recognize it. Whether you receive the sign in the first or the
last chapter, stop for a moment when it presents itself, and turn down a glass,
for that occasion will mark the most important turning-point of your life.
We pass now, to Chapter One, and to the story of my very dear friend,
who has generously acknowledged having seen the mystic sign, and whose
business achievements are evidence enough that he turned down a glass. As
you read his story, and the others, remember that they deal with the important
problems of life, such as all men experience. The problems arising from
one’s endeavor to earn a living, to find hope, courage, contentment and peace
of mind; to accumulate riches and to enjoy freedom of body and spirit.
Remember, too, as you go through the book, that it deals with facts and
not with fiction, its purpose being to convey a great universal truth through
which all who are READY may learn, not only WHAT TO DO, BUT ALSO
HOW TO DO IT! and receive, as well, THE NEEDED STIMULUS TO
MAKE A START.
As a final word of preparation, before you begin the first chapter, may I
offer one brief suggestion which may provide a clue by which the Carnegie
secret may be recognized? It is this—ALL ACHIEVEMENT, ALL EARNED
RICHES, HAVE THEIR BEGINNING IN AN IDEA! If you are ready for the
secret, you already possess one half of it, therefore, you will readily
recognize the other half the moment it reaches your mind.
The Author
ALL ACHIEVEMENT, ALL EARNED RICHES, HAVE THEIR
BEGINNING IN AN IDEA!
Chapter 1
General Introduction
The Man Who “Thought” His Way Into Partnership
with Thomas A. Edison
Truly, “thoughts are things,” and powerful things at that, when they are mixed
with definiteness of purpose, persistence, and a BURNING DESIRE for their
translation into riches, or other material objects.
A little more than thirty years ago, Edwin C. Barnes discovered how
true it is that men really do THINK AND GROW RICH. His discovery did
not come about at one sitting. It came little by little, beginning with a
BURNING DESIRE to become a business associate of the great Edison.
One of the chief characteristics of Barnes’ Desire was that it was
definite. He wanted to work with Edison, not for him. Observe, carefully, the
description of how he went about translating his DESIRE into reality, and
you will have a better understanding of the thirteen principles which lead to
riches.
When this DESIRE, or impulse of thought, first flashed into his mind he
was in no position to act upon it. Two difficulties stood in his way. He did
not know Mr. Edison, and he did not have enough money to pay his railroad
fare to Orange, New Jersey.
These difficulties were sufficient to have discouraged the majority of
men from making any attempt to carry out the desire. But his was no ordinary
desire! He was so determined to find a way to carry out his desire that he
finally decided to travel by “blind baggage,” rather than be defeated. (To the
uninitiated, this means that he went to East Orange on a freight train).
He presented himself at Mr. Edison’s laboratory, and announced he had
come to go into business with the inventor. In speaking of the first meeting
between Barnes and Edison, years later, Mr. Edison said, “He stood there
before me, looking like an ordinary tramp, but there was something in the
expression of his face which conveyed the impression that he was
determined to get what he had come after. I had learned, from years of
experience with men, that when a man really DESIRES a thing so deeply that
he is willing to stake his entire future on a single turn of the wheel in order to
get it, he is sure to win. I gave him the opportunity he asked for, because I
saw he had made up his mind to stand by until he succeeded. Subsequent
events proved that no mistake was made.”
Just what young Barnes said to Mr. Edison on that occasion was far less
important than that which he thought. Edison, himself, said so! It could not
have been the young man’s appearance which got him his start in the Edison
office, for that was definitely against him. It was what he THOUGHT that
counted.
If the significance of this statement could be conveyed to every person
who reads it, there would be no need for the remainder of this book.
Barnes did not get his partnership with Edison on his first interview. He
did get a chance to work in the Edison offices, at a very nominal wage, doing
work that was unimportant to Edison, but most important to Barnes, because
it gave him an opportunity to display his “merchandise” where his intended
“partner” could see it.
Months went by. Apparently nothing happened to bring the coveted goal
which Barnes had set up in his mind as his DEFINITE MAJOR PURPOSE.
But something important was happening in Barnes’ mind. He was constantly
intensifying his DESIRE to become the business associate of Edison.
Psychologists have correctly said that “when one is truly ready for a
thing, it puts in its appearance.” Barnes was ready for a business association
with Edison, moreover, he was DETERMINED TO REMAIN READY
UNTIL HE GOT THAT WHICH HE WAS SEEKING.
He did not say to himself, “Ah well, what’s the use? I guess I’ll change
my mind and try for a salesman’s job.” But, he did say, “I came here to go
into business with Edison, and I’ll accomplish this end if it takes the
remainder of my life.” He meant it! What a different story men would have to
tell if only they would adopt a DEFINITE PURPOSE, and stand by that
purpose until it had time to become an all-consuming obsession!
What a different story men would have to tell if only they would
adopt a DEFINITE PURPOSE, and stand by that purpose until
it had time to become an all-consuming obsession!
Maybe young Barnes did not know it at the time, but his bulldog
determination, his persistence in standing back of a single DESIRE, was
destined to mow down all opposition, and bring him the opportunity he was
seeking.
When the opportunity came, it appeared in a different form, and from a
different direction than Barnes had expected. That is one of the tricks of
opportunity. It has a sly habit of slipping in by the back door, and often it
comes disguised in the form of misfortune, or temporary defeat. Perhaps this
is why so many fail to recognize opportunity.
That is one of the tricks of opportunity. It has a sly habit of
slipping in by the back door, and often it comes disguised in the
form of misfortune, or temporary defeat.
Mr. Edison had just perfected a new office device, known at that time, as
the Edison Dictating Machine (now the Ediphone). His salesmen were not
enthusiastic over the machine. They did not believe it could be sold without
great effort. Barnes saw his opportunity. It had crawled in quietly, hidden in a
queer looking machine which interested no one but Barnes and the inventor.
Barnes knew he could sell the Edison Dictating Machine. He suggested
this to Edison, and promptly got his chance. He did sell the machine. In fact,
he sold it so successfully that Edison gave him a contract to distribute and
market it all over the nation. Out of that business association grew the slogan,
“Made by Edison and installed by Barnes.”
The business alliance has been in operation for more than thirty years.
Out of it Barnes has made himself rich in money, but he has done something
infinitely greater, he has proved that one really may “Think and Grow Rich.”
How much actual cash that original DESIRE of Barnes’ has been worth
to him, I have no way of knowing. Perhaps it has brought him two or three
million dollars, but the amount, whatever it is, becomes insignificant when
compared with the greater asset he acquired in the form of definite
knowledge that an intangible impulse of thought can be transmuted into its
physical counterpart by the application of known principles.
Barnes literally thought himself into a partnership with the great Edison!
He thought himself into a fortune. He had nothing to start with, except the
capacity to KNOW WHAT HE WANTED, AND THE DETERMINATION
TO STAND BY THAT DESIRE UNTIL HE REALIZED IT.
He had no money to begin with. He had but little education. He had no
influence. But he did have initiative, faith, and the will to win. With these
intangible forces he made himself number one man with the greatest inventor
who ever lived.
Now, let us look at a different situation, and study a man who had plenty
of tangible evidence of riches, but lost it, because he stopped three feet short
of the goal he was seeking.
THREE FEET FROM GOLD
One of the most common causes of failure is the habit of quitting when one is
overtaken by temporary defeat. Every person is guilty of this mistake at one
time or another.
An uncle of R. U. Darby was caught by the “gold fever” in the gold-rush
days, and went west to DIG AND GROW RICH. He had never heard that
more gold has been mined from the brains of men than has ever been taken
from the earth. He staked a claim and went to work with pick and shovel.
The going was hard, but his lust for gold was definite.
After weeks of labor, he was rewarded by the discovery of the shining
ore. He needed machinery to bring the ore to the surface. Quietly, he covered
up the mine, retraced his footsteps to his home in Williamsburg, Maryland,
told his relatives and a few neighbors of the “strike.” They got together
money for the needed machinery, had it shipped. The uncle and Darby went
back to work the mine.
The first car of ore was mined, and shipped to a smelter. The returns
proved they had one of the richest mines in Colorado! A few more cars of
that ore would clear the debts. Then would come the big killing in profits.
Down went the drills! Up went the hopes of Darby and Uncle! Then
something happened! The vein of gold ore disappeared! They had come to
the end of the rainbow, and the pot of gold was no longer there! They drilled
on, desperately trying to pick up the vein again—all to no avail.
Finally, they decided to QUIT.
They sold the machinery to a junk man for a few hundred dollars, and
took the train back home. Some “junk” men are dumb, but not this one! He
called in a mining engineer to look at the mine and do a little calculating. The
engineer advised that the project had failed, because the owners were not
familiar with “fault lines.” His calculations showed that the vein would be
found JUST THREE FEET FROM WHERE THE DARBYS HAD
STOPPED DRILLING! That is exactly where it was found!
The “Junk” man took millions of dollars in ore from the mine, because
he knew enough to seek expert counsel before giving up.
Most of the money which went into the machinery was procured through
the efforts of R. U. Darby, who was then a very young man. The money came
from his relatives and neighbors, because of their faith in him. He paid back
every dollar of it, although he was years in doing so.
Long afterward, Mr. Darby recouped his loss many times over, when he
made the discovery that DESIRE can be transmuted into gold. The discovery
came after he went into the business of selling life insurance.
Remembering that he lost a huge fortune, because he STOPPED three
feet from gold, Darby profited by the experience in his chosen work, by the
simple method of saying to himself, “I stopped three feet from gold, but I will
never stop because men say ‘no’ when I ask them to buy insurance.”
Darby is one of a small group of fewer than fifty men who sell more than
a million dollars in life insurance annually. He owes his “stickability” to the
lesson he learned from his “quitability” in the gold mining business.
Before success comes in any man’s life, he is sure to meet with much
temporary defeat, and, perhaps, some failure. When defeat overtakes a man,
the easiest and most logical thing to do is to QUIT. That is exactly what the
majority of men do.
More than five hundred of the most successful men this country has ever
known, told the author their greatest success came just one step beyond the
point at which defeat had overtaken them. Failure is a trickster with a keen
sense of irony and cunning. It takes great delight in tripping one when success
is almost within reach.
Before success comes in any man’s life, he is sure to meet with
much temporary defeat, and, perhaps, some failure.
A FIFTY CENT LESSON IN PERSISTENCE
Shortly after Mr. Darby received his degree from the “University of Hard
Knocks,” and had decided to profit by his experience in the gold mining
business, he had the good fortune to be present on an occasion that proved to
him that “No” does not necessarily mean no.
One afternoon he was helping his uncle grind wheat in an old fashioned
mill. The uncle operated a large farm on which a number of colored
sharecrop farmers lived. Quietly, the door was opened, and a small colored
child, the daughter of a tenant, walked in and took her place near the door.
The uncle looked up, saw the child, and barked at her roughly, “What do
you want?”
Meekly, the child replied, “My mammy say send her fifty cents.”
“I’ll not do it,” the uncle retorted, “Now you run on home.”
“Yas sah,” the child replied. But she did not move.
The uncle went ahead with his work, so busily engaged that he did not
pay enough attention to the child to observe that she did not leave. When he
looked up and saw her still standing there, he yelled at her, “I told you to go
on home! Now go, or I’ll take a switch to you.”
The little girl said “yas sah,” but she did not budge an inch.
The uncle dropped a sack of grain he was about to pour into the mill
hopper, picked up a barrel stave, and started toward the child with an
expression on his face that indicated trouble.
Darby held his breath. He was certain he was about to witness a murder.
He knew his uncle had a fierce temper. He knew that colored children were
not supposed to defy white people in that part of the country.
When the uncle reached the spot where the child was standing, she
quickly stepped forward one step, looked up into his eyes, and screamed at
the top of her shrill voice, “MY MAMMY’S GOTTA HAVE THAT FIFTY
CENTS!”
The uncle stopped, looked at her for a minute, then slowly laid the barrel
stave on the floor, put his hand in his pocket, took out half a dollar, and gave
it to her.
The child took the money and slowly backed toward the door, never
taking her eyes off the man whom she had just conquered. After she had
gone, the uncle sat down on a box and looked out the window into space for
more than ten minutes. He was pondering, with awe, over the whipping he
had just taken.
Mr. Darby, too, was doing some thinking. That was the first time in all
his experience that he had seen a colored child deliberately master an adult
white person. How did she do it. What happened to his uncle that caused him
to lose his fierceness and become as docile as a lamb? What strange power
did this child use that made her master over her superior? These and other
similar questions flashed into Darby’s mind, but he did not find the answer
until years later, when he told me the story.
Strangely, the story of this unusual experience was told to the author in
the old mill, on the very spot where the uncle took his whipping. Strangely,
too, I had devoted nearly a quarter of a century to the study of the power
which enabled an ignorant, illiterate colored child to conquer an intelligent
man.
As we stood there in that musty old mill, Mr. Darby repeated the story of
the unusual conquest, and finished by asking, “What can you make of it? What
strange power did that child use, that so completely whipped my uncle?”
The answer to his question will be found in the principles described in
this book. The answer is full and complete. It contains details and
instructions sufficient to enable anyone to understand, and apply the same
force which the little child accidentally stumbled upon.
Keep your mind alert, and you will observe exactly what strange power
came to the rescue of the child, you will catch a glimpse of this power in the
next chapter. Somewhere in the book you will find an idea that will quicken
your receptive powers, and place at your command, for your own benefit,
this same irresistible power. The awareness of this power may come to you
in the first chapter, or it may flash into your mind in some subsequent chapter.
It may come in the form of a single idea. Or, it may come in the nature of a
plan, or a purpose. Again, it may cause you to go back into your past
experiences of failure or defeat, and bring to the surface some lesson by
which you can regain all that you lost through defeat.
After I had described to Mr. Darby the power unwittingly used by the
little colored child, he quickly retraced his thirty years of experience as a life
insurance salesman, and frankly acknowledged that his success in that field
was due, in no small degree, to the lesson he had learned from the child.
Mr. Darby pointed out: “Every time a prospect tried to bow me out,
without buying, I saw that child standing there in the old mill, her big eyes
glaring in defiance, and I said to myself, ‘I’ve gotta make this sale.’ The
better portion of all sales I have made, were made after people had said
‘NO’.”
He recalled, too, his mistake in having stopped only three feet from gold,
“But,” he said, “That experience was a blessing in disguise. It taught me to
keep on keeping on, no matter how hard the going may be, a lesson I needed
to learn before I could succeed in anything.”
This story of Mr. Darby and his uncle, the colored child and the gold
mine, doubtless will be read by hundreds of men who make their living by
selling life insurance, and to all of these, the author wishes to offer the
suggestion that Darby owes to these two experiences his ability to sell more
than a million dollars of life insurance every year.
Life is strange, and often imponderable! Both the successes and the
failures have their roots in simple experiences. Mr. Darby’s experiences
were common-place and simple enough, yet they held the answer to his
destiny in life, therefore they were as important (to him) as life itself. He
profited by these two dramatic experiences, because he analyzed them, and
found the lesson they taught. But what of the man who has neither the time,
nor the inclination to study failure in search of knowledge that may lead to
success? Where, and how is he to learn the art of converting defeat into
stepping stones to opportunity?
In answer to these questions, this book was written.
The answer called for a description of thirteen principles, but remember,
as you read, the answer you may be seeking, to the questions which have
caused you to ponder over the strangeness of life, may be found in your own
mind, through some idea, plan, or purpose which may spring into your mind
as you read.
One sound idea is all that one needs to achieve success. The principles
described in this book, contain the best, and the most practical of all that is
known, concerning ways and means of creating useful ideas.
Before we go any further in our approach to the description of these
principles, we believe you are entitled to receive this important suggestion.
… WHEN RICHES BEGIN TO COME THEY COME SO QUICKLY, IN
SUCH GREAT ABUNDANCE, THAT ONE WONDERS WHERE THEY
HAVE BEEN HIDING DURING ALL THOSE LEAN YEARS. This is an
astounding statement, and all the more so, when we take into consideration
the popular belief, that riches come only to those who work hard and long.
When you begin to THINK AND GROW RICH, you will observe that
riches begin with a state of mind, with definiteness of purpose, with little or
no hard work. You, and every other person, ought to be interested in knowing
how to acquire that state of mind which will attract riches. I spent twentyfive years in research, analyzing more than 25,000 people, because I, too,
wanted to know “how wealthy men become that way.”
Without that research, this book could not have been written.
Here take notice of a very significant truth, viz: The business depression
started in 1929, and continued on to an all time record of destruction, until
sometime after President Roosevelt entered office. Then the depression
began to fade into nothingness. Just as an electrician in a theatre raises the
lights so gradually that darkness is transmuted into light before you realize it,
so did the spell of fear in the minds of the people gradually fade away and
become faith.
Observe very closely, as soon as you master the principles of this
philosophy, and begin to follow the instructions for applying those
principles, your financial status will begin to improve, and everything you
touch will begin to transmute itself into an asset for your benefit. Impossible?
Not at all!
One of the main weaknesses of mankind is the average man’s familiarity
with the word “impossible.” He knows all the rules which will NOT work.
He knows all the things which CANNOT be done. This book was written for
those who seek the rules which have made others successful, and are willing
to stake everything on those rules.
A great many years ago I purchased a fine dictionary. The first thing I
did with it was to turn to the word “impossible,” and neatly clip it out of the
book. That would not be an unwise thing for you to do.
Success comes to those who become SUCCESS CONSCIOUS.
Failure comes to those who indifferently allow themselves to become
FAILURE CONSCIOUS.
The object of this book is to help all who seek it, to learn the art of
changing their minds from FAILURE CONSCIOUSNESS to SUCCESS
CONSCIOUSNESS.
Another weakness found in altogether too many people, is the habit of
measuring everything, and everyone, by their own impressions and beliefs.
Some who will read this, will believe that no one can THINK AND GROW
RICH. They cannot think in terms of riches, because their thought habits have
been steeped in poverty, want, misery, failure, and defeat.
These unfortunate people remind me of a prominent Chinese, who came
to America to be educated in American ways. He attended the University of
Chicago. One day President Harper met this young Oriental on the campus,
stopped to chat with him for a few minutes, and asked what had impressed
him as being the most noticeable characteristic of the American people.
“Why,” the Chinaman exclaimed, “the queer slant of your eyes. Your
eyes are off slant!”
What do we say about the Chinese?
We refuse to believe that which we do not understand. We foolishly
believe that our own limitations are the proper measure of limitations. Sure,
the other fellow’s eyes are “off slant,” BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT THE
SAME AS OUR OWN.
Millions of people look at the achievements of Henry Ford, after he has
arrived, and envy him, because of his good fortune, or luck, or genius, or
whatever it is that they credit for Ford’s fortune. Perhaps one person in every
hundred thousand knows the secret of Ford’s success, and those who do
know are too modest, or too reluctant, to speak of it, because of its
simplicity. A single transaction will illustrate the “secret” perfectly.
A few years back, Ford decided to produce his now famous V-8 motor.
He chose to build an engine with the entire eight cylinders cast in one block,
and instructed his engineers to produce a design for the engine. The design
was placed on paper, but the engineers agreed, to a man, that it was simply
impossible to cast an eight cylinder gas engine block in one piece.
Ford said, “Produce it anyway.”
“But,” they replied, “it’s impossible!”
“Go ahead,” Ford commanded, “and stay on the job until you succeed no
matter how much time is required.”
The engineers went ahead. There was nothing else for them to do, if they
were to remain on the Ford staff. Six months went by, nothing happened.
Another six months passed, and still nothing happened. The engineers tried
every conceivable plan to carry out the orders, but the thing seemed out of the
question; “Impossible!”
At the end of the year Ford checked with his engineers, and again they
informed him they had found no way to carry out his orders.
“Go right ahead,” said Ford, “I want it, and I’ll have it.”
They went ahead, and then, as if by a stroke of magic, the secret was
discovered.
The Ford DETERMINATION had won once more!
This story may not be described with minute accuracy, but the sum and
substance of it is correct. Deduce from it, you who wish to THINK AND
GROW RICH, the secret of the Ford millions, if you can. You’ll not have to
look very far.
Henry Ford is a success, because he understands, and applies the
principles of success. One of these is DESIRE: knowing what one wants.
Remember this Ford story as you read, and pick out the lines in which the
secret of his stupendous achievement have been described. If you can do this,
if you can lay your finger on the particular group of principles which made
Henry Ford rich, you can equal his achievements in almost any calling for
which you are suited.
YOU ARE “THE MASTER OF YOUR FATE, THE
CAPTAIN OF YOUR SOUL,” BECAUSE …
When Henley wrote the prophetic lines, “I am the Master of my Fate, I am the
Captain of my Soul,” he should have informed us that we are the Masters of
our Fate, the Captains of our Souls, because we have the power to control
our thoughts.
We are the Masters of our Fate, the Captains of our Souls,
because we have the power to control our thoughts.
He should have told us that the ether in which this little earth floats, in
which we move and have our being, is a form of energy moving at an
inconceivably high rate of vibration, and that the ether is filled with a form of
universal power which ADAPTS itself to the nature of the thoughts we hold
in our minds; and INFLUENCES us, in natural ways, to transmute our
thoughts into their physical equivalent.
If the poet had told us of this great truth, we would know WHY IT IS that
we are the Masters of our Fate, the Captains of our Souls. He should have
told us, with great emphasis, that this power makes no attempt to discriminate
between destructive thoughts and constructive thoughts, that it will urge us to
translate into physical reality thoughts of poverty, just as quickly as it will
influence us to act upon thoughts of riches.
He should have told us, too, that our brains become magnetized with the
dominating thoughts which we hold in our minds, and, by means with which
no man is familiar, these “magnets” attract to us the forces, the people, the
circumstances of life which harmonize with the nature of our dominating
thoughts.
He should have told us, that before we can accumulate riches in great
abundance, we must magnetize our minds with intense DESIRE for riches,
that we must become “money conscious” until the DESIRE for money drives
us to create definite plans for acquiring it.
But, being a poet, and not a philosopher, Henley contented himself by
stating a great truth in poetic form, leaving those who followed him to
interpret the philosophical meaning of his lines.
Little by little, the truth has unfolded itself, until it now appears certain
that the principles described in this book, hold the secret of mastery over our
economic fate.
We are now ready to examine the first of these principles. Maintain a
spirit of open-mindedness, and remember as you read, they are the invention
of no one man. The principles were gathered from the life experiences of
more than 500 men who actually accumulated riches in huge amounts; men
who began in poverty, with but little education, without influence. The
principles worked for these men. You can put them to work for your own
enduring benefit.
You will find it easy, not hard, to do.
Before you read the next chapter, I want you to know that it conveys
factual information which might easily change your entire financial destiny,
as it has so definitely brought changes of stupendous proportions to two
people described.
I want you to know, also, that the relationship between these two men
and myself, is such that I could have taken no liberties with the facts, even if I
had wished to do so. One of them has been my closest personal friend for
almost twenty-five years, the other is my own son. The unusual success of
these two men, success which they generously accredit to the principle
described in the next chapter, more than justifies this personal reference as a
means of emphasizing the far-flung power of this principle.
Almost fifteen years ago, I delivered the Commencement Address at
Salem College, Salem, West Virginia. I emphasized the principle described
in the next chapter, with so much intensity that one of the members of the
graduating class definitely appropriated it, and made it a part of his own
philosophy. The young man is now a Member of Congress, and an important
factor in the present administration. Just before this book went to the
publisher, he wrote me a letter in which he so clearly stated his opinion of
the principle outlined in the next chapter, that I have chosen to publish his
letter as an introduction to that chapter.
It gives you an idea of the rewards to come.
My dear Napoleon:
My service as a Member of Congress having given me an insight into the problems of men
and women, I am writing to offer a suggestion which may become helpful to thousands of
worthy people.
With apologies, I must state that the suggestion, if acted upon, will mean several years of
labor and responsibility for you, but I am en-heartened to make the suggestion, because I
know your great love for rendering useful service.
In 1922, you delivered the Commencement address at Salem College, when I was a
member of the graduating class. In that address, you planted in my mind an idea which has
been responsible for the opportunity I now have to serve the people of my State, and will be
responsible, in a very large measure, for whatever success I may have in the future.
The suggestion I have in mind is, that you put into a book the sum and substance of the
address you delivered at Salem College, and in that way give the people of America an
opportunity to profit by your many years of experience and association with the men who, by
their greatness, have made America the richest nation on earth.
I recall, as though it were yesterday, the marvelous description you gave of the method by
which Henry Ford, with but little schooling, without a dollar, with no influential friends, rose to
great heights. I made up my mind then, even before you had finished your speech, that I
would make a place for myself, no matter how many difficulties I had to surmount.
Thousands of young people will finish their schooling this year, and within the next few
years. Every one of them will be seeking just such a message of practical encouragement as
the one I received from you. They will want to know where to turn, what to do, to get started
in life. You can tell them, because you have helped to solve the problems of so many, many
people.
If there is any possible way that you can afford to render so great a service, may I offer
the suggestion that you include with every book, one of your Personal Analysis Charts, in
order that the purchaser of the book may have the benefit of a complete self-inventory,
indicating, as you indicated to me years ago, exactly what is standing in the way of success.
Such a service as this, providing the readers of your book with a complete, unbiased
picture of their faults and their virtues, would mean to them the difference between success
and failure. The service would be priceless.
Millions of people are now facing the problem of staging a come-back, because of the
depression, and I speak from personal experience when I say, I know these earnest people
would welcome the opportunity to tell you their problems, and to receive your suggestions for
the solution.
You know the problems of those who face the necessity of beginning all over again. There
are thousands of people in America today who would like to know how they can convert
ideas into money, people who must start at scratch, without finances, and recoup their losses.
If anyone can help them, you can.
If you publish the book, I would like to own the first copy that comes from the press,
personally autographed by you.
With best wishes, believe me,
Cordially yours,
JENNINGS RANDOLPH
Chapter One Key Points
1. You must know exactly what you want.
2. You must be willing to sacrifice time, comfort, ease, and familiarity
in order to move steadily toward your goal.
3. Success takes time—it does not matter where you start but that you
start.
4. Do you own research rather than trust herd opinion.
5. Be willing on take on tasks that others ignore, avoid, or shrink
from.
6. There is an appropriate time for slow, steady work and an
appropriate time to claim rewards. Both have their designated
moments.
7. Most people lack persistence—by persisting you immediately
distinguish yourself from the pack.
8. Self-trust and certainty are critical—but they must be earned
through resolute work and independent research. Never rely on
guesswork or casual opinions from others.
9. Passion makes possible what conventional opinion calls
impossible.
Chapter 2
Desire
The Starting Point of All Achievement
The First Step to Riches
When Edwin C. Barnes climbed down from the freight train in Orange, N. J.,
more than thirty years ago, he may have resembled a tramp, but his thoughts
were those of a king!
As he made his way from the railroad tracks to Thomas A. Edison’s
office, his mind was at work. He saw himself standing in Edison’s presence.
He heard himself asking Mr. Edison for an opportunity to carry out the one
CONSUMING OBSESSION OF HIS LIFE, a BURNING DESIRE to become
the business associate of the great inventor.
Barnes’ desire was not a hope! It was not a wish! It was a keen,
pulsating DESIRE, which transcended everything else. It was DEFINITE.
The desire was not new when he approached Edison. It had been
Barnes’ dominating desire for a long time. In the beginning, when the desire
first appeared in his mind, it may have been, probably was, only a wish, but
it was no mere wish when he appeared before Edison with it.
A few years later, Edwin C. Barnes again stood before Edison, in the
same office where he first met the inventor. This time his DESIRE had been
translated into reality. He was in business with Edison. The dominating
DREAM OF HIS LIFE had become a reality. Today, people who know
Barnes envy him, because of the “break” life yielded him. They see him in
the days of his triumph, without taking the trouble to investigate the cause of
his success.
Barnes succeeded because he chose a definite goal, placed all his
energy, all his will power, all his effort, everything back of that goal. He did
not become the partner of Edison the day he arrived. He was content to start
in the most menial work, as long as it provided an opportunity to take even
one step toward his cherished goal.
Barnes succeeded because he chose a definite goal, placed all
his energy, all his will power, all his effort, everything back of
that goal.
Five years passed before the chance he had been seeking made its
appearance. During all those years not one ray of hope, not one promise of
attainment of his DESIRE had been held out to him. To everyone, except
himself, he appeared only another cog in the Edison business wheel, but in
his own mind, HE WAS THE PARTNER OF EDISON EVERY MINUTE OF
THE TIME, from the very day that he first went to work there.
It is a remarkable illustration of the power of a DEFINITE DESIRE.
Barnes won his goal, because he wanted to be a business associate of Mr.
Edison, more than he wanted anything else. He created a plan by which to
attain that purpose. But he BURNED ALL BRIDGES BEHIND HIM. He
stood by his DESIRE until it became the dominating obsession of his life—
and—finally, a fact.
When he went to Orange, he did not say to himself, “I will try to induce
Edison to give me a job of some sort.” He said, “I will see Edison, and put
him on notice that I have come to go into business with him.”
He did not say, “I will work there for a few months, and if I get no
encouragement, I will quit and get a job somewhere else.” He did say, “I will
start anywhere. I will do anything Edison tells me to do, but before I am
through, I will be his associate.”
He did not say, “I will keep my eyes open for another opportunity, in
case I fail to get what I want in the Edison organization.” He said, “There is
but ONE thing in this world that I am determined to have, and that is a
business association with Thomas A. Edison. I will burn all bridges behind
me, and stake my ENTIRE FUTURE on my ability to get what I want.”
He left himself no possible way of retreat. He had to win or perish!
That is all there is to the Barnes story of success!
A long while ago, a great warrior faced a situation which made it
necessary for him to make a decision which insured his success on the
battlefield. He was about to send his armies against a powerful foe, whose
men outnumbered his own. He loaded his soldiers into boats, sailed to the
enemy’s country, unloaded soldiers and equipment, then gave the order to
burn the ships that had carried them. Addressing his men before the first
battle, he said, “You see the boats going up in smoke. That means that we
cannot leave these shores alive unless we win! We now have no choice—we
win—or we perish! They won.
Every person who wins in any undertaking must be willing to burn his
ships and cut all sources of retreat. Only by so doing can one be sure of
maintaining that state of mind known as a BURNING DESIRE TO WIN,
essential to success.
The morning after the great Chicago fire, a group of merchants stood on
State Street, looking at the smoking remains of what had been their stores.
They went into a conference to decide if they would try to rebuild, or leave
Chicago and start over in a more promising section of the country. They
reached a decision—all except one—to leave Chicago.
The merchant who decided to stay and rebuild pointed a finger at the
remains of his store, and said, “Gentlemen, on that very spot I will build the
world’s greatest store, no matter how many times it may burn down.”
That was more than fifty years ago. The store was built. It stands there
today, a towering monument to the power of that state of mind known as a
BURNING DESIRE. The easy thing for Marshal Field to have done, would
have been exactly what his fellow merchants did. When the going was hard,
and the future looked dismal, they pulled up and went where the going
seemed easier.
Mark well this difference between Marshal Field and the other
merchants, because it is the same difference which distinguishes Edwin C.
Barnes from thousands of other young men who have worked in the Edison
organization. It is the same difference which distinguishes practically all who
succeed from those who fail.
Every human being who reaches the age of understanding of the purpose
of money, wishes for it. Wishing will not bring riches. But desiring riches
with a state of mind that becomes an obsession, then planning definite ways
and means to acquire riches, and backing those plans with persistence which
does not recognize failure, will bring riches.
The method by which DESIRE for riches can be transmuted into its
financial equivalent, consists of six definite, practical steps, viz:
First. Fix in your mind the exact amount of money you desire. It is not
sufficient merely to say “I want plenty of money.” Be definite as to the
amount. (There is a psychological reason for definiteness which will be
described in a subsequent chapter).
Second. Determine exactly what you intend to give in return for the money
you desire. (There is no such reality as “something for nothing.”)
Third. Establish a definite date when you intend to possess the money you
desire.
Fourth. Create a definite plan for carrying out your desire, and begin at
once, whether you are ready or not, to put this plan into action.
Fifth. Write out a clear, concise statement of the amount of money you intend
to acquire, name the time limit for its acquisition, state what you intend to
give in return for the money, and describe clearly the plan through which you
intend to accumulate it.
Sixth. Read your written statement aloud, twice daily, once just before
retiring at night, and once after arising in the morning. AS YOU READ—
SEE AND FEEL AND BELIEVE YOURSELF ALREADY IN POSSESSION
OF THE MONEY.
It is important that you follow the instructions described in these six steps. It
is especially important that you observe, and follow the instructions in the
sixth paragraph. You may complain that it is impossible for you to “see
yourself in possession of money” before you actually have it. Here is where
a BURNING DESIRE will come to your aid. If you truly DESIRE money so
keenly that your desire is an obsession, you will have no difficulty in
convincing yourself that you will acquire it. The object is to want money, and
to become so determined to have it that you CONVINCE yourself you will
have it.
Only those who become “money conscious” ever accumulate great
riches. “Money consciousness” means that the mind has become so
thoroughly saturated with the DESIRE for money, that one can see one’s self
already in possession of it.
To the uninitiated, who has not been schooled in the working principles
of the human mind, these instructions may appear impractical. It may be
helpful, to all who fail to recognize the soundness of the six steps, to know
that the information they convey, was received from Andrew Carnegie, who
began as an ordinary laborer in the steel mills, but managed, despite his
humble beginning, to make these principles yield him a fortune of
considerably more than one hundred million dollars.
It may be of further help to know that the six steps here recommended
were carefully scrutinized by the late Thomas A. Edison, who placed his
stamp of approval upon them as being, not only the steps essential for the
accumulation of money, but necessary for the attainment of any definite goal.
The steps call for no “hard labor.” They call for no sacrifice. They do
not require one to become ridiculous, or credulous. To apply them calls for
no great amount of education. But the successful application of these six steps
does call for sufficient imagination to enable one to see, and to understand,
that accumulation of money cannot be left to chance, good fortune, and luck.
One must realize that all who have accumulated great fortunes, first did a
certain amount of dreaming, hoping, wishing, DESIRING, and PLANNING
before they acquired money.
You may as well know, right here, that you can never have riches in great
quantities, UNLESS you can work yourself into a white heat of DESIRE for
money, and actually BELIEVE you will possess it.
You may as well know, also that every great leader, from the dawn of
civilization down to the present, was a dreamer. Christianity is the greatest
potential power in the world today, because its founder was an intense
dreamer who had the vision and the imagination to see realities in their
mental and spiritual form before they had been transmuted into physical form.
If you do not see great riches in your imagination, you will never see
them in your bank balance.
Never, in the history of America has there been so great an opportunity
for practical dreamers as now exists. The six year economic collapse has
reduced all men, substantially, to the same level. A new race is about to be
run. The stakes represent huge fortunes which will be accumulated within the
next ten years. The rules of the race have changed, because we now live in a
CHANGED WORLD that definitely favors the masses, those who had but
little or no opportunity to win under the conditions existing during the
depression, when fear paralyzed growth and development.
We who are in this race for riches, should be encouraged to know that
this changed world in which we live is demanding new ideas, new ways of
doing things, new leaders, new inventions, new methods of teaching, new
methods of marketing, new books, new literature, new features for the radio,
new ideas for moving pictures. Back of all this demand for new and better
things, there is one quality which one must possess to win, and that is
DEFINITENESS OF PURPOSE, the knowledge of what one wants, and a
burning DESIRE to possess it.
The business depression marked the death of one age, and the birth of
another. This changed world requires practical dreamers who can, and will
put their dreams into action. The practical dreamers have always been, and
always will be the pattern-makers of civilization.
We who desire to accumulate riches, should remember the real leaders
of the world always have been men who harnessed, and put into practical
use, the intangible, unseen forces of unborn opportunity, and have converted
those forces, (or impulses of thought), into sky-scrapers, cities, factories,
airplanes, automobiles, and every form of convenience that makes life more
pleasant.
Tolerance, and an open mind are practical necessities of the dreamer of
today. Those who are afraid of new ideas are doomed before they start.
Never has there been a time more favorable to pioneers than the present.
True, there is no wild and woolly west to be conquered, as in the days of the
Covered Wagon; but there is a vast business, financial, and industrial world
to be remoulded and redirected along new and better lines.
In planning to acquire your share of the riches, let no one influence you
to scorn the dreamer. To win the big stakes in this changed world, you must
catch the spirit of the great pioneers of the past, whose dreams have given to
civilization all that it has of value, the spirit which serves as the life-blood of
our own country—your opportunity and mine, to develop and market our
talents.
Let us not forget, Columbus dreamed of an Unknown world, staked his
life on the existence of such a world, and discovered it!
Copernicus, the great astronomer, dreamed of a multiplicity of worlds,
and revealed them! No one denounced him as “impractical” after he had
triumphed. Instead, the world worshipped at his shrine, thus proving once
more that “SUCCESS REQUIRES NO APOLOGIES, FAILURE PERMITS
NO ALIBIS.”
If the thing you wish to do is right, and you believe in it, go ahead and
do it! Put your dream across, and never mind what “they” say if you meet
with temporary defeat, for “they,” perhaps, do not know that EVERY
FAILURE BRINGS WITH IT THE SEED OF AN EQUIVALENT SUCCESS.
Henry Ford, poor and uneducated, dreamed of a horseless carriage, went
to work with what tools he possessed, without waiting for opportunity to
favor him, and now evidence of his dream belts the entire earth. He has put
more wheels into operation than any man who ever lived, because he was not
afraid to back his dreams.
Thomas Edison dreamed of a lamp that could be operated by electricity,
began where he stood to put his dream into action, and despite more than ten
thousand failures, he stood by that dream until he made it a physical reality.
Practical dreamers DO NOT QUIT!
Whelan dreamed of a chain of cigar stores, transformed his dream into
action, and now the United Cigar Stores occupy the best corners in America.
Lincoln dreamed of freedom for the black slaves, put his dream into
action, and barely missed living to see a united North and South translate his
dream into reality.
The Wright brothers dreamed of a machine that would fly through the air.
Now one may see evidence all over the world, that they dreamed soundly.
Marconi dreamed of a system for harnessing the intangible forces of the
ether. Evidence that he did not dream in vain, may be found in every wireless
and radio in the world. Moreover, Marconi’s dream brought the humblest
cabin, and the most stately manor house side by side. It made the people of
every nation on earth back-door neighbors. It gave the President of the United
States a medium by which he may talk to all the people of America at one
time, and on short notice. It may interest you to know that Marconi’s
“friends” had him taken into custody, and examined in a psychopathic
hospital, when he announced he had discovered a principle through which he
could send messages through the air, without the aid of wires, or other direct
physical means of communication. The dreamers of today fare better.
The world has become accustomed to new discoveries. Nay, it has
shown a willingness to reward the dreamer who gives the world a new idea.
“The greatest achievement was, at first, and for a time, but a dream.”
“The oak sleeps in the acorn. The bird waits in the egg, and in the
highest vision of the soul, a waking angel stirs. DREAMS ARE THE
SEEDLINGS OF REALITY.”
Awake, arise, and assert yourself, you dreamers of the world. Your star
is now in the ascendency. The world depression brought the opportunity you
have been waiting for. It taught people humility, tolerance, and openmindedness.
The world is filled with an abundance of OPPORTUNITY which the
dreamers of the past never knew.
A BURNING DESIRE TO BE, AND TO DO is the starting point from
which the dreamer must take off. Dreams are not born of indifference,
laziness, or lack of ambition.
The world no longer scoffs at the dreamer, nor calls him impractical. If
you think it does, take a trip to Tennessee, and witness what a dreamer
President has done in the way of harnessing, and using the great water power
of America. A score of years ago, such a dream would have seemed like
madness.
You have been disappointed, you have undergone defeat during the
depression, you have felt the great heart within you crushed until it bled.
Take courage, for these experiences have tempered the spiritual metal of
which you are made—they are assets of incomparable value.
Remember, too, that all who succeed in life get off to a bad start, and
pass through many heartbreaking struggles before they “arrive.” The turning
point in the lives of those who succeed, usually comes at the moment of some
crisis, through which they are introduced to their “other selves.”
John Bunyan wrote the Pilgrim’s Progress, which is among the finest of
all English literature, after he had been confined in prison and sorely
punished, because of his views on the subject of religion.
O. Henry discovered the genius which slept within his brain, after he
had met with great misfortune, and was confined in a prison cell, in
Columbus, Ohio. Being FORCED, through misfortune, to become acquainted
with his “other self,” and to use his IMAGINATION, he discovered himself
to be a great author instead of a miserable criminal and outcast. Strange and
varied are the ways of life, and stranger still are the ways of Infinite
Intelligence, through which men are sometimes forced to undergo all sorts of
punishment before discovering their own brains, and their own capacity to
create useful ideas through imagination.
Edison, the world’s greatest inventor and scientist, was a “tramp”
telegraph operator, he failed innumerable times before he was driven, finally,
to the discovery of the genius which slept within his brain.
Charles Dickens began by pasting labels on blacking pots. The tragedy
of his first love penetrated the depths of his soul, and converted him into one
of the world’s truly great authors. That tragedy produced, first, David
Copperfield, then a succession of other works that made this a richer and
better world for all who read his books. Disappointment over love affairs,
generally has the effect of driving men to drink, and women to ruin; and this,
because most people never learn the art of transmuting their strongest
emotions into dreams of a constructive nature.
Helen Keller became deaf, dumb, and blind shortly after birth. Despite
her greatest misfortune, she has written her name indelibly in the pages of the
history of the great. Her entire life has served as evidence that no one ever is
defeated until defeat has been accepted as a reality.
Robert Burns was an illiterate country lad, he was cursed by poverty,
and grew up to be a drunkard in the bargain. The world was made better for
his having lived, because he clothed beautiful thoughts in poetry, and thereby
plucked a thorn and planted a rose in its place.
Booker T. Washington was born in slavery, handicapped by race and
color. Because he was tolerant, had an open mind at all times, on all
subjects, and was a DREAMER, he left his impress for good on an entire
race.
Beethoven was deaf, Milton was blind, but their names will last as long
as time endures, because they dreamed and translated their dreams into
organized thought.
Before passing to the next chapter, kindle anew in your mind the fire of
hope, faith, courage, and tolerance. If you have these states of mind, and a
working knowledge of the principles described, all else that you need will
come to you, when you are READY for it. Let Emerson state the thought in
these words, “Every proverb, every book, every byword that belongs to thee
for aid and comfort shall surely come home through open or winding
passages. Every friend whom not thy fantastic will, but the great and tender
soul in thee craveth, shall lock thee in his embrace.”
There is a difference between WISHING for a thing and being READY
to receive it. No one is ready for a thing, until he believes he can acquire it.
The state of mind must be BELIEF, not mere hope or wish. Open-mindedness
is essential for belief. Closed minds do not inspire faith, courage, and belief.
No one is ready for a thing, until he believes he can acquire it.
Remember, no more effort is required to aim high in life, to demand
abundance and prosperity, than is required to accept misery and poverty. A
great poet has correctly stated this universal truth through these lines:
“I bargained with Life for a penny,
And Life would pay no more,
However I begged at evening
When I counted my scanty store.
For Life is a just employer,
He gives you what you ask,
But once you have set the wages,
Why, you must bear the task.
I worked for a menial’s hire,
Only to learn, dismayed,
That any wage I had asked of Life,
Life would have willingly paid.”
DESIRE OUTWITS MOTHER NATURE
As a fitting climax to this chapter, I wish to introduce one of the most unusual
persons I have ever known. I first saw him twenty-four years ago, a few
minutes after he was born. He came into the world without any physical sign
of ears, and the doctor admitted, when pressed for an opinion, that the child
might be deaf, and mute for life.
I challenged the doctor’s opinion. I had the right to do so, I was the
child’s father. I, too, reached a decision, and rendered an opinion, but I
expressed the opinion silently, in the secrecy of my own heart. I decided that
my son would hear and speak. Nature could send me a child without ears, but
Nature could not induce me to accept the reality of the affliction.
In my own mind I knew that my son would hear and speak. How? I was
sure there must be a way, and I knew I would find it. I thought of the words of
the immortal Emerson, “The whole course of things goes to teach us faith. We
need only obey. There is guidance for each of us, and by lowly listening, we
shall hear the right word.”
The right word? DESIRE! More than anything else, I DESIRED that my
son should not be a deaf mute. From that desire I never receded, not for a
second.
Many years previously, I had written, “Our only limitations are those we
set up in our own minds.” For the first time, I wondered if that statement
were true. Lying on the bed in front of me was a newly born child, without
the natural equipment of hearing. Even though he might hear and speak, he
was obviously disfigured for life. Surely, this was a limitation which that
child had not set up in his own mind.
What could I do about it? Somehow I would find a way to transplant into
that child’s mind my own BURNING DESIRE for ways and means of
conveying sound to his brain without the aid of ears.
As soon as the child was old enough to cooperate, I would fill his mind
so completely with a BURNING DESIRE to hear, that Nature would, by
methods of her own, translate it into physical reality.
All this thinking took place in my own mind, but I spoke of it to no one.
Every day I renewed the pledge I had made to myself, not to accept a deaf
mute for a son.
As he grew older, and began to take notice of things around him, we
observed that he had a slight degree of hearing. When he reached the age
when children usually begin talking, he made no attempt to speak, but we
could tell by his actions that he could hear certain sounds slightly. That was
all I wanted to know! I was convinced that if he could hear, even slightly, he
might develop still greater hearing capacity. Then something happened which
gave me hope. It came from an entirely unexpected source.
We bought a victrola. When the child heard the music for the first time,
he went into ecstasies, and promptly appropriated the machine. He soon
showed a preference for certain records, among them, “It’s a Long Way to
Tipperary.” On one occasion, he played that piece over and over, for almost
two hours, standing in front of the victrola, with his teeth clamped on the
edge of the case. The significance of this self-formed habit of his did not
become clear to us until years afterward, for we had never heard of the
principle of “bone conduction” of sound at that time.
Shortly after he appropriated the victrola, I discovered that he could
hear me quite clearly when I spoke with my lips touching his mastoid bone,
or at the base of the brain. These discoveries placed in my possession the
necessary media by which I began to translate into reality my Burning Desire
to help my son develop hearing and speech. By that time he was making stabs
at speaking certain words. The outlook was far from encouraging, but
DESIRE BACKED BY FAITH knows no such word as impossible.
Having determined that he could hear the sound of my voice plainly, I
began, immediately, to transfer to his mind the desire to hear and speak. I
soon discovered that the child enjoyed bedtime stories, so I went to work,
creating stories designed to develop in him self-reliance, imagination, and a
keen desire to hear and to be normal.
There was one story in particular, which I emphasized by giving it some
new and dramatic coloring each time it was told. It was designed to plant in
his mind the thought that his affliction was not a liability, but an asset of great
value. Despite the fact that all the philosophy I had examined clearly
indicated that EVERY ADVERSITY BRINGS WITH IT THE SEED OF AN
EQUIVALENT ADVANTAGE, I must confess that I had not the slightest idea
how this affliction could ever become an asset. However, I continued my
practice of wrapping that philosophy in bedtime stories, hoping the time
would come when he would find some plan by which his handicap could be
made to serve some useful purpose.
Reason told me plainly, that there was no adequate compensation for the
lack of ears and natural hearing equipment. DESIRE backed by FAITH,
pushed reason aside, and inspired me to carry on.
As I analyze the experience in retrospect, I can see now, that my son’s
faith in me had much to do with the astounding results. He did not question
anything I told him. I sold him the idea that he had a distinct advantage over
his older brother, and that this advantage would reflect itself in many ways.
For example, the teachers in school would observe that he had no ears, and,
because of this, they would show him special attention and treat him with
extraordinary kindness. They always did. His mother saw to that, by visiting
the teachers and arranging with them to give the child the extra attention
necessary. I sold him the idea, too, that when he became old enough to sell
newspapers, (his older brother had already become a newspaper merchant),
he would have a big advantage over his brother, for the reason that people
would pay him extra money for his wares, because they could see that he was
a bright, industrious boy, despite the fact he had no ears.
We could notice that, gradually, the child’s hearing was improving.
Moreover, he had not the slightest tendency to be self-conscious, because of
his affliction. When he was about seven, he showed the first evidence that
our method of servicing his mind was bearing fruit. For several months he
begged for the privilege of selling newspapers, but his mother would not
give her consent. She was afraid that his deafness made it unsafe for him to
go on the street alone.
Finally, he took matters in his own hands. One afternoon, when he was
left at home with the servants, he climbed through the kitchen window,
shinnied to the ground, and set out on his own. He borrowed six cents in
capital from the neighborhood shoemaker, invested it in papers, sold out,
reinvested, and kept repeating until late in the evening. After balancing his
accounts, and paying back the six cents he had borrowed from his banker, he
had a net profit of forty-two cents. When we got home that night, we found
him in bed asleep, with the money tightly clenched in his hand.
His mother opened his hand, removed the coins, and cried. Of all things!
Crying over her son’s first victory seemed so inappropriate. My reaction was
the reverse. I laughed heartily, for I knew that my endeavor to plant in the
child’s mind an attitude of faith in himself had been successful.
His mother saw, in his first business venture, a little deaf boy who had
gone out in the streets and risked his life to earn money. I saw a brave,
ambitious, self-reliant little business man whose stock in himself had been
increased a hundred percent, because he had gone into business on his own
initiative, and had won. The transaction pleased me, because I knew that he
had given evidence of a trait of resourcefulness that would go with him all
through life. Later events proved this to be true. When his older brother
wanted something, he would lie down on the floor, kick his feet in the air, cry
for it—and get it. When the “little deaf boy” wanted something, he would
plan a way to earn the money, then buy it for himself. He still follows that
plan!
Truly, my own son has taught me that handicaps can be converted into
stepping stones on which one may climb toward some worthy goal, unless
they are accepted as obstacles, and used as alibis.
The little deaf boy went through the grades, high school, and college
without being able to hear his teachers, excepting when they shouted loudly,
at close range. He did not go to a school for the deaf. WE WOULD NOT
PERMIT HIM TO LEARN THE SIGN LANGUAGE. We were determined
that he should live a normal life, and associate with normal children, and we
stood by that decision, although it cost us many heated debates with school
officials.
While he was in high school, he tried an electrical hearing aid, but it
was of no value to him; due, we believed, to a condition that was disclosed
when the child was six, by Dr. J. Gordon Wilson, of Chicago, when he
operated on one side of the boy’s head, and discovered that there was no sign
of natural hearing equipment.
During his last week in college, (eighteen years after the operation),
something happened which marked the most important turning-point of his
life. Through what seemed to be mere chance, he came into possession of
another electrical hearing device, which was sent to him on trial. He was
slow about testing it, due to his disappointment with a similar device. Finally
he picked the instrument up, and more or less carelessly, placed it on his
head, hooked up the battery, and lo! as if by a stroke of magic, his lifelong
DESIRE FOR NORMAL HEARING BECAME A REALITY! For the first
time in his life he heard practically as well as any person with normal
hearing. “God moves in mysterious ways, His wonders to perform.”
Overjoyed because of the Changed World which had been brought to him
through his hearing device, he rushed to the telephone, called his mother, and
heard her voice perfectly. The next day he plainly heard the voices of his
professors in class, for the first time in his life! Previously he could hear
them only when they shouted, at short range. He heard the radio. He heard the
talking pictures. For the first time in his life, he could converse freely with
other people, without the necessity of their having to speak loudly. Truly, he
had come into possession of a Changed World. We had refused to accept
Nature’s error, and, by PERSISTENT DESIRE, we had induced Nature to
correct that error, through the only practical means available.
DESIRE had commenced to pay dividends, but the victory was not yet
complete. The boy still had to find a definite and practical way to convert his
handicap into an equivalent asset.
Hardly realizing the significance of what had already been
accomplished, but intoxicated with the joy of his newly discovered world of
sound, he wrote a letter to the manufacturer of the hearing-aid,
enthusiastically describing his experience. Something in his letter; something,
perhaps which was not written on the lines, but back of them; caused the
company to invite him to New York. When he arrived, he was escorted
through the factory, and while talking with the Chief Engineer, telling him
about his changed world, a hunch, an idea, or an inspiration—call it what
you wish—flashed into his mind. It was this impulse of thought which
converted his affliction into an asset, destined to pay dividends in both
money and happiness to thousands for all time to come.
The sum and substance of that impulse of thought was this: It occurred to
him that he might be of help to the millions of deafened people who go
through life without the benefit of hearing devices, if he could find a way to
tell them the story of his Changed World. Then and there, he reached a
decision to devote the remainder of his life to rendering useful service to the
hard of hearing.
For an entire month, he carried on an intensive research, during which he
analyzed the entire marketing system of the manufacturer of the hearing
device, and created ways and means of communicating with the hard of
hearing all over the world for the purpose of sharing with them his newly
discovered “Changed World.” When this was done, he put in writing a twoyear plan, based upon his findings. When he presented the plan to the
company, he was instantly given a position, for the purpose of carrying out
his ambition.
Little did he dream, when he went to work, that he was destined to bring
hope and practical relief to thousands of deafened people who, without his
help, would have been doomed forever to deaf mutism.
Shortly after he became associated with the manufacturer of his hearing
aid, he invited me to attend a class conducted by his company, for the
purpose of teaching deaf mutes to hear, and to speak. I had never heard of
such a form of education, therefore I visited the class, skeptical but hopeful
that my time would not be entirely wasted. Here I saw a demonstration which
gave me a greatly enlarged vision of what I had done to arouse and keep
alive in my son’s mind the DESIRE for normal hearing. I saw deaf mutes
actually being taught to hear and to speak, through application of the selfsame principle I had used, more than twenty years previously, in saving my
son from deaf mutism.
Thus, through some strange turn of the Wheel of Fate, my son, Blair, and
I have been destined to aid in correcting deaf mutism for those as yet unborn,
because we are the only living human beings, as far as I know, who have
established definitely the fact that deaf mutism can be corrected to the extent
of restoring to normal life those who suffer with this affliction. It has been
done for one; it will be done for others.
There is no doubt in my mind that Blair would have been a deaf mute all
his life, if his mother and I had not managed to shape his mind as we did. The
doctor who attended at his birth told us, confidentially, the child might never
hear or speak. A few weeks ago, Dr. Irving Voorhees, a noted specialist on
such cases, examined Blair very thoroughly. He was astounded when he
learned how well my son now hears, and speaks, and said his examination
indicated that “theoretically, the boy should not be able to hear at all.” But
the lad does hear, despite the fact that X-ray pictures show there is no
opening in the skull, whatsoever, from where his ears should be to the brain.
When I planted in his mind the DESIRE to hear and talk, and live as a
normal person, there went with that impulse some strange influence which
caused Nature to become bridge-builder, and span the gulf of silence
between his brain and the outer world, by some means which the keenest
medical specialists have not been able to interpret. It would be sacrilege for
me to even conjecture as to how Nature performed this miracle. It would be
unforgivable if I neglected to tell the world as much as I know of the humble
part I assumed in the strange experience. It is my duty, and a privilege to say I
believe, and not without reason, that nothing is impossible to the person who
backs DESIRE with enduring FAITH.
Verily, a BURNING DESIRE has devious ways of transmuting itself into
its physical equivalent. Blair DESIRED normal hearing; now he has it! He
was born with a handicap which might easily have sent one with a less
defined DESIRE to the street with a bundle of pencils and a tin cup. That
handicap now promises to serve as the medium by which he will render
useful service to many millions of hard of hearing, also, to give him useful
employment at adequate financial compensation the remainder of his life.
A BURNING DESIRE has devious ways of transmuting itself
into its physical equivalent.
The little “white lies” I planted in his mind when he was a child, by
leading him to BELIEVE his affliction would become a great asset, which he
could capitalize, has justified itself. Verily, there is nothing, right or wrong,
which BELIEF, plus BURNING DESIRE, cannot make real. These qualities
are free to everyone.
In all my experience in dealing with men and women who had personal
problems, I never handled a single case which more definitely demonstrates
the power of DESIRE. Authors sometimes make the mistake of writing of
subjects of which they have but superficial, or very elementary knowledge. It
has been my good fortune to have had the privilege of testing the soundness
of the POWER OF DESIRE, through the affliction of my own son. Perhaps it
was providential that the experience came as it did, for surely no one is
better prepared than he, to serve as an example of what happens when
DESIRE is put to the test. If Mother Nature bends to the will of desire, is it
logical that mere men can defeat a burning desire?
Strange and imponderable is the power of the human mind! We do not
understand the method by which it uses every circumstance, every individual,
every physical thing within its reach, as a means of transmuting DESIRE into
its physical counterpart. Perhaps science will uncover this secret.
I planted in my son’s mind the DESIRE to hear and to speak as any
normal person hears and speaks. That DESIRE has now become a reality. I
planted in his mind the DESIRE to convert his greatest handicap into his
greatest asset. That DESIRE has been realized. The modus operandi by
which this astounding result was achieved is not hard to describe. It
consisted of three very definite facts; first, I MIXED FAITH with the
DESIRE for normal hearing, which I passed on to my son. Second, I
communicated my desire to him in every conceivable way available, through
persistent, continuous effort, over a period of years. Third, HE BELIEVED
ME!
As this chapter was being completed, news came of the death of Mme.
Schuman-Heink. One short paragraph in the news dispatch gives the clue to
this unusual woman’s stupendous success as a singer. I quote the paragraph,
because the clue it contains is none other than DESIRE.
Early in her career, Mme. Schuman-Heink visited the director of the
Vienna Court Opera, to have him test her voice. But, he did not test it. After
taking one look at the awkward and poorly dressed girl, he exclaimed, none
too gently, “With such a face, and with no personality at all, how can you
ever expect to succeed in opera? My good child, give up the idea. Buy a
sewing machine, and go to work. YOU CAN NEVER BE A SINGER.”
Never is a long time! The director of the Vienna Court Opera knew much
about the technique of singing. He knew little about the power of desire,
when it assumes the proportion of an obsession. If he had known more of that
power, he would not have made the mistake of condemning genius without
giving it an opportunity.
Several years ago, one of my business associates became ill. He became
worse as time went on, and finally was taken to the hospital for an operation.
Just before he was wheeled into the operating room, I took a look at him, and
wondered how anyone as thin and emaciated as he, could possibly go through
a major operation successfully. The doctor warned me that there was little if
any chance of my ever seeing him alive again. But that was the DOCTOR’S
OPINION. It was not the opinion of the patient. Just before he was wheeled
away, he whispered feebly, “Do not be disturbed, Chief, I will be out of here
in a few days.” The attending nurse looked at me with pity. But the patient
did come through safely. After it was all over, his physician said, “Nothing
but his own desire to live saved him. He never would have pulled through if
he had not refused to accept the possibility of death.”
I believe in the power of DESIRE backed by FAITH, because I have
seen this power lift men from lowly beginnings to places of power and
wealth; I have seen it rob the grave of its victims; I have seen it serve as the
medium by which men staged a comeback after having been defeated in a
hundred different ways; I have seen it provide my own son with a normal,
happy, successful life, despite Nature’s having sent him into the world
without ears.
I believe in the power of DESIRE backed by FAITH, because I
have seen this power lift men from lowly beginnings to places
of power and wealth.
How can one harness and use the power of DESIRE? This has been
answered through this, and the subsequent chapters of this book. This
message is going out to the world at the end of the longest, and perhaps, the
most devastating depression America has ever known. It is reasonable to
presume that the message may come to the attention of many who have been
wounded by the depression, those who have lost their fortunes, others who
have lost their positions, and great numbers who must reorganize their plans
and stage a comeback. To all these I wish to convey the thought that all
achievement, no matter what may be its nature, or its purpose, must begin
with an intense, BURNING DESIRE for something definite.
Through some strange and powerful principle of “mental chemistry”
which she has never divulged, Nature wraps up in the impulse of STRONG
DESIRE “that something” which recognizes no such word as impossible, and
accepts no such reality as failure.
Chapter Two Key Points
1. Your aim must be more than a simple aim—it must be a burning
desire and consuming passion.
2. A definite aim is specific. You must have a clear, definable goal in
sight.
3. An aim is not escapism or a pipedream. It is an achievable,
concrete goal.
4. Write down your aim: simply, clearly, and definitely. Revisit it and
carry it with you.
5. Be willing to place a dollar amount on your aim. This program is
not about generalizations but definite markers of achievement.
6. Weaknesses can transform into strengths through determination.
Persistence and exceptional effort allow you to discover
compensatory strengths for your weaknesses.
7. Because the above principle, your weakness may actually be
hidden source of your greatest ability.
8. Nothing is ever achieved without undying desire. Desire finds
openings where none appear.
9. Persistence is the application of passion. Never underestimate its
power.
Chapter 3
Faith
Visualization of, and Belief in Attainment of Desire
The Second Step to Riches
Faith is the head chemist of the mind. When FAITH is blended with the
vibration of thought, the subconscious mind instantly picks up the vibration,
translates it into its spiritual equivalent, and transmits it to Infinite
Intelligence, as in the case of prayer.
The emotions of FAITH, LOVE, and SEX are the most powerful of all
the major positive emotions. When the three are blended, they have the effect
of “coloring” the vibration of thought in such a way that it instantly reaches
the subconscious mind, where it is changed into its spiritual equivalent, the
only form that induces a response from Infinite Intelligence.
The emotions of FAITH, LOVE, and SEX are the most
powerful of all the major positive emotions.
Love and faith are psychic; related to the spiritual side of man. Sex is
purely biological, and related only to the physical. The mixing, or blending,
of these three emotions has the effect of opening a direct line of
communication between the finite, thinking mind of man, and Infinite
Intelligence.
HOW TO DEVELOP FAITH
There comes, now, a statement which will give a better understanding of the
importance the principle of auto-suggestion assumes in the transmutation of
desire into its physical, or monetary equivalent; namely: FAITH is a state of
mind which may be induced, or created, by affirmation or repeated
instructions to the subconscious mind, through the principle of autosuggestion.
As an illustration, consider the purpose for which you are, presumably,
reading this book. The object is, naturally, to acquire the ability to transmute
the intangible thought impulse of DESIRE into its physical counterpart,
money. By following the instructions laid down in the chapters on autosuggestion, and the subconscious mind, as summarized in the chapter on autosuggestion, you may CONVINCE the subconscious mind that you believe you
will receive that for which you ask, and it will act upon that belief, which
your subconscious mind passes back to you in the form of “FAITH,”
followed by definite plans for procuring that which you desire.
The method by which one develops FAITH, where it does not already
exist, is extremely difficult to describe, almost as difficult, in fact, as it
would be to describe the color of red to a blind man who has never seen
color, and has nothing with which to compare what you describe to him.
Faith is a state of mind which you may develop at will, after you have
mastered the thirteen principles, because it is a state of mind which develops
voluntarily, through application and use of these principles.
Repetition of affirmation of orders to your subconscious mind is the
only known method of voluntary development of the emotion of faith.
Perhaps the meaning may be made clearer through the following
explanation as to the way men sometimes become criminals. Stated in the
words of a famous criminologist, “When men first come into contact with
crime, they abhor it. If they remain in contact with crime for a time, they
become accustomed to it, and endure it. If they remain in contact with it long
enough, they finally embrace it, and become influenced by it.”
This is the equivalent of saying that any impulse of thought which is
repeatedly passed on to the subconscious mind is, finally, accepted and acted
upon by the subconscious mind, which proceeds to translate that impulse into
its physical equivalent, by the most practical procedure available.
In connection with this, consider again the statement, ALL THOUGHTS
WHICH HAVE BEEN EMOTIONALIZED, (given feeling) AND MIXED
WITH FAITH, begin immediately to translate themselves into their physical
equivalent or counterpart.
The emotions, or the “feeling” portion of thoughts, are the factors which
give thoughts vitality, life, and action. The emotions of Faith, Love, and Sex,
when mixed with any thought impulse, give it greater action than any of these
emotions can do singly.
Not only thought impulses which have been mixed with FAITH, but
those which have been mixed with any of the positive emotions, or any of the
negative emotions, may reach, and influence the subconscious mind.
From this statement, you will understand that the subconscious mind will
translate into its physical equivalent, a thought impulse of a negative or
destructive nature, just as readily as it will act upon thought impulses of a
positive or constructive nature. This accounts for the strange phenomenon
which so many millions of people experience, referred to as “misfortune,” or
“bad luck.”
There are millions of people who BELIEVE themselves “doomed” to
poverty and failure, because of some strange force over which they
BELIEVE they have no control. They are the creators of their own
“misfortunes,” because of this negative BELIEF, which is picked up by the
subconscious mind, and translated into its physical equivalent.
This is an appropriate place at which to suggest again that you may
benefit, by passing on to your subconscious mind, any DESIRE which you
wish translated into its physical, or monetary equivalent, in a state of
expectancy or BELIEF that the transmutation will actually take place. Your
BELIEF, or FAITH, is the element which determines the action of your
subconscious mind. There is nothing to hinder you from “deceiving” your
subconscious mind when giving it instructions through auto-suggestion, as I
deceived my son’s subconscious mind.
To make this “deceit” more realistic, conduct yourself just as you would,
if you were ALREADY IN POSSESSION OF THE MATERIAL THING
WHICH YOU ARE DEMANDING, when you call upon your subconscious
mind.
The subconscious mind will transmute into its physical equivalent, by
the most direct and practical media available, any order which is given to it
in a state of BELIEF, or FAITH that the order will be carried out.
Surely, enough has been stated to give a starting point from which one
may, through experiment and practice, acquire the ability to mix FAITH with
any order given to the subconscious mind. Perfection will come through
practice. It cannot come by merely reading instructions.
If it be true that one may become a criminal by association with crime,
(and this is a known fact), it is equally true that one may develop faith by
voluntarily suggesting to the subconscious mind that one has faith. The mind
comes, finally, to take on the nature of the influences which dominate it.
Understand this truth, and you will know why it is essential for you to
encourage the positive emotions as dominating forces of your mind, and
discourage—and eliminate negative emotions.
A mind dominated by positive emotions, becomes a favorable abode for
the state of mind known as faith. A mind so dominated may, at will, give the
subconscious mind instructions, which it will accept and act upon
immediately.
A mind dominated by positive emotions, becomes a favorable
abode for the state of mind known as faith.
FAITH IS A STATE OF MIND WHICH MAY BE
INDUCED BY AUTO-SUGGESTION
All down the ages, the religionists have admonished struggling humanity to
“have faith” in this, that, and the other dogma or creed, but they have failed to
tell people HOW to have faith. They have not stated that “faith is a state of
mind, and that it may be induced by self-suggestion.”
In language which any normal human being can understand, we will
describe all that is known about the principle through which FAITH may be
developed, where it does not already exist.
Have Faith in yourself; Faith in the Infinite.
Before we begin, you should be reminded again that:
FAITH is the “eternal elixir” which gives life, power, and action to the
impulse of thought!
The foregoing sentence is worth reading a second time, and a third, and
a fourth. It is worth reading aloud!
FAITH is the starting point of all accumulation of riches!
FAITH is the basis of all “miracles,” and all mysteries which cannot be
analyzed by the rules of science!
FAITH is the only known antidote for FAILURE!
FAITH is the element, the “chemical” which, when mixed with prayer,
gives one direct communication with Infinite Intelligence.
FAITH is the element which transforms the ordinary vibration of thought,
created by the finite mind of man, into the spiritual equivalent.
FAITH is the only agency through which the cosmic force of Infinite
Intelligence can be harnessed and used by man.
EVERY ONE OF THE FOREGOING STATEMENTS IS CAPABLE OF
PROOF!
The proof is simple and easily demonstrated. It is wrapped up in the
principle of auto-suggestion. Let us center our attention, therefore, upon the
subject of self-suggestion, and find out what it is, and what it is capable of
achieving.
It is a well known fact that one comes, finally, to BELIEVE whatever
one repeats to one’s self, whether the statement be true or false. If a man
repeats a lie over and over, he will eventually accept the lie as truth.
Moreover, he will BELIEVE it to be the truth. Every man is what he is,
because of the DOMINATING THOUGHTS which he permits to occupy his
mind. Thoughts which a man deliberately places in his own mind, and
encourages with sympathy, and with which he mixes any one or more of the
emotions, constitute the motivating forces, which direct and control his every
movement, act, and deed!
Comes, now, a very significant statement of truth:
THOUGHTS WHICH ARE MIXED WITH ANY OF THE FEELINGS
OF EMOTIONS, CONSTITUTE A “MAGNETIC” FORCE WHICH
ATTRACTS, FROM THE VIBRATIONS OF THE ETHER, OTHER
SIMILAR, OR RELATED THOUGHTS. A thought thus “magnetized” with
emotion may be compared to a seed which, when planted in fertile soil,
germinates, grows, and multiplies itself over and over again, until that which
was originally one small seed, becomes countless millions of seeds of the
SAME BRAND!
The ether is a great cosmic mass of eternal forces of vibration. It is
made up of both destructive vibrations and constructive vibrations. It carries,
at all times, vibrations of fear, poverty, disease, failure, misery; and
vibrations of prosperity, health, success, and happiness, just as surely as it
carries the sound of hundreds of orchestrations of music, and hundreds of
human voices, all of which maintain their own individuality, and means of
identification, through the medium of radio.
From the great storehouse of the ether, the human mind is constantly
attracting vibrations which harmonize with that which DOMINATES the
human mind. Any thought, idea, plan, or purpose which one holds in one’s
mind attracts, from the vibrations of the ether, a host of its relatives, adds
these “relatives” to its own force, and grows until it becomes the dominating,
MOTIVATING MASTER of the individual in whose mind it has been housed.
Now, let us go back to the starting point, and become informed as to how
the original seed of an idea, plan, or purpose may be planted in the mind. The
information is easily conveyed: any idea, plan, or purpose may be placed in
the mind through repetition of thought. This is why you are asked to write
out a statement of your major purpose, or Definite Chief Aim, commit it to
memory, and repeat it, in audible words, day after day, until these vibrations
of sound have reached your subconscious mind.
We are what we are, because of the vibrations of thought which we pick
up and register, through the stimuli of our daily environment.
Resolve to throw off the influences of any unfortunate environment, and
to build your own life to ORDER. Taking inventory of mental assets and
liabilities, you will discover that your greatest weakness is lack of selfconfidence. This handicap can be surmounted, and timidity translated into
courage, through the aid of the principle of auto-suggestion. The application
of this principle may be made through a simple arrangement of positive
thought impulses stated in writing, memorized, and repeated, until they
become a part of the working equipment of the subconscious faculty of your
mind.
SELF-CONFIDENCE FORMULA
First. I know that I have the ability to achieve the object of my Definite
Purpose in life, therefore, I DEMAND of myself persistent, continuous action
toward its attainment, and I here and now promise to render such action.
Second. I realize the dominating thoughts of my mind will eventually
reproduce themselves in outward, physical action, and gradually transform
themselves into physical reality, therefore, I will concentrate my thoughts for
thirty minutes daily, upon the task of thinking of the person I intend to
become, thereby creating in my mind a clear mental picture of that person.
Third. I know through the principle of auto-suggestion, any desire that I
persistently hold in my mind will eventually seek expression through some
practical means of attaining the object back of it, therefore, I will devote ten
minutes daily to demanding of myself the development of SELFCONFIDENCE.
Fourth. I have clearly written down a description of my DEFINITE CHIEF
AIM in life, and I will never stop trying, until I shall have developed
sufficient self-confidence for its attainment.
Fifth. I fully realize that no wealth or position can long endure, unless built
upon truth and justice, therefore, I will engage in no transaction which does
not benefit all whom it affects. I will succeed by attracting to myself the
forces I wish to use, and the cooperation of other people. I will induce others
to serve me, because of my willingness to serve others. I will eliminate
hatred, envy, jealousy, selfishness, and cynicism, by developing love for all
humanity, because I know that a negative attitude toward others can never
bring me success. I will cause others to believe in me, because I will believe
in them, and in myself.
I will sign my name to this formula, commit it to memory, and repeat it
aloud once a day, with full FAITH that it will gradually influence my
THOUGHTS and ACTIONS so that I will become a self-reliant, and
successful person.
Back of this formula is a law of Nature which no man has yet been able to
explain. It has baffled the scientists of all ages. The psychologists have
named this law “auto-suggestion,” and let it go at that.
The name by which one calls this law is of little importance. The
important fact about it is—it WORKS for the glory and success of mankind,
IF it is used constructively. On the other hand, if used destructively, it will
destroy just as readily. In this statement may be found a very significant truth,
namely; that those who go down in defeat, and end their lives in poverty,
misery, and distress, do so because of negative application of the principle of
auto-suggestion. The cause may be found in the fact that ALL IMPULSES OF
THOUGHT HAVE A TENDENCY TO CLOTHE THEMSELVES IN THEIR
PHYSICAL EQUIVALENT.
The subconscious mind, (the chemical laboratory in which all thought
impulses are combined, and made ready for translation into physical reality),
makes no distinction between constructive and destructive thought impulses.
It works with the material we feed it, through our thought impulses. The
subconscious mind will translate into reality a thought driven by FEAR just
as readily as it will translate into reality a thought driven by COURAGE, or
FAITH.
The pages of medical history are rich with illustrations of cases of
“suggestive suicide.” A man may commit suicide through negative
suggestion, just as effectively as by any other means. In a Midwestern city, a
man by the name of Joseph Grant, a bank official, “borrowed” a large sum of
the bank’s money, without the consent of the directors. He lost the money
through gambling. One afternoon, the Bank Examiner came and began to
check the accounts. Grant left the bank, took a room in a local hotel, and
when they found him, three days later, he was lying in bed, wailing and
moaning, repeating over and over these words, “My God, this will kill me! I
cannot stand the disgrace.” In a short time he was dead. The doctors
pronounced the case one of “mental suicide.”
Just as electricity will turn the wheels of industry, and render useful
service if used constructively; or snuff out life if wrongly used, so will the
law of auto-suggestion lead you to peace and prosperity, or down into the
valley of misery, failure, and death, according to your degree of
understanding and application of it.
If you fill your mind with FEAR, doubt and unbelief in your ability to
connect with, and use the forces of Infinite Intelligence, the law of autosuggestion will take this spirit of unbelief and use it as a pattern by which
your subconscious mind will translate it into its physical equivalent.
THIS STATEMENT IS AS TRUE AS THE STATEMENT THAT TWO
AND TWO ARE FOUR!
Like the wind which carries one ship East, and another West, the law of
auto-suggestion will lift you up or pull you down, according to the way you
set your sails of THOUGHT.
The law of auto-suggestion, through which any person may rise to
altitudes of achievement which stagger the imagination, is well described in
the following verse:
“If you think you are beaten, you are,
If you think you dare not, you don’t
If you like to win, but you think you can’t,
It is almost certain you won’t.
If you think you’ll lose, you’re lost
For out of the world we find,
Success begins with a fellow’s will—
It’s all in the state of mind.
If you think you are outclassed, you are,
You’ve got to think high to rise,
You’ve got to be sure of yourself before
You can ever win a prize.
Life’s battles don’t always go
To the stronger or faster man,
But soon or late the man who wins
Is the man WHO THINKS HE CAN!”
Observe the words which have been emphasized, and you will catch the
deep meaning which the poet had in mind.
Somewhere in your make-up (perhaps in the cells of your brain) there
lies sleeping, the seed of achievement which, if aroused and put into action,
would carry you to heights, such as you may never have hoped to attain.
Just as a master musician may cause the most beautiful strains of music
to pour forth from the strings of a violin, so may you arouse the genius which
lies asleep in your brain, and cause it to drive you upward to whatever goal
you may wish to achieve.
Abraham Lincoln was a failure at everything he tried, until he was well
past the age of forty. He was a Mr. Nobody from Nowhere, until a great
experience came into his life, aroused the sleeping genius within his heart
and brain, and gave the world one of its really great men. That “experience”
was mixed with the emotions of sorrow and LOVE. It came to him through
Anne Rutledge, the only woman whom he ever truly loved.
It is a known fact that the emotion of LOVE is closely akin to the state of
mind known as FAITH, and this for the reason that Love comes very near to
translating one’s thought impulses into their spiritual equivalent. During his
work of research, the author discovered, from the analysis of the lifework
and achievements of hundreds of men of outstanding accomplishment, that
there was the influence of a woman’s love back of nearly EVERY ONE OF
THEM. The emotion of love, in the human heart and brain, creates a
favorable field of magnetic attraction, which causes an influx of the higher
and finer vibrations which are afloat in the ether.
If you wish evidence of the power of FAITH, study the achievements of
men and women who have employed it. At the head of the list comes the
Nazarene. Christianity is the greatest single force which influences the minds
of men. The basis of Christianity is FAITH, no matter how many people may
have perverted, or misinterpreted the meaning of this great force, and no
matter how many dogmas and creeds have been created in its name, which do
not reflect its tenets.
The sum and substance of the teachings and the achievements of Christ,
which may have been interpreted as “miracles,” were nothing more nor less
than FAITH. If there are any such phenomena as “miracles” they are
produced only through the state of mind known as FAITH! Some teachers of
religion, and many who call themselves Christians, neither understand nor
practice FAITH.
Let us consider the power of FAITH, as it is now being demonstrated, by
a man who is well known to all of civilization, Mahatma Gandhi, of India. In
this man the world has one of the most astounding examples known to
civilization, of the possibilities of FAITH. Gandhi wields more potential
power than any man living at this time, and this, despite the fact that he has
none of the orthodox tools of power, such as money, battle ships, soldiers,
and materials of warfare. Gandhi has no money, he has no home, he does not
own a suit of clothes, but HE DOES HAVE POWER. How does he come by
that power?
HE CREATED IT OUT OF HIS UNDERSTANDING OF THE
PRINCIPLE OF FAITH, AND THROUGH HIS ABILITY TO
TRANSPLANT THAT FAITH INTO THE MINDS OF TWO HUNDRED
MILLION PEOPLE.
Gandhi has accomplished, through the influence of FAITH, that which
the strongest military power on earth could not, and never will accomplish
through soldiers and military equipment. He has accomplished the astounding
feat of INFLUENCING two hundred million minds to COALESCE AND
MOVE IN UNISON, AS A SINGLE MIND.
What other force on earth, except FAITH could do as much?
There will come a day when employees as well as employers will
discover the possibilities of FAITH. That day is dawning. The whole world
has had ample opportunity, during the recent business depression, to witness
what the LACK OF FAITH will do to business.
Surely, civilization has produced a sufficient number of intelligent
human beings to make use of this great lesson which the depression has taught
the world. During this depression, the world had evidence in abundance that
widespread FEAR will paralyze the wheels of industry and business. Out of
this experience will arise leaders in business and industry who will profit by
the example which Gandhi has set for the world, and they will apply to
business the same tactics which he has used in building the greatest following
known in the history of the world. These leaders will come from the rank and
file of the unknown men, who now labor in the steel plants, the coal mines,
the automobile factories, and in the small towns and cities of America.
Business is due for a reform, make no mistake about this! The methods
of the past, based upon economic combinations of FORCE and FEAR, will
be supplanted by the better principles of FAITH and cooperation. Men who
labor will receive more than daily wages; they will receive dividends from
the business, the same as those who supply the capital for business; but, first
they must GIVE MORE TO THEIR EMPLOYERS, and stop this bickering
and bargaining by force, at the expense of the public. They must earn, the
right to dividends!
Moreover, and this is the most important thing of all—THEY WILL BE
LED BY LEADERS WHO WILL UNDERSTAND AND APPLY THE
PRINCIPLES EMPLOYED BY MAHATMA GANDHI. Only in this way
may leaders get from their followers the spirit of FULL cooperation which
constitutes power in its highest and most enduring form.
This stupendous machine age in which we live, and from which we are
just emerging, has taken the soul out of men. Its leaders have driven men as
though they were pieces of cold machinery; they were forced to do so by the
employees who have bargained, at the expense of all concerned, to get and
not to give. The watchword of the future will be HUMAN HAPPINESS
AND CONTENTMENT, and when this state of mind shall have been
attained, the production will take care of itself, more effectively than
anything that has ever been accomplished where men did not, and could not
mix FAITH and individual interest with their labor.
Because of the need for faith and cooperation in operating business and
industry, it will be both interesting and profitable to analyze an event which
provides an excellent understanding of the method by which industrialists
and business men accumulate great fortunes, by giving before they try to get.
The event chosen for this illustration dates back to 1900, when the
United States Steel Corporation was being formed. As you read the story,
keep in mind these fundamental facts and you will understand how IDEAS
have been converted into huge fortunes.
First, the huge United States Steel Corporation was born in the mind of
Charles M. Schwab, in the form of an IDEA he created through his
IMAGINATION! Second, he mixed FAITH with his IDEA. Third, he
formulated a PLAN for the transformation of his IDEA into physical and
financial reality. Fourth, he put his plan into action with his famous speech at
the University Club. Fifth, he applied, and followed-through on his PLAN
with PERSISTENCE, and backed it with firm DECISION until it had been
fully carried out. Sixth, he prepared the way for success by a BURNING
DESIRE for success.
If you are one of those who have often wondered how great fortunes are
accumulated, this story of the creation of the United States Steel Corporation
will be enlightening. If you have any doubt that men can THINK AND
GROW RICH, this story should dispel that doubt, because you can plainly
see in the story of the United States Steel, the application of a major portion
of the thirteen principles described in this book.
This astounding description of the power of an IDEA was dramatically
told by John Lowell, in the New York World-Telegram, with whose courtesy
it is here reprinted.
“A PRETTY AFTER-DINNER SPEECH FOR A
BILLION DOLLARS
“When, on the evening of December 12, 1900, some eighty of the nation’s
financial nobility gathered in the banquet hall of the University Club on Fifth
Avenue to do honor to a young man from out of the West, not half a dozen of
the guests realized they were to witness the most significant episode in
American industrial history.
“J. Edward Simmons and Charles Stewart Smith, their hearts full of
gratitude for the lavish hospitality bestowed on them by Charles M. Schwab
during a recent visit to Pittsburgh, had arranged the dinner to introduce the
thirty-eight-year-old steel man to eastern banking society. But they didn’t
expect him to stampede the convention. They warned him, in fact, that the
bosoms within New York’s stuffed shirts would not be responsive to oratory,
and that, if he didn’t want to bore the Stilimans and Harrimans and
Vanderbilts, he had better limit himself to fifteen or twenty minutes of polite
vaporings and let it go at that.
“Even John Pierpont Morgan, sitting on the right hand of Schwab as
became his imperial dignity, intended to grace the banquet table with his
presence only briefly. And so far as the press and public were concerned, the
whole affair was of so little moment that no mention of it found its way into
print the next day.
“So the two hosts and their distinguished guests ate their way through the
usual seven or eight courses. There was little conversation and what there
was of it was restrained. Few of the bankers and brokers had met Schwab,
whose career had flowered along the banks of the Monongahela, and none
knew him well. But before the evening was over, they—and with them
Money Master Morgan—were to be swept off their feet, and a billion-dollar
baby, the United States Steel Corporation, was to be conceived.
“It is perhaps unfortunate, for the sake of history, that no record of
Charlie Schwab’s speech at the dinner ever was made. He repeated some
parts of it at a later date during a similar meeting of Chicago bankers. And
still later, when the Government brought suit to dissolve the Steel Trust, he
gave his own version, from the witness stand, of the remarks that stimulated
Morgan into a frenzy of financial activity.
“It is probable, however, that it was a “homely” speech, somewhat
ungrammatical (for the niceties of language never bothered Schwab), full of
epigram and threaded with wit. But aside from that it had a galvanic force
and effect upon the five billions of estimated capital that was represented by
the diners. After it was over and the gathering was still under its spell,
although Schwab had talked for ninety minutes, Morgan led the orator to a
recessed window where, dangling their legs from the high, uncomfortable
seat, they talked for an hour more.
“The magic of the Schwab personality had been turned on, full force, but
what was more important and lasting was the full-fledged, clear-cut program
he laid down for the aggrandizement of Steel. Many other men had tried to
interest Morgan in slapping together a steel trust after the pattern of the
biscuit, wire and hoop, sugar, rubber, whisky, oil or chewing gum
combinations. John W. Gates, the gambler, had urged it, but Morgan
distrusted him. The Moore boys, Bill and Jim, Chicago stock jobbers who
had glued together a match trust and a cracker corporation, had urged it and
failed. Elbert H. Gary, the sanctimonious country lawyer, wanted to foster it,
but he wasn’t big enough to be impressive. Until Schwab’s eloquence took J.
P. Morgan to the heights from which he could visualize the solid results of the
most daring financial undertaking ever conceived, the project was regarded
as a delirious dream of easy-money crackpots.
“The financial magnetism that began, a generation ago, to attract
thousands of small and sometimes inefficiently managed companies into large
and competition-crushing combinations, had become operative in the steel
world through the devices of that jovial business pirate, John W. Gates.
Gates already had formed the American Steel and Wire Company out of a
chain of small concerns, and together with Morgan had created the Federal
Steel Company. The National Tube and American Bridge companies were
two more Morgan concerns, and the Moore Brothers had forsaken the match
and cookie business to form the ‘American’ group—Tin Plate, Steel Hoop,
Sheet Steel—and the National Steel Company.
“But by the side of Andrew Carnegie’s gigantic vertical trust, a trust
owned and operated by fifty-three partners, those other combinations were
picayune. They might combine to their heart’s content but the whole lot of
them couldn’t make a dent in the Carnegie organization, and Morgan knew it.
“The eccentric old Scot knew it, too. From the magnificent heights of
Skibo Castle he had viewed, first with amusement and then with resentment,
the attempts of Morgan’s smaller companies to cut into his business. When
the attempts became too bold, Carnegie’s temper was translated into anger
and retaliation. He decided to duplicate every mill owned by his rivals.
Hitherto, he hadn’t been interested in wire, pipe, hoops, or sheet. Instead, he
was content to sell such companies the raw steel and let them work it into
whatever shape they wanted. Now, with Schwab as his chief and able
lieutenant, he planned to drive his enemies to the wall.
“So it was that in the speech of Charles M. Schwab, Morgan saw the
answer to his problem of combination. A trust without Carnegie—giant of
them all—would be no trust at all, a plum pudding, as one writer said,
without the plums.
“Schwab’s speech on the night of December 12, 1900, undoubtedly
carried the inference, though not the pledge, that the vast Carnegie enterprise
could be brought under the Morgan tent. He talked of the world future for
steel, of reorganization for efficiency, of specialization, of the scrapping of
unsuccessful mills and concentration of effort on the flourishing properties,
of economies in the ore traffic, of economies in overhead and administrative
departments, of capturing foreign markets.
“More than that, he told the buccaneers among them wherein lay the
errors of their customary piracy. Their purposes, he inferred, had been to
create monopolies, raise prices, and pay themselves fat dividends out of
privilege. Schwab condemned the system in his heartiest manner. The
shortsightedness of such a policy, he told his hearers, lay in the fact that it
restricted the market in an era when everything cried for expansion. By
cheapening the cost of steel, he argued, an ever-expanding market would be
created; more uses for steel would be devised, and a goodly portion of the
world trade could be captured. Actually, though he did not know it, Schwab
was an apostle of modern mass production.
“So the dinner at the University Club came to an end. Morgan went
home, to think about Schwab’s rosy predictions. Schwab went back to
Pittsburgh to run the steel business for ‘Wee Andra Carnegie,’ while Gary
and the rest went back to their stock tickers, to fiddle around in anticipation
of the next move.
“It was not long coming. It took Morgan about one week to digest the
feast of reason Schwab had placed before him. When he had assured himself
that no financial indigestion was to result, he sent for Schwab—and found
that young man rather coy. Mr. Carnegie, Schwab indicated, might not like it
if he found his trusted company president had been flirting with the Emperor
of Wall Street, the Street upon which Carnegie was resolved never to tread.
Then it was suggested by John W. Gates the go-between, that if Schwab
‘happened’ to be in the Bellevue Hotel in Philadelphia, J. P. Morgan might
also ‘happen’ to be there. When Schwab arrived, however, Morgan was
inconveniently ill at his New York home, and so, on the elder man’s pressing
invitation, Schwab went to New York and presented himself at the door of
the financier’s library.
“Now certain economic historians have professed the belief that from
the beginning to the end of the drama, the stage was set by Andrew Carnegie
—that the dinner to Schwab, the famous speech, the Sunday night conference
between Schwab and the Money King, were events arranged by the canny
Scot. The truth is exactly the opposite. When Schwab was called in to
consummate the deal, he didn’t even know whether ‘the little boss,’ as
Andrew was called, would so much as listen to an offer to sell, particularly
to a group of men whom Andrew regarded as being endowed with something
less than holiness. But Schwab did take into the conference with him, in his
own handwriting, six sheets of copper-plate figures, representing to his mind
the physical worth and the potential earning capacity of every steel company
he regarded as an essential star in the new metal firmament.
“Four men pondered over these figures all night. The chief, of course,
was Morgan, steadfast in his belief in the Divine Right of Money. With him
was his aristocratic partner, Robert Bacon, a scholar and a gentleman. The
third was John W. Gates whom Morgan scorned as a gambler and used as a
tool. The fourth was Schwab, who knew more about the processes of making
and selling steel than any whole group of men then living. Throughout that
conference, the Pittsburgher’s figures were never questioned. If he said a
company was worth so much, then it was worth that much and no more. He
was insistent, too, upon including in the combination only those concerns he
nominated. He had conceived a corporation in which there would be no
duplication, not even to satisfy the greed of friends who wanted to unload
their companies upon the broad Morgan shoulders. Thus he left out, by
design, a number of the larger concerns upon which the Walruses and
Carpenters of Wall Street had cast hungry eyes.
“When dawn came, Morgan rose and straightened his back. Only one
question remained.
“‘Do you think you can persuade Andrew Carnegie to sell?’ he asked.
“‘I can try,’ said Schwab.
“‘If you can get him to sell, I will undertake the matter,’ said Morgan.
“So far so good. But would Carnegie sell? How much would he
demand? (Schwab thought about $320,000,000). What would he take
payment in? Common or preferred stocks? Bonds? Cash? Nobody could
raise a third of a billion dollars in cash.
“There was a golf game in January on the frost-cracking heath of the St.
Andrews links in Westchester, with Andrew bundled up in sweaters against
the cold, and Charlie talking volubly, as usual, to keep his spirits up. But no
word of business was mentioned until the pair sat down in the cozy warmth
of the Carnegie cottage hard by. Then, with the same persuasiveness that had
hypnotized eighty millionaires at the University Club, Schwab poured out the
glittering promises of retirement in comfort, of untold millions to satisfy the
old man’s social caprices. Carnegie capitulated, wrote a figure on a slip of
paper, handed it to Schwab and said, ‘all right, that’s what we’ll sell for.’
“The figure was approximately $400,000,000, and was reached by
taking the $320,000,000 mentioned by Schwab as a basic figure, and adding
to it $80,000,000 to represent the increased capital value over the previous
two years.
“Later, on the deck of a trans-Atlantic liner, the Scotsman said ruefully to
Morgan, ‘I wish I had asked you for $100,000,000 more.’
“‘If you had asked for it, you’d have gotten it,’ Morgan told him
cheerfully.
“There was an uproar, of course. A British correspondent cabled that the
foreign steel world was ‘appalled’ by the gigantic combination. President
Hadley, of Yale, declared that unless trusts were regulated the country might
expect ‘an emperor in Washington within the next twenty-five years.’ But that
able stock manipulator, Keene, went at his work of shoving the new stock at
the public so vigorously that all the excess water—estimated by some at
nearly $600,000,000—was absorbed in a twinkling. So Carnegie had his
millions, and the Morgan syndicate had $62,000,000 for all its ‘trouble,’ and
all the ‘boys,’ from Gates to Gary, had their millions.
“The thirty-eight-year-old Schwab had his reward. He was made president
of the new corporation and remained in control until 1930.”
The dramatic story of “Big Business” which you have just finished, was
included in this book, because it is a perfect illustration of the method by
which DESIRE CAN BE TRANSMUTED INTO ITS PHYSICAL
EQUIVALENT!
I imagine some readers will question the statement that a mere,
intangible DESIRE can be converted into its physical equivalent. Doubtless
some will say, “You cannot convert NOTHING into SOMETHING!” The
answer is in the story of United States Steel.
That giant organization was created in the mind of one man. The plan by
which the organization was provided with the steel mills that gave it
financial stability was created in the mind of the same man. His FAITH, his
DESIRE, his IMAGINATION, his PERSISTENCE were the real ingredients
that went into United States Steel. The steel mills and mechanical equipment
acquired by the corporation, AFTER IT HAD BEEN BROUGHT INTO
LEGAL EXISTENCE, were incidental, but careful analysis will disclose the
fact that the appraised value of the properties acquired by the corporation
increased in value by an estimated SIX HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS,
by the mere transaction which consolidated them under one management.
In other words, Charles M. Schwab’s IDEA, plus the FAITH with which
he conveyed it to the minds of J. P. Morgan and the others, was marketed for
a profit of approximately $600,000,000. Not an insignificant sum for a single
IDEA!
What happened to some of the men who took their share of the millions
of dollars of profit made by this transaction, is a matter with which we are
not now concerned. The important feature of the astounding achievement is
that it serves as unquestionable evidence of the soundness of the philosophy
described in this book, because this philosophy was the warp and the woof
of the entire transaction. Moreover, the practicability of the philosophy has
been established by the fact that the United States Steel Corporation
prospered, and became one of the richest and most powerful corporations in
America, employing thousands of people, developing new uses for steel, and
opening new markets; thus proving that the $600,000,000 in profit which the
Schwab IDEA produced was earned.
RICHES begin in the form of THOUGHT!
The amount is limited only by the person in whose mind the THOUGHT
is put into motion. FAITH removes limitations! Remember this when you are
ready to bargain with Life for whatever it is that you ask as your price for
having passed this way.
Remember, also, that the man who created the United States Steel
Corporation was practically unknown at the time. He was merely Andrew
Carnegie’s “Man Friday” until he gave birth to his famous IDEA. After that
he quickly rose to a position of power, fame, and riches.
THERE ARE NO LIMITATIONS TO THE MIND EXCEPT
THOSE WE ACKNOWLEDGE
BOTH POVERTY AND RICHES ARE THE OFFSPRING OF
THOUGHT
Chapter Three Key Points
1. Faith is a form of persistence—it is belief backed with continual
action.
2. Faith and passion are closely related. This is why your aim must be
one for which you feel emotional intensity.
3. If your aim is authentic, faith and persistence come naturally.
4. You can build faith through the practice of autosuggestion: never
underestimate the power of what you tell yourself is possible.
5. Your words must be backed by commensurate action.
6. Never demand undeserved rewards—but likewise never bargain
with life for too little. Persistence, faith, and effort must be
accompanied by a proper valuation of yourself.
7. Faith, passion, persistence, and warranted self-belief place you in
proximity to the right people and the necessary resources to make
things happen.
8. If you are displaying all of the traits described up to this point, you
have already set yourself far ahead of the large majority of your
peers and competitors.
9. Note the relationship between distinction and self-worth, including
the financial worth you place on your labor and products.
Chapter 4
Auto-Suggestion
The Medium for Influencing the Subconscious Mind
The Third Step to Riches
Auto-suggestion is a term which applies to all suggestions and all selfadministered stimuli which reach one’s mind through the five senses. Stated
in another way, auto-suggestion is self-suggestion. It is the agency of
communication between that part of the mind where conscious thought takes
place, and that which serves as the seat of action for the subconscious mind.
Through the dominating thoughts which one permits to remain in the
conscious mind, (whether these thoughts be negative or positive, is
immaterial), the principle of auto-suggestion voluntarily reaches the
subconscious mind and influences it with these thoughts.
NO THOUGHT, whether it be negative or positive, CAN ENTER THE
SUBCONSCIOUS MIND WITHOUT THE AID OF THE PRINCIPLE OF
AUTO-SUGGESTION, with the exception of thoughts picked up from the
ether. Stated differently, all sense impressions which are perceived through
the five senses, are stopped by the CONSCIOUS thinking mind, and may be
either passed on to the subconscious mind, or rejected, at will. The
conscious faculty serves, therefore, as an outer-guard to the approach of the
subconscious.
Nature has so built man that he has ABSOLUTE CONTROL over the
material which reaches his subconscious mind, through his five senses,
although this is not meant to be construed as a statement that man always
EXERCISES this control. In the great majority of instances, he does NOT
exercise it, which explains why so many people go through life in poverty.
Recall what has been said about the subconscious mind resembling a
fertile garden spot, in which weeds will grow in abundance, if the seeds of
more desirable crops are not sown therein. AUTO-SUGGESTION is the
agency of control through which an individual may voluntarily feed his
subconscious mind on thoughts of a creative nature, or, by neglect, permit
thoughts of a destructive nature to find their way into this rich garden of the
mind.
You were instructed, in the last of the six steps described in the chapter
on Desire, to read ALOUD twice daily the WRITTEN statement of your
DESIRE FOR MONEY, and to SEE AND FEEL yourself ALREADY in
possession of the money! By following these instructions, you communicate
the object of your DESIRE directly to your SUBCONSCIOUS mind in a
spirit of absolute FAITH. Through repetition of this procedure, you
voluntarily create thought habits which are favorable to your efforts to
transmute desire into its monetary equivalent.
Go back to these six steps described in chapter two, and read them
again, very carefully, before you proceed further. Then (when you come to
it), read very carefully the four instructions for the organization of your
“Master Mind” group, described in the chapter on Organized Planning.
By comparing these two sets of instructions with that which has been
stated on auto-suggestion, you, of course, will see that the instructions
involve the application of the principle of auto-suggestion.
Remember, therefore, when reading aloud the statement of your desire
(through which you are endeavoring to develop a “money consciousness”),
that the mere reading of the words is of NO CONSEQUENCE—UNLESS
you mix emotion, or feeling with your words. If you repeat a million times
the famous Emile Coué formula, “Day by day, in every way, I am getting
better and better,” without mixing emotion and FAITH with your words, you
will experience no desirable results. Your subconscious mind recognizes and
acts upon ONLY thoughts which have been well-mixed with emotion or
feeling.
Your subconscious mind recognizes and acts upon ONLY
thoughts which have been well-mixed with emotion or feeling.
This is a fact of such importance as to warrant repetition in practically
every chapter, because the lack of understanding of this is the main reason the
majority of people who try to apply the principle of auto-suggestion get no
desirable results.
Plain, unemotional words do not influence the subconscious mind. You
will get no appreciable results until you learn to reach your subconscious
mind with thoughts, or spoken words which have been well emotionalized
with BELIEF.
Do not become discouraged, if you cannot control and direct your
emotions the first time you try to do so. Remember, there is no such
possibility as SOMETHING FOR NOTHING. Ability to reach, and influence
your subconscious mind has its price, and you MUST PAY THAT PRICE.
You cannot cheat, even if you desire to do so. The price of ability to
influence your subconscious mind is everlasting PERSISTENCE in applying
the principles described here. You cannot develop the desired ability for a
lower price. You, and YOU ALONE, must decide whether or not the reward
for which you are striving (the “money consciousness”), is worth the price
you must pay for it in effort.
Wisdom and “cleverness” alone, will not attract and retain money except
in a few very rare instances, where the law of averages favors the attraction
of money through these sources. The method of attracting money described
here, does not depend upon the law of averages. Moreover, the method plays
no favorites. It will work for one person as effectively as it will for another.
Where failure is experienced, it is the individual, not the method, which has
failed. If you try and fail, make another effort, and still another, until you
succeed.
Your ability to use the principle of auto-suggestion will depend, very
largely, upon your capacity to CONCENTRATE upon a given DESIRE until
that desire becomes a BURNING OBSESSION.
When you begin to carry out the instructions in connection with the six
steps described in the second chapter, it will be necessary for you to make
use of the principle of CONCENTRATION.
Let us here offer suggestions for the effective use of concentration. When
you begin to carry out the first of the six steps, which instructs you to “fix in
your own mind the EXACT amount of money you desire,” hold your thoughts
on that amount of money by CONCENTRATION, or fixation of attention,
with your eyes closed, until you can ACTUALLY SEE the physical
appearance of the money. Do this at least once each day. As you go through
these exercises, follow the instructions given in the chapter on FAITH, and
see yourself actually IN POSSESSION OF THE MONEY!
Here is a most significant fact—the subconscious mind takes any orders
given it in a spirit of absolute FAITH, and acts upon those orders, although
the orders often have to be presented over and over again, through
repetition, before they are interpreted by the subconscious mind. Following
the preceding statement, consider the possibility of playing a perfectly
legitimate “trick” on your subconscious mind, by making it believe, because
you believe it, that you must have the amount of money you are visualizing,
that this money is already awaiting your claim, that the subconscious mind
MUST hand over to you practical plans for acquiring the money which is
yours.
Hand over the thought suggested in the preceding paragraph to your
IMAGINATION, and see what your imagination can, or will do, to create
practical plans for the accumulation of money through transmutation of your
desire.
DO NOT WAIT for a definite plan, through which you intend to
exchange services or merchandise in return for the money you are
visualizing, but begin at once to see yourself in possession of the money,
DEMANDING and EXPECTING meanwhile, that your subconscious mind
will hand over the plan, or plans you need. Be on the alert for these plans,
and when they appear, put them into ACTION IMMEDIATELY. When the
plans appear, they will probably “flash” into your mind through the sixth
sense, in the form of an “inspiration.” This inspiration may be considered a
direct “telegram,” or message from Infinite Intelligence. Treat it with respect,
and act upon it as soon as you receive it. Failure to do this will be FATAL to
your success.
In the fourth of the six steps, you were instructed to “Create a definite
plan for carrying out your desire, and begin at once to put this plan into
action.” You should follow this instruction in the manner described in the
preceding paragraph. Do not trust to your “reason” when creating your plan
for accumulating money through the transmutation of desire. Your reason is
faulty. Moreover, your reasoning faculty may be lazy, and, if you depend
entirely upon it to serve you, it may disappoint you.
When visualizing the money you intend to accumulate, (with closed
eyes), see yourself rendering the service, or delivering the merchandise
you intend to give in return for this money. This is important!
SUMMARY OF INSTRUCTIONS
The fact that you are reading this book is an indication that you earnestly seek
knowledge. It is also an indication that you are a student of this subject. If
you are only a student, there is a chance that you may learn much that you did
not know, but you will learn only by assuming an attitude of humility. If you
choose to follow some of the instructions but neglect, or refuse to follow
others—you will fail! To get satisfactory results, you must follow ALL
instructions in a spirit of FAITH.
The instructions given in connection with the six steps in the second
chapter will now be summarized, and blended with the principles covered by
this chapter, as follows:
First. Go into some quiet spot (preferably in bed at night) where you will not
be disturbed or interrupted, close your eyes, and repeat aloud, (so you may
hear your own words) the written statement of the amount of money you
intend to accumulate, the time limit for its accumulation, and a description of
the service or merchandise you intend to give in return for the money. As you
carry out these instructions, SEE YOURSELF ALREADY IN POSSESSION
OF THE MONEY.
For example: Suppose that you intend to accumulate $50,000 by the first
of January, five years hence, that you intend to give personal services in
return for the money, in the capacity of a salesman. Your written statement of
your purpose should be similar to the following:
“By the first day of January, 19 . . , I will have in my possession
$50,000, which will come to me in various amounts from time to time during
the interim.
“In return for this money I will give the most efficient service of which I
am capable, rendering the fullest possible quantity, and the best possible
quality of service in the capacity of salesman of (describe the service or
merchandise you intend to sell).
“I believe that I will have this money in my possession. My faith is so
strong that I can now see this money before my eyes. I can touch it with my
hands. It is now awaiting transfer to me at the time, and in the proportion that
I deliver the service I intend to render in return for it. I am awaiting a plan by
which to accumulate this money, and I will follow that plan, when it is
received.”
Second. Repeat this program night and morning until you can see, (in your
imagination) the money you intend to accumulate.
Third. Place a written copy of your statement where you can see it night and
morning, and read it just before retiring, and upon arising until it has been
memorized.
Remember, as you carry out these instructions, that you are applying the
principle of auto-suggestion, for the purpose of giving orders to your
subconscious mind. Remember, also, that your subconscious mind will act
ONLY upon instructions which are emotionalized, and handed over to it with
“feeling.” FAITH is the strongest, and most productive of the emotions.
Follow the instructions given in the chapter on FAITH.
These instructions may, at first, seem abstract. Do not let this disturb
you. Follow the instructions, no matter how abstract or impractical they may,
at first, appear to be. The time will soon come, if you do as you have been
instructed, in spirit as well as in act, when a whole new universe of power
will unfold to you.
Scepticism, in connection with ALL new ideas, is characteristic of all
human beings. But if you follow the instructions outlined, your scepticism
will soon be replaced by belief, and this, in turn, will soon become
crystallized into ABSOLUTE FAITH. Then you will have arrived at the point
where you may truly say, “I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my
soul!”
Many philosophers have made the statement, that man is the master of his
own earthly destiny, but most of them have failed to say why he is the master.
The reason that man may be the master of his own earthly status, and
especially his financial status, is thoroughly explained in this chapter. Man
may become the master of himself, and of his environment, because he has
the POWER TO INFLUENCE HIS OWN SUBCONSCIOUS MIND, and
through it, gain the cooperation of Infinite Intelligence.
You are now reading the chapter which represents the keystone to the
arch of this philosophy. The instructions contained in this chapter must be
understood and APPLIED WITH PERSISTENCE, if you succeed in
transmuting desire into money.
The actual performance of transmuting DESIRE into money, involves the
use of auto-suggestion as an agency by which one may reach, and influence,
the subconscious mind. The other principles are simply tools with which to
apply auto-suggestion. Keep this thought in mind, and you will, at all times,
be conscious of the important part the principle of auto-suggestion is to play
in your efforts to accumulate money through the methods described in this
book.
Carry out these instructions as though you were a small child. Inject into
your efforts something of the FAITH of a child. The author has been most
careful, to see that no impractical instructions were included, because of his
sincere desire to be helpful.
After you have read the entire book, come back to this chapter, and
follow in spirit, and in action, this instruction:
READ THE ENTIRE CHAPTER ALOUD ONCE EVERY NIGHT,
UNTIL YOU BECOME THOROUGHLY CONVINCED THAT THE
PRINCIPLE OF AUTO-SUGGESTION IS SOUND, THAT IT WILL
ACCOMPLISH FOR YOU ALL THAT HAS BEEN CLAIMED FOR IT. AS
YOU READ, UNDERSCORE WITH A PENCIL EVERY SENTENCE
WHICH IMPRESSES YOU FAVORABLY.
Follow the foregoing instruction to the letter, and it will open the way
for a complete understanding, and mastery of the principles of success.
Chapter Four Key Points
1. Autosuggestion coupled with emotion is a powerful formula for
instilling confidence, persistence, and warranted faith.
2. Do you be discouraged if your affirmations and visualizations take
time to translate into reality; effort and interval are natural.
3. Even if you do not at first feel the truth behind what you are saying,
stick with it: self-suggestion, too, responds to persistence,
sometimes in surprising ways.
4. Use the drowsy periods just before drifting to sleep at night and just
upon waking in the morning to employ visualizations, affirmations,
prayers, or mantras. At such times, your rational defenses are
lowered. This is “primetime” for self-suggestion.
5. During your waking hours, keep your attention on key ideas: write
them down, place them in front you, recite them. Keep your mind
constantly on your side.
6. You benefit from reading or listening to this book multiple times,
along with highlighting and writing down ideas and concepts that
stand out to you. You will discover something new each time you
approach it.
7. Following the directions in this book—fully and carefully— is
itself a form of autosuggestion.
Chapter 5
Specialized Knowledge
Personal Experiences or Observations
The Fourth Step to Riches
There are two kinds of knowledge. One is general, the other is specialized.
General knowledge, no matter how great in quantity or variety it may be, is
of but little use in the accumulation of money. The faculties of the great
universities possess, in the aggregate, practically every form of general
knowledge known to civilization. Most of the professors have but little or
no money. They specialize on teaching knowledge, but they do not specialize
on the organization, or the use of knowledge.
KNOWLEDGE will not attract money, unless it is organized, and
intelligently directed, through practical PLANS OF ACTION, to the
DEFINITE END of accumulation of money. Lack of understanding of this fact
has been the source of confusion to millions of people who falsely believe
that “knowledge is power.” It is nothing of the sort! Knowledge is only
potential power. It becomes power only when, and if, it is organized into
definite plans of action, and directed to a definite end.
KNOWLEDGE will not attract money, unless it is organized,
and intelligently directed, through practical PLANS OF
ACTION.
This “missing link” in all systems of education known to civilization
today, may be found in the failure of educational institutions to teach their
students HOW TO ORGANIZE AND USE KNOWLEDGE AFTER THEY
ACQUIRE IT.
Many people make the mistake of assuming that, because Henry Ford
had but little “schooling,” he is not a man of “education.” Those who make
this mistake do not know Henry Ford, nor do they understand the real
meaning of the word “educate.” That word is derived from the Latin word
“educo,” meaning to educe, to draw out, to DEVELOP FROM WITHIN.
An educated man is not, necessarily, one who has an abundance of
general or specialized knowledge. An educated man is one who has so
developed the faculties of his mind that he may acquire anything he wants, or
its equivalent, without violating the rights of others. Henry Ford comes well
within the meaning of this definition.
During the world war, a Chicago newspaper published certain editorials
in which, among other statements, Henry Ford was called “an ignorant
pacifist.” Mr. Ford objected to the statements, and brought suit against the
paper for libeling him. When the suit was tried in the Courts, the attorneys for
the paper pleaded justification, and placed Mr. Ford, himself, on the witness
stand, for the purpose of proving to the jury that he was ignorant. The
attorneys asked Mr. Ford a great variety of questions, all of them intended to
prove, by his own evidence, that, while he might possess considerable
specialized knowledge pertaining to the manufacture of automobiles, he was,
in the main, ignorant.
Mr. Ford was plied with such questions as the following:
“Who was Benedict Arnold?” and “How many soldiers did the British
send over to America to put down the Rebellion of 1776?” In answer to the
last question, Mr. Ford replied, “I do not know the exact number of soldiers
the British sent over, but I have heard that it was a considerably larger
number than ever went back.”
Finally, Mr. Ford became tired of this line of questioning, and in reply to
a particularly offensive question, he leaned over, pointed his finger at the
lawyer who had asked the question, and said, “If I should really WANT to
answer the foolish question you have just asked, or any of the other questions
you have been asking me, let me remind you that I have a row of electric
push-buttons on my desk, and by pushing the right button, I can summon to my
aid men who can answer ANY question I desire to ask concerning the
business to which I am devoting most of my efforts. Now, will you kindly tell
me, WHY I should clutter up my mind with general knowledge, for the
purpose of being able to answer questions, when I have men around me who
can supply any knowledge I require?”
There certainly was good logic to that reply.
That answer floored the lawyer. Every person in the courtroom realized
it was the answer, not of an ignorant man, but of a man of EDUCATION. Any
man is educated who knows where to get knowledge when he needs it, and
how to organize that knowledge into definite plans of action. Through the
assistance of his “Master Mind” group, Henry Ford had at his command all
the specialized knowledge he needed to enable him to become one of the
wealthiest men in America. It was not essential that he have this knowledge
in his own mind. Surely no person who has sufficient inclination and
intelligence to read a book of this nature can possibly miss the significance
of this illustration.
Before you can be sure of your ability to transmute DESIRE into its
monetary equivalent, you will require SPECIALIZED KNOWLEDGE of the
service, merchandise, or profession which you intend to offer in return for
fortune. Perhaps you may need much more specialized knowledge than you
have the ability or the inclination to acquire, and if this should be true, you
may bridge your weakness through the aid of your “Master Mind” group.
Andrew Carnegie stated that he, personally, knew nothing about the
technical end of the steel business; moreover, he did not particularly care to
know anything about it. The specialized knowledge which he required for the
manufacture and marketing of steel, he found available through the individual
units of his MASTER MIND GROUP.
The accumulation of great fortunes calls for POWER, and power is
acquired through highly organized and intelligently directed specialized
knowledge, but that knowledge does not, necessarily, have to be in the
possession of the man who accumulates the fortune.
The preceding paragraph should give hope and encouragement to the
man with ambition to accumulate a fortune, who has not possessed himself of
the necessary “education” to supply such specialized knowledge as he may
require. Men sometimes go through life suffering from “inferiority
complexes,” because they are not men of “education.” The man who can
organize and direct a “Master Mind” group of men who possess knowledge
useful in the accumulation of money, is just as much a man of education as
any man in the group. REMEMBER THIS, if you suffer from a feeling of
inferiority, because your schooling has been limited.
Thomas A. Edison had only three months of “schooling” during his
entire life. He did not lack education, neither did he die poor.
Henry Ford had less than a sixth grade “schooling” but he has managed
to do pretty well by himself, financially.
SPECIALIZED KNOWLEDGE is among the most plentiful, and the
cheapest forms of service which may be had! If you doubt this, consult the
payroll of any university.
IT PAYS TO KNOW HOW TO PURCHASE
KNOWLEDGE
First of all, decide the sort of specialized knowledge you require, and the
purpose for which it is needed. To a large extent your major purpose in life,
the goal toward which you are working, will help determine what knowledge
you need. With this question settled, your next move requires that you have
accurate information concerning dependable sources of knowledge. The
more important of these are:
(a) One’s own experience and education
(b) Experience and education available through cooperation of others
(Master Mind Alliance)
(c) Colleges and Universities
(d) Public Libraries (Through books and periodicals in which may be
found all the knowledge organized by civilization)
(e) Special Training Courses (Through night schools and home study
schools in particular.)
As knowledge is acquired it must be organized and put into use, for a
definite purpose, through practical plans. Knowledge has no value except
that which can be gained from its application toward some worthy end. This
is one reason why college degrees are not valued more highly. They
represent nothing but miscellaneous knowledge.
If you contemplate taking additional schooling, first determine the
purpose for which you want the knowledge you are seeking, then learn where
this particular sort of knowledge can be obtained, from reliable sources.
Successful men, in all callings, never stop acquiring specialized
knowledge related to their major purpose, business, or profession. Those
who are not successful usually make the mistake of believing that the
knowledge acquiring period ends when one finishes school. The truth is that
schooling does but little more than to put one in the way of learning how to
acquire practical knowledge.
With this Changed World which began at the end of the economic
collapse, came also astounding changes in educational requirements. The
order of the day is SPECIALIZATION! This truth was emphasized by Robert
P. Moore, secretary of appointments of Columbia University.
“SPECIALISTS MOST SOUGHT
“Particularly sought after by employing companies are candidates who have
specialized in some field—business-school graduates with training in
accounting and statistics, engineers of all varieties, journalists, architects,
chemists, and also outstanding leaders and activity men of the senior class.
“The man who has been active on the campus, whose personality is such
that he gets along with all kinds of people and who has done an adequate job
with his studies has a most decided edge over the strictly academic student.
Some of these, because of their all-around qualifications, have received
several offers of positions, a few of them as many as six.
“In departing from the conception that the ‘straight A’ student was
invariably the one to get the choice of the better jobs, Mr. Moore said that
most companies look not only to academic records but to activity records and
personalities of the students.
“One of the largest industrial companies, the leader in its field, in
writing to Mr. Moore concerning prospective seniors at the college, said:
“‘We are interested primarily in finding men who can make exceptional
progress in management work. For this reason we emphasize qualities of
character, intelligence and personality far more than specific educational
background.’
“‘APPRENTICESHIP’ PROPOSED
“Proposing a system of ‘apprenticing’ students in offices, stores and
industrial occupations during the summer vacation, Mr. Moore asserts that
after the first two or three years of college, every student should be asked ‘to
choose a definite future course and to call a halt if he has been merely
pleasantly drifting without purpose through an unspecialized academic
curriculum.’
“Colleges and universities must face the practical consideration that all
professions and occupations now demand specialists,” he said, urging that
educational institutions accept more direct responsibility for vocational
guidance.
One of the most reliable and practical sources of knowledge available to
those who need specialized schooling, is the night schools operated in most
large cities. The correspondence schools give specialized training anywhere
the U. S. mails go, on all subjects that can be taught by the extension method.
One advantage of home study training is the flexibility of the study
programme which permits one to study during spare time. Another
stupendous advantage of home study training (if the school is carefully
chosen), is the fact that most courses offered by home study schools carry
with them generous privileges of consultation which can be of priceless
value to those needing specialized knowledge. No matter where you live, you
can share the benefits.
Anything acquired without effort, and without cost is generally
unappreciated, often discredited; perhaps this is why we get so little from
our marvelous opportunity in public schools. The SELF-DISCIPLINE one
receives from a definite programme of specialized study makes up to some
extent, for the wasted opportunity when knowledge was available without
cost. Correspondence schools are highly organized business institutions.
Their tuition fees are so low that they are forced to insist upon prompt
payments. Being asked to pay, whether the student makes good grades or
poor, has the effect of causing one to follow through with the course when he
would otherwise drop it. The correspondence schools have not stressed this
point sufficiently, for the truth is that their collection departments constitute
the very finest sort of training on DECISION, PROMPTNESS, ACTION and
THE HABIT OF FINISHING THAT WHICH ONE BEGINS.
I learned this from experience, more than twenty-five years ago. I
enrolled for a home study course in Advertising. After completing eight or
ten lessons I stopped studying, but the school did not stop sending me bills.
Moreover, it insisted upon payment, whether I kept up my studies or not. I
decided that if I had to pay for the course (which I had legally obligated
myself to do), I should complete the lessons and get my money’s worth. I felt,
at the time, that the collection system of the school was somewhat too well
organized, but I learned later in life that it was a valuable part of my training
for which no charge had been made. Being forced to pay, I went ahead and
completed the course. Later in life I discovered that the efficient collection
system of that school had been worth much in the form of money earned,
because of the training in advertising I had so reluctantly taken.
We have in this country what is said to be the greatest public school
system in the world. We have invested fabulous sums for fine buildings, we
have provided convenient transportation for children living in the rural
districts, so they may attend the best schools, but there is one astounding
weakness to this marvelous system—IT IS FREE! One of the strange things
about human beings is that they value only that which has a price. The free
schools of America, and the free public libraries, do not impress people
because they are free. This is the major reason why so many people find it
necessary to acquire additional training after they quit school and go to work.
It is also one of the major reasons why EMPLOYERS GIVE GREATER
CONSIDERATION TO EMPLOYEES WHO TAKE HOME STUDY
COURSES. They have learned, from experience, that any person who has the
ambition to give up a part of his spare time to studying at home has in him
those qualities which make for leadership. This recognition is not a
charitable gesture, it is sound business judgment upon the part of the
employers.
There is one weakness in people for which there is no remedy. It is the
universal weakness of LACK OF AMBITION! Persons, especially salaried
people, who schedule their spare time, to provide for home study, seldom
remain at the bottom very long. Their action opens the way for the upward
climb, removes many obstacles from their path, and gains the friendly interest
of those who have the power to put them in the way of OPPORTUNITY.
The home study method of training is especially suited to the needs of
employed people who find, after leaving school, that they must acquire
additional specialized knowledge, but cannot spare the time to go back to
school.
The changed economic conditions prevailing since the depression have
made it necessary for thousands of people to find additional, or new sources
of income. For the majority of these, the solution to their problem may be
found only by acquiring specialized knowledge. Many will be forced to
change their occupations entirely. When a merchant finds that a certain line of
merchandise is not selling, he usually supplants it with another that is in
demand. The person whose business is that of marketing personal services
must also be an efficient merchant. If his services do not bring adequate
returns in one occupation, he must change to another, where broader
opportunities are available.
Stuart Austin Wier prepared himself as a Construction Engineer and
followed this line of work until the depression limited his market to where it
did not give him the income he required. He took inventory of himself,
decided to change his profession to law, went back to school and took
special courses by which he prepared himself as a corporation lawyer.
Despite the fact the depression had not ended, he completed his training,
passed the Bar Examination, and quickly built a lucrative law practice, in
Dallas, Texas; in fact he is turning away clients.
Just to keep the record straight, and to anticipate the alibis of those who
will say, “I couldn’t go to school because I have a family to support,” or “I’m
too old,” I will add the information that Mr. Wier was past forty, and married
when he went back to school. Moreover, by carefully selecting highly
specialized courses, in colleges best prepared to teach the subjects chosen,
Mr. Wier completed in two years the work for which the majority of law
students require four years. IT PAYS TO KNOW HOW TO PURCHASE
KNOWLEDGE!
The person who stops studying merely because he has finished school is
forever hopelessly doomed to mediocrity, no matter what may be his calling.
The way of success is the way of continuous pursuit of knowledge.
Let us consider a specific instance.
During the depression a salesman in a grocery store found himself
without a position. Having had some bookkeeping experience, he took a
special course in accounting, familiarized himself with all the latest
bookkeeping and office equipment, and went into business for himself.
Starting with the grocer for whom he had formerly worked, he made
contracts with more than 100 small merchants to keep their books, at a very
nominal monthly fee. His idea was so practical that he soon found it
necessary to set up a portable office in a light delivery truck, which he
equipped with modern bookkeeping machinery. He now has a fleet of these
bookkeeping offices “on wheels” and employs a large staff of assistants, thus
providing small merchants with accounting service equal to the best that
money can buy, at very nominal cost.
Specialized knowledge, plus imagination, were the ingredients that went into
this unique and successful business. Last year the owner of that business paid
an income tax of almost ten times as much as was paid by the merchant for
whom he worked when the depression forced upon him a temporary
adversity which proved to be a blessing in disguise.
The beginning of this successful business was an IDEA!
In as much as I had the privilege of supplying the unemployed salesman
with that idea, I now assume the further privilege of suggesting another idea
which has within it the possibility of even greater income. Also the
possibility of rendering useful service to thousands of people who badly
need that service.
The idea was suggested by the salesman who gave up selling and went
into the business of keeping books on a wholesale basis. When the plan was
suggested as a solution of his unemployment problem, he quickly exclaimed,
“I like the idea, but I would not know how to turn it into cash.” In other
words, he complained he would not know how to market his bookkeeping
knowledge after he acquired it.
So, that brought up another problem which had to be solved. With the aid
of a young woman typist, clever at hand lettering, and who could put the story
together, a very attractive book was prepared, describing the advantages of
the new system of bookkeeping. The pages were neatly typed and pasted in
an ordinary scrapbook, which was used as a silent salesman with which the
story of this new business was so effectively told that its owner soon had
more accounts than he could handle.
There are thousands of people, all over the country, who need the
services of a merchandising specialist capable of preparing an attractive
brief for use in marketing personal services. The aggregate annual income
from such a service might easily exceed that received by the largest
employment agency, and the benefits of the service might be made far greater
to the purchaser than any to be obtained from an employment agency.
The IDEA here described was born of necessity, to bridge an emergency
which had to be covered, but it did not stop by merely serving one person.
The woman who created the idea has a keen IMAGINATION. She saw in her
newly born brain-child the making of a new profession, one that is destined
to render valuable service to thousands of people who need practical
guidance in marketing personal services.
Spurred to action by the instantaneous success of her first “PREPARED
PLAN TO MARKET PERSONAL SERVICES,” this energetic woman turned
next to the solution of a similar problem for her son who had just finished
college, but had been totally unable to find a market for his services. The
plan she originated for his use was the finest specimen of merchandising of
personal services I have ever seen.
When the plan book had been completed, it contained nearly fifty pages
of beautifully typed, properly organized information, telling the story of her
son’s native ability, schooling, personal experiences, and a great variety of
other information too extensive for description. The plan book also contained
a complete description of the position her son desired, together with a
marvelous word picture of the exact plan he would use in filling the position.
The preparation of the plan book required several week’s labor, during
which time its creator sent her son to the public library almost daily, to
procure data needed in selling his services to best advantage. She sent him,
also to all the competitors of his prospective employer, and gathered from
them vital information concerning their business methods which was of great
value in the formation of the plan he intended to use in filling the position he
sought. When the plan had been finished, it contained more than half a dozen
very fine suggestions for the use and benefit of the prospective employer (the
suggestions were put into use by the company).
One may be inclined to ask, “Why go to all this trouble to secure a job?”
The answer is straight to the point, also it is dramatic, because it deals with a
subject which assumes the proportion of a tragedy with millions of men and
women whose sole source of income is personal services.
The answer is, “DOING A THING WELL NEVER IS TROUBLE! THE
PLAN PREPARED BY THIS WOMAN FOR THE BENEFIT OF HER SON,
HELPED HIM GET THE JOB FOR WHICH HE APPLIED, AT THE FIRST
INTERVIEW, AT A SALARY FIXED BY HIMSELF.”
Moreover—and this, too, is important—THE POSITION DID NOT
REQUIRE THE YOUNG MAN TO START AT THE BOTTOM. HE
BEGAN AS A JUNIOR EXECUTIVE, AT AN EXECUTIVE’S SALARY.
“Why go to all this trouble?” do you ask?
Well, for one thing, the PLANNED PRESENTATION of this young
man’s application for a position clipped off no less than ten years of time he
would have required to get to where he began, had he “started at the bottom
and worked his way up.”
This idea of starting at the bottom and working one’s way up may appear
to be sound, but the major objection to it is this—too many of those who
begin at the bottom never manage to lift their heads high enough to be seen by
OPPORTUNITY, so they remain at the bottom. It should be remembered,
also, that the outlook from the bottom is not so very bright or encouraging. It
has a tendency to kill off ambition. We call it “getting into a rut,” which
means that we accept our fate because we form the HABIT of daily routine, a
habit that finally becomes so strong we cease to try to throw it off. And that
is another reason why it pays to start one or two steps above the bottom. By
so doing one forms the HABIT of looking around, of observing how others
get ahead, of seeing OPPORTUNITY, and of embracing it without hesitation.
Dan Halpin is a splendid example of what I mean. During his college
days, he was manager of the famous 1930 National Championship Notre
Dame football team, when it was under the direction of the late Knute
Rockne.
Perhaps he was inspired by the great football coach to aim high, and
NOT MISTAKE TEMPORARY DEFEAT FOR FAILURE, just as Andrew
Carnegie, the great industrial leader, inspired his young business lieutenants
to set high goals for themselves. At any rate, young Halpin finished college at
a mighty unfavorable time, when the depression had made jobs scarce, so,
after a fling at investment banking and motion pictures, he took the first
opening with a potential future he could find—selling electrical hearing aids
on a commission basis. ANYONE COULD START IN THAT SORT OF
JOB, AND HALPIN KNEW IT, but it was enough to open the door of
opportunity to him.
For almost two years, he continued in a job not to his liking, and he
would never have risen above that job if he had not done something about his
dissatisfaction. He aimed, first, at the job of Assistant Sales Manager of his
company, and got the job. That one step upward placed him high enough
above the crowd to enable him to see still greater opportunity, also, it placed
him where OPPORTUNITY COULD SEE HIM.
He made such a fine record selling hearing aids, that A. M. Andrews,
Chairman of the Board of the Dictograph Products Company, a business
competitor of the company for which Halpin worked, wanted to know
something about that man Dan Halpin who was taking big sales away from
the long established Dictograph Company. He sent for Halpin. When the
interview was over, Halpin was the new Sales Manager, in charge of the
Acousticon Division. Then, to test young Halpin’s metal, Mr. Andrews went
away to Florida for three months, leaving him to sink or swim in his new job.
He did not sink! Knute Rockne’s spirit of “All the world loves a winner, and
has no time for a loser,” inspired him to put so much into his job that he was
recently elected Vice-President of the company, and General Manager of the
Acousticon and Silent Radio Division, a job which most men would be
proud to earn through ten years of loyal effort. Halpin turned the trick in little
more than six months.
It is difficult to say whether Mr. Andrews or Mr. Halpin is more
deserving of eulogy, for the reason that both showed evidence of having an
abundance of that very rare quality known as IMAGINATION. Mr. Andrews
deserves credit for seeing, in young Halpin, a “go-getter” of the highest
order. Halpin deserves credit for REFUSING TO COMPROMISE WITH
LIFE BY ACCEPTING AND KEEPING A JOB HE DID NOT WANT, and
that is one of the major points I am trying to emphasize through this entire
philosophy—that we rise to high positions or remain at the bottom
BECAUSE OF CONDITIONS WE CAN CONTROL IF WE DESIRE TO
CONTROL THEM.
I am also trying to emphasize another point, namely, that both success
and failure are largely the results of HABIT! I have not the slightest doubt
that Dan Halpin’s close association with the greatest football coach America
ever knew, planted in his mind the same brand of DESIRE to excel which
made the Notre Dame football team world famous. Truly, there is something
to the idea that hero-worship is helpful, provided one worships a WINNER.
Halpin tells me that Rockne was one of the world’s greatest leaders of men
in all history.
My belief in the theory that business associations are vital factors, both
in failure and in success, was recently demonstrated, when my son Blair was
negotiating with Dan Halpin for a position. Mr. Halpin offered him a
beginning salary of about one half what he could have gotten from a rival
company. I brought parental pressure to bear, and induced him to accept the
place with Mr. Halpin, because I BELIEVE THAT CLOSE ASSOCIATION
WITH
ONE
WHO
REFUSES
TO
COMPROMISE
WITH
CIRCUMSTANCES HE DOES NOT LIKE, IS AN ASSET THAT CAN
NEVER BE MEASURED IN TERMS OF MONEY.
The bottom is a monotonous, dreary, unprofitable place for any person.
That is why I have taken the time to describe how lowly beginnings may be
circumvented by proper planning. Also, that is why so much space has been
devoted to a description of this new profession, created by a woman who
was inspired to do a fine job of PLANNING because she wanted her son to
have a favorable “break.”
With the changed conditions ushered in by the world economic collapse,
came also the need for newer and better ways of marketing PERSONAL
SERVICES. It is hard to determine why someone had not previously
discovered this stupendous need, in view of the fact that more money changes
hands in return for personal services than for any other purpose. The sum
paid out monthly, to people who work for wages and salaries, is so huge that
it runs into hundreds of millions, and the annual distribution amounts to
billions.
Perhaps some will find, in the IDEA here briefly described, the nucleus
of the riches they DESIRE! Ideas with much less merit have been the
seedlings from which great fortunes have grown. Woolworth’s Five and Ten
Cent Store idea, for example, had far less merit, but it piled up a fortune for
its creator.
Those seeing OPPORTUNITY lurking in this suggestion will find
valuable aid in the chapter on Organized Planning. Incidentally, an efficient
merchandiser of personal services would find a growing demand for his
services wherever there are men and women who seek better markets for
their services. By applying the Master Mind principle, a few people with
suitable talent, could form an alliance, and have a paying business very
quickly. One would need to be a fair writer, with a flair for advertising and
selling, one handy at typing and hand lettering, and one should be a first class
business getter who would let the world know about the service. If one
person possessed all these abilities, he might carry on the business alone,
until it outgrew him.
The woman who prepared the “Personal Service Sales Plan” for her son
now receives requests from all parts of the country for her cooperation in
preparing similar plans for others who desire to market their personal
services for more money. She has a staff of expert typists, artists, and writers
who have the ability to dramatize the case history so effectively that one’s
personal services can be marketed for much more money than the prevailing
wages for similar services. She is so confident of her ability that she accepts,
as the major portion of her fee, a percentage of the increased pay she helps
her clients to earn.
It must not be supposed that her plan merely consists of clever
salesmanship by which she helps men and women to demand and receive
more money for the same services they formerly sold for less pay. She looks
after the interests of the purchaser as well as the seller of personal services,
and so prepares her plans that the employer receives full value for the
additional money he pays. The method by which she accomplishes this
astonishing result is a professional secret which she discloses to no one
excepting her own clients.
If you have the IMAGINATION, and seek a more profitable outlet for
your personal services, this suggestion may be the stimulus for which you
have been searching. The IDEA is capable of yielding an income far greater
than that of the “average” doctor, lawyer, or engineer whose education
required several years in college. The idea is saleable to those seeking new
positions, in practically all positions calling for managerial or executive
ability, and those desiring re-arrangement of incomes in their present
positions.
There is no fixed price for sound IDEAS!
Back of all IDEAS is specialized knowledge. Unfortunately, for those
who do not find riches in abundance, specialized knowledge is more
abundant and more easily acquired than IDEAS. Because of this very truth,
there is a universal demand and an ever-increasing opportunity for the person
capable of helping men and women to sell their personal services
advantageously. Capability means IMAGINATION, the one quality needed to
combine specialized knowledge with IDEAS, in the form of ORGANIZED
PLANS designed to yield riches.
Back of all IDEAS is specialized knowledge.
If you have IMAGINATION this chapter may present you with an idea
sufficient to serve as the beginning of the riches you desire. Remember, the
IDEA is the main thing. Specialized knowledge may be found just around the
corner—any corner!
Chapter Five Key Points
1. Knowledge does not forward your aims unless it is skillfully
applied.
2. An idea is useful only through excellent application—never forget
this. Many great ideas flounder for lack of intelligent use and
knowhow.
3. You can—and must—acquire the skills and knowledge you lack
through informed and qualified sources. Be willing to pay for these
sources.
4. Opinions of others (and your own) are not useful guides. You must
seek out specialized knowledge and research.
5. Focus, specialization, and expertise build valuable knowledge. In
short, you do best what you do frequently. Be dedicated, focused,
and clear in your work.
6. Defeats will come. Never mistake temporary defeat for failure.
This is where persistence functions as your vital ally.
7. Persistence, training, and healthful habits allow you to vault past
temporary defeat.
Chapter 6
Imagination
The Workshop of the Mind
The Fifth Step to Riches
The imagination is literally the workshop wherein are fashioned all plans
created by man. The impulse, the DESIRE, is given shape, form, and
ACTION through the aid of the imaginative faculty of the mind.
It has been said that man can create anything which he can imagine.
Of all the ages of civilization, this is the most favorable for the
development of the imagination, because it is an age of rapid change. On
every hand one may contact stimuli which develop the imagination.
Through the aid of his imaginative faculty, man has discovered, and
harnessed, more of Nature’s forces during the past fifty years than during the
entire history of the human race, previous to that time. He has conquered the
air so completely, that the birds are a poor match for him in flying. He has
harnessed the ether, and made it serve as a means of instantaneous
communication with any part of the world. He has analyzed, and weighed the
sun at a distance of millions of miles, and has determined, through the aid of
IMAGINATION, the elements of which it consists. He has discovered that
his own brain is both a broadcasting, and a receiving station for the vibration
of thought, and he is beginning now to learn how to make practical use of this
discovery. He has increased the speed of locomotion, until he may now
travel at a speed of more than three hundred miles an hour. The time will
soon come when a man may breakfast in New York, and lunch in San
Francisco.
MAN’S ONLY LIMITATION, within reason, LIES IN HIS
DEVELOPMENT AND USE OF HIS IMAGINATION. He has not yet
reached the apex of development in the use of his imaginative faculty. He has
merely discovered that he has an imagination, and has commenced to use it in
a very elementary way.
TWO FORMS OF IMAGINATION
The imaginative faculty functions in two forms. One is known as “synthetic
imagination,” and the other as “creative imagination.”
SYNTHETIC IMAGINATION: Through this faculty, one may arrange
old concepts, ideas, or plans into new combinations. This faculty creates
nothing. It merely works with the material of experience, education, and
observation with which it is fed. It is the faculty used most by the inventor,
with the exception of the “genius” who draws upon the creative imagination,
when he cannot solve his problem through synthetic imagination.
CREATIVE IMAGINATION: Through the faculty of creative
imagination, the finite mind of man has direct communication with Infinite
Intelligence. It is the faculty through which “hunches” and “inspirations” are
received. It is by this faculty that all basic, or new ideas are handed over to
man.
It is through this faculty that thought vibrations from the minds of others
are received. It is through this faculty that one individual may “tune in,” or
communicate with the subconscious minds of other men.
The creative imagination works automatically, in the manner described
in subsequent pages. This faculty functions ONLY when the conscious mind
is vibrating at an exceedingly rapid rate, as for example, when the conscious
mind is stimulated through the emotion of a strong desire.
The creative faculty becomes more alert, more receptive to vibrations
from the sources mentioned, in proportion to its development through USE.
This statement is significant! Ponder over it before passing on.
Keep in mind as you follow these principles, that the entire story of how
one may convert DESIRE into money cannot be told in one statement. The
story will be complete, only when one has MASTERED, ASSIMILATED,
and BEGUN TO MAKE USE of all the principles.
The great leaders of business, industry, finance, and the great artists,
musicians, poets, and writers became great, because they developed the
faculty of creative imagination.
Both the synthetic and creative faculties of imagination become more
alert with use, just as any muscle or organ of the body develops through use.
Desire is only a thought, an impulse. It is nebulous and ephemeral. It is
abstract, and of no value, until it has been transformed into its physical
counterpart. While the synthetic imagination is the one which will be used
most frequently, in the process of transforming the impulse of DESIRE into
money, you must keep in mind the fact, that you may face circumstances and
situations which demand use of the creative imagination as well.
Your imaginative faculty may have become weak through inaction. It can
be revived and made alert through USE. This faculty does not die, though it
may become quiescent through lack of use.
Center your attention, for the time being, on the development of the
synthetic imagination, because this is the faculty which you will use more
often in the process of converting desire into money.
Transformation of the intangible impulse, of DESIRE, into the tangible
reality, of MONEY, calls for the use of a plan, or plans. These plans must be
formed with the aid of the imagination, and mainly, with the synthetic faculty.
Read the entire book through, then come back to this chapter, and begin
at once to put your imagination to work on the building of a plan, or plans,
for the transformation of your DESIRE into money. Detailed instructions for
the building of plans have been given in almost every chapter. Carry out the
instructions best suited to your needs, reduce your plan to writing, if you
have not already done so. The moment you complete this, you will have
DEFINITELY given concrete form to the intangible DESIRE. Read the
preceding sentence once more. Read it aloud, very slowly, and as you do so,
remember that the moment you reduce the statement of your desire, and a plan
for its realization, to writing, you have actually TAKEN THE FIRST of a
series of steps, which will enable you to convert the thought into its physical
counterpart.
The earth on which you live, you, yourself, and every other material
thing are the result of evolutionary change, through which microscopic bits of
matter have been organized and arranged in an orderly fashion.
Moreover—and this statement is of stupendous importance—this earth,
every one of the billions of individual cells of your body, and every atom of
matter, began as an intangible form of energy.
DESIRE is thought impulse! Thought impulses are forms of energy.
When you begin with the thought impulse, DESIRE, to accumulate money,
you are drafting into your service the same “stuff” that Nature used in
creating this earth, and every material form in the universe, including the
body and brain in which the thought impulses function.
As far as science has been able to determine, the entire universe consists
of but two elements—matter and energy.
Through the combination of energy and matter, has been created
everything perceptible to man, from the largest star which floats in the
heavens, down to, and including man, himself.
You are now engaged in the task of trying to profit by Nature’s method.
You are (sincerely and earnestly, we hope), trying to adapt yourself to
Nature’s laws, by endeavoring to convert DESIRE into its physical or
monetary equivalent. YOU CAN DO IT! IT HAS BEEN DONE BEFORE!
You can build a fortune through the aid of laws which are immutable.
But, first, you must become familiar with these laws, and learn to USE them.
Through repetition, and by approaching the description of these principles
from every conceivable angle, the author hopes to reveal to you the secret
through which every great fortune has been accumulated. Strange and
paradoxical as it may seem, the “secret” is NOT A SECRET. Nature, herself,
advertises it in the earth on which we live, the stars, the planets suspended
within our view, in the elements above and around us, in every blade of
grass, and every form of life within our vision.
Nature advertises this “secret” in the terms of biology, in the conversion
of a tiny cell, so small that it may be lost on the point of a pin, into the
HUMAN BEING now reading this line. The conversion of desire into its
physical equivalent is, certainly, no more miraculous!
Do not become discouraged if you do not fully comprehend all that has
been stated. Unless you have long been a student of the mind, it is not to be
expected that you will assimilate all that is in this chapter upon a first
reading.
But you will, in time, make good progress.
The principles which follow will open the way for understanding of
imagination. Assimilate that which you understand, as you read this
philosophy for the first time, then, when you reread and study it, you will
discover that something has happened to clarify it, and give you a broader
understanding of the whole. Above all, DO NOT STOP, nor hesitate in your
study of these principles until you have read the book at least THREE times,
for then, you will not want to stop.
HOW TO MAKE PRACTICAL USE OF
IMAGINATION
Ideas are the beginning points of all fortunes. Ideas are products of the
imagination. Let us examine a few well known ideas which have yielded
huge fortunes, with the hope that these illustrations will convey definite
information concerning the method by which imagination may be used in
accumulating riches.
THE ENCHANTED KETTLE
Fifty years ago, an old country doctor drove to town, hitched his horse,
quietly slipped into a drug store by the back door, and began “dickering”
with the young drug clerk.
His mission was destined to yield great wealth to many people. It was
destined to bring to the South the most far-flung benefit since the Civil War.
For more than an hour, behind the prescription counter, the old doctor
and the clerk talked in low tones. Then the doctor left. He went out to the
buggy and brought back a large, old fashioned kettle, a big wooden paddle
(used for stirring the contents of the kettle), and deposited them in the back of
the store.
The clerk inspected the kettle, reached into his inside pocket, took out a
roll of bills, and handed it over to the doctor. The roll contained exactly
$500.00—the clerk’s entire savings!
The doctor handed over a small slip of paper on which was written a
secret formula. The words on that small slip of paper were worth a King’s
ransom! But not to the doctor! Those magic words were needed to start the
kettle to boiling, but neither the doctor nor the young clerk knew what
fabulous fortunes were destined to flow from that kettle.
The old doctor was glad to sell the outfit for five hundred dollars. The
money would pay off his debts, and give him freedom of mind. The clerk was
taking a big chance by staking his entire life’s savings on a mere scrap of
paper and an old kettle! He never dreamed his investment would start a kettle
to overflowing with gold that would surpass the miraculous performance of
Aladdin’s lamp.
What the clerk really purchased was an IDEA!
The old kettle and the wooden paddle, and the secret message on a slip
of paper were incidental. The strange performance of that kettle began to take
place after the new owner mixed with the secret instructions an ingredient of
which the doctor knew nothing.
Read this story carefully, give your imagination a test! See if you can
discover what it was that the young man added to the secret message, which
caused the kettle to overflow with gold. Remember, as you read, that this is
not a story from Arabian Nights. Here you have a story of facts, stranger than
fiction, facts which began in the form of an IDEA.
Let us take a look at the vast fortunes of gold this idea has produced. It
has paid, and still pays huge fortunes to men and women all over the world,
who distribute the contents of the kettle to millions of people.
The Old Kettle is now one of the world’s largest consumers of sugar,
thus providing jobs of a permanent nature to thousands of men and women
engaged in growing sugar cane, and in refining and marketing sugar.
The Old Kettle consumes, annually, millions of glass bottles, providing
jobs to huge numbers of glass workers.
The Old Kettle gives employment to an army of clerks, stenographers,
copy writers, and advertising experts throughout the nation. It has brought
fame and fortune to scores of artists who have created magnificent pictures
describing the product.
The Old Kettle has converted a small Southern city into the business
capital of the South, where it now benefits, directly, or indirectly, every
business and practically every resident of the city.
The influence of this idea now benefits every civilized country in the
world, pouring out a continuous stream of gold to all who touch it.
Gold from the kettle built and maintains one of the most prominent
colleges of the South, where thousands of young people receive the training
essential for success.
The Old Kettle has done other marvelous things.
All through the world depression, when factories, banks and business
houses were folding up and quitting by the thousands, the owner of this
Enchanted Kettle went marching on, giving continuous employment to an
army of men and women all over the world, and paying out extra portions of
gold to those who, long ago, had faith in the idea.
If the product of that old brass kettle could talk, it would tell thrilling
tales of romance in every language. Romances of love, romances of business,
romances of professional men and women who are daily being stimulated by
it.
The author is sure of at least one such romance, for he was a part of it,
and it all began not far from the very spot on which the drug clerk purchased
the old kettle. It was here that the author met his wife, and it was she who
first told him of the Enchanted Kettle. It was the product of that Kettle they
were drinking when he asked her to accept him “for better or worse.”
Now that you know the content of the Enchanted Kettle is a world
famous drink, it is fitting that the author confess that the home city of the drink
supplied him with a wife, also that the drink itself provides him with
stimulation of thought without intoxication, and thereby it serves to give the
refreshment of mind which an author must have to do his best work.
Whoever you are, wherever you may live, whatever occupation you may
be engaged in, just remember in the future, every time you see the words
“Coca-Cola,” that its vast empire of wealth and influence grew out of a
single IDEA, and that the mysterious ingredient the drug clerk—Asa Candler
—mixed with the secret formula was … IMAGINATION!
Stop and think of that, for a moment.
Remember, also, that the thirteen steps to riches, described in this book,
were the media through which the influence of Coca-Cola has been extended
to every city, town, village, and cross-roads of the world, and that ANY
IDEA you may create, as sound and meritorious as Coca-Cola, has the
possibility of duplicating the stupendous record of this world-wide thirstkiller.
Truly, thoughts are things, and their scope of operation is the world,
itself.
WHAT I WOULD DO IF I HAD A MILLION
DOLLARS
This story proves the truth of that old saying, “Where there’s a will, there’s a
way.” It was told to me by that beloved educator and clergyman, the late
Frank W. Gunsaulus, who began his preaching career in the stockyards region
of South Chicago.
While Dr. Gunsaulus was going through college, he observed many
defects in our educational system, defects which he believed he could
correct, if he were the head of a college. His deepest desire was to become
the directing head of an educational institution in which young men and
women would be taught to “learn by doing.”
He made up his mind to organize a new college in which he could carry
out his ideas, without being handicapped by orthodox methods of education.
He needed a million dollars to put the project across! Where was he to
lay his hands on so large a sum of money? That was the question that
absorbed most of this ambitious young preacher’s thought.
But he couldn’t seem to make any progress.
Every night he took that thought to bed with him. He got up with it in the
morning. He took it with him everywhere he went. He turned it over and over
in his mind until it became a consuming obsession with him. A million
dollars is a lot of money. He recognized that fact, but he also recognized the
truth that the only limitation is that which one sets up in one’s own mind.
Being a philosopher as well as a preacher, Dr. Gunsaulus recognized, as
do all who succeed in life, that DEFINITENESS OF PURPOSE is the
starting point from which one must begin. He recognized, too, that
definiteness of purpose takes on animation, life, and power when backed by
a BURNING DESIRE to translate that purpose into its material equivalent.
He knew all these great truths, yet he did not know where, or how to lay
his hands on a million dollars. The natural procedure would have been to
give up and quit, by saying, “Ah well, my idea is a good one, but I cannot do
anything with it, because I never can procure the necessary million dollars.”
That is exactly what the majority of people would have said, but it is not
what Dr. Gunsaulus said. What he said, and what he did are so important that
I now introduce him, and let him speak for himself.
“One Saturday afternoon I sat in my room thinking of ways and means of
raising the money to carry out my plans. For nearly two years, I had been
thinking, but I had done nothing but think!
“The time had come for ACTION!
“I made up my mind, then and there, that I would get the necessary
million dollars within a week. How? I was not concerned about that. The
main thing of importance was the decision to get the money within a
specified time, and I want to tell you that the moment I reached a definite
decision to get the money within a specified time, a strange feeling of
assurance came over me, such as I had never before experienced. Something
inside me seemed to say, ‘Why didn’t you reach that decision a long time
ago? The money was waiting for you all the time!’
“Things began to happen in a hurry. I called the newspapers and
announced I would preach a sermon the following morning, entitled, ‘What I
would do if I had a Million Dollars.’
“I went to work on the sermon immediately, but I must tell you, frankly,
the task was not difficult, because I had been preparing that sermon for
almost two years. The spirit back of it was a part of me!
“Long before midnight I had finished writing the sermon. I went to bed
and slept with a feeling of confidence, for I could see myself already in
possession of the million dollars.
“Next morning I arose early, went into the bathroom, read the sermon,
then knelt on my knees and asked that my sermon might come to the attention
of someone who would supply the needed money.
“While I was praying I again had that feeling of assurance that the money
would be forthcoming. In my excitement, I walked out without my sermon,
and did not discover the oversight until I was in my pulpit and about ready to
begin delivering it.
“It was too late to go back for my notes, and what a blessing that I
couldn’t go back! Instead, my own subconscious mind yielded the material I
needed. When I arose to begin my sermon, I closed my eyes, and spoke with
all my heart and soul of my dreams. I not only talked to my audience, but I
fancy I talked also to God. I told what I would do with a million dollars if
that amount were placed in my hands. I described the plan I had in mind for
organizing a great educational institution, where young people would learn to
do practical things, and at the same time develop their minds.
“When I had finished and sat down, a man slowly arose from his seat,
about three rows from the rear, and made his way toward the pulpit. I
wondered what he was going to do. He came into the pulpit, extended his
hand, and said, ‘Reverend, I liked your sermon. I believe you can do
everything you said you would, if you had a million dollars. To prove that I
believe in you and your sermon, if you will come to my office tomorrow
morning, I will give you the million dollars. My name is Phillip D.
Armour.’”
Young Gunsaulus went to Mr. Armour’s office and the million dollars
was presented to him. With the money, he founded the Armour Institute of
Technology.
That is more money than the majority of preachers ever see in an entire
lifetime, yet the thought impulse back of the money was created in the young
preacher’s mind in a fraction of a minute. The necessary million dollars
came as a result of an idea. Back of the idea was a DESIRE which young
Gunsaulus had been nursing in his mind for almost two years.
Observe this important fact … HE GOT THE MONEY WITHIN
THIRTY-SIX HOURS AFTER HE REACHED A DEFINITE DECISION IN
HIS OWN MIND TO GET IT, AND DECIDED UPON A DEFINITE PLAN
FOR GETTING IT!
There was nothing new or unique about young Gunsaulus’ vague thinking
about a million dollars, and weakly hoping for it. Others before him, and
many since his time, have had similar thoughts. But there was something very
unique and different about the decision he reached on that memorable
Saturday, when he put vagueness into the background, and definitely said, “I
WILL get that money within a week!”
God seems to throw Himself on the side of the man who knows exactly
what he wants, if he is determined to get JUST THAT!
Moreover, the principle through which Dr. Gunsaulus got his million
dollars is still alive! It is available to you! This universal law is as workable
today as it was when the young preacher made use of it so successfully. This
book describes, step by step, the thirteen elements of this great law, and
suggests how they may be put to use.
Observe that Asa Candler and Dr. Frank Gunsaulus had one
characteristic in common. Both knew the astounding truth that IDEAS CAN
BE TRANSMUTED INTO CASH THROUGH THE POWER OF DEFINITE
PURPOSE, PLUS DEFINITE PLANS.
If you are one of those who believe that hard work and honesty, alone,
will bring riches, perish the thought! It is not true! Riches, when they come in
huge quantities, are never the result of HARD work! Riches come, if they
come at all, in response to definite demands, based upon the application of
definite principles, and not by chance or luck.
Generally speaking, an idea is an impulse of thought that impels action,
by an appeal to the imagination. All master salesmen know that ideas can be
sold where merchandise cannot. Ordinary salesmen do not know this—that is
why they are “ordinary.”
A publisher of books, which sell for a nickel, made a discovery that
should be worth much to publishers generally. He learned that many people
buy titles, and not contents of books. By merely changing the name of one
book that was not moving, his sales on that book jumped upward more than a
million copies. The inside of the book was not changed in any way. He
merely ripped off the cover bearing the title that did not sell, and put on a
new cover with a title that had “box-office” value.
That, as simple as it may seem, was an IDEA! It was IMAGINATION.
There is no standard price on ideas. The creator of ideas makes his own
price, and, if he is smart, gets it.
The moving picture industry created a whole flock of millionaires. Most
of them were men who couldn’t create ideas—BUT—they had the
imagination to recognize ideas when they saw them.
The next flock of millionaires will grow out of the radio business, which
is new and not overburdened with men of keen imagination. The money will
be made by those who discover or create new and more meritorious radio
programmes and have the imagination to recognize merit, and to give the
radio listeners a chance to profit by it.
The sponsor! That unfortunate victim who now pays the cost of all radio
“entertainment,” soon will become idea conscious, and demand something
for his money. The man who beats the sponsor to the draw, and supplies
programmes that render useful service, is the man who will become rich in
this new industry.
Crooners and light chatter artists who now pollute the air with
wisecracks and silly giggles, will go the way of all light timbers, and their
places will be taken by real artists who interpret carefully planned
programmes which have been designed to service the minds of men, as well
as provide entertainment.
Here is a wide open field of opportunity screaming its protest at the way
it is being butchered, because of lack of imagination, and begging for rescue
at any price. Above all, the thing that radio needs is new IDEAS!
If this new field of opportunity intrigues you, perhaps you might profit by
the suggestion that the successful radio programmes of the future will give
more attention to creating “buyer” audiences, and less attention to “listener”
audiences. Stated more plainly, the builder of radio programmes who
succeeds in the future, must find practical ways to convert “listeners” into
“buyers.” Moreover, the successful producer of radio programmes in the
future must key his features so that he can definitely show its effect upon the
audience.
Sponsors are becoming a bit weary of buying glib selling talks, based
upon statements grabbed out of thin air. They want, and in the future will
demand, indisputable proof that the Whoosit programme not only gives
millions of people the silliest giggle ever, but that the silly giggler can sell
merchandise!
Another thing that might as well be understood by those who
contemplate entering this new field of opportunity, radio advertising is going
to be handled by an entirely new group of advertising experts, separate and
distinct from the old time newspaper and magazine advertising agency men.
The old timers in the advertising game cannot read the modern radio scripts,
because they have been schooled to SEE ideas. The new radio technique
demands men who can interpret ideas from a written manuscript in terms of
SOUND! It cost the author a year of hard labor, and many thousands of
dollars to learn this.
Radio, right now, is about where the moving pictures were, when Mary
Pickford and her curls first appeared on the screen. There is plenty of room
in radio for those who can produce or recognize IDEAS.
If the foregoing comment on the opportunities of radio has not started
your idea factory to work, you had better forget it. Your opportunity is in
some other field. If the comment intrigued you in the slightest degree, then go
further into it, and you may find the one IDEA you need to round out your
career.
Never let it discourage you if you have no experience in radio. Andrew
Carnegie knew very little about making steel—I have Carnegie’s own word
for this—but he made practical use of two of the principles described in this
book, and made the steel business yield him a fortune.
The story of practically every great fortune starts with the day when a
creator of ideas and a seller of ideas got together and worked in harmony.
Carnegie surrounded himself with men who could do all that he could not do.
Men who created ideas, and men who put ideas into operation, and made
himself and the others fabulously rich.
Millions of people go through life hoping for favorable “breaks.”
Perhaps a favorable break can get one an opportunity, but the safest plan is
not to depend upon luck. It was a favorable “break” that gave me the biggest
opportunity of my life—but—twenty-five years of determined effort had to
be devoted to that opportunity before it became an asset.
The “break” consisted of my good fortune in meeting and gaining the
cooperation of Andrew Carnegie. On that occasion Carnegie planted in my
mind the idea of organizing the principles of achievement into a philosophy
of success. Thousands of people have profited by the discoveries made in the
twenty-five years of research, and several fortunes have been accumulated
through the application of the philosophy. The beginning was simple. It was
an IDEA which anyone might have developed.
The favorable break came through Carnegie, but what about the
DETERMINATION, DEFINITENESS OF PURPOSE, and the DESIRE TO
ATTAIN THE GOAL, and the PERSISTENT EFFORT OF TWENTY-FIVE
YEARS? It was no ordinary DESIRE that survived disappointment,
discouragement, temporary defeat, criticism, and the constant reminding of
“waste of time.” It was a BURNING DESIRE! an OBSESSION!
When the idea was first planted in my mind by Mr. Carnegie, it was
coaxed, nursed, and enticed to remain alive. Gradually, the idea became a
giant under its own power, and it coaxed, nursed, and drove me. Ideas are
like that. First you give life and action and guidance to ideas, then they take
on power of their own and sweep aside all opposition.
Ideas are intangible forces, but they have more power than the physical
brains that give birth to them. They have the power to live on, after the brain
that creates them has returned to dust. For example, take the power of
Christianity. That began with a simple idea, born in the brain of Christ. Its
chief tenet was, “do unto others as you would have others do unto you.”
Christ has gone back to the source from whence He came, but His IDEA goes
marching on. Some day, it may grow up, and come into its own, then it will
have fulfilled Christ’s deepest DESIRE. The IDEA has been developing only
two thousand years. Give it time!
Ideas are intangible forces, but they have more power than the
physical brains that give birth to them.
Chapter Six Key Points
1. Imagination connects ideas with plans and application.
2. The rigor of your work and preparation tones and prepares your
imagination.
3. Hunches and flashes of insight are valuable only in proportion to
the effort expended in your work and attainment of knowledge.
4. Imagination, used properly, is not a source of escapism but of
concrete plans.
5. What are you selling? Allow your imagination to help you
understand the actual nature of your product as perceived by its
users.
6. Imagination plus organized plans connects specialized knowledge
with ideas.
SUCCESS REQUIRES NO EXPLANATIONS
FAILURE PERMITS NO ALIBIS
Chapter 7
Organized Planning
The Crystallization of Desire Into Action
The Sixth Step to Riches
You have learned that everything man creates or acquires, begins in the form
of DESIRE, that desire is taken on the first lap of its journey, from the
abstract to the concrete, into the workshop of the IMAGINATION, where
PLANS for its transition are created and organized.
In Chapter two, you were instructed to take six definite, practical steps,
as your first move in translating the desire for money into its monetary
equivalent. One of these steps is the formation of a DEFINITE, practical
plan, or plans, through which this transformation may be made.
You will now be instructed how to build plans which will be practical,
viz:
(a) Ally yourself with a group of as many people as you may need for
the creation, and carrying out of your plan, or plans for the
accumulation of money—making use of the “Master Mind”
principle described in a later chapter. (Compliance with this
instruction is absolutely essential. Do not neglect it.)
(b) Before forming your “Master Mind” alliance, decide what
advantages, and benefits, you may offer the individual members of
your group, in return for their cooperation. No one will work
indefinitely without some form of compensation. No intelligent
person will either request or expect another to work without
adequate compensation, although this may not always be in the
form of money.
(c) Arrange to meet with the members of your “Master Mind” group
at least twice a week, and more often if possible, until you have
jointly perfected the necessary plan, or plans for the accumulation
of money.
(d) Maintain PERFECT HARMONY between yourself and every
member of your “Master Mind” group. If you fail to carry out this
instruction to the letter, you may expect to meet with failure. The
“Master Mind” principle cannot obtain where PERFECT
HARMONY does not prevail.
Keep in mind these facts:—
First. You are engaged in an undertaking of major importance to you. To be
sure of success, you must have plans which are faultless.
Second. You must have the advantage of the experience, education, native
ability and imagination of other minds. This is in harmony with the methods
followed by every person who has accumulated a great fortune.
No individual has sufficient experience, education, native ability, and
knowledge to insure the accumulation of a great fortune, without the
cooperation of other people. Every plan you adopt, in your endeavor to
accumulate wealth, should be the joint creation of yourself and every other
member of your “Master Mind” group. You may originate your own plans,
either in whole or in part, but SEE THAT THOSE PLANS ARE CHECKED,
AND APPROVED BY THE MEMBERS OF YOUR “MASTER MIND”
ALLIANCE.
If the first plan which you adopt does not work successfully, replace it
with a new plan, if this new plan fails to work, replace it, in turn with still
another, and so on, until you find a plan which DOES WORK. Right here is
the point at which the majority of men meet with failure, because of their lack
of PERSISTENCE in creating new plans to take the place of those which
fail.
The most intelligent man living cannot succeed in accumulating money—
nor in any other undertaking—without plans which are practical and
workable. Just keep this fact in mind, and remember when your plans fail,
that temporary defeat is not permanent failure. It may only mean that your
plans have not been sound. Build other plans. Start all over again.
Thomas A. Edison “failed” ten thousand times before he perfected the
incandescent electric light bulb. That is—he met with temporary defeat ten
thousand times, before his efforts were crowned with success.
Temporary defeat should mean only one thing, the certain knowledge that
there is something wrong with your plan. Millions of men go through life in
misery and poverty, because they lack a sound plan through which to
accumulate a fortune.
Henry Ford accumulated a fortune, not because of his superior mind, but
because he adopted and followed a PLAN which proved to be sound. A
thousand men could be pointed out, each with a better education than Ford’s,
yet each of whom lives in poverty, because he does not possess the RIGHT
plan for the accumulation of money.
Your achievement can be no greater than your PLANS are sound. That
may seem to be an axiomatic statement, but it is true. Samuel Insull lost his
fortune of over one hundred million dollars. The Insull fortune was built on
plans which were sound. The business depression forced Mr. Insull to
CHANGE HIS PLANS; and the CHANGE brought “temporary defeat,”
because his new plans were NOT SOUND. Mr. Insull is now an old man, he
may, consequently, accept “failure” instead of “temporary defeat,” but if his
experience turns out to be FAILURE, it will be for the reason that he lacks
the fire of PERSISTENCE to rebuild his plans.
No man is ever whipped, until he QUITS—in his own mind.
No man is ever whipped, until he QUITS—in his own mind.
This fact will be repeated many times, because it is so easy to “take the
count” at the first sign of defeat.
James J. Hill met with temporary defeat when he first endeavored to
raise the necessary capital to build a railroad from the East to the West, but
he, too turned defeat into victory through new plans.
Henry Ford met with temporary defeat, not only at the beginning of his
automobile career, but after he had gone far toward the top. He created new
plans, and went marching on to financial victory.
We see men who have accumulated great fortunes, but we often
recognize only their triumph, overlooking the temporary defeats which they
had to surmount before “arriving.”
NO FOLLOWER OF THIS PHILOSOPHY CAN REASONABLY
EXPECT TO ACCUMULATE A FORTUNE WITHOUT EXPERIENCING
“TEMPORARY DEFEAT.” When defeat comes, accept it as a signal that
your plans are not sound, rebuild those plans, and set sail once more toward
your coveted goal. If you give up before your goal has been reached, you are
a “quitter.” A QUITTER NEVER WINS—AND—A WINNER NEVER
QUITS. Lift this sentence out, write it on a piece of paper in letters an inch
high, and place it where you will see it every night before you go to sleep,
and every morning before you go to work.
NO FOLLOWER OF THIS PHILOSOPHY CAN
REASONABLY EXPECT TO ACCUMULATE A FORTUNE
WITHOUT EXPERIENCING “TEMPORARY DEFEAT.”
When you begin to select members for your “Master Mind” group,
endeavor to select those who do not take defeat seriously.
Some people foolishly believe that only MONEY can make money. This
is not true! DESIRE, transmuted into its monetary equivalent, through the
principles laid down here, is the agency through which money is “made.”
Money, of itself, is nothing but inert matter. It cannot move, think, or talk, but
it can “hear” when a man who DESIRES it, calls it to come!
PLANNING THE SALE OF SERVICES
The remainder of this chapter has been given over to a description of ways
and means of marketing personal services. The information here conveyed
will be of practical help to any person having any form of personal services
to market, but it will be of priceless benefit to those who aspire to leadership
in their chosen occupations.
Intelligent planning is essential for success in any undertaking designed
to accumulate riches. Here will be found detailed instructions to those who
must begin the accumulation of riches by selling personal services.
It should be encouraging to know that practically all the great fortunes
began in the form of compensation for personal services, or from the sale of
IDEAS. What else, except ideas and personal services, would one not
possessed of property have to give in return for riches?
Broadly speaking, there are two types of people in the world. One type
is known as LEADERS, and the other as FOLLOWERS. Decide at the outset
whether you intend to become a leader in your chosen calling, or remain a
follower. The difference in compensation is vast. The follower cannot
reasonably expect the compensation to which a leader is entitled, although
many followers make the mistake of expecting such pay.
It is no disgrace to be a follower. On the other hand, it is no credit to
remain a follower. Most great leaders began in the capacity of followers.
They became great leaders because they were INTELLIGENT
FOLLOWERS. With few exceptions, the man who cannot follow a leader
intelligently, cannot become an efficient leader. The man who can follow a
leader most efficiently, is usually the man who develops into leadership most
rapidly. An intelligent follower has many advantages, among them the
OPPORTUNITY TO ACQUIRE KNOWLEDGE FROM HIS LEADER.
THE MAJOR ATTRIBUTES OF LEADERSHIP
The following are important factors of leadership:
1. UNWAVERING COURAGE based upon knowledge of self, and of one’s
occupation. No follower wishes to be dominated by a leader who lacks
self-confidence and courage. No intelligent follower will be dominated
by such a leader very long.
2. SELF-CONTROL. The man who cannot control himself, can never
control others. Self-control sets a mighty example for one’s followers,
which the more intelligent will emulate.
3. A KEEN SENSE OF JUSTICE. Without a sense of fairness and justice,
no leader can command and retain the respect of his followers.
4. DEFINITENESS OF DECISION. The man who wavers in his
decisions, shows that he is not sure of himself. He cannot lead others
successfully.
5. DEFINITENESS OF PLANS. The successful leader must plan his
work, and work his plan. A leader who moves by guesswork, without
practical, definite plans, is comparable to a ship without a rudder.
Sooner or later he will land on the rocks.
6. THE HABIT OF DOING MORE THAN PAID FOR. One of the
penalties of leadership is the necessity of willingness, upon the part of
the leader, to do more than he requires of his followers.
7. A PLEASING PERSONALITY. No slovenly, careless person can
become a successful leader. Leadership calls for respect. Followers
will not respect a leader who does not grade high on all of the factors of
a Pleasing Personality.
8. SYMPATHY AND UNDERSTANDING. The successful leader must be
in sympathy with his followers. Moreover, he must understand them and
their problems.
9. MASTERY OF DETAIL. Successful leadership calls for mastery of
details of the leader’s position.
10. WILLINGNESS TO ASSUME FULL RESPONSIBILITY. The
successful leader must be willing to assume responsibility for the
mistakes and the shortcomings of his followers. If he tries to shift this
responsibility, he will not remain the leader. If one of his followers
makes a mistake, and shows himself incompetent, the leader must
consider that it is he who failed.
11. COOPERATION. The successful leader must understand, and apply the
principle of cooperative effort and be able to induce his followers to do
the same. Leadership calls for POWER, and power calls for
COOPERATION.
There are two forms of Leadership. The first, and by far the most effective, is
LEADERSHIP BY CONSENT of, and with the sympathy of the followers.
The second is LEADERSHIP BY FORCE, without the consent and sympathy
of the followers.
History is filled with evidences that Leadership by Force cannot endure.
The downfall and disappearance of “Dictators” and kings is significant. It
means that people will not follow forced leadership indefinitely.
The world has just entered a new era of relationship between leaders
and followers, which very clearly calls for new leaders, and a new brand of
leadership in business and industry. Those who belong to the old school of
leadership-by-force, must acquire an understanding of the new brand of
leadership (cooperation) or be relegated to the rank and file of the followers.
There is no other way out for them.
The relationship of employer and employee, or of leader and follower,
in the future, will be one of mutual cooperation, based upon an equitable
division of the profits of business. In the future, the relationship of employer
and employee will be more like a partnership than it has been in the past.
Napoleon, Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany, the Czar of Russia, and the King
of Spain were examples of leadership by force. Their leadership passed.
Without much difficulty, one might point to the prototypes of these ex-leaders,
among the business, financial, and labor leaders of America who have been
dethroned or slated to go. Leadership-by-consent of the followers is the only
brand which can endure!
Men may follow the forced leadership temporarily, but they will not do
so willingly.
The new brand of LEADERSHIP will embrace the eleven factors of
leadership, described in this chapter, as well as some other factors. The man
who makes these the basis of his leadership, will find abundant opportunity
to lead in any walk of life. The depression was prolonged, largely, because
the world lacked LEADERSHIP of the new brand. At the end of the
depression, the demand for leaders who are competent to apply the new
methods of leadership has greatly exceeded the supply. Some of the old type
of leaders will reform and adapt themselves to the new brand of leadership,
but generally speaking, the world will have to look for new timber for its
leadership.
This necessity may be your OPPORTUNITY!
THE 10 MAJOR CAUSES OF FAILURE IN
LEADERSHIP
We come now to the major faults of leaders who fail, because it is just as
essential to know WHAT NOT TO DO as it is to know what to do.
1. INABILITY TO ORGANIZE DETAILS. Efficient leadership calls for
ability to organize and to master details. No genuine leader is ever “too
busy” to do anything which may be required of him in his capacity as
leader. When a man, whether he is a leader or follower, admits that he
is “too busy” to change his plans, or to give attention to any emergency,
he admits his inefficiency. The successful leader must be the master of
all details connected with his position. That means, of course, that he
must acquire the habit of relegating details to capable lieutenants.
2. UNWILLINGNESS TO RENDER HUMBLE SERVICE. Truly great
leaders are willing, when occasion demands, to perform any sort of
labor which they would ask another to perform. “The greatest among ye
shall be the servant of all” is a truth which all able leaders observe and
respect.
3. EXPECTATION OF PAY FOR WHAT THEY “KNOW” INSTEAD OF
WHAT THEY DO WITH THAT WHICH THEY KNOW. The world
does not pay men for that which they “know.” It pays them for what they
DO, or induce others to do.
4. FEAR OF COMPETITION FROM FOLLOWERS. The leader who
fears that one of his followers may take his position is practically sure
to realize that fear sooner or later. The able leader trains understudies to
whom he may delegate, at will, any of the details of his position. Only
in this way may a leader multiply himself and prepare himself to be at
many places, and give attention to many things at one time. It is an
eternal truth that men receive more pay for their ABILITY TO GET
OTHERS TO PERFORM, than they could possibly earn by their own
efforts. An efficient leader may, through his knowledge of his job and
the magnetism of his personality, greatly increase the efficiency of
others, and induce them to render more service and better service than
they could render without his aid.
5. LACK OF IMAGINATION. Without imagination, the leader is
incapable of meeting emergencies, and of creating plans by which to
guide his followers efficiently.
6. SELFISHNESS. The leader who claims all the honor for the work of his
followers, is sure to be met by resentment. The really great leader
CLAIMS NONE OF THE HONORS. He is contented to see the honors,
when there are any, go to his followers, because he knows that most men
will work harder for commendation and recognition than they will for
money alone.
7. INTEMPERANCE. Followers do not respect an intemperate leader.
Moreover, intemperance in any of its various forms, destroys the
endurance and the vitality of all who indulge in it.
8. DISLOYALTY. Perhaps this should have come at the head of the list.
The leader who is not loyal to his trust, and to his associates, those
above him, and those below him, cannot long maintain his leadership.
Disloyalty marks one as being less than the dust of the earth, and brings
down on one’s head the contempt he deserves. Lack of loyalty is one of
the major causes of failure in every walk of life.
9. EMPHASIS OF THE “AUTHORITY” OF LEADERSHIP. The efficient
leader leads by encouraging, and not by trying to instill fear in the hearts
of his followers. The leader who tries to impress his followers with his
“authority” comes within the category of leadership through FORCE. If
a leader is a REAL LEADER, he will have no need to advertise that
fact except by his conduct—his sympathy, understanding, fairness, and a
demonstration that he knows his job.
10. EMPHASIS OF TITLE. The competent leader requires no “title” to
give him the respect of his followers. The man who makes too much
over his title generally has little else to emphasize. The doors to the
office of the real leader are open to all who wish to enter, and his
working quarters are free from formality or ostentation.
These are among the more common of the causes of failure in leadership.
Any one of these faults is sufficient to induce failure. Study the list carefully
if you aspire to leadership, and make sure that you are free of these faults.
SOME FERTILE FIELDS IN WHICH “NEW
LEADERSHIP” WILL BE REQUIRED
Before leaving this chapter, your attention is called to a few of the fertile
fields in which there has been a decline of leadership, and in which the new
type of leader may find an abundance of OPPORTUNITY.
First. In the field of politics there is a most insistent demand for new leaders;
a demand which indicates nothing less than an emergency. The majority of
politicians have, seemingly, become high-grade, legalized racketeers. They
have increased taxes and debauched the machinery of industry and business
until the people can no longer stand the burden.
Second. The banking business is undergoing a reform. The leaders in this
field have almost entirely lost the confidence of the public. Already the
bankers have sensed the need of reform, and they have begun it.
Third. Industry calls for new leaders. The old type of leaders thought and
moved in terms of dividends instead of thinking and moving in terms of
human equations! The future leader in industry, to endure, must regard
himself as a quasi-public official whose duty it is to manage his trust in such
a way that it will work hardship on no individual, or group of individuals.
Exploitation of working men is a thing of the past. Let the man who aspires to
leadership in the field of business, industry, and labor remember this.
Fourth. The religious leader of the future will be forced to give more
attention to the temporal needs of his followers, in the solution of their
economic and personal problems of the present, and less attention to the dead
past, and the yet unborn future.
Fifth. In the professions of law, medicine, and education, a new brand of
leadership, and to some extent, new leaders will become a necessity. This is
especially true in the field of education. The leader in that field must, in the
future, find ways and means of teaching people HOW TO APPLY the
knowledge they receive in school. He must deal more with PRACTICE and
less with THEORY.
Sixth. New leaders will be required in the field of Journalism. Newspapers
of the future, to be conducted successfully, must be divorced from “special
privilege” and relieved from the subsidy of advertising. They must cease to
be organs of propaganda for the interests which patronize their advertising
columns. The type of newspaper which publishes scandal and lewd pictures
will eventually go the way of all forces which debauch the human mind.
These are but a few of the fields in which opportunities for new leaders and
a new brand of leadership are now available. The world is undergoing a
rapid change. This means that the media through which the changes in human
habits are promoted, must be adapted to the changes. The media here
described, are the ones which, more than any others, determine the trend of
civilization.
WHEN AND HOW TO APPLY FOR A POSITION
The information described here is the net result of many years of experience
during which thousands of men and women were helped to market their
services effectively. It can, therefore, be relied upon as sound and practical.
MEDIA THROUGH WHICH SERVICES MAY BE
MARKETED
Experience has proved that the following media offer the most direct and
effective methods of bringing the buyer and seller of personal services
together.
1. EMPLOYMENT BUREAUS. Care must be taken to select only
reputable bureaus, the management of which can show adequate records
of achievement of satisfactory results. There are comparatively few
such bureaus.
2. ADVERTISING in newspapers, trade journals, magazines, and radio.
Classified advertising may usually be relied upon to produce
satisfactory results in the case of those who apply for clerical or
ordinary salaried positions. Display advertising is more desirable in the
case of those who seek executive connections, the copy to appear in the
section of the paper which is most apt to come to the attention of the
class of employer being sought. The copy should be prepared by an
expert, who understands how to inject sufficient selling qualities to
produce replies.
3. PERSONAL LETTERS OF APPLICATION, directed to particular firms
or individuals most apt to need such services as are being offered.
Letters should be neatly typed, ALWAYS, and signed by hand. With the
letter, should be sent a complete “brief” or outline of the applicant’s
qualifications. Both the letter of application and the brief of experience
or qualifications should be prepared by an expert. (See instructions as
to information to be supplied).
4. APPLICATION THROUGH PERSONAL ACQUAINTANCES. When
possible, the applicant should endeavor to approach prospective
employers through some mutual acquaintance. This method of approach
is particularly advantageous in the case of those who seek executive
connections and do not wish to appear to be “peddling” themselves.
5. APPLICATION IN PERSON. In some instances, it may be more
effective if the applicant offers personally, his services to prospective
employers, in which event a complete written statement of
qualifications for the position should be presented, for the reason that
prospective employers often wish to discuss with associates, one’s
record.
INFORMATION TO BE SUPPLIED IN A
WRITTEN “BRIEF”
This brief should be prepared as carefully as a lawyer would prepare the
brief of a case to be tried in court. Unless the applicant is experienced in the
preparation of such briefs, an expert should be consulted, and his services
enlisted for this purpose. Successful merchants employ men and women who
understand the art and the psychology of advertising to present the merits of
their merchandise. One who has personal services for sale should do the
same. The following information should appear in the brief:
1. Education. State briefly, but definitely, what schooling you have had,
and in what subjects you specialized in school, giving the reasons for
that specialization.
2. Experience. If you have had experience in connection with positions
similar to the one you seek, describe it fully, state names and addresses
of former employers. Be sure to bring out clearly any special
experience you may have had which would equip you to fill the position
you seek.
3. References. Practically every business firm desires to know all about
the previous records, antecedents, etc., of prospective employees who
seek positions of responsibility. Attach to your brief photostatic copies
of letters from:
a. Former employers
b. Teachers under whom you studied
c. Prominent people whose judgment may be relied upon.
4. Photograph of self. Attach to your brief a recent, unmounted photograph
of yourself.
5. Apply for a specific position. Avoid application for a position without
describing EXACTLY what particular position you seek. Never apply
for “just a position.” That indicates you lack specialized qualifications.
6. State your qualifications for the particular position for which you
apply. Give full details as to the reason you believe you are qualified
for the particular position you seek. This is THE MOST IMPORTANT
DETAIL OF YOUR APPLICATION. It will determine, more than
anything else, what consideration you receive.
7. Offer to go to work on probation. In the majority of instances if you are
determined to have the position for which you apply, it will be most
effective if you offer to work for a week, or a month, or for a sufficient
length of time to enable your prospective employer to judge your value
WITHOUT PAY. This may appear to be a radical suggestion, but
experience has proved that it seldom fails to win at least a trial. If you
are SURE OF YOUR QUALIFICATIONS, a trial is all you need.
Incidentally, such an offer indicates that you have confidence in your
ability to fill the position you seek. It is most convincing. If your offer is
accepted, and you make good, more than likely you will be paid for
your “probation” period. Make clear the fact that your offer is based
upon:
a. Your confidence in your ability to fill the position.
b. Your confidence in your prospective employer’s decision to
employ you after trial.
c. Your DETERMINATION to have the position you seek.
8. Knowledge of your prospective employer’s business. Before applying
for a position, do sufficient research in connection with the business to
familiarize yourself thoroughly with that business, and indicate in your
brief the knowledge you have acquired in this field. This will be
impressive, as it will indicate that you have imagination, and a real
interest in the position you seek.
Remember that it is not the lawyer who knows the most law, but the one who
best prepares his case, who wins. If your “case” is properly prepared and
presented, your victory will have been more than half won at the outset.
Do not be afraid of making your brief too long. Employers are just as
much interested in purchasing the services of well-qualified applicants as
you are in securing employment. In fact, the success of most successful
employers is due, in the main, to their ability to select well-qualified
lieutenants. They want all the information available.
Remember another thing; neatness in the preparation of your brief will
indicate that you are a painstaking person. I have helped to prepare briefs for
clients which were so striking and out of the ordinary that they resulted in the
employment of the applicant without a personal interview.
When your brief has been completed, have it neatly bound by an
experienced binder, and lettered by an artist, or printer similar to the
following:
Change names each time brief is shown.
This personal touch is sure to command attention. Have your brief neatly
typed or mimeographed on the finest paper you can obtain, and bound with a
heavy paper of the book-cover variety, the binder to be changed, and the
proper firm name to be inserted if it is to be shown to more than one
company. Your photograph should be pasted on one of the pages of your
brief. Follow these instructions to the letter, improving upon them wherever
your imagination suggests.
Successful salesmen groom themselves with care. They understand that
first impressions are lasting. Your brief is your salesman. Give it a good suit
of clothes, so it will stand out in bold contrast to anything your prospective
employer ever saw, in the way of an application for a position. If the position
you seek is worth having, it is worth going after with care. Moreover, if you
sell yourself to an employer in a manner that impresses him with your
individuality, you probably will receive more money for your services from
the very start, than you would if you applied for employment in the usual
conventional way.
If you seek employment through an advertising agency, or an employment
agency, have the agent use copies of your brief in marketing your services.
This will help to gain preference for you, both with the agent, and the
prospective employers.
HOW TO GET THE EXACT POSITION YOU
DESIRE
Everyone enjoys doing the kind of work for which he is best suited. An artist
loves to work with paints, a craftsman with his hands, a writer loves to
write. Those with less definite talents have their preferences for certain
fields of business and industry.
If America does anything well, it offers a full range of occupations,
tilling the soil, manufacturing, marketing, and the professions.
Everyone enjoys doing the kind of work for which he is best
suited.
First. Decide EXACTLY what kind of a job you want. If the job doesn’t
already exist, perhaps you can create it.
Second. Choose the company, or individual for whom you wish to work.
Third. Study your prospective employer, as to policies, personnel, and
chances of advancement.
Fourth. By analysis of yourself, your talents and capabilities, figure WHAT
YOU CAN OFFER, and plan ways and means of giving advantages,
services, developments, ideas that you believe you can successfully deliver.
Fifth. Forget about “a job.” Forget whether or not there is an opening. Forget
the usual routine of “have you got a job for me?” Concentrate on what you
can give.
Sixth. Once you have your plan in mind, arrange with an experienced writer
to put it on paper in neat form, and in full detail.
Seventh. Present it to the proper person with authority and he will do the
rest. Every company is looking for men who can give something of value,
whether it be ideas, services, or “connections.” Every company has room for
the man who has a definite plan of action which is to the advantage of that
company.
This line of procedure may take a few days or weeks of extra time, but the
difference in income, in advancement, and in gaining recognition will save
years of hard work at small pay. It has many advantages, the main one being
that it will often save from one to five years of time in reaching a chosen
goal.
Every person who starts, or “gets in” half way up the ladder, does so by
deliberate and careful planning, (excepting, of course, the Boss’ son).
THE NEW WAY OF MARKETING SERVICES
“JOBS” ARE NOW “PARTNERSHIPS”
Men and women who market their services to best advantage in the future,
must recognize the stupendous change which has taken place in connection
with the relationship between employer and employee.
In the future, the “Golden Rule,” and not the “Rule of Gold” will be the
dominating factor in the marketing of merchandise as well as personal
services. The future relationship between employers and their employees
will be more in the nature of a partnership consisting of:
a. The employer
b. The employee
c. The public they serve
This new way of marketing personal services is called new for many
reasons, first, both the employer and the employee of the future will be
considered as fellow-employees whose business it will be to SERVE THE
PUBLIC EFFICIENTLY. In times past, employers, and employees have
bartered among themselves, driving the best bargains they could with one
another, not considering that in the final analysis they were, in reality,
BARGAINING AT THE EXPENSE OF THE THIRD PARTY, THE PUBLIC
THEY SERVED.
The depression served as a mighty protest from an injured public, whose
rights had been trampled upon in every direction by those who were
clamoring for individual advantages and profits. When the debris of the
depression shall have been cleared away, and business shall have been once
again restored to balance, both employers and employees will recognize that
they are NO LONGER PRIVILEGED TO DRIVE BARGAINS AT THE
EXPENSE OF THOSE WHOM THEY SERVE. The real employer of the
future will be the public. This should be kept uppermost in mind by every
person seeking to market personal services effectively.
Nearly every railroad in America is in financial difficulty. Who does not
remember the day when, if a citizen enquired at the ticket office, the time of
departure of a train, he was abruptly referred to the bulletin board instead of
being politely given the information?
The street car companies have experienced a “change of times” also.
There was a time not so very long ago when street car conductors took pride
in giving argument to passengers. Many of the street car tracks have been
removed and passengers ride on a bus, whose driver is “the last word in
politeness.”
All over the country street car tracks are rusting from abandonment, or
have been taken up. Wherever street cars are still in operation, passengers
may now ride without argument, and one may even hail the car in the middle
of the block, and the motorman will OBLIGINGLY pick him up.
HOW TIMES HAVE CHANGED! That is just the point I am trying to
emphasize. TIMES HAVE CHANGED! Moreover, the change is reflected not
merely in railroad offices and on street cars, but in other walks of life as
well. The “public-be-damned” policy is now passé. It has been supplanted
by the “we-are-obligingly-at-your-service, sir,” policy.
The bankers have learned a thing or two during this rapid change which
has taken place during the past few years. Impoliteness on the part of a bank
official, or bank employee today is as rare as it was conspicuous a dozen
years ago. In the years past, some bankers (not all of them, of course),
carried an atmosphere of austerity which gave every would-be borrower a
chill when he even thought of approaching his banker for a loan.
The thousands of bank failures during the depression had the effect of
removing the mahogany doors behind which bankers formerly barricaded
themselves. They now sit at desks in the open, where they may be seen and
approached at will by any depositor, or by anyone who wishes to see them,
and the whole atmosphere of the bank is one of courtesy and understanding.
It used to be customary for customers to have to stand and wait at the
corner grocery until the clerks were through passing the time of day with
friends, and the proprietor had finished making up his bank deposit, before
being waited upon. Chain stores, managed by COURTEOUS MEN who do
everything in the way of service, short of shining the customer’s shoes, have
PUSHED THE OLD-TIME MERCHANTS INTO THE BACKGROUND.
TIME MARCHES ON!
“Courtesy” and “Service” are the watch-words of merchandising today,
and apply to the person who is marketing personal services even more
directly than to the employer whom he serves, because, in the final analysis,
both the employer and his employee are EMPLOYED BY THE PUBLIC
THEY SERVE. If they fail to serve well, they pay by the loss of their
privilege of serving.
We can all remember the time when the gas-meter reader pounded on the
door hard enough to break the panels. When the door was opened, he pushed
his way in, uninvited, with a scowl on his face which plainly said, “Whatthe-hell-did-you-keep-me-waiting-for?” All that has undergone a change. The
meter-man now conducts himself as a gentleman who is “delighted-to-be-atyour-service-sir.” Before the gas companies learned that their scowling
meter-men were accumulating liabilities never to be cleared away, the polite
salesmen of oil burners came along and did a land office business.
During the depression, I spent several months in the anthracite coal
region of Pennsylvania, studying conditions which all but destroyed the coal
industry. Among several very significant discoveries, was the fact that greed
on the part of operators and their employees was the chief cause of the loss
of business for the operators, and loss of jobs for the miners.
Through the pressure of a group of overzealous labor leaders,
representing the employees, and the greed for profits on the part of the
operators, the anthracite business suddenly dwindled. The coal operators and
their employees drove sharp bargains with one another, adding the cost of the
“bargaining” to the price of the coal, until, finally, they discovered they had
BUILT UP A WONDERFUL BUSINESS FOR THE MANUFACTURERS
OF OIL BURNING OUTFITS AND THE PRODUCERS OF CRUDE OIL.
“The wages of sin is death!” Many have read this in the Bible, but few
have discovered its meaning. Now, and for several years, the entire world
has been listening BY FORCE, to a sermon which might well be called
“WHATSOEVER A MAN SOWETH, THAT SHALL HE ALSO REAP.”
Nothing as widespread and effective as the depression could possibly
be “just a coincidence.” Behind the depression was a CAUSE. Nothing ever
happens without a CAUSE. In the main, the cause of the depression is
traceable directly to the worldwide habit of trying to REAP without
SOWING.
This should not be mistaken to mean that the depression represents a
crop which the world is being FORCED to reap without having SOWN. The
trouble is that the world sowed the wrong sort of seed. Any farmer knows he
cannot sow the seed of thistles, and reap a harvest of grain. Beginning at the
outbreak of the world war, the people of the world began to sow the seed of
service inadequate in both quality and quantity. Nearly everyone was
engaged in the pastime of trying to GET WITHOUT GIVING.
These illustrations are brought to the attention of those who have
personal services to market, to show that we are where we are, and what we
are, because of our own conduct! If there is a principle of cause and effect,
which controls business, finance, and transportation, this same principle
controls individuals and determines their economic status.
WHAT IS YOUR “QQS” RATING?
The causes of success in marketing services EFFECTIVELY and
permanently, have been clearly described. Unless those causes are studied,
analyzed, understood and APPLIED, no man can market his services
effectively and permanently. Every person must be his own salesman of
personal services. The QUALITY and the QUANTITY of service rendered,
and the SPIRIT in which it is rendered, determine to a large extent, the price,
and the duration of employment. To market Personal services effectively,
(which means a permanent market, at a satisfactory price, under pleasant
conditions), one must adopt and follow the “QQS” formula which means that
QUALITY, plus QUANTITY, plus the proper SPIRIT of cooperation, equals
perfect salesmanship of service. Remember the “QQS” formula, but do more
—APPLY IT AS A HABIT!
Let us analyze the formula to make sure we understand exactly what it
means.
1. QUALITY of service shall be construed to mean the performance of
every detail, in connection with your position, in the most efficient
manner possible, with the object of greater efficiency always in mind.
2. QUANTITY of service shall be understood to mean the HABIT of
rendering all the service of which you are capable, at all times, with the
purpose of increasing the amount of service rendered as greater skill is
developed through practice and experience. Emphasis is again placed
on the word HABIT.
3. SPIRIT of service shall be construed to mean the HABIT of agreeable,
harmonious conduct which will induce cooperation from associates and
fellow employees.
Adequacy of QUALITY and QUANTITY of service is not sufficient to
maintain a permanent market for your services. The conduct, or the SPIRIT in
which you deliver service, is a strong determining factor in connection with
both the price you receive, and the duration of employment.
Andrew Carnegie stressed this point more than others in connection with
his description of the factors which lead to success in the marketing of
personal services. He emphasized again, and again, the necessity for
HARMONIOUS CONDUCT. He stressed the fact that he would not retain
any man, no matter how great a QUANTITY, or how efficient the QUALITY
of his work, unless he worked in a spirit of HARMONY. Mr. Carnegie
insisted upon men being AGREEABLE. To prove that he placed a high value
upon this quality, he permitted many men who conformed to his standards to
become very wealthy. Those who did not conform, had to make room for
others.
The importance of a pleasing personality has been stressed, because it is
a factor which enables one to render service in the proper SPIRIT. If one has
a personality which PLEASES, and renders service in a spirit of
HARMONY, these assets often make up for deficiencies in both the
QUALITY, and the QUANTITY of service one renders. Nothing, however,
can be SUCCESSFULLY SUBSTITUTED FOR PLEASING CONDUCT.
THE CAPITAL VALUE OF YOUR SERVICES
The person whose income is derived entirely from the sale of personal
services is no less a merchant than the man who sells commodities, and it
might well be added, such a person is subject to EXACTLY THE SAME
RULES of conduct as the merchant who sells merchandise.
The person whose income is derived entirely from the sale of
personal services is no less a merchant than the man who sells
commodities.
This has been emphasized, because the majority of people who live by
the sale of personal services make the mistake of considering themselves free
from the rules of conduct, and the responsibilities attached to those who are
engaged in marketing commodities.
The new way of marketing services has practically forced both
employer and employee into partnership alliances, through which both take
into consideration the rights of the third party, THE PUBLIC THEY SERVE.
The day of the “go-getter” has passed. He has been supplanted by the
“go-giver.” High-pressure methods in business finally blew the lid off. There
will never be the need to put the lid back on, because, in the future, business
will be conducted by methods that will require no pressure.
The actual capital value of your brains may be determined by the amount
of income you can produce (by marketing your services). A fair estimate of
the capital value of your services may be made by multiplying your annual
income by sixteen and two-thirds, as it is reasonable to estimate that your
annual income represents six percent of your capital value. Money rents for
6% per annum. Money is worth no more than brains. It is often worth much
less.
Competent “brains,” if effectively marketed, represent a much more
desirable form of capital than that which is required to conduct a business
dealing in commodities, because “brains” are a form of capital which cannot
be permanently depreciated through depressions, nor can this form of capital
be stolen or spent. Moreover, the money which is essential for the conduct of
business is as worthless as a sand dune, until it has been mixed with efficient
“brains.”
THE THIRTY MAJOR CAUSES OF FAILURE
HOW MANY OF THESE ARE HOLDING YOU BACK?
Life’s greatest tragedy consists of men and women who earnestly try, and
fail! The tragedy lies in the overwhelmingly large majority of people who
fail, as compared to the few who succeed.
I have had the privilege of analyzing several thousand men and women,
98% of whom were classed as “failures.” There is something radically
wrong with a civilization, and a system of education, which permit 98% of
the people to go through life as failures. But I did not write this book for the
purpose of moralizing on the rights and wrongs of the world; that would
require a book a hundred times the size of this one.
My analysis work proved that there are thirty major reasons for failure,
and thirteen major principles through which people accumulate fortunes. In
this chapter, a description of the thirty major causes of failure will be given.
As you go over the list, check yourself by it, point by point, for the purpose
of discovering how many of these causes-of-failure stand between you and
success.
1. UNFAVORABLE HEREDITARY BACKGROUND. There is but little,
if anything, which can be done for people who are born with a
deficiency in brain power. This philosophy offers but one method of
bridging this weakness—through the aid of the Master Mind. Observe
with profit, however, that this is the ONLY one of the thirty causes of
failure which may not be easily corrected by any individual.
2. LACK OF A WELL-DEFINED PURPOSE IN LIFE. There is no hope
of success for the person who does not have a central purpose, or
definite goal at which to aim. Ninety-eight out of every hundred of those
whom I have analyzed, had no such aim. Perhaps this was the MAJOR
CAUSE OF THEIR FAILURE.
3. LACK OF AMBITION TO AIM ABOVE MEDIOCRITY. We offer no
hope for the person who is so indifferent as not to want to get ahead in
life, and who is not willing to pay the price.
4. INSUFFICIENT EDUCATION. This is a handicap which may be
overcome with comparative ease. Experience has proven that the besteducated people are often those who are known as “self-made,” or selfeducated. It takes more than a college degree to make one a person of
education. Any person who is educated is one who has learned to get
whatever he wants in life without violating the rights of others.
Education consists, not so much of knowledge, but of knowledge
effectively and persistently APPLIED. Men are paid, not merely for
what they know, but more particularly for WHAT THEY DO WITH
THAT WHICH THEY KNOW.
5. LACK OF SELF-DISCIPLINE. Discipline comes through self-control.
This means that one must control all negative qualities. Before you can
control conditions, you must first control yourself. Self-mastery is the
hardest job you will ever tackle. If you do not conquer self, you will be
conquered by self. You may see at one and the same time both your best
friend and your greatest enemy, by stepping in front of a mirror.
6. ILL HEALTH. No person may enjoy outstanding success without good
health. Many of the causes of ill health are subject to mastery and
control. These, in the main are:
a. Overeating of foods not conducive to health
b. Wrong habits of thought; giving expression to negatives.
c. Wrong use of, and over indulgence in sex.
d. Lack of proper physical exercise
e. An inadequate supply of fresh air, due to improper breathing.
7. UNFAVORABLE ENVIRONMENTAL INFLUENCES DURING
CHILDHOOD. “As the twig is bent, so shall the tree grow.” Most
people who have criminal tendencies acquire them as the result of bad
environment, and improper associates during childhood.
8. PROCRASTINATION. This is one of the most common causes of
failure. “Old Man Procrastination” stands within the shadow of every
human being, waiting his opportunity to spoil one’s chances of success.
Most of us go through life as failures, because we are waiting for the
“time to be right” to start doing something worthwhile. Do not wait. The
time will never be “just right.” Start where you stand, and work with
whatever tools you may have at your command, and better tools will be
found as you go along.
9. LACK OF PERSISTENCE. Most of us are good “starters” but poor
“finishers” of everything we begin. Moreover, people are prone to give
up at the first signs of defeat. There is no substitute for PERSISTENCE.
The person who makes PERSISTENCE his watch-word, discovers that
“Old Man Failure” finally becomes tired, and makes his departure.
Failure cannot cope with PERSISTENCE.
10. NEGATIVE PERSONALITY. There is no hope of success for the
person who repels people through a negative personality. Success
comes through the application of POWER, and power is attained
through the cooperative efforts of other people. A negative personality
will not induce cooperation.
11. LACK OF CONTROLLED SEXUAL URGE. Sex energy is the most
powerful of all the stimuli which move people into ACTION. Because
it is the most powerful of the emotions, it must be controlled, through
transmutation, and converted into other channels.
12. UNCONTROLLED DESIRE FOR “SOMETHING FOR NOTHING.”
The gambling instinct drives millions of people to failure. Evidence of
this may be found in a study of the Wall Street crash of ’29, during
which millions of people tried to make money by gambling on stock
margins.
13. LACK OF A WELL DEFINED POWER OF DECISION. Men who
succeed reach decisions promptly, and change them, if at all, very
slowly. Men who fail, reach decisions, if at all, very slowly, and change
them frequently, and quickly. Indecision and procrastination are twin
brothers. Where one is found, the other may usually be found also. Kill
off this pair before they completely “hog-tie” you to the treadmill of
FAILURE.
14. ONE OR MORE OF THE SIX BASIC FEARS. These fears have been
analyzed for you in a later chapter. They must be mastered before you
can market your services effectively.
15. WRONG SELECTION OF A MATE IN MARRIAGE. This is a most
common cause of failure. The relationship of marriage brings people
intimately into contact. Unless this relationship is harmonious, failure is
likely to follow. Moreover, it will be a form of failure that is marked by
misery and unhappiness, destroying all signs of AMBITION.
16. OVER-CAUTION. The person who takes no chances, generally has to
take whatever is left when others are through choosing. Over-caution is
as bad as under-caution. Both are extremes to be guarded against. Life
itself is filled with the element of chance.
17. WRONG SELECTION OF ASSOCIATES IN BUSINESS. This is one
of the most common causes of failure in business. In marketing personal
services, one should use great care to select an employer who will be
an inspiration, and who is, himself, intelligent and successful. We
emulate those with whom we associate most closely. Pick an employer
who is worth emulating.
18. SUPERSTITION AND PREJUDICE. Superstition is a form of fear. It is
also a sign of ignorance. Men who succeed keep open minds and are
afraid of nothing.
19. WRONG SELECTION OF A VOCATION. No man can succeed in a
line of endeavor which he does not like. The most essential step in the
marketing of personal services is that of selecting an occupation into
which you can throw yourself wholeheartedly.
20. LACK OF CONCENTRATION OF EFFORT. The “jack-of-all-trades”
seldom is good at any. Concentrate all of your efforts on one DEFINITE
CHIEF AIM.
21. THE HABIT OF INDISCRIMINATE SPENDING. The spend-thrift
cannot succeed, mainly because he stands eternally in FEAR OF
POVERTY. Form the habit of systematic saving by putting aside a
definite percentage of your income. Money in the bank gives one a very
safe foundation of COURAGE when bargaining for the sale of personal
services. Without money, one must take what one is offered, and be glad
to get it.
22. LACK OF ENTHUSIASM. Without enthusiasm one cannot be
convincing. Moreover, enthusiasm is contagious, and the person who
has it, under control, is generally welcome in any group of people.
23. INTOLERANCE. The person with a “closed” mind on any subject
seldom gets ahead. Intolerance means that one has stopped acquiring
knowledge. The most damaging forms of intolerance are those
connected with religious, racial, and political differences of opinion.
24. INTEMPERANCE. The most damaging forms of intemperance are
connected with eating, strong drink, and sexual activities.
Overindulgence in any of these is fatal to success.
25. INABILITY TO COOPERATE WITH OTHERS. More people lose
their positions and their big opportunities in life, because of this fault,
than for all other reasons combined. It is a fault which no well-informed
business man, or leader will tolerate.
26. POSSESSION OF POWER THAT WAS NOT ACQUIRED THROUGH
SELF EFFORT. (Sons and daughters of wealthy men, and others who
inherit money which they did not earn). Power in the hands of one who
did not acquire it gradually, is often fatal to success. QUICK RICHES
are more dangerous than poverty.
27. INTENTIONAL DISHONESTY. There is no substitute for honesty. One
may be temporarily dishonest by force of circumstances over which one
has no control, without permanent damage. But, there is NO HOPE for
the person who is dishonest by choice. Sooner or later, his deeds will
catch up with him, and he will pay by loss of reputation, and perhaps
even loss of liberty.
28. EGOTISM AND VANITY. These qualities serve as red lights which
warn others to keep away. THEY ARE FATAL TO SUCCESS.
29. GUESSING INSTEAD OF THINKING. Most people are too indifferent
or lazy to acquire FACTS with which to THINK ACCURATELY. They
prefer to act on “opinions” created by guesswork or snap-judgments.
30. LACK OF CAPITAL. This is a common cause of failure among those
who start out in business for the first time, without sufficient reserve of
capital to absorb the shock of their mistakes, and to carry them over
until they have established a REPUTATION.
31. Under this, name any particular cause of failure from which you have
suffered that has not been included in the foregoing list.
In these thirty major causes of failure is found a description of the
tragedy of life, which obtains for practically every person who tries and
fails. It will be helpful if you can induce someone who knows you well to go
over this list with you, and help to analyze you by the thirty causes of failure.
It may be beneficial if you try this alone. Most people cannot see themselves
as others see them. You may be one who cannot.
The oldest of admonitions is “Man, know thyself!” If you market
merchandise successfully, you must know the merchandise. The same is true
in marketing personal services. You should know all of your weaknesses in
order that you may either bridge them or eliminate them entirely. You should
know your strength in order that you may call attention to it when selling your
services. You can know yourself only through accurate analysis.
The folly of ignorance in connection with self was displayed by a young
man who applied to the manager of a well known business for a position. He
made a very good impression until the manager asked him what salary he
expected. He replied that he had no fixed sum in mind (lack of a definite
aim). The manager then said, “We will pay you all you are worth, after we
try you out for a week.”
“I will not accept it,” the applicant replied, “because I AM GETTING
MORE THAN THAT WHERE I AM NOW EMPLOYED.”
Before you even start to negotiate for a readjustment of your salary in
your present position, or to seek employment elsewhere, BE SURE THAT
YOU ARE WORTH MORE THAN YOU NOW RECEIVE.
It is one thing to WANT money—everyone wants more—but it is
something entirely different to be WORTH MORE! Many people mistake
their WANTS for their JUST DUES. Your financial requirements or wants
have nothing whatever to do with your WORTH. Your value is established
entirely by your ability to render useful service or your capacity to induce
others to render such service.
TAKE INVENTORY OF YOURSELF
28 QUESTIONS YOU SHOULD ANSWER
Annual self-analysis is an essential in the effective marketing of personal
services, as is annual inventory in merchandising. Moreover, the yearly
analysis should disclose a DECREASE IN FAULTS, and an increase in
VIRTUES. One goes ahead, stands still, or goes backward in life. One’s
object should be, of course, to go ahead. Annual self-analysis will disclose
whether advancement has been made, and if so, how much. It will also
disclose any backward steps one may have made. The effective marketing of
personal services requires one to move forward even if the progress is slow.
Your annual self-analysis should be made at the end of each year, so you
can include in your New Year’s Resolutions any improvements which the
analysis indicates should be made. Take this inventory by asking yourself the
following questions, and by checking your answers with the aid of someone
who will not permit you to deceive yourself as to their accuracy.
SELF-ANALYSIS QUESTIONNAIRE FOR
PERSONAL INVENTORY
1. Have I attained the goal which I established as my objective for this
year? (You should work with a definite yearly objective to be attained
as a part of your major life objective).
2. Have I delivered service of the best possible QUALITY of which I was
capable, or could I have improved any part of this service?
3. Have I delivered service in the greatest possible QUANTITY of which
I was capable?
4. Has the spirit of my conduct been harmonious, and cooperative at all
times?
5. Have I permitted the habit of PROCRASTINATION to decrease my
efficiency, and if so, to what extent?
6. Have I improved my PERSONALITY, and if so, in what ways?
7. Have I been PERSISTENT in following my plans through to
completion?
8. Have I reached DECISIONS PROMPTLY AND DEFINITELY on all
occasions?
9. Have I permitted any one or more of the six basic fears to decrease my
efficiency?
10. Have I been either “over-cautious,” or “under-cautious?”
11. Has my relationship with my associates in work been pleasant, or
unpleasant? If it has been unpleasant, has the fault been partly, or wholly
mine?
12. Have I dissipated any of my energy through lack of CONCENTRATION
of effort?
13. Have I been open minded and tolerant in connection with all subjects?
14. In what way have I improved my ability to render service?
15. Have I been intemperate in any of my habits?
16. Have I expressed, either openly or secretly, any form of EGOTISM?
17. Has my conduct toward my associates been such that it has induced
them to RESPECT me?
18. Have my opinions and DECISIONS been based upon guesswork, or
accuracy of analysis and THOUGHT?
19. Have I followed the habit of budgeting my time, my expenses, and my
income, and have I been conservative in these budgets?
20. How much time have I devoted to UNPROFITABLE effort which I
might have used to better advantage?
21. How may I RE-BUDGET my time, and change my habits so I will be
more efficient during the coming year?
22. Have I been guilty of any conduct which was not approved by my
conscience?
23. In what ways have I rendered MORE SERVICE AND BETTER
SERVICE than I was paid to render?
24. Have I been unfair to anyone, and if so, in what way?
25. If I had been the purchaser of my own services for the year, would I be
satisfied with my purchase?
26. Am I in the right vocation, and if not, why not?
27. Has the purchaser of my services been satisfied with the service I have
rendered, and if not, why not?
28. What is my present rating on the fundamental principles of success?
(Make this rating fairly, and frankly, and have it checked by someone
who is courageous enough to do it accurately).
Having read and assimilated the information conveyed through this chapter,
you are now ready to create a practical plan for marketing your personal
services. In this chapter will be found an adequate description of every
principle essential in planning the sale of personal services, including the
major attributes of leadership; the most common causes of failure in
leadership; a description of the fields of opportunity for leadership; the main
causes of failure in all walks of life, and the important questions which
should be used in self-analysis. This extensive and detailed presentation of
accurate information has been included, because it will be needed by all who
must begin the accumulation of riches by marketing personal services. Those
who have lost their fortunes, and those who are just beginning to earn money,
have nothing but personal services to offer in return for riches, therefore it is
essential that they have available the practical information needed to market
services to best advantage.
The information contained in this chapter will be of great value to all
who aspire to attain leadership in any calling. It will be particularly helpful
to those aiming to market their services as business or industrial executives.
Complete assimilation and understanding of the information here
conveyed will be helpful in marketing one’s own services, and it will also
help one to become more analytical and capable of judging people. The
information will be priceless to personnel directors, employment managers,
and other executives charged with the selection of employees, and the
maintenance of efficient organizations. If you doubt this statement, test its
soundness by answering in writing the twenty-eight self-analysis questions.
That might be both interesting and profitable, even though you do not doubt
the soundness of the statement.
WHERE AND HOW ONE MAY FIND
OPPORTUNITIES TO ACCUMULATE RICHES
Now that we have analyzed the principles by which riches may be
accumulated, we naturally ask, “where may one find favorable opportunities
to apply these principles?” Very well, let us take inventory and see what the
United States of America offer the person seeking riches, great or small.
To begin with, let us remember, all of us, that we live in a country where
every law-abiding citizen enjoys freedom of thought and freedom of deed
unequaled anywhere in the world. Most of us have never taken inventory of
the advantages of this freedom. We have never compared our unlimited
freedom with the curtailed freedom in other countries.
Here we have freedom of thought, freedom in the choice and enjoyment
of education, freedom in religion, freedom in politics, freedom in the choice
of a business, profession or occupation, freedom to accumulate and own
without molestation, ALL THE PROPERTY WE CAN ACCUMULATE,
freedom to choose our place of residence, freedom in marriage, freedom
through equal opportunity to all races, freedom of travel from one state to
another, freedom in our choice of foods, and freedom to AIM FOR ANY
STATION IN LIFE FOR WHICH WE HAVE PREPARED OURSELVES, even
for the presidency of the United States.
We have other forms of freedom, but this list will give a bird’s eye view
of the most important, which constitute OPPORTUNITY of the highest order.
This advantage of freedom is all the more conspicuous because the United
States is the only country guaranteeing to every citizen, whether native born
or naturalized, so broad and varied a list of freedom.
Next, let us recount some of the blessings which our widespread
freedom has placed within our hands. Take the average American family for
example (meaning, the family of average income) and sum up the benefits
available to every member of the family, in this land of OPPORTUNITY and
plenty!
a. FOOD. Next to freedom of thought and deed comes FOOD, CLOTHING,
and SHELTER, the three basic necessities of life.
Because of our universal freedom the average American family has
available, at its very door, the choicest selection of food to be found
anywhere in the world, and at prices within its financial range.
A family of two, living in the heart of Times Square district of New
York City, far removed from the source of production of foods, took
careful inventory of the cost of a simple breakfast, with this astonishing
result:
Articles of food;
Grape Fruit Juice (From Florida)
Rippled Wheat Breakfast food (Kansas Farm)
Tea (From China)
Bananas (From South America)
Toasted Bread (From Kansas Farm)
Fresh Country Eggs (From Utah)
Sugar (From Cuba, or Utah)
Butter and Cream (From New England)
Grand total
Cost at the breakfast table:
.02
.02
.02
.02½
.01
.07
.00½
.03
.20
It is not very difficult to obtain FOOD in a country where two people can
have breakfast consisting of all they want or need for a dime apiece! Observe
that this simple breakfast was gathered, by some strange form of magic (?)
from China, South America, Utah, Kansas and the New England States, and
delivered on the breakfast table, ready for consumption, in the very heart of
the most crowded city in America, at a cost well within the means of the
most humble laborer.
The cost included all federal, state and city taxes! (Here is a fact the
politicians did not mention when they were crying out to the voters to throw
their opponents out of office because the people were being taxed to death).
b. SHELTER. This family lives in a comfortable apartment, heated by
steam, lighted with electricity, with gas for cooking, all for $65.00 a
month. In a smaller city, or a more sparsely settled part of New York
city, the same apartment could be had for as low as $20.00 a month.
The toast they had for breakfast in the food estimate was toasted on
an electric toaster, which cost but a few dollars, the apartment is cleaned
with a vacuum sweeper that is run by electricity. Hot and cold water is
available, at all times, in the kitchen and the bathroom. The food is kept
cool in a refrigerator that is run by electricity. The wife curls her hair,
washes her clothes and irons them with easily operated electrical
equipment, on power obtained by sticking a plug in the wall. The
husband shaves with an electric shaver, and they receive entertainment
from all over the world, twenty four hours a day, if they want it, without
cost, by merely turning the dial of their radio.
There are other conveniences in this apartment, but the foregoing list
will give a fair idea of some of the concrete evidences of the freedom
we, of America, enjoy. (And this is neither political nor economic
propaganda).
c. CLOTHING. Anywhere in the United States, the woman of average
clothing requirements can dress very comfortably and neatly for less
than $200.00 a year, and the average man can dress for the same, or less.
Only the three basic necessities of food, clothing, and shelter have been
mentioned. The average American citizen has other privileges and
advantages available in return for modest effort, not exceeding eight hours
per day of labor. Among these is the privilege of automobile transportation,
with which one can go and come at will, at very small cost.
The average American has security of property rights not found in any
other country in the world. He can place his surplus money in a bank with the
assurance that his government will protect it, and make good to him if the
bank fails. If an American citizen wants to travel from one state to another he
needs no passport, no one’s permission. He may go when he pleases, and
return at will. Moreover, he may travel by train, private automobile, bus,
airplane, or ship, as his pocketbook permits. In Germany, Russia, Italy, and
most of the other European and Oriental countries, the people cannot travel
with so much freedom, and at so little cost.
THE “MIRACLE” THAT HAS PROVIDED THESE
BLESSINGS
We often hear politicians proclaiming the freedom of America, when they
solicit votes, but seldom do they take the time or devote sufficient effort to
the analysis of the source or nature of this “freedom.” Having no axe to grind,
no grudge to express, no ulterior motives to be carried out, I have the
privilege of going into a frank analysis of that mysterious, abstract, greatly
misunderstood “SOMETHING” which gives to every citizen of America
more blessings, more opportunities to accumulate wealth, more freedom of
every nature, than may be found in any other country.
I have the right to analyze the source and nature of this UNSEEN
POWER, because I know, and have known for more than a quarter of a
century, many of the men who organized that power, and many who are now
responsible for its maintenance.
The name of this mysterious benefactor of mankind is CAPITAL!
CAPITAL consists not alone of money, but more particularly of highly
organized, intelligent groups of men who plan ways and means of using
money efficiently for the good of the public, and profitably to themselves.
These groups consist of scientists, educators, chemists, inventors,
business analysts, publicity men, transportation experts, accountants,
lawyers, doctors, and both men and women who have highly specialized
knowledge in all fields of industry and business. They pioneer, experiment,
and blaze trails in new fields of endeavor. They support colleges, hospitals,
public schools, build good roads, publish newspapers, pay most of the cost
of government, and take care of the multitudinous detail essential to human
progress. Stated briefly, the capitalists are the brains of civilization, because
they supply the entire fabric of which all education, enlightenment and human
progress consists.
Money, without brains, always is dangerous. Properly used, it is the
most important essential of civilization. The simple breakfast here described
could not have been delivered to the New York family at a dime each, or at
any other price, if organized capital had not provided the machinery, the
ships, the railroads, and the huge armies of trained men to operate them.
Some slight idea of the importance of ORGANIZED CAPITAL may be
had by trying to imagine yourself burdened with the responsibility of
collecting, without the aid of capital, and delivering to the New York City
family, the simple breakfast described.
To supply the tea, you would have to make a trip to China or India, both
a very long way from America. Unless you are an excellent swimmer, you
would become rather tired before making the round trip. Then, too, another
problem would confront you. What would you use for money, even if you had
the physical endurance to swim the ocean?
To supply the sugar, you would have to take another long swim to Cuba,
or a long walk to the sugar beet section of Utah. But even then, you might
come back without the sugar, because organized effort and money are
necessary to produce sugar, to say nothing of what is required to refine,
transport, and deliver it to the breakfast table anywhere in the United States.
The eggs, you could deliver easily enough from the barn yards near New
York City, but you would have a very long walk to Florida and return, before
you could serve the two glasses of grapefruit juice.
You would have another long walk, to Kansas, or one of the other wheat
growing states, when you went after the four slices of wheat bread.
The Rippled Wheat Biscuits would have to be omitted from the menu,
because they would not be available except through the labor of a trained
organization of men and suitable machinery, ALL OF WHICH CALL FOR
CAPITAL.
While resting, you could take off for another little swim down to South
America, where you would pick up a couple of bananas, and on your return,
you could take a short walk to the nearest farm having a dairy and pick up
some butter and cream. Then your New York City family would be ready to
sit down and enjoy breakfast, and you could collect your two dimes for your
labor!
Seems absurd, doesn’t it? Well, the procedure described would be the
only possible way these simple items of food could be delivered to the heart
of New York City, if we had no capitalistic system.
The sum of money required for the building and maintenance of the
railroads and steam ships used in the delivery of that simple breakfast is so
huge that it staggers one’s imagination. It runs into hundreds of millions of
dollars, not to mention the armies of trained employees required to man the
ships and trains. But, transportation is only a part of the requirements of
modern civilization in capitalistic America. Before there can be anything to
haul, something must be grown from the ground, or manufactured and
prepared for market. This calls for more millions of dollars for equipment,
machinery, boxing, marketing, and for the wages of millions of men and
women.
Steam ships and railroads do not spring up from the earth and function
automatically. They come in response to the call of civilization, through the
labor and ingenuity and organizing ability of men who have IMAGINATION,
FAITH, ENTHUSIASM, DECISION, PERSISTENCE! These men are known
as capitalists. They are motivated by the desire to build, construct, achieve,
render useful service, earn profits and accumulate riches. And, because they
RENDER SERVICE WITHOUT WHICH THERE WOULD BE NO
CIVILIZATION, they put themselves in the way of great riches.
Just to keep the record simple and understandable, I will add that these
capitalists are the selfsame men of whom most of us have heard soap-box
orators speak. They are the same men to whom radicals, racketeers,
dishonest politicians and grafting labor leaders refer as “the predatory
interests,” or “Wall Street.”
I am not attempting to present a brief for or against any group of men or
any system of economics. I am not attempting to condemn collective
bargaining when I refer to “grafting labor leaders,” nor do I aim to give a
clean bill of health to all individuals known as capitalists.
The purpose of this book—A purpose to which I have faithfully devoted
over a quarter of a century—is to present to all who want the knowledge,
the most dependable philosophy through which individuals may accumulate
riches in whatever amounts they desire.
I have here analyzed the economic advantages of the capitalistic system
for the two-fold purpose of showing:
1. that all who seek riches must recognize and adapt themselves to the
system that controls all approaches to fortunes, large or small, and
2. to present the side of the picture opposite to that being shown by
politicians and demagogues who deliberately becloud the issues they
bring up, by referring to organized capital as if it were something
poisonous.
This is a capitalistic country, it was developed through the use of capital, and
we who claim the right to partake of the blessings of freedom and
opportunity, we who seek to accumulate riches here, may as well know that
neither riches nor opportunity would be available to us if ORGANIZED
CAPITAL had not provided these benefits.
For more than twenty years it has been a somewhat popular and growing
pastime for radicals, self-seeking politicians, racketeers, crooked labor
leaders, and on occasion religious leaders, to take pot-shots at “WALL
STREET, THE MONEY CHANGERS, and BIG BUSINESS.”
The practice became so general that we witnessed during the business
depression, the unbelievable sight of high government officials lining up with
the cheap politicians, and labor leaders, with the openly avowed purpose of
throttling the system which has made Industrial America the richest country
on earth. The line-up was so general and so well organized that it prolonged
the worst depression America has ever known. It cost millions of men their
jobs, because those jobs were inseparably a part of the industrial and
capitalistic system which form the very backbone of the nation.
During this unusual alliance of government officials and self-seeking
individuals who were endeavoring to profit by declaring “open season” on
the American system of industry, a certain type of labor leader joined forces
with the politicians and offered to deliver voters in return for legislation
designed to permit men to TAKE RICHES AWAY FROM INDUSTRY BY
ORGANIZED FORCE OF NUMBERS, INSTEAD OF THE BETTER
METHOD OF GIVING A FAIR DAY’S WORK FOR A FAIR DAY’S PAY.
Millions of men and women throughout the nation are still engaged in
this popular pastime of trying to GET without GIVING. Some of them are
lined up with labor unions, where they demand SHORTER HOURS AND
MORE PAY! Others do not take the trouble to work at all. THEY DEMAND
GOVERNMENT RELIEF AND ARE GETTING IT. Their idea of their rights
of freedom was demonstrated in New York City, where violent complaint
was registered with the Postmaster, by a group of “relief beneficiaries,”
because the Postmen awakened them at 7:30 A.M. to deliver Government
relief checks. They DEMANDED that the time of delivery be set up to 10
o’clock.
If you are one of those who believe that riches can be accumulated by
the mere act of men who organize themselves into groups and demand MORE
PAY for LESS SERVICE, if you are one of those who DEMAND
Government relief without early morning disturbance when the money is
delivered to you, if you are one of those who believe in trading their votes to
politicians in return for the passing of laws which permit the raiding of the
public treasury, you may rest securely on your belief, with certain knowledge
that no one will disturb you, because THIS IS A FREE COUNTRY WHERE
EVERY MAN MAY THINK AS HE PLEASES, where nearly everybody can
live with but little effort, where many may live well without doing any work
whatsoever.
However, you should know the full truth concerning this FREEDOM of
which so many people boast, and so few understand. As great as it is, as far
as it reaches, as many privileges as it provides, IT DOES NOT, AND
CANNOT BRING RICHES WITHOUT EFFORT.
There is but one dependable method of accumulating, and legally
holding riches, and that is by rendering useful service. No system has ever
been created by which men can legally acquire riches through mere force of
numbers, or without giving in return an equivalent value of one form or
another.
There is a principle known as the law of ECONOMICS! This is more
than a theory. It is a law no man can beat.
Mark well the name of the principle, and remember it, because it is far
more powerful than all the politicians and political machines. It is above and
beyond the control of all the labor unions. It cannot be swayed, nor
influenced nor bribed by racketeers or self-appointed leaders in any calling.
Moreover, IT HAS AN ALL-SEEING EYE, AND A PERFECT SYSTEM
OF BOOKKEEPING, in which it keeps an accurate account of the
transactions of every human being engaged in the business of trying to get
without giving. Sooner or later its auditors come around, look over the
records of individuals both great and small, and demand an accounting.
“Wall Street, Big Business, Capital Predatory Interests,” or whatever
name you choose to give the system which has given us AMERICAN
FREEDOM, represents a group of men who understand, respect, and adapt
themselves to this powerful LAW OF ECONOMICS! Their financial
continuation depends upon their respecting the law.
Most people living in America like this country, its capitalistic system
and all. I must confess I know of no better country, where one may find
greater opportunities to accumulate riches. Judging by their acts and deeds,
there are some in this country who do not like it. That, of course is their
privilege; if they do not like this country, its capitalistic system, its boundless
opportunities, THEY HAVE THE PRIVILEGE OF CLEARING OUT! Always
there are other countries, such as Germany, Russia, and Italy, where one may
try one’s hand at enjoying freedom, and accumulating riches providing one is
not too particular.
America provides all the freedom and all the opportunity to accumulate
riches that any honest person may require. When one goes hunting for game,
one selects hunting grounds where game is plentiful. When seeking riches, the
same rule would naturally obtain.
If it is riches you are seeking, do not overlook the possibilities of a
country whose citizens are so rich that women, alone, spend over two
hundred million dollars annually for lip-sticks, rouge and cosmetics. Think
twice, you who are seeking riches, before trying to destroy the Capitalistic
System of a country whose citizens spend over fifty million dollars a year for
GREETING CARDS, with which to express their appreciation of their
FREEDOM!
If it is money you are seeking, consider carefully a country that spends
hundreds of millions of dollars annually for cigarettes, the bulk of the income
from which goes to only four major companies engaged in supplying this
national builder of “nonchalance” and “quiet nerves.”
By all means give plenty of consideration to a country whose people
spend annually more than fifteen million dollars for the privilege of seeing
moving pictures, and toss in a few additional millions for liquor, narcotics,
and other less potent soft drinks and giggle-waters.
Do not be in too big a hurry to get away from a country whose people
willingly, even eagerly, hand over millions of dollars annually for football,
baseball, and prize fights.
And, by all means, STICK by a country whose inhabitants give up more
than a million dollars a year for chewing gum, and another million for safety
razor blades.
Remember, also, that this is but the beginning of the available sources
for the accumulation of wealth. Only a few of the luxuries and non-essentials
have been mentioned. But, remember that the business of producing,
transporting, and marketing these few items of merchandise gives regular
employment to MANY MILLIONS OF MEN AND WOMEN, who receive
for their services MANY MILLIONS OF DOLLARS MONTHLY, and spend
it freely for both the luxuries and the necessities.
Especially remember, that back of all this exchange of merchandise and
personal services may be found an abundance of OPPORTUNITY to
accumulate riches. Here our AMERICAN FREEDOM comes to one’s aid.
There is nothing to stop you, or anyone from engaging in any portion of the
effort necessary to carry on these businesses. If one has superior talent,
training, experience, one may accumulate riches in large amounts. Those not
so fortunate may accumulate smaller amounts. Anyone may earn a living in
return for a very nominal amount of labor.
So—there you are!
OPPORTUNITY has spread its wares before you. Step up to the front,
select what you want, create your plan, put the plan into action, and follow
through with PERSISTENCE. “Capitalistic” America will do the rest. You
can depend upon this much—CAPITALISTIC AMERICA INSURES EVERY
PERSON THE OPPORTUNITY TO RENDER USEFUL SERVICE, AND
TO COLLECT RICHES IN PROPORTION TO THE VALUE OF THE
SERVICE.
The “System” denies no one this right, but it does not, and cannot
promise SOMETHING FOR NOTHING, because the system, itself, is
irrevocably controlled by the LAW OF ECONOMICS which neither
recognizes nor tolerates for long, GETTING WITHOUT GIVING.
The LAW OF ECONOMICS was passed by Nature! There is no
Supreme Court to which violators of this law may appeal. The law hands out
both penalties for its violation, and appropriate rewards for its observance,
without interference or the possibility of interference by any human being.
The law cannot be repealed. It is as fixed as the stars in the heavens, and
subject to, and a part of the same system that controls the stars.
May one refuse to adapt one’s self to the LAW OF ECONOMICS?
Certainly! This is a free country, where all men are born with equal
rights, including the privilege of ignoring the LAW OF ECONOMICS.
What happens then?
Well, nothing happens until large numbers of men join forces for the
avowed purpose of ignoring the law, and taking what they want by force.
THEN COMES THE DICTATOR, WITH WELL ORGANIZED FIRING
SQUADS AND MACHINE GUNS!
We have not yet reached that stage in America! But we have heard all
we want to know about how the system works. Perhaps we shall be fortunate
enough not to demand personal knowledge of so gruesome a reality.
Doubtless we shall prefer to continue with our FREEDOM OF SPEECH,
FREEDOM OF DEED, and FREEDOM TO RENDER USEFUL SERVICE
IN RETURN FOR RICHES.
The practice, by Government officials of extending to men and women
the privilege of raiding the public treasury in return for votes, sometimes
results in election, but as night follows day, the final payoff comes; when
every penny wrongfully used, must be repaid with compound interest on
compound interest. If those who make the grab are not forced to repay, the
burden falls on their children, and their children’s children, “even unto the
third and fourth generations.” There is no way to avoid the debt.
Men can, and sometimes do, form themselves into groups for the purpose
of crowding wages up, and working hours down. There is a point beyond
which they cannot go. It is the point at which the LAW OF ECONOMICS
steps in, and the sheriff gets both the employer and the employees.
For six years, from 1929 to 1935, the people of America, both rich and
poor, barely missed seeing the Old Man Economics hand over to the sheriff
all the businesses, and industries and banks. It was not a pretty sight! It did
not increase our respect for mob psychology through which men cast reason
to the winds and start trying to GET without GIVING.
We who went through those six discouraging years, when FEAR WAS
IN THE SADDLE, AND FAITH WAS ON THE GROUND, cannot forget
how ruthlessly the LAW OF ECONOMICS exacted its toll from both rich and
poor, weak and strong, old and young. We shall not wish to go through
another such experience.
These observations are not founded upon short-time experience. They
are the result of twenty-five years of careful analysis of the methods of both
the most successful and the most unsuccessful men America has known.
Chapter Seven Key Points
1. You must surround yourself only with forward-thinking,
knowledgeable, capable people.
2. To fulfill the first point, form a Master Mind group of like-valued,
mutually supportive peers with whom you meet regularly, as
expanded on in a later chapter. This step is vital.
3. Anyone can be a boss but few can perform as a leader. Study the
pertinent traits in this chapter.
4. Failure is not necessarily a chance occurrence. It often arises from
poor habits and routines, most of which can be remedied. Carefully
consider the thirty causes of failure in this chapter and apply them
to yourself with stark frankness.
5. Likewise take the personal inventory in this chapter—or ask a
trusted colleague to help you apply its questions to yourself.
Chapter 8
Decision
The Mastery Of Procrastination
The Seventh Step to Riches
Accurate analysis of over 25,000 men and women who had experienced
failure, disclosed the fact that LACK OF DECISION was near the head of the
list of the 30 major causes of FAILURE. This is no mere statement of a
theory—it is a fact.
PROCRASTINATION, the opposite of DECISION, is a common enemy
which practically every man must conquer.
You will have an opportunity to test your capacity to reach quick and
definite DECISIONS when you finish reading this book, and are ready to
begin putting into ACTION the principles which it describes.
Analysis of several hundred people who had accumulated fortunes well
beyond the million dollar mark, disclosed the fact that every one of them had
the habit of REACHING DECISIONS PROMPTLY, and of changing these
decisions SLOWLY, if, and when they were changed. People who fail to
accumulate money, without exception, have the habit of reaching decisions,
IF AT ALL, very slowly, and of changing these decisions quickly and often.
One of Henry Ford’s most outstanding qualities is his habit of reaching
decisions quickly and definitely, and changing them slowly. This quality is so
pronounced in Mr. Ford, that it has given him the reputation of being
obstinate. It was this quality which prompted Mr. Ford to continue to
manufacture his famous Model “T” (the world’s ugliest car), when all of his
advisors, and many of the purchasers of the car, were urging him to change it.
Perhaps, Mr. Ford delayed too long in making the change, but the other
side of the story is, that Mr. Ford’s firmness of decision yielded a huge
fortune, before the change in model became necessary. There is but little
doubt that Mr. Ford’s habit of definiteness of decision assumes the
proportion of obstinacy, but this quality is preferable to slowness in reaching
decisions and quickness in changing them.
The majority of people who fail to accumulate money sufficient for their
needs, are, generally, easily influenced by the “opinions” of others. They
permit the newspapers and the “gossiping” neighbors to do their “thinking”
for them. “Opinions” are the cheapest commodities on earth. Everyone has a
flock of opinions ready to be wished upon anyone who will accept them. If
you are influenced by “opinions” when you reach DECISIONS, you will not
succeed in any undertaking, much less in that of transmuting YOUR OWN
DESIRE into money.
Everyone has a flock of opinions ready to be wished upon
anyone who will accept them.
If you are influenced by the opinions of others, you will have no
DESIRE of your own.
Keep your own counsel, when you begin to put into practice the
principles described here, by reaching your own decisions and following
them. Take no one into your confidence, EXCEPT the members of your
“Master Mind” group, and be very sure in your selection of this group, that
you choose ONLY those who will be in COMPLETE SYMPATHY AND
HARMONY WITH YOUR PURPOSE.
Close friends and relatives, while not meaning to do so, often handicap
one through “opinions” and sometimes through ridicule, which is meant to be
humorous. Thousands of men and women carry inferiority complexes with
them all through life, because some well-meaning, but ignorant person
destroyed their confidence through “opinions” or ridicule.
You have a brain and mind of your own. USE IT, and reach your own
decisions. If you need facts or information from other people, to enable you
to reach decisions, as you probably will in many instances; acquire these
facts or secure the information you need quietly, without disclosing your
purpose.
It is characteristic of people who have but a smattering or a veneer of
knowledge to try to give the impression that they have much knowledge. Such
people generally do TOO MUCH talking, and TOO LITTLE listening. Keep
your eyes and ears wide open—and your mouth CLOSED, if you wish to
acquire the habit of prompt DECISION. Those who talk too much do little
else. If you talk more than you listen, you not only deprive yourself of many
opportunities to accumulate useful knowledge, but you also disclose your
PLANS and PURPOSES to people who will take great delight in defeating
you, because they envy you.
It is characteristic of people who have but a smattering or a
veneer of knowledge to try to give the impression that they have
much knowledge.
Remember, also, that every time you open your mouth in the presence of
a person who has an abundance of knowledge, you display to that person,
your exact stock of knowledge, or your LACK of it! Genuine wisdom is
usually conspicuous through modesty and silence.
Keep in mind the fact that every person with whom you associate is, like
yourself, seeking the opportunity to accumulate money. If you talk about your
plans too freely, you may be surprised when you learn that some other person
has beaten you to your goal by PUTTING INTO ACTION AHEAD OF YOU,
the plans of which you talked unwisely.
Let one of your first decisions be to KEEP A CLOSED MOUTH AND
OPEN EARS AND EYES.
As a reminder to yourself to follow this advice, it will be helpful if you
copy the following epigram in large letters and place it where you will see it
daily.
“TELL THE WORLD WHAT YOU INTEND TO DO, BUT FIRST
SHOW IT.”
This is the equivalent of saying that “deeds, and not words, are what
count most.”
FREEDOM OR DEATH ON A DECISION
The value of decisions depends upon the courage required to render them.
The great decisions, which served as the foundation of civilization, were
reached by assuming great risks, which often meant the possibility of death.
Lincoln’s decision to issue his famous Proclamation of Emancipation,
which gave freedom to the colored people of America, was rendered with
full understanding that his act would turn thousands of friends and political
supporters against him. He knew, too, that the carrying out of that
proclamation would mean death to thousands of men on the battlefield. In the
end, it cost Lincoln his life. That required courage.
Socrates’ decision to drink the cup of poison, rather than compromise in
his personal belief, was a decision of courage. It turned Time ahead a
thousand years, and gave to people then unborn, the right to freedom of
thought and of speech.
The decision of Gen. Robert E. Lee, when he came to the parting of the
way with the Union, and took up the cause of the South, was a decision of
courage, for he well knew that it might cost him his own life, that it would
surely cost the lives of others.
But, the greatest decision of all time, as far as any American citizen is
concerned, was reached in Philadelphia, July 4, 1776, when fifty-six men
signed their names to a document, which they well knew would bring
freedom to all Americans, or leave every one of the fifty-six hanging from a
gallows!
You have heard of this famous document, but you may not have drawn
from it the great lesson in personal achievement it so plainly taught.
We all remember the date of this momentous decision, but few of us
realize what courage that decision required. We remember our history, as it
was taught; we remember dates, and the names of the men who fought; we
remember Valley Forge, and Yorktown; we remember George Washington,
and Lord Cornwallis. But we know little of the real forces back of these
names, dates, and places. We know still less of that intangible POWER,
which insured us freedom long before Washington’s armies reached
Yorktown.
We read the history of the Revolution, and falsely imagine that George
Washington was the Father of our Country, that it was he who won our
freedom, while the truth is—Washington was only an accessory after the fact,
because victory for his armies had been insured long before Lord Cornwallis
surrendered. This is not intended to rob Washington of any of the glory he so
richly merited. Its purpose, rather, is to give greater attention to the
astounding POWER that was the real cause of his victory.
It is nothing short of tragedy that the writers of history have missed,
entirely, even the slightest reference to the irresistible POWER, which gave
birth and freedom to the nation destined to set up new standards of
independence for all the peoples of the earth. I say it is a tragedy, because it
is the selfsame POWER which must be used by every individual who
surmounts the difficulties of Life, and forces Life to pay the price asked.
Let us briefly review the events which gave birth to this POWER. The
story begins with an incident in Boston, March 5, 1770. British soldiers were
patroling the streets, by their presence, openly threatening the citizens. The
colonists resented armed men marching in their midst. They began to express
their resentment openly, hurling stones as well as epithets, at the marching
soldiers, until the commanding officer gave orders, “Fix bayonets.…
Charge!”
The battle was on. It resulted in the death and injury of many. The
incident aroused such resentment that the Provincial Assembly, (made up of
prominent colonists), called a meeting for the purpose of taking definite
action. Two of the members of that Assembly were, John Hancock, and
Samuel Adams—LONG LIVE THEIR NAMES! They spoke up
courageously, and declared that a move must be made to eject all British
soldiers from Boston.
Remember this—a DECISION, in the minds of two men, might properly
be called the beginning of the freedom which we, of the United States now
enjoy. Remember, too, that the DECISION of these two men called for
FAITH, and COURAGE, because it was dangerous.
Before the Assembly adjourned, Samuel Adams was appointed to call
on the Governor of the Province, Hutchinson, and demand the withdrawal of
the British troops.
The request was granted, the troops were removed from Boston, but the
incident was not closed. It had caused a situation destined to change the
entire trend of civilization. Strange, is it not, how the great changes, such as
the American Revolution, and the World War, often have their beginnings in
circumstances which seem unimportant? It is interesting, also, to observe that
these important changes usually begin in the form of a DEFINITE DECISION
in the minds of a relatively small number of people. Few of us know the
history of our country well enough to realize that John Hancock, Samuel
Adams, and Richard Henry Lee (of the Province of Virginia) were the real
Fathers of our Country.
Richard Henry Lee became an important factor in this story by reason of
the fact that he and Samuel Adams communicated frequently (by
correspondence), sharing freely their fears and their hopes concerning the
welfare of the people of their Provinces. From this practice, Adams
conceived the idea that a mutual exchange of letters between the thirteen
Colonies might help to bring about the coordination of effort so badly needed
in connection with the solution of their problems. Two years after the clash
with the soldiers in Boston (March 1772), Adams presented this idea to the
Assembly, in the form of a motion that a Correspondence Committee be
established among the Colonies, with definitely appointed correspondents in
each Colony, “for the purpose of friendly cooperation for the betterment of
the Colonies of British America.”
Mark well this incident! It was the beginning of the organization of the
far-flung POWER destined to give freedom to you, and to me. The Master
Mind had already been organized. It consisted of Adams, Lee, and Hancock.
“I tell you further, that if two of you agree upon the earth concerning anything
for which you ask, it will come to you from My Father, who is in Heaven.”
The Committee of Correspondence was organized. Observe that this
move provided the way for increasing the power of the Master Mind by
adding to it men from all the Colonies. Take notice that this procedure
constituted the first ORGANIZED PLANNING of the disgruntled Colonists.
In union there is strength! The citizens of the Colonies had been waging
disorganized warfare against the British soldiers, through incidents similar to
the Boston riot, but nothing of benefit had been accomplished. Their
individual grievances had not been consolidated under one Master Mind. No
group of individuals had put their hearts, minds, souls, and bodies together in
one definite DECISION to settle their difficulty with the British once and for
all, until Adams, Hancock, and Lee got together.
Meanwhile, the British were not idle. They, too, were doing some
PLANNING and “Master-Minding” on their own account, with the advantage
of having back of them money, and organized soldiery.
The Crown appointed Gage to supplant Hutchinson as the Governor of
Massachusetts. One of the new Governor’s first acts was to send a messenger
to call on Samuel Adams, for the purpose of endeavoring to stop his
opposition—by FEAR.
We can best understand the spirit of what happened by quoting the
conversation between Col. Fenton, (the messenger sent by Gage), and
Adams.
Col. Fenton: “I have been authorized by Governor Gage, to assure you,
Mr. Adams, that the Governor has been empowered to confer upon you such
benefits as would be satisfactory, [endeavor to win Adams by promise of
bribes], upon the condition that you engage to cease in your opposition to the
measures of the government. It is the Governor’s advice to you, Sir, not to
incur the further displeasure of his majesty. Your conduct has been such as
makes you liable to penalties of an Act of Henry VIII, by which persons can
be sent to England for trial for treason, or misprision of treason, at the
discretion of a governor of a province. But, BY CHANGING YOUR
POLITICAL COURSE, you will not only receive great personal advantages,
but you will make your peace with the King.”
Samuel Adams had the choice of two DECISIONS. He could cease his
opposition, and receive personal bribes, or he could CONTINUE, AND
RUN THE RISK OF BEING HANGED!
Clearly, the time had come when Adams was forced to reach instantly, a
DECISION which could have cost his life. The majority of men would have
found it difficult to reach such a decision. The majority would have sent back
an evasive reply, but not Adams! He insisted upon Col. Fenton’s word of
honor, that the Colonel would deliver to the Governor the answer exactly as
Adams would give it to him.
Adams’ answer, “Then you may tell Governor Gage that I trust I have
long since made my peace with the King of Kings. No personal consideration
shall induce me to abandon the righteous cause of my Country. And, TELL
GOVERNOR GAGE IT IS THE ADVICE OF SAMUEL ADAMS TO HIM,
no longer to insult the feelings of an exasperated people.”
Comment as to the character of this man seem unnecessary. It must be
obvious to all who read this astounding message that its sender possessed
loyalty of the highest order. This is important. (Racketeers and dishonest
politicians have prostituted the honor for which such men as Adams died).
When Governor Gage received Adams’ caustic reply, he flew into a
rage, and issued a proclamation which read, “I do, hereby, in his majesty’s
name, offer and promise his most gracious pardon to all persons who shall
forthwith lay down their arms, and return to the duties of peaceable subjects,
excepting only from the benefit of such pardon, SAMUEL ADAMS AND
JOHN HANCOCK, whose offences are of too flagitious a nature to admit of
any other consideration but that of condign punishment.”
As one might say, in modern slang, Adams and Hancock were “on the
spot!” The threat of the irate Governor forced the two men to reach another
DECISION, equally as dangerous. They hurriedly called a secret meeting of
their staunchest followers. (here the Master Mind began to take on
momentum). After the meeting had been called to order, Adams locked the
door, placed the key in his pocket, and informed all present that it was
imperative that a Congress of the Colonists be organized, and that NO MAN
SHOULD LEAVE THE ROOM UNTIL THE DECISION FOR SUCH A
CONGRESS HAD BEEN REACHED.
Great excitement followed. Some weighed the possible consequences of
such radicalism (Old Man Fear). Some expressed grave doubt as to the
wisdom of so definite a decision in defiance of the Crown. Locked in that
room were TWO MEN immune to Fear, blind to the possibility of Failure.
Hancock and Adams. Through the influence of their minds, the others were
induced to agree that, through the Correspondence Committee, arrangements
should be made for a meeting of the First Continental Congress, to be held in
Philadelphia, September 5, 1774.
Remember this date. It is more important than July 4, 1776. If there had
been no DECISION to hold a Continental Congress, there could have been no
signing of the Declaration of Independence.
Before the first meeting of the new Congress, another leader, in a
different section of the country was deep in the throes of publishing a
“Summary View of the Rights of British America.” He was Thomas
Jefferson, of the Province of Virginia, whose relationship to Lord Dunmore,
(representative of the Crown in Virginia), was as strained as that of Hancock
and Adams with their Governor.
Shortly after his famous Summary of Rights was published, Jefferson
was informed that he was subject to prosecution for high treason against his
majesty’s government. Inspired by the threat, one of Jefferson’s colleagues,
Patrick Henry, boldly spoke his mind, concluding his remarks with a sentence
which shall remain forever a classic, “If this be treason, then make the most
of it.”
It was such men as these who, without power, without authority, without
military strength, without money, sat in solemn consideration of the destiny of
the colonies, beginning at the opening of the First Continental Congress, and
continuing at intervals for two years—until on June 7, 1776, Richard Henry
Lee arose, addressed the Chair, and to the startled Assembly made this
motion:
“Gentlemen, I make the motion that these United Colonies are, and of
right ought to be free and independent states, that they be absolved from all
allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between
them and the state of Great Britain is, and ought to be totally dissolved.”
Lee’s astounding motion was discussed fervently, and at such length that
he began to lose patience. Finally, after days of argument, he again took the
floor, and declared, in a clear, firm voice, “Mr. President, we have discussed
this issue for days. It is the only course for us to follow. Why, then Sir, do we
longer delay? Why still deliberate? Let this happy day give birth to an
American Republic. Let her arise, not to devastate and to conquer, but to
reestablish the reign of peace, and of law. The eyes of Europe are fixed upon
us. She demands of us a living example of freedom, that may exhibit a
contrast, in the felicity of the citizen, to the ever increasing tyranny.”
Before his motion was finally voted upon, Lee was called back to
Virginia, because of serious family illness, but before leaving, he placed his
cause in the hands of his friend, Thomas Jefferson, who promised to fight
until favorable action was taken. Shortly thereafter the President of the
Congress (Hancock), appointed Jefferson as Chairman of a Committee to
draw up a Declaration of Independence.
Long and hard the Committee labored, on a document which would
mean, when accepted by the Congress, that EVERY MAN WHO SIGNED IT,
WOULD BE SIGNING HIS OWN DEATH WARRANT, should the Colonies
lose in the fight with Great Britain, which was sure to follow.
The document was drawn, and on June 28, the original draft was read
before the Congress. For several days it was discussed, altered, and made
ready. On July 4, 1776, Thomas Jefferson stood before the Assembly, and
fearlessly read the most momentous DECISION ever placed upon paper.
“When in the course of human events it is necessary for one people to
dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to
assume, among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to
which the laws of Nature, and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect
to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which
impel them to the separation.…”
When Jefferson finished, the document was voted upon, accepted, and
signed by the fifty-six men, every one staking his own life upon his
DECISION to write his name. By that DECISION came into existence a
nation destined to bring to mankind forever, the privilege of making
DECISIONS.
By decisions made in a similar spirit of Faith, and only by such
decisions, can men solve their personal problems, and win for themselves
high estates of material and spiritual wealth. Let us not forget this!
Analyze the events which led to the Declaration of Independence, and be
convinced that this nation, which now holds a position of commanding
respect and power among all nations of the world, was born of a DECISION
created by a Master Mind, consisting of fifty-six men. Note well, the fact that
it was their DECISION which insured the success of Washington’s armies,
because the spirit of that decision was in the heart of every soldier who
fought with him, and served as a spiritual power which recognizes no such
thing as FAILURE.
Note, also, (with great personal benefit), that the POWER which gave
this nation its freedom, is the self-same power that must be used by every
individual who becomes self-determining. This POWER is made up of the
principles described in this book. It will not be difficult to detect, in the story
of the Declaration of Independence, at least six of these principles; DESIRE,
DECISION, FAITH, PERSISTENCE, THE MASTER MIND, and
ORGANIZED PLANNING.
Throughout this philosophy will be found the suggestion that thought,
backed by strong DESIRE, has a tendency to transmute itself into its physical
equivalent. Before passing on, I wish to leave with you the suggestion that
one may find in this story, and in the story of the organization of the United
States Steel Corporation, a perfect description of the method by which
thought makes this astounding transformation.
In your search for the secret of the method, do not look for a miracle,
because you will not find it. You will find only the eternal laws of Nature.
These laws are available to every person who has the FAITH and the
COURAGE to use them. They may be used to bring freedom to a nation, or to
accumulate riches. There is no charge save the time necessary to understand
and appropriate them.
Those who reach DECISIONS promptly and definitely, know what they
want, and generally get it. The leaders in every walk of life DECIDE quickly,
and firmly. That is the major reason why they are leaders. The world has the
habit of making room for the man whose words and actions show that he
knows where he is going.
INDECISION is a habit which usually begins in youth. The habit takes
on permanency as the youth goes through graded school, high school, and
even through college, without DEFINITENESS OF PURPOSE. The major
weakness of all educational systems is that they neither teach nor encourage
the habit of DEFINITE DECISION.
It would be beneficial if no college would permit the enrollment of any
student, unless and until the student declared his major purpose in
matriculating. It would be of still greater benefit, if every student who enters
the graded schools were compelled to accept training in the HABIT OF
DECISION, and forced to pass a satisfactory examination on this subject
before being permitted to advance in the grades.
The habit of INDECISION acquired because of the deficiencies of our
school systems, goes with the student into the occupation he chooses … IF …
in fact, he chooses his occupation. Generally, the youth just out of school
seeks any job that can be found. He takes the first place he finds, because he
has fallen into the habit of INDECISION. Ninety-eight out of every hundred
people working for wages today, are in the positions they hold, because they
lacked the DEFINITENESS OF DECISION to PLAN A DEFINITE
POSITION, and the knowledge of how to choose an employer.
DEFINITENESS OF DECISION always requires courage, sometimes
very great courage. The fifty-six men who signed the Declaration of
Independence staked their lives on the DECISION to affix their signatures to
that document. The person who reaches a DEFINITE DECISION to procure
the particular job, and make life pay the price he asks, does not stake his life
on that decision; he stakes his ECONOMIC FREEDOM. Financial
independence, riches, desirable business and professional positions are not
within reach of the person who neglects or refuses to EXPECT, PLAN, and
DEMAND these things. The person who desires riches in the same spirit that
Samuel Adams desired freedom for the Colonies, is sure to accumulate
wealth.
In the chapter on Organized Planning, you will find complete instructions
for marketing every type of personal services. You will find also detailed
information on how to choose the employer you prefer, and the particular job
you desire. These instructions will be of no value to you UNLESS YOU
DEFINITELY DECIDE to organize them into a plan of action.
Chapter Eight Key Points
1. Procrastination is a form of fear. If you succumb to it, your plans
will never be realized.
2. The best remedy for procrastination is passion for your aim.
3. Successful people reach decisions promptly and rarely reverse
them. Failure and dithering are closely linked.
4. Opportunity will not stand still. Act with expediency.
5. Never solicit or value random opinions. Share your plans only with
your Master Mind partners and trusted experts. Most opinions,
including those of relatives and “friends,” are uninformed and
hence worthless.
6. Successful people avoid idle talk about their business. Do not open
yourself to negative influences.
7. Decision is aided by specialized knowledge. Seek it out, cultivate
it, value it.
Chapter 9
Persistence
The Sustained Effort Necessary to Induce Faith
The Eighth Step to Riches
PERSISTENCE is an essential factor in the procedure of transmuting
DESIRE into its monetary equivalent. The basis of persistence is the
POWER OF WILL.
Will-power and desire, when properly combined, make an irresistible
pair. Men who accumulate great fortunes are generally known as coldblooded, and sometimes ruthless. Often they are misunderstood. What they
have is will-power, which they mix with persistence, and place back of their
desires to insure the attainment of their objectives.
Henry Ford has been generally misunderstood to be ruthless and coldblooded. This misconception grew out of Ford’s habit of following through
in all of his plans with PERSISTENCE.
The majority of people are ready to throw their aims and purposes
overboard, and give up at the first sign of opposition or misfortune. A few
carry on DESPITE all opposition, until they attain their goal. These few are
the Fords, Carnegies, Rockefellers, and Edisons.
There may be no heroic connotation to the word “persistence,” but the
quality is to the character of man what carbon is to steel.
The building of a fortune, generally, involves the application of the
entire thirteen factors of this philosophy. These principles must be
understood, they must be applied with PERSISTENCE by all who
accumulate money.
If you are following this book with the intention of applying the
knowledge it conveys, your first test as to your PERSISTENCE will come
when you begin to follow the six steps described in the second chapter.
Unless you are one of the two out of every hundred who already have a
DEFINITE GOAL at which you are aiming, and a DEFINITE PLAN for its
attainment, you may read the instructions, and then pass on with your daily
routine, and never comply with those instructions.
The author is checking you up at this point, because lack of persistence
is one of the major causes of failure. Moreover, experience with thousands of
people has proved that lack of persistence is a weakness common to the
majority of men. It is a weakness which may be overcome by effort. The ease
with which lack of persistence may be conquered will depend entirely upon
the INTENSITY OF ONE’S DESIRE.
The starting point of all achievement is DESIRE. Keep this constantly in
mind. Weak desires bring weak results, just as a small amount of fire makes a
small amount of heat. If you find yourself lacking in persistence, this
weakness may be remedied by building a stronger fire under your desires.
Weak desires bring weak results, just as a small amount of fire
makes a small amount of heat.
Continue to read through to the end, then go back to Chapter two, and
start immediately to carry out the instructions given in connection with the
six steps. The eagerness with which you follow these instructions will
indicate clearly, how much, or how little you really DESIRE to accumulate
money. If you find that you are indifferent, you may be sure that you have not
yet acquired the “money consciousness” which you must possess, before you
can be sure of accumulating a fortune.
Fortunes gravitate to men whose minds have been prepared to “attract”
them, just as surely as water gravitates to the ocean. In this book may be
found all the stimuli necessary to “attune” any normal mind to the vibrations
which will attract the object of one’s desires.
If you find you are weak in PERSISTENCE, center your attention upon
the instructions contained in the chapter on “Power”; surround yourself with
a “MASTER MIND” group, and through the cooperative efforts of the
members of this group, you can develop persistence. You will find additional
instructions for the development of persistence in the chapters on autosuggestion, and the subconscious mind. Follow the instructions outlined in
these chapters until your habit nature hands over to your subconscious mind,
a clear picture of the object of your DESIRE. From that point on, you will not
be handicapped by lack of persistence.
Your subconscious mind works continuously, while you are awake, and
while you are asleep.
Spasmodic, or occasional effort to apply the rules will be of no value to
you. To get RESULTS, you must apply all of the rules until their application
becomes a fixed habit with you. In no other way can you develop the
necessary “money consciousness.”
POVERTY is attracted to the one whose mind is favorable to it, as
money is attracted to him whose mind has been deliberately prepared to
attract it, and through the same laws. POVERTY CONSCIOUSNESS WILL
VOLUNTARILY SEIZE THE MIND WHICH IS NOT OCCUPIED WITH
THE MONEY CONSCIOUSNESS. A poverty consciousness develops
without conscious application of habits favorable to it. The money
consciousness must be created to order, unless one is born with such a
consciousness.
Catch the full significance of the statements in the preceding paragraph,
and you will understand the importance of PERSISTENCE in the
accumulation of a fortune. Without PERSISTENCE, you will be defeated,
even before you start. With PERSISTENCE you will win.
Without PERSISTENCE you will be defeated even before you
start.
If you have ever experienced a nightmare, you will realize the value of
persistence. You are lying in bed, half awake, with a feeling that you are
about to smother. You are unable to turn over, or to move a muscle. You
realize that you MUST BEGIN to regain control over your muscles. Through
persistent effort of will-power, you finally manage to move the fingers of one
hand. By continuing to move your fingers, you extend your control to the
muscles of one arm, until you can lift it. Then you gain control of the other
arm in the same manner. You finally gain control over the muscles of one leg,
and then extend it to the other leg. THEN—WITH ONE SUPREME EFFORT
OF WILL—you regain complete control over your muscular system, and
“snap” out of your nightmare. The trick has been turned step by step.
You may find it necessary to “snap” out of your mental inertia, through a
similar procedure, moving slowly at first, then increasing your speed, until
you gain complete control over your will. Be PERSISTENT no matter how
slowly you may, at first, have to move. WITH PERSISTENCE WILL COME
SUCCESS.
If you select your “Master Mind” group with care, you will have in it, at
least one person who will aid you in the development of PERSISTENCE.
Some men who have accumulated great fortunes, did so because of
NECESSITY. They developed the habit of PERSISTENCE, because they
were so closely driven by circumstances, that they had to become persistent.
THERE IS NO SUBSTITUTE FOR PERSISTENCE! It cannot be
supplanted by any other quality! Remember this, and it will hearten you, in
the beginning, when the going may seem difficult and slow.
Those who have cultivated the HABIT of persistence seem to enjoy
insurance against failure. No matter how many times they are defeated, they
finally arrive up toward the top of the ladder. Sometimes it appears that there
is a hidden Guide whose duty is to test men through all sorts of discouraging
experiences. Those who pick themselves up after defeat and keep on trying,
arrive; and the world cries, “Bravo! I knew you could do it!” The hidden
Guide lets no one enjoy great achievement without passing the
PERSISTENCE TEST. Those who can’t take it, simply do not make the
grade.
Those who can “take it” are bountifully rewarded for their
PERSISTENCE. They receive, as their compensation, whatever goal they are
pursuing. That is not all! They receive something infinitely more important
than material compensation—the knowledge that “EVERY FAILURE
BRINGS WITH IT THE SEED OF AN EQUIVALENT ADVANTAGE.”
There are exceptions to this rule; a few people know from experience
the soundness of persistence. They are the ones who have not accepted defeat
as being anything more than temporary. They are the ones whose DESIRES
are so PERSISTENTLY APPLIED that defeat is finally changed into victory.
We who stand on the side-lines of Life see the overwhelmingly large number
who go down in defeat, never to rise again. We see the few who take the
punishment of defeat as an urge to greater effort. These, fortunately, never
learn to accept Life’s reverse gear. But what we DO NOT SEE, what most of
us never suspect of existing, is the silent but irresistible POWER which
comes to the rescue of those who fight on in the face of discouragement. If we
speak of this power at all we call it PERSISTENCE, and let it go at that. One
thing we all know, if one does not possess PERSISTENCE, one does not
achieve noteworthy success in any calling.
As these lines are being written, I look up from my work, and see before
me, less than a block away, the great mysterious “Broadway,” the
“Graveyard of Dead Hopes,” and the “Front Porch of Opportunity.” From all
over the world people have come to Broadway, seeking fame, fortune,
power, love, or whatever it is that human beings call success. Once in a great
while someone steps out from the long procession of seekers, and the world
hears that another person has mastered Broadway. But Broadway is not
easily nor quickly conquered. She acknowledges talent, recognizes genius,
pays off in money, only after one has refused to QUIT.
Then we know he has discovered the secret of how to conquer
Broadway. The secret is always inseparably attached to one word,
PERSISTENCE!
The secret is told in the struggle of Fannie Hurst, whose PERSISTENCE
conquered the Great White Way. She came to New York in 1915, to convert
writing into riches. The conversion did not come quickly, BUT IT CAME.
For four years Miss Hurst learned about “The Sidewalks of New York” from
first hand experience. She spent her days laboring, and her nights HOPING.
When hope grew dim, she did not say, “Alright Broadway, you win!” She
said, “Very well, Broadway, you may whip some, but not me. I’m going to
force you to give up.”
One publisher (The Saturday Evening Post) sent her thirty six rejection
slips, before she “broke the ice” and got a story across. The average writer,
like the “average” in other walks of life, would have given up the job when
the first rejection slip came. She pounded the pavements for four years to the
tune of the publisher’s “NO,” because she was determined to win.
Then came the “payoff.” The spell had been broken, the unseen Guide
had tested Fannie Hurst, and she could take it. From that time on publishers
made a beaten path to her door. Money came so fast she hardly had time to
count it. Then the moving picture men discovered her, and money came not in
small change, but in floods. The moving picture rights to her latest novel,
“Great Laughter,” brought $100,000.00, said to be the highest price ever paid
for a story before publication. Her royalties from the sale of the book
probably will run much more.
Briefly, you have a description of what PERSISTENCE is capable of
achieving. Fannie Hurst is no exception. Wherever men and women
accumulate great riches, you may be sure they first acquired PERSISTENCE.
Broadway will give any beggar a cup of coffee and a sandwich, but it
demands PERSISTENCE of those who go after the big stakes.
Kate Smith will say “amen” when she reads this. For years she sang,
without money, and without price, before any microphone she could reach.
Broadway said to her, “Come and get it, if you can take it.” She did take it
until one happy day Broadway got tired and said, “Aw, what’s the use? You
don’t know when you’re whipped, so name your price, and go to work in
earnest.” Miss Smith named her price! It was plenty. Away up in figures so
high that one week’s salary is far more than most people make in a whole
year.
Verily it pays to be PERSISTENT!
And here is an encouraging statement which carries with it a suggestion
of great significance—THOUSANDS OF SINGERS WHO EXCEL KATE
SMITH ARE WALKING UP AND DOWN BROADWAY LOOKING FOR A
“BREAK”—WITHOUT SUCCESS. Countless others have come and gone,
many of them sang well enough, but they failed to make the grade because
they lacked the courage to keep on keeping on, until Broadway became tired
of turning them away.
Persistence is a state of mind, therefore it can be cultivated. Like all
states of mind, persistence is based upon definite causes, among them these:
Persistence is a state of mind, therefore it can be cultivated.
a. DEFINITENESS OF PURPOSE. Knowing what one wants is the first
and, perhaps, the most important step toward the development of
persistence. A strong motive forces one to surmount many difficulties.
b. DESIRE. It is comparatively easy to acquire and to maintain persistence
in pursuing the object of intense desire.
c. SELF-RELIANCE. Belief in one’s ability to carry out a plan encourages
one to follow the plan through with persistence (self-reliance can be
developed through the principle described in the chapter on autosuggestion).
d. DEFINITENESS OF PLANS. Organized plans, even though they may be
weak and entirely impractical, encourage persistence.
e. ACCURATE KNOWLEDGE. Knowing that one’s plans are sound,
based upon experience or observation, encourages persistence;
“guessing” instead of “knowing” destroys persistence.
f. CO-OPERATION. Sympathy, understanding, and harmonious
cooperation with others tend to develop persistence.
g. WILL-POWER. The habit of concentrating one’s thoughts upon the
building of plans for the attainment of a definite purpose, leads to
persistence.
h. HABIT. Persistence is the direct result of habit. The mind absorbs and
becomes a part of the daily experiences upon which it feeds. Fear, the
worst of all enemies, can be effectively cured by forced repetition of
acts of courage. Everyone who has seen active service in war knows
this.
Before leaving the subject of PERSISTENCE, take inventory of yourself, and
determine in what particular, if any, you are lacking in this essential quality.
Measure yourself courageously, point by point, and see how many of the eight
factors of persistence you lack. The analysis may lead to discoveries that
will give you a new grip on yourself.
SYMPTOMS OF LACK OF PERSISTENCE
Here you will find the real enemies which stand between you and noteworthy
achievement. Here you will find not only the “symptoms” indicating
weakness of PERSISTENCE, but also the deeply seated subconscious causes
of this weakness. Study the list carefully, and face yourself squarely IF YOU
REALLY WISH TO KNOW WHO YOU ARE, AND WHAT YOU ARE
CAPABLE OF DOING. These are the weaknesses which must be mastered
by all who accumulate riches.
1. Failure to recognize and to clearly define exactly what one wants.
2. Procrastination, with or without cause. (Usually backed up with a
formidable array of alibis and excuses).
3. Lack of interest in acquiring specialized knowledge.
4. Indecision, the habit of “passing the buck” on all occasions, instead of
facing issues squarely. (Also backed by alibis).
5. The habit of relying upon alibis instead of creating definite plans for the
solution of problems.
6. Self-satisfaction. There is but little remedy for this affliction, and no
hope for those who suffer from it.
7. Indifference, usually reflected in one’s readiness to compromise on all
occasions, rather than meet opposition and fight it.
8. The habit of blaming others for one’s mistakes, and accepting
unfavorable circumstances as being unavoidable.
9. WEAKNESS OF DESIRE, due to neglect in the choice of MOTIVES
that impel action.
10. Willingness, even eagerness, to quit at the first sign of defeat (based
upon one or more of the 6 basic fears).
11. Lack of ORGANIZED PLANS, placed in writing where they may be
analyzed.
12. The habit of neglecting to move on ideas, or to grasp opportunity when
it presents itself.
13. WISHING instead of WILLING.
14. The habit of compromising with POVERTY instead of aiming at riches.
General absence of ambition to be, to do, and to own.
15. Searching for all the short-cuts to riches, trying to GET without GIVING
a fair equivalent, usually reflected in the habit of gambling, endeavoring
to drive “sharp” bargains.
16. FEAR OF CRITICISM, failure to create plans and to put them into
action, because of what other people will think, do, or say. This enemy
belongs at the head of the list, because it generally exists in one’s
subconscious mind, where its presence is not recognized (see the Six
Basic Fears in a later chapter).
Let us examine some of the symptoms of the Fear of Criticism. The
majority of people permit relatives, friends, and the public at large to so
influence them that they cannot live their own lives, because they fear
criticism.
Huge numbers of people make mistakes in marriage, stand by the
bargain, and go through life miserable and unhappy, because they fear
criticism which may follow if they correct the mistake (anyone who has
submitted to this form of fear knows the irreparable damage it does, by
destroying ambition, self-reliance, and the desire to achieve).
Millions of people neglect to acquire belated educations, after having
left school, because they fear criticism.
Countless numbers of men and women, both young and old, permit
relatives to wreck their lives in the name of DUTY, because they fear
criticism (duty does not require any person to submit to the destruction of his
personal ambitions and the right to live his own life in his own way).
People refuse to take chances in business, because they fear the criticism
which may follow if they fail. The fear of criticism, in such cases is
stronger than the DESIRE for success.
Too many people refuse to set high goals for themselves, or even neglect
selecting a career, because they fear the criticism of relatives and “friends”
who may say “Don’t aim so high, people will think you are crazy.”
When Andrew Carnegie suggested that I devote twenty years to the
organization of a philosophy of individual achievement my first impulse of
thought was fear of what people might say. The suggestion set up a goal for
me, far out of proportion to any I had ever conceived. As quick as a flash, my
mind began to create alibis and excuses, all of them traceable to the inherent
FEAR OF CRITICISM. Something inside of me said, “You can’t do it—the
job is too big, and requires too much time—what will your relatives think of
you?—how will you earn a living?—no one has ever organized a philosophy
of success, what right have you to believe you can do it?—who are you,
anyway, to aim so high?—remember your humble birth—what do you know
about philosophy—people will think you are crazy—(and they did)—why
hasn’t some other person done this before now?”
These, and many other questions flashed into my mind, and demanded
attention. It seemed as if the whole world had suddenly turned its attention to
me with the purpose of ridiculing me into giving up all desire to carry out
Mr. Carnegie’s suggestion.
I had a fine opportunity, then and there, to kill off ambition before it
gained control of me. Later in life, after having analyzed thousands of people,
I discovered that MOST IDEAS ARE STILLBORN, AND NEED THE
BREATH OF LIFE INJECTED INTO THEM THROUGH DEFINITE
PLANS OF IMMEDIATE ACTION. The time to nurse an idea is at the time
of its birth. Every minute it lives, gives it a better chance of surviving. The
FEAR OF CRITICISM is at the bottom of the destruction of most ideas
which never reach the PLANNING and ACTION stage.
Many people believe that material success is the result of favorable
“breaks.” There is an element of ground for the belief, but those depending
entirely upon luck, are nearly always disappointed, because they overlook
another important factor which must be present before one can be sure of
success. It is the knowledge with which favorable “breaks” can be made to
order.
During the depression, W. C. Fields, the comedian, lost all his money,
and found himself without income, without a job, and his means of earning a
living (Vaudeville) no longer existed. Moreover, he was past sixty, when
many men consider themselves “old.” He was so eager to stage a comeback
that he offered to work without pay, in a new field (movies). In addition to
his other troubles, he fell and injured his neck. To many that would have been
the place to give up and QUIT. But Fields was PERSISTENT. He knew that
if he carried on he would get the “breaks” sooner or later, and he did get
them, but not by chance.
Marie Dressler found herself down and out, with her money gone, with
no job, when she was about sixty. She, too, went after the “breaks,” and got
them. Her PERSISTENCE brought an astounding triumph late in life, long
beyond the age when most men and women are done with ambition to
achieve.
Eddie Cantor lost his money in the 1929 stock crash, but he still had his
PERSISTENCE and his courage. With these, plus two prominent eyes, he
exploited himself back into an income of $10,000 a week! Verily, if one has
PERSISTENCE, one can get along very well without many other qualities.
The only “break” anyone can afford to rely upon is a self-made “break.”
These come through the application of PERSISTENCE. The starting point is
DEFINITENESS OF PURPOSE.
Examine the first hundred people you meet, ask them what they want
most in life, and ninety eight of them will not be able to tell you. If you press
them for an answer, some will say—SECURITY, many will say—MONEY, a
few will say—HAPPINESS, others will say—FAME AND POWER, and
still others will say—SOCIAL RECOGNITION, EASE IN LIVING,
ABILITY TO SING, DANCE, or WRITE, but none of them will be able to
define these terms, or give the slightest indication of a PLAN by which they
hope to attain these vaguely expressed wishes. Riches do not respond to
wishes. They respond only to definite plans, backed by definite desires,
through constant PERSISTENCE.
HOW TO DEVELOP PERSISTENCE
There are four simple steps which lead to the habit of PERSISTENCE. They
call for no great amount of intelligence, no particular amount of education,
and but little time or effort. The necessary steps are:
1. A DEFINITE PURPOSE BACKED BY BURNING DESIRE FOR ITS
FULFILLMENT.
2. A DEFINITE PLAN, EXPRESSED IN CONTINUOUS ACTION.
3. A MIND CLOSED TIGHTLY AGAINST ALL NEGATIVE AND
DISCOURAGING INFLUENCES, including negative suggestions of
relatives, friends and acquaintances.
4. A FRIENDLY ALLIANCE WITH ONE OR MORE PERSONS WHO
WILL ENCOURAGE ONE TO FOLLOW THROUGH WITH BOTH
PLAN AND PURPOSE.
These four steps are essential for success in all walks of life. The entire
purpose of the thirteen principles of this philosophy is to enable one to
take these four steps as a matter of habit.
These are the steps by which one may control one’s economic destiny.
They are the steps that lead to freedom and independence of thought.
They are the steps that lead to riches, in small or great quantities.
They lead the way to power, fame, and worldly recognition.
They are the four steps which guarantee favorable “breaks.”
They are the steps that convert dreams into physical realities.
They lead, also, to the mastery of FEAR, DISCOURAGEMENT,
INDIFFERENCE.
There is a magnificent reward for all who learn to take these four steps. It is
the privilege of writing one’s own ticket, and of making Life yield whatever
price is asked.
I have no way of knowing the facts, but I venture to conjecture that Mrs.
Wallis Simpson’s great love for a man was not accidental, nor the result of
favorable “breaks” alone. There was a burning desire, and careful searching
at every step of the way. Her first duty was to love. What is the greatest thing
on earth? The Master called it love—not man made rules, criticism,
bitterness, slander, or political “marriages,” but love.
She knew what she wanted, not after she met the Prince of Wales, but
long before that. Twice when she had failed to find it, she had the courage to
continue her search. “To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the
night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man.”
Her rise from obscurity was of the slow, progressive, PERSISTENT
order, but it was SURE! She triumphed over unbelievably long odds; and, no
matter who you are, or what you may think of Wallis Simpson, or the king
who gave up his Crown for her love, she is an astounding example of applied
PERSISTENCE, an instructor on the rules of self-determination, from whom
the entire world might profitably take lessons.
When you think of Wallis Simpson, think of one who knew what she
wanted, and shook the greatest empire on earth to get it. Women who
complain that this is a man’s world, that women do not have an equal chance
to win, owe it to themselves to study carefully the life of this unusual woman,
who, at an age which most women consider “old,” captured the affections of
the most desirable bachelor in the entire world.
And what of King Edward? What lesson may we learn from his part in
the world’s greatest drama of recent times? Did he pay too high a price for
the affections of the woman of his choice?
Surely no one but he can give the correct answer.
The rest of us can only conjecture. This much we know, the king came
into the world without his own consent. He was born to great riches, without
requesting them. He was persistently sought in marriage; politicians and
statesmen throughout Europe tossed dowagers and princesses at his feet.
Because he was the first born of his parents, he inherited a crown, which he
did not seek, and perhaps did not desire. For more than forty years he was
not a free agent, could not live his life in his own way, had but little privacy,
and finally assumed duties inflicted upon him when he ascended the throne.
Some will say, “With all these blessings, King Edward should have
found peace of mind, contentment, and joy of living.”
The truth is that back of all the privileges of a crown, all the money, the
fame, and the power inherited by King Edward, there was an emptiness
which could be filled only by love.
His greatest DESIRE was for love. Long before he met Wallis Simpson,
he doubtless felt this great universal emotion tugging at the strings of his
heart, beating upon the door of his soul, and crying out for expression.
And when he met a kindred spirit, crying out for this same Holy
privilege of expression, he recognized it, and without fear or apology,
opened his heart and bade it enter. All the scandal-mongers in the world
cannot destroy the beauty of this international drama, through which two
people found love, and had the courage to face open criticism, renounce ALL
ELSE to give it holy expression.
King Edward’s DECISION to give up the crown of the world’s most
powerful empire, for the privilege of going the remainder of the way through
life with the woman of his choice, was a decision that required courage. The
decision also had a price, but who has the right to say the price was too
great? Surely not He who said, “He among you who is without sin, let him
cast the first stone.”
As a suggestion to any evil-minded person who chooses to find fault
with the Duke of Windsor, because his DESIRE was for LOVE, and for
openly declaring his love for Wallis Simpson, and giving up his throne for
her, let it be remembered that the OPEN DECLARATION was not essential.
He could have followed the custom of clandestine liaison which has
prevailed in Europe for centuries, without giving up either his throne, or the
woman of his choice, and there would have been NO COMPLAINT FROM
EITHER CHURCH OR LAITY. But this unusual man was built of sterner
stuff. His love was clean. It was deep and sincere. It represented the one
thing which, above ALL ELSE he truly DESIRED, therefore, he took what he
wanted, and paid the price demanded.
If Europe had been blessed with more rulers with the human heart and
the traits of honesty of ex-king Edward, for the past century, that unfortunate
hemisphere now seething with greed, hate, lust, political connivance, and
threats of war, would have a DIFFERENT AND A BETTER STORY TO
TELL. A story in which Love and not Hate would rule.
In the words of Stuart Austin Wier we raise our cup and drink this toast
to ex-king Edward and Wallis Simpson:
“Blessed is the man who has come to know that our muted thoughts are our
sweetest thoughts.
“Blessed is the man who, from the blackest depths, can see the luminous
figure of LOVE, and seeing, sing; and singing, say: ‘Sweeter far than
uttered lays are the thoughts I have of you.’”
In these words would we pay tribute to the two people who, more than
all others of modern times, have been the victims of criticism and the
recipients of abuse, because they found Life’s greatest treasure, and claimed
it.*
Most of the world will applaud the Duke of Windsor and Wallis
Simpson, because of their PERSISTENCE in searching until they found life’s
greatest reward. ALL OF US CAN PROFIT by following their example in
our own search for that which we demand of life.
What mystical power gives to men of PERSISTENCE the capacity to
master difficulties? Does the quality of PERSISTENCE set up in one’s mind
some form of spiritual, mental or chemical activity which gives one access to
supernatural forces? Does Infinite Intelligence throw itself on the side of the
person who still fights on, after the battle has been lost, with the whole world
on the opposing side?
These and many other similar questions have arisen in my mind as I have
observed men like Henry Ford, who started at scratch, and built an Industrial
Empire of huge proportions, with little else in the way of a beginning but
PERSISTENCE. Or, Thomas A. Edison, who, with less than three months of
schooling, became the world’s leading inventor and converted
PERSISTENCE into the talking machine, the moving picture machine, and the
incandescent light, to say nothing of half a hundred other useful inventions.
I had the happy privilege of analyzing both Mr. Edison and Mr. Ford,
year by year, over a long period of years, and therefore, the opportunity to
study them at close range, so I speak from actual knowledge when I say that I
found no quality save PERSISTENCE, in either of them, that even remotely
suggested the major source of their stupendous achievements.
As one makes an impartial study of the prophets, philosophers,
“miracle” men, and religious leaders of the past, one is drawn to the
inevitable conclusion that PERSISTENCE, concentration of effort, and
DEFINITENESS OF PURPOSE, were the major sources of their
achievements.
Consider, for example, the strange and fascinating story of Mohammed;
analyze his life, compare him with men of achievement in this modern age of
industry and finance, and observe how they have one outstanding trait in
common, PERSISTENCE!
If you are keenly interested in studying the strange power which gives
potency to PERSISTENCE, read a biography of Mohammed, especially the
one by Essad Bey. This brief review of that book, by Thomas Sugrue, in the
Herald-Tribune, will provide a preview of the rare treat in store for those
who take the time to read the entire story of one of the most astounding
examples of the power of PERSISTENCE known to civilization.
THE LAST GREAT PROPHET
REVIEWED BY THOMAS SUGRUE
“Mohammed was a prophet, but he never performed a miracle. He was not a
mystic; he had no formal schooling; he did not begin his mission until he was
forty. When he announced that he was the Messenger of God, bringing word
of the true religion, he was ridiculed and labeled a lunatic. Children tripped
him and women threw filth upon him. He was banished from his native city,
Mecca, and his followers were stripped of their worldly goods and sent into
the desert after him. When he had been preaching ten years he had nothing to
show for it but banishment, poverty and ridicule. Yet before another ten years
had passed, he was dictator of all Arabia, ruler of Mecca, and the head of a
New World religion which was to sweep to the Danube and the Pyrenees
before exhausting the impetus he gave it. That impetus was three-fold: the
power of words, the efficacy of prayer and man’s kinship with God.
“His career never made sense. Mohammed was born to impoverished
members of a leading family of Mecca. Because Mecca, the crossroads of the
world, home of the magic stone called the Caaba, great city of trade and the
center of trade routes, was unsanitary, its children were sent to be raised in
the desert by Bedouins. Mohammed was thus nurtured, drawing strength and
health from the milk of nomad, vicarious mothers. He tended sheep and soon
hired out to a rich widow as leader of her caravans. He traveled to all parts
of the Eastern World, talked with many men of diverse beliefs and observed
the decline of Christianity into warring sects. When he was twenty-eight,
Khadija, the widow, looked upon him with favor, and married him. Her
father would have objected to such a marriage, so she got him drunk and held
him up while he gave the paternal blessing. For the next twelve years
Mohammed lived as a rich and respected and very shrewd trader. Then he
took to wandering in the desert, and one day he returned with the first verse
of the Koran and told Khadija that the archangel Gabriel had appeared to him
and said that he was to be the Messenger of God.
“The Koran, the revealed word of God, was the closest thing to a
miracle in Mohammed’s life. He had not been a poet; he had no gift of words.
Yet the verses of the Koran, as he received them and recited them to the
faithful, were better than any verses which the professional poets of the
tribes could produce. This, to the Arabs, was a miracle. To them the gift of
words was the greatest gift, the poet was all-powerful. In addition the Koran
said that all men were equal before God, that the world should be a
democratic state Islam. It was this political heresy, plus Mohammed’s desire
to destroy all the 360 idols in the courtyard of the Caaba, which brought
about his banishment. The idols brought the desert tribes to Mecca, and that
meant trade. So the business men of Mecca, the capitalists, of which he had
been one, set upon Mohammed. Then he retreated to the desert and demanded
sovereignty over the world.
“The rise of Islam began. Out of the desert came a flame which would
not be extinguished—a democratic army fighting as a unit and prepared to die
without wincing. Mohammed had invited the Jews and Christians to join him;
for he was not building a new religion. He was calling all who believed in
one God to join in a single faith. If the Jews and Christians had accepted his
invitation Islam would have conquered the world. They didn’t. They would
not even accept Mohammed’s innovation of humane warfare. When the
armies of the prophet entered Jerusalem not a single person was killed
because of his faith. When the crusaders entered the city, centuries later, not a
Moslem man, woman, or child was spared. But the Christians did accept one
Moslem idea—the place of learning, the university.”
Chapter Nine Key Points
1. Persistence is the congealing ingredient to your plans. Nothing
worthwhile is produced without it.
2. Passionate desire feeds persistence.
3. Your Master Mind group helps you sustain persistence.
4. Life has a strange way of testing our persistence. Only those who
pass the test attain sustained success.
5. Study the steps that build and deplete persistence— return to them.
6. Accurate and meaningful criticism builds persistence. Never fear
or avoid it.
7. The company you keep—including your closest relationships—
plays a critical role in your ability to meaningfully persist.
*
Mrs. Simpson read and approved this analysis.
Chapter 10
Power of the Master Mind
The Driving Force
The Ninth Step to Riches
POWER is essential for success in the accumulation of money.
PLANS are inert and useless, without sufficient POWER to translate
them into ACTION. This chapter will describe the method by which an
individual may attain and apply POWER.
POWER may be defined as “organized and intelligently directed
KNOWLEDGE.” Power, as the term is here used, refers to ORGANIZED
effort, sufficient to enable an individual to transmute DESIRE into its
monetary equivalent. ORGANIZED effort is produced through the
coordination of effort of two or more people, who work toward a DEFINITE
end, in a spirit of harmony.
POWER IS REQUIRED FOR THE ACCUMULATION OF MONEY!
POWER IS NECESSARY FOR THE RETENTION OF MONEY AFTER IT
HAS BEEN ACCUMULATED!
Let us ascertain how power may be acquired. If power is “organized
knowledge,” let us examine the sources of knowledge:
a. INFINITE INTELLIGENCE. This source of knowledge may be
contacted through the procedure described in another chapter, with the
aid of Creative Imagination.
b. ACCUMULATED EXPERIENCE. The accumulated experience of man,
(or that portion of it which has been organized and recorded), may be
found in any well-equipped public library. An important part of this
accumulated experience is taught in public schools and colleges, where
it has been classified and organized.
c. EXPERIMENT AND RESEARCH. In the field of science, and in
practically every other walk of life, men are gathering, classifying, and
organizing new facts daily. This is the source to which one must turn
when knowledge is not available through “accumulated experience.”
Here, too, the Creative Imagination must often be used.
Knowledge may be acquired from any of the foregoing sources. It may be
converted into POWER by organizing it into definite PLANS and by
expressing those plans in terms of ACTION.
Examination of the three major sources of knowledge will readily
disclose the difficulty an individual would have, if he depended upon his
efforts alone, in assembling knowledge and expressing it through definite
plans in terms of ACTION. If his plans are comprehensive, and if they
contemplate large proportions, he must, generally, induce others to cooperate
with him, before he can inject into them the necessary element of POWER.
GAINING POWER THROUGH THE “MASTER
MIND”
The “Master Mind” may be defined as: “Coordination of knowledge and
effort, in a spirit of harmony, between two or more people, for the attainment
of a definite purpose.”
No individual may have great power without availing himself of the
“Master Mind.” In a preceding chapter, instructions were given for the
creation of PLANS for the purpose of translating DESIRE into its monetary
equivalent. If you carry out these instructions with PERSISTENCE and
intelligence, and use discrimination in the selection of your “Master Mind”
group, your objective will have been half-way reached, even before you
begin to recognize it.
No individual may have great power without availing himself of
the “Master Mind.”
So you may better understand the “intangible” potentialities of power
available to you, through a properly chosen “Master Mind” group, we will
here explain the two characteristics of the Master Mind principle, one of
which is economic in nature, and the other psychic. The economic feature is
obvious. Economic advantages may be created by any person who surrounds
himself with the advice, counsel, and personal cooperation of a group of men
who are willing to lend him wholehearted aid, in a spirit of PERFECT
HARMONY. This form of cooperative alliance has been the basis of nearly
every great fortune. Your understanding of this great truth may definitely
determine your financial status.
The psychic phase of the Master Mind principle is much more abstract,
much more difficult to comprehend, because it has reference to the spiritual
forces with which the human race, as a whole, is not well acquainted. You
may catch a significant suggestion from this statement: “No two minds ever
come together without, thereby, creating a third, invisible, intangible force
which may be likened to a third mind.”
Keep in mind the fact that there are only two known elements in the
whole universe, energy and matter. It is a well known fact that matter may be
broken down into units of molecules, atoms, and electrons. There are units of
matter which may be isolated, separated, and analyzed.
Likewise, there are units of energy.
The human mind is a form of energy, a part of it being spiritual in nature.
When the minds of two people are coordinated in a SPIRIT OF HARMONY,
the spiritual units of energy of each mind form an affinity, which constitutes
the “psychic” phase of the Master Mind.
The Master Mind principle, or rather the economic feature of it, was
first called to my attention by Andrew Carnegie, over twenty-five years ago.
Discovery of this principle was responsible for the choice of my life’s work.
Mr. Carnegie’s Master Mind group consisted of a staff of approximately
fifty men, with whom he surrounded himself, for the DEFINITE PURPOSE of
manufacturing and marketing steel. He attributed his entire fortune to the
POWER he accumulated through this “Master Mind.”
Analyze the record of any man who has accumulated a great fortune, and
many of those who have accumulated modest fortunes, and you will find that
they have either consciously, or unconsciously employed the “Master Mind”
principle.
GREAT POWER CAN BE ACCUMULATED THROUGH NO OTHER
PRINCIPLE!
ENERGY is Nature’s universal set of building blocks, out of which she
constructs every material thing in the universe, including man, and every form
of animal and vegetable life. Through a process which only Nature
completely understands, she translates energy into matter.
Nature’s building blocks are available to man, in the energy involved in
THINKING! Man’s brain may be compared to an electric battery. It absorbs
energy from the ether, which permeates every atom of matter, and fills the
entire universe.
It is a well known fact that a group of electric batteries will provide
more energy than a single battery. It is also a well known fact that an
individual battery will provide energy in proportion to the number and
capacity of the cells it contains.
The brain functions in a similar fashion. This accounts for the fact that
some brains are more efficient than others, and leads to this significant
statement—a group of brains coordinated (or connected) in a spirit of
harmony, will provide more thought-energy than a single brain, just as a
group of electric batteries will provide more energy than a single battery.
Through this metaphor it becomes immediately obvious that the Master
Mind principle holds the secret of the POWER wielded by men who
surround themselves with other men of brains.
There follows, now, another statement which will lead still nearer to an
understanding of the psychic phase of the Master Mind principle: When a
group of individual brains are coordinated and function in Harmony, the
increased energy created through that alliance, becomes available to every
individual brain in the group.
It is a well known fact that Henry Ford began his business career under
the handicap of poverty, illiteracy, and ignorance. It is an equally well known
fact that, within the inconceivably short period of ten years, Mr. Ford
mastered these three handicaps, and that within twenty-five years he made
himself one of the richest men in America. Connect with this fact, the
additional knowledge that Mr. Ford’s most rapid strides became noticeable,
from the time he became a personal friend of Thomas A. Edison, and you
will begin to understand what the influence of one mind upon another can
accomplish. Go a step farther, and consider the fact that Mr. Ford’s most
outstanding achievements began from the time that he formed the
acquaintances of Harvey Firestone, John Burroughs, and Luther Burbank,
(each a man of great brain capacity), and you will have further evidence that
POWER may be produced through friendly alliance of minds.
There is little if any doubt that Henry Ford is one of the best informed
men in the business and industrial world. The question of his wealth needs no
discussion. Analyze Mr. Ford’s intimate personal friends, some of whom
have already been mentioned, and you will be prepared to understand the
following statement:
“Men take on the nature and the habits and the POWER OF THOUGHT
of those with whom they associate in a spirit of sympathy and harmony.”
Henry Ford whipped poverty, illiteracy, and ignorance by allying
himself with great minds, whose vibrations of thought he absorbed into his
own mind. Through his association with Edison, Burbank, Burroughs, and
Firestone, Mr. Ford added to his own brain power, the sum and substance of
the intelligence, experience, knowledge, and spiritual forces of these four
men. Moreover, he appropriated, and made use of the Master Mind principle
through the methods of procedure described in this book.
This principle is available to you!
We have already mentioned Mahatma Gandhi. Perhaps the majority of
those who have heard of Gandhi, look upon him as merely an eccentric little
man, who goes around without formal wearing apparel, and makes trouble
for the British Government.
In reality, Gandhi is not eccentric, but HE IS THE MOST POWERFUL
MAN NOW LIVING (estimated by the number of his followers and their
faith in their leader.) Moreover, he is probably the most powerful man who
has ever lived. His power is passive, but it is real.
Let us study the method by which he attained his stupendous POWER. It
may be explained in a few words. He came by POWER through inducing
over two hundred million people to coordinate, with mind and body, in a
spirit of HARMONY, for a DEFINITE PURPOSE.
In brief, Gandhi has accomplished a MIRACLE, for it is a miracle when
two hundred million people can be induced—not forced—to cooperate in a
spirit of HARMONY, for a limitless time. If you doubt that this is a miracle,
try to induce ANY TWO PEOPLE to cooperate in a spirit of harmony for any
length of time.
Every man who manages a business knows what a difficult matter it is to
get employees to work together in a spirit even remotely resembling
HARMONY.
The list of the chief sources from which POWER may be attained is, as
you have seen, headed by INFINITE INTELLIGENCE. When two or more
people coordinate in a spirit of HARMONY, and work toward a definite
objective, they place themselves in position, through that alliance, to absorb
power directly from the great universal storehouse of Infinite Intelligence.
This is the greatest of all sources of POWER. It is the source to which the
genius turns. It is the source to which every great leader turns, (whether he
may be conscious of the fact or not).
The other two major sources from which the knowledge, necessary for
the accumulation of POWER, may be obtained are no more reliable than the
five senses of man. The senses are not always reliable. Infinite Intelligence
DOES NOT ERR.
In subsequent chapters, the methods by which Infinite Intelligence may
be most readily contacted will be adequately described.
This is not a course on religion. No fundamental principle described in
this book should be interpreted as being intended to interfere either directly,
or indirectly, with any man’s religious habits. This book has been confined,
exclusively, to instructing the reader how to transmute the DEFINITE
PURPOSE OF DESIRE FOR MONEY, into its monetary equivalent.
Read, THINK, and meditate as you read. Soon, the entire subject will
unfold, and you will see it in perspective. You are now seeing the detail of
the individual chapters.
Money is as shy and elusive as the “old time” maiden. It must be wooed
and won by methods not unlike those used by a determined lover, in pursuit
of the girl of his choice. And, coincidental as it is, the POWER used in the
“wooing” of money is not greatly different from that used in wooing a
maiden. That power, when successfully used in the pursuit of money must be
mixed with FAITH. It must be mixed with DESIRE. It must be mixed with
PERSISTENCE. It must be applied through a plan, and that plan must be set
into ACTION.
When money comes in quantities known as “the big money,” it flows to
the one who accumulates it, as easily as water flows down hill. There exists
a great unseen stream of POWER, which may be compared to a river; except
that one side flows in one direction, carrying all who get into that side of the
stream, onward and upward to WEALTH—and the other side flows in the
opposite direction, carrying all who are unfortunate enough to get into it (and
not able to extricate themselves from it), downward to misery and
POVERTY.
Every man who has accumulated a great fortune, has recognized the
existence of this stream of life. It consists of one’s THINKING PROCESS.
The positive emotions of thought form the side of the stream which carries
one to fortune. The negative emotions form the side which carries one down
to poverty.
This carries a thought of stupendous importance to the person who is
following this book with the object of accumulating a fortune.
If you are in the side of the stream of POWER which leads to poverty,
this may serve as an oar, by which you may propel yourself over into the
other side of the stream. It can serve you ONLY through application and use.
Merely reading, and passing judgment on it, either one way or another, will
in no way benefit you.
Some people undergo the experience of alternating between the positive
and negative sides of the stream, being at times on the positive side, and at
times on the negative side. The Wall Street crash of ’29 swept millions of
people from the positive to the negative side of the stream. These millions
are struggling, some of them in desperation and fear, to get back to the
positive side of the stream. This book was written especially for those
millions.
Poverty and riches often change places. The Crash taught the world this
truth, although the world will not long remember the lesson. Poverty may, and
generally does, voluntarily take the place of riches. When riches take the
place of poverty, the change is usually brought about through well-conceived
and carefully executed PLANS. Poverty needs no plan. It needs no one to aid
it, because it is bold and ruthless. Riches are shy and timid. They have to be
“attracted.”
Chapter Ten Key Points
1. The Master Mind principle is the most easily neglected step in this
program but it is vital to success.
2. A Master Mind group consists of two or more people in
harmonious alliance to promote one another’s aims.
3. Your Master Mind meeting can take place face to face or by phone
or video call.
4. Your Master Mind group should meet a regularly designated time at
least once a week.
5. The Master Mind principle can be defined as Infinite Intelligence
localized. It is present whenever two or more people meet in a
spirit of mutual help and comity.
6. The one critical ingredient of the Master Mind is like values and
group harmony.
7. Your Master Mind group is an outlet for sharing your plans and
ideas. Use it as the opportunity to be self-revealing—the very thing
you must avoid with strangers, casual acquaintances, or people
who lack specialized knowledge.
ANYBODY CAN WISH FOR RICHES, AND MOST PEOPLE
DO, BUT ONLY A FEW KNOW THAT A DEFINITE PLAN,
PLUS A BURNING DESIRE FOR WEALTH, ARE THE ONLY
DEPENDABLE MEANS OF ACCUMULATING WEALTH.
Chapter 11
The Mystery of Sex Transmutation
The Tenth Step to Riches
The meaning of the word “transmute” is, in simple language, “the changing,
or transferring of one element, or form of energy, into another.”
The emotion of sex brings into being a state of mind.
Because of ignorance on the subject, this state of mind is generally
associated with the physical, and because of improper influences, to which
most people have been subjected, in acquiring knowledge of sex, things
essentially physical have highly biased the mind.
The emotion of sex has back of it the possibility of three constructive
potentialities, they are:
1. The perpetuation of mankind.
2. The maintenance of health, (as a therapeutic agency, it has no equal).
3. The transformation of mediocrity into genius through transmutation.
Sex transmutation is simple and easily explained. It means the switching
of the mind from thoughts of physical expression, to thoughts of some other
nature.
Sex desire is the most powerful of human desires. When driven by this
desire, men develop keenness of imagination, courage, will-power,
persistence, and creative ability unknown to them at other times. So strong
and impelling is the desire for sexual contact that men freely run the risk of
life and reputation to indulge it. When harnessed, and redirected along other
lines, this motivating force maintains all of its attributes of keenness of
imagination, courage, etc., which may be used as powerful creative forces in
literature, art, or in any other profession or calling, including, of course, the
accumulation of riches.
Sex desire is the most powerful of human desires. When driven
by this desire, men develop keenness of imagination, courage,
will-power, persistence, and creative ability unknown to them
at other times.
The transmutation of sex energy calls for the exercise of will-power, to
be sure, but the reward is worth the effort. The desire for sexual expression
is inborn and natural. The desire cannot, and should not be submerged or
eliminated. But it should be given an outlet through forms of expression
which enrich the body, mind, and spirit of man. If not given this form of
outlet, through transmutation, it will seek outlets through purely physical
channels.
A river may be dammed, and its water controlled for a time, but
eventually, it will force an outlet. The same is true of the emotion of sex. It
may be submerged and controlled for a time, but its very nature causes it to
be ever seeking means of expression. If it is not transmuted into some
creative effort it will find a less worthy outlet.
Fortunate, indeed, is the person who has discovered how to give sex
emotion an outlet through some form of creative effort, for he has, by that
discovery, lifted himself to the status of a genius.
Scientific research has disclosed these significant facts:
1. The men of greatest achievement are men with highly developed sex
natures; men who have learned the art of sex transmutation.
2. The men who have accumulated great fortunes and achieved outstanding
recognition in literature, art, industry, architecture, and the professions,
were motivated by the influence of a woman.
The research from which these astounding discoveries were made, went back
through the pages of biography and history for more than two thousand years.
Wherever there was evidence available in connection with the lives of men
and women of great achievement, it indicated most convincingly that they
possessed highly developed sex natures.
The emotion of sex is an “irresistible force,” against which there can be
no such opposition as an “immovable body.” When driven by this emotion,
men become gifted with a super power for action. Understand this truth, and
you will catch the significance of the statement that sex transmutation will lift
one to the status of a genius.
The emotion of sex is an “irresistible force,” against which
there can be no such opposition as an “immovable body.”
The emotion of sex contains the secret of creative ability.
Destroy the sex glands, whether in man or beast, and you have removed
the major source of action. For proof of this, observe what happens to any
animal after it has been castrated. A bull becomes as docile as a cow after it
has been altered sexually. Sex alteration takes out of the male, whether man
or beast, all the FIGHT that was in him. Sex alteration of the female has the
same effect.
THE TEN MIND STIMULI
The human mind responds to stimuli, through which it may be “keyed up” to
high rates of vibration, known as enthusiasm, creative imagination, intense
desire, etc. The stimuli to which the mind responds most freely are:
1. The desire for sex expression
2. Love
3. A burning desire for fame, power, or financial gain, MONEY
4. Music
5. Friendship between either those of the same sex, or those of the
opposite sex.
6. A Master Mind alliance based upon the harmony of two or more people
who ally themselves for spiritual or temporal advancement.
7. Mutual suffering, such as that experienced by people who are
persecuted.
8. Auto-suggestion
9. Fear
10. Narcotics and alcohol.
The desire for sex expression comes at the head of the list of stimuli, which
most effectively “step-up” the vibrations of the mind and start the “wheels”
of physical action. Eight of these stimuli are natural and constructive. Two
are destructive. The list is here presented for the purpose of enabling you to
make a comparative study of the major sources of mind stimulation. From
this study, it will be readily seen that the emotion of sex is, by great odds, the
most intense and powerful of all mind stimuli.
This comparison is necessary as a foundation for proof of the statement
that transmutation of sex energy may lift one to the status of a genius. Let us
find out what constitutes a genius.
Some wiseacre has said that a genius is a man who “wears long hair,
eats queer food, lives alone, and serves as a target for the joke makers.” A
better definition of a genius is, “a man who has discovered how to increase
the vibrations of thought to the point where he can freely communicate with
sources of knowledge not available through the ordinary rate of vibration of
thought.”
The person who thinks will want to ask some questions concerning this
definition of genius. The first question will be, “How may one communicate
with sources of knowledge which are not available through the ORDINARY
rate of vibration of thought?”
The next question will be, “Are there known sources of knowledge
which are available only to genii, and if so, WHAT ARE THESE
SOURCES, and exactly how may they be reached?”
We shall offer proof of the soundness of some of the more important
statements made in this book—or at least we shall offer evidence through
which you may secure your own proof through experimentation, and in doing
so, we shall answer both of these questions.
“GENIUS” IS DEVELOPED THROUGH THE
SIXTH SENSE
The reality of a “sixth sense” has been fairly well established. This sixth
sense is “Creative Imagination.” The faculty of creative imagination is one
which the majority of people never use during an entire lifetime, and if used
at all, it usually happens by mere accident. A relatively small number of
people use, WITH DELIBERATION AND PURPOSE AFORETHOUGHT,
the faculty of creative imagination. Those who use this faculty voluntarily,
and with understanding of its functions, are GENII.
The faculty of creative imagination is the direct link between the finite
mind of man and Infinite Intelligence. All so-called revelations, referred to in
the realm of religion, and all discoveries of basic or new principles in the
field of invention, take place through the faculty of creative imagination.
When ideas or concepts flash into one’s mind, through what is popularly
called a “hunch,” they come from one or more of the following sources:
1. Infinite Intelligence
2. One’s subconscious mind, wherein is stored every sense impression and
thought impulse which ever reached the brain through any of the five
senses
3. From the mind of some other person who has just released the thought,
or picture of the idea or concept, through conscious thought, or
4. From the other person’s subconscious storehouse.
There are no other KNOWN sources from which “inspired” ideas or
“hunches” may be received.
The creative imagination functions best when the mind is vibrating (due
to some form of mind stimulation) at an exceedingly high rate. That is, when
the mind is functioning at a rate of vibration higher than that of ordinary,
normal thought.
When brain action has been stimulated, through one or more of the ten
mind stimulants, it has the effect of lifting the individual far above the
horizon of ordinary thought, and permits him to envision distance, scope, and
quality of THOUGHTS not available on the lower plane, such as that
occupied while one is engaged in the solution of the problems of business
and professional routine.
When lifted to this higher level of thought, through any form of mind
stimulation, an individual occupies, relatively, the same position as one who
has ascended in an airplane to a height from which he may see over and
beyond the horizon line which limits his vision, while on the ground.
Moreover, while on this higher level of thought, the individual is not
hampered or bound by any of the stimuli which circumscribe and limit his
vision while wrestling with the problems of gaining the three basic
necessities of food, clothing, and shelter. He is in a world of thought in which
the ORDINARY, work-a-day thoughts have been as effectively removed as
are the hills and valleys and other limitations of physical vision, when he
rises in an airplane.
While on this exalted plane of THOUGHT, the creative faculty of the
mind is given freedom for action. The way has been cleared for the sixth
sense to function, it becomes receptive to ideas which could not reach the
individual under any other circumstances. The “sixth sense” is the faculty
which marks the difference between a genius and an ordinary individual.
The creative faculty becomes more alert and receptive to vibrations,
originating outside the individual’s subconscious mind, the more this faculty
is used, and the more the individual relies upon it, and makes demands upon
it for thought impulses. This faculty can be cultivated and developed only
through use.
That which is known as one’s “conscience” operates entirely through the
faculty of the sixth sense.
The great artists, writers, musicians, and poets become great, because
they acquire the habit of relying upon the “still small voice” which speaks
from within, through the faculty of creative imagination. It is a fact well
known to people who have “keen” imaginations that their best ideas come
through so-called “hunches.”
There is a great orator who does not attain to greatness, until he closes
his eyes and begins to rely entirely upon the faculty of Creative Imagination.
When asked why he closed his eyes just before the climaxes of his oratory,
he replied, “I do it, because, then I speak through ideas which come to me
from within.”
One of America’s most successful and best known financiers followed
the habit of closing his eyes for two or three minutes before making a
decision. When asked why he did this, he replied, “With my eyes closed, I
am able to draw upon a source of superior intelligence.”
The late Dr. Elmer R. Gates, of Chevy Chase, Maryland, created more
than 200 useful patents, many of them basic, through the process of
cultivating and using the creative faculty. His method is both significant and
interesting to one interested in attaining to the status of genius, in which
category Dr. Gates, unquestionably belonged. Dr. Gates was one of the really
great, though less publicized scientists of the world.
In his laboratory, he had what he called his “personal communication
room.” It was practically sound proof, and so arranged that all light could be
shut out. It was equipped with a small table, on which he kept a pad of
writing paper. In front of the table, on the wall, was an electric pushbutton,
which controlled the lights. When Dr. Gates desired to draw upon the forces
available to him through his Creative Imagination, he would go into this
room, seat himself at the table, shut off the lights, and CONCENTRATE upon
the KNOWN factors of the invention on which he was working, remaining in
that position until ideas began to “flash” into his mind in connection with the
UNKNOWN factors of the invention.
On one occasion, ideas came through so fast that he was forced to write
for almost three hours. When the thoughts stopped flowing, and he examined
his notes, he found they contained a minute description of principles which
had not a parallel among the known data of the scientific world. Moreover,
the answer to his problem was intelligently presented in those notes. In this
manner Dr. Gates completed over 200 patents, which had been begun, but not
completed, by “half-baked” brains. Evidence of the truth of this statement is
in the United States Patent Office.
Dr. Gates earned his living by “sitting for ideas” for individuals and
corporations. Some of the largest corporations in America paid him
substantial fees, by the hour, for “sitting for ideas.”
The reasoning faculty is often faulty, because it is largely guided by
one’s accumulated experience. Not all knowledge, which one accumulates
through “experience,” is accurate. Ideas received through the creative faculty
are much more reliable, for the reason that they come from sources more
reliable than any which are available to the reasoning faculty of the mind.
The major difference between the genius and the ordinary “crank”
inventor, may be found in the fact that the genius works through his faculty of
creative imagination, while the “crank” knows nothing of this faculty. The
scientific inventor (such as Mr. Edison, and Dr. Gates), makes use of both the
synthetic and the creative faculties of imagination.
For example, the scientific inventor, or “genius,” begins an invention by
organizing and combining the known ideas, or principles accumulated
through experience, through the synthetic faculty (the reasoning faculty). If he
finds this accumulated knowledge to be insufficient for the completion of his
invention, he then draws upon the sources of knowledge available to him
through his creative faculty. The method by which he does this varies with
the individual, but this is the sum and substance of his procedure:
1. HE STIMULATES HIS MIND SO THAT IT VIBRATES ON A
HIGHER-THAN-AVERAGE PLANE, using one or more of the ten mind
stimulants or some other stimulant of his choice.
2. HE CONCENTRATES upon the known factors (the finished part) of his
invention, and creates in his mind a perfect picture of unknown factors
(the unfinished part), of his invention. He holds this picture in mind until
it has been taken over by the subconscious mind, then relaxes by
clearing his mind of ALL thought, and waits for his answer to “flash”
into his mind.
Sometimes the results are both definite and immediate. At other times, the
results are negative, depending upon the state of development of the “sixth
sense,” or creative faculty.
Mr. Edison tried out more than 10,000 different combinations of ideas
through the synthetic faculty of his imagination before he “tuned in” through
the creative faculty, and got the answer which perfected the incandescent
light. His experience was similar when he produced the talking machine.
There is plenty of reliable evidence that the faculty of creative
imagination exists. This evidence is available through accurate analysis of
men who have become leaders in their respective callings, without having
had extensive educations. Lincoln was a notable example of a great leader
who achieved greatness, through the discovery, and use of his faculty of
creative imagination. He discovered, and began to use this faculty as the
result of the stimulation of love which he experienced after he met Anne
Rutledge, a statement of the highest significance, in connection with the study
of the source of genius.
The pages of history are filled with the records of great leaders whose
achievements may be traced directly to the influence of women who aroused
the creative faculties of their minds, through the stimulation of sex desire.
Napoleon Bonaparte was one of these. When inspired by his first wife,
Josephine, he was irresistible and invincible. When his “better judgment” or
reasoning faculty prompted him to put Josephine aside, he began to decline.
His defeat and St. Helena were not far distant.
If good taste would permit, we might easily mention scores of men, well
known to the American people, who climbed to great heights of achievement
under the stimulating influence of their wives, only to drop back to
destruction AFTER money and power went to their heads, and they put aside
the old wife for a new one. Napoleon was not the only man to discover that
sex influence, from the right source, is more powerful than any substitute of
expediency, which may be created by mere reason.
The human mind responds to stimulation!
Among the greatest, and most powerful of these stimuli is the urge of
sex. When harnessed and transmuted, this driving force is capable of lifting
men into that higher sphere of thought which enables them to master the
sources of worry and petty annoyance which beset their pathway on the
lower plane.
Unfortunately, only the genii have made the discovery. Others have
accepted the experience of sex urge, without discovering one of its major
potentialities—a fact which accounts for the great number of “others” as
compared to the limited number of genii.
For the purpose of refreshing the memory, in connection with the facts
available from the biographies of certain men, we here present the names of
a few men of outstanding achievement, each of whom was known to have
been of a highly sexed nature. The genius which was their’s, undoubtedly
found its source of power in transmuted sex energy:
George Washington
Napoleon Bonaparte
William Shakespeare
Abraham Lincoln
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Robert Burns
Andrew Jackson
Thomas Jefferson
Elbert Hubbard
Elbert H. Gary
Oscar Wilde
Woodrow Wilson
John H. Patterson
Enrico Caruso
Your own knowledge of biography will enable you to add to this list.
Find, if you can, a single man, in all history of civilization, who achieved
outstanding success in any calling, who was not driven by a well developed
sex nature.
If you do not wish to rely upon biographies of men not now living, take
inventory of those whom you know to be men of great achievement, and see if
you can find one among them who is not highly sexed.
Sex energy is the creative energy of all genii. There never has been, and
never will be a great leader, builder, or artist lacking in this driving force
of sex.
Surely no one will misunderstand these statements to mean that ALL who
are highly sexed are genii! Man attains to the status of a genius ONLY when,
and IF, he stimulates his mind so that it draws upon the forces available,
through the creative faculty of the imagination. Chief among the stimuli with
which this “stepping up” of the vibrations may be produced is sex energy.
The mere possession of this energy is not sufficient to produce a genius. The
energy must be transmuted from desire for physical contact, into some other
form of desire and action, before it will lift one to the status of a genius.
Far from becoming genii, because of great sex desires, the majority of
men lower themselves, through misunderstanding and misuse of this great
force, to the status of the lower animals.
WHY MEN SELDOM SUCCEED BEFORE
FORTY
I discovered, from the analysis of over 25,000 people, that men who succeed
in an outstanding way, seldom do so before the age of forty, and more often
they do not strike their real pace until they are well beyond the age of fifty.
This fact was so astounding that it prompted me to go into the study of its
cause most carefully, carrying the investigation over a period of more than
twelve years.
This study disclosed the fact that the major reason why the majority of
men who succeed do not begin to do so before the age of forty to fifty, is their
tendency to DISSIPATE their energies through over indulgence in physical
expression of the emotion of sex. The majority of men never learn that the
urge of sex has other possibilities, which far transcend in importance, that of
mere physical expression. The majority of those who make this discovery, do
so after having wasted many years at a period when the sex energy is at its
height, prior to the age of forty-five to fifty. This usually is followed by
noteworthy achievement.
The lives of many men up to, and sometimes well past the age of forty,
reflect a continued dissipation of energies, which could have been more
profitably turned into better channels. Their finer and more powerful
emotions are sown wildly to the four winds. Out of this habit of the male,
grew the term, “sowing his wild oats.”
The desire for sexual expression is by far the strongest and most
impelling of all the human emotions, and for this very reason this desire,
when harnessed and transmuted into action, other than that of physical
expression, may raise one to the status of a genius.
One of America’s most able business men frankly admitted that his
attractive secretary was responsible for most of the plans he created. He
admitted that her presence lifted him to heights of creative imagination, such
as he could experience under no other stimulus.
One of the most successful men in America owes most of his success to
the influence of a very charming young woman, who has served as his source
of inspiration for more than twelve years. Everyone knows the man to whom
this reference is made, but not everyone knows the REAL SOURCE of his
achievements.
History is not lacking in examples of men who attained to the status of
genii, as the result of the use of artificial mind stimulants in the form of
alcohol and narcotics. Edgar Allen Poe wrote the “Raven” while under the
influence of liquor, “dreaming dreams that mortal never dared to dream
before.” James Whitcomb Riley did his best writing while under the
influence of alcohol. Perhaps it was thus he saw “the ordered intermingling
of the real and the dream, the mill above the river, and the mist above the
stream.” Robert Burns wrote best when intoxicated, “For Auld Lang Syne,
my dear, we’ll take a cup of kindness yet, for Auld Lang Syne.”
But let it be remembered that many such men have destroyed themselves
in the end. Nature has prepared her own potions with which men may safely
stimulate their minds so they vibrate on a plane that enables them to tune in to
fine and rare thoughts which come from—no man knows where! No
satisfactory substitute for Nature’s stimulants has ever been found.
It is a fact well known to psychologists that there is a very close
relationship between sex desires and spiritual urges—a fact which accounts
for the peculiar behavior of people who participate in the orgies known as
religious “revivals,” common among the primitive types.
The world is ruled, and the destiny of civilization is established, by the
human emotions. People are influenced in their actions, not by reason so
much as by “feelings.” The creative faculty of the mind is set into action
entirely by emotions, and not by cold reason. The most powerful of all
human emotions is that of sex. There are other mind stimulants, some of
which have been listed, but no one of them, nor all of them combined, can
equal the driving power of sex.
The world is ruled, and the destiny of civilization is established,
by the human emotions.
A mind stimulant is any influence which will either temporarily, or
permanently, increase the vibrations of thought. The ten major stimulants,
described, are those most commonly resorted to. Through these sources one
may commune with Infinite Intelligence, or enter, at will, the storehouse of
the subconscious mind, either one’s own, or that of another person, a
procedure which is all there is of genius.
A teacher, who has trained and directed the efforts of more than 30,000
sales people, made the astounding discovery that highly sexed men are the
most efficient salesmen. The explanation is, that the factor of personality
known as “personal magnetism” is nothing more nor less than sex energy.
Highly sexed people always have a plentiful supply of magnetism. Through
cultivation and understanding, this vital force may be drawn upon and used to
great advantage in the relationships between people. This energy may be
communicated to others through the following media:
1. The hand-shake. The touch of the hand indicates, instantly, the presence
of magnetism, or the lack of it.
2. The tone of voice. Magnetism, or sex energy, is the factor with which
the voice may be colored, or made musical and charming.
3. Posture and carriage of the body. Highly sexed people move briskly,
and with grace and ease.
4. The vibrations of thought. Highly sexed people mix the emotion of sex
with their thoughts, or may do so at will, and in that way, may influence
those around them.
5. Body adornment. People who are highly sexed are usually very careful
about their personal appearance. They usually select clothing of a style
becoming to their personality, physique, complexion, etc.
When employing salesmen, the more capable sales manager looks for the
quality of personal magnetism as the first requirement of a salesman. People
who lack sex energy will never become enthusiastic nor inspire others with
enthusiasm, and enthusiasm is one of the most important requisites in
salesmanship, no matter what one is selling.
The public speaker, orator, preacher, lawyer, or salesman who is lacking
in sex energy is a “flop,” as far as being able to influence others is
concerned. Couple with this the fact, that most people can be influenced only
through an appeal to their emotions, and you will understand the importance
of sex energy as a part of the salesman’s native ability. Master salesmen
attain the status of mastery in selling, because they, either consciously, or
unconsciously, transmute the energy of sex into SALES ENTHUSIASM! In
this statement may be found a very practical suggestion as to the actual
meaning of sex transmutation.
The salesman who knows how to take his mind off the subject of sex,
and direct it in sales effort with as much enthusiasm and determination as he
would apply to its original purpose, has acquired the art of sex transmutation,
whether he knows it or not. The majority of salesmen who transmute their sex
energy do so without being in the least aware of what they are doing, or how
they are doing it.
Transmutation of sex energy calls for more will power than the average
person cares to use for this purpose. Those who find it difficult to summon
will-power sufficient for transmutation, may gradually acquire this ability.
Though this requires will-power, the reward for the practice is more than
worth the effort.
The entire subject of sex is one with which the majority of people
appear to be unpardonably ignorant. The urge of sex has been grossly
misunderstood, slandered, and burlesqued by the ignorant and the evil
minded, for so long that the very word sex is seldom used in polite society.
Men and women who are known to be blessed—yes, BLESSED—with
highly sexed natures, are usually looked upon as being people who will bear
watching. Instead of being called blessed, they are usually called cursed.
Millions of people, even in this age of enlightenment, have inferiority
complexes which they developed because of this false belief that a highly
sexed nature is a curse. These statements, of the virtue of sex energy, should
not be construed as justification for the libertine. The emotion of sex is a
virtue ONLY when used intelligently, and with discrimination. It may be
misused, and often is, to such an extent that it debases, instead of enriches,
both body and mind. The better use of this power is the burden of this
chapter.
It seemed quite significant to the author, when he made the discovery that
practically every great leader, whom he had the privilege of analyzing, was a
man whose achievements were largely inspired by a woman. In many
instances, the “woman in the case” was a modest, self-denying wife, of
whom the public had heard but little or nothing. In a few instances, the source
of inspiration has been traced to the “other woman.” Perhaps such cases may
not be entirely unknown to you.
Intemperance in sex habits is just as detrimental as intemperance in
habits of drinking and eating. In this age in which we live, an age which
began with the world war, intemperance in habits of sex is common. This
orgy of indulgence may account for the shortage of great leaders. No man can
avail himself of the forces of his creative imagination, while dissipating
them. Man is the only creature on earth which violates Nature’s purpose in
this connection. Every other animal indulges its sex nature in moderation, and
with purpose which harmonizes with the laws of nature. Every other animal
responds to the call of sex only in “season.” Man’s inclination is to declare
“open season.”
Every intelligent person knows that stimulation in excess, through
alcoholic drink and narcotics, is a form of intemperance which destroys the
vital organs of the body, including the brain. Not every person knows,
however, that over indulgence in sex expression may become a habit as
destructive and as detrimental to creative effort as narcotics or liquor.
A sex-mad man is not essentially different than a dope-mad man! Both
have lost control over their faculties of reason and will-power. Sexual
overindulgence may not only destroy reason and willpower, but it may also
lead to either temporary, or permanent insanity. Many cases of hypochondria
(imaginary illness) grow out of habits developed in ignorance of the true
function of sex.
From these brief references to the subject, it may be readily seen that
ignorance on the subject of sex transmutation, forces stupendous penalties
upon the ignorant on the one hand, and withholds from them equally
stupendous benefits, on the other.
Widespread ignorance on the subject of sex is due to the fact that the
subject has been surrounded with mystery and beclouded by dark silence.
The conspiracy of mystery and silence has had the same effect upon the
minds of young people that the psychology of prohibition had. The result has
been increased curiosity, and desire to acquire more knowledge on this
“verboten” subject; and to the shame of all lawmakers, and most physicians
—by training best qualified to educate youth on that subject—information has
not been easily available.
Seldom does an individual enter upon highly creative effort in any field
of endeavor before the age of forty. The average man reaches the period of
his greatest capacity to create between forty and sixty. These statements are
based upon analysis of thousands of men and women who have been
carefully observed. They should be encouraging to those who fail to arrive
before the age of forty, and to those who become frightened at the approach
of “old age,” around the forty-year mark. The years between forty and fifty
are, as a rule, the most fruitful. Man should approach this age, not with fear
and trembling, but with hope and eager anticipation.
If you want evidence that most men do not begin to do their best work
before the age of forty, study the records of the most successful men known to
the American people, and you will find it. Henry Ford had not “hit his pace”
of achievement until he had passed the age of forty. Andrew Carnegie was
well past forty before he began to reap the reward of his efforts. James J.
Hill was still running a telegraph key at the age of forty. His stupendous
achievements took place after that age. Biographies of American
industrialists and financiers are filled with evidence that the period from
forty to sixty is the most productive age of man.
Between the ages of thirty and forty, man begins to learn (if he ever
learns), the art of sex transmutation. This discovery is generally accidental,
and more often than otherwise, the man who makes it is totally unconscious
of his discovery. He may observe that his powers of achievement have
increased around the age of thirty-five to forty, but in most cases, he is not
familiar with the cause of this change; that Nature begins to harmonize the
emotions of love and sex in the individual, between the ages of thirty and
forty, so that he may draw upon these great forces, and apply them jointly as
stimuli to action.
Sex, alone, is a mighty urge to action, but its forces are like a cyclone—
they are often uncontrollable. When the emotion of love begins to mix itself
with the emotion of sex, the result is calmness of purpose, poise, accuracy of
judgment, and balance. What person, who has attained to the age of forty, is
so unfortunate as to be unable to analyze these statements, and to corroborate
them by his own experience?
When driven by his desire to please a woman, based solely upon the
emotion of sex, a man may be, and usually is, capable of great achievement,
but his actions may be disorganized, distorted, and totally destructive. When
driven by his desire to please a woman, based upon the motive of sex alone,
a man may steal, cheat, and even commit murder. But when the emotion of
LOVE is mixed with the emotion of sex, that same man will guide his actions
with more sanity, balance, and reason.
Criminologists have discovered that the most hardened criminals can be
reformed through the influence of a woman’s love. There is no record of a
criminal having been reformed solely through the sex influence. These facts
are well known, but their cause is not. Reformation comes, if at all, through
the heart, or the emotional side of man, not through his head, or reasoning
side. Reformation means, “a change of heart.” It does not mean a “change of
head.” A man may, because of reason, make certain changes in his personal
conduct to avoid the consequences of undesirable effects, but GENUINE
REFORMATION comes only through a change of heart—through a DESIRE
to change.
Love, Romance, and Sex are all emotions capable of driving men to
heights of super achievement. Love is the emotion which serves as a safety
valve, and insures balance, poise, and constructive effort. When combined,
these three emotions may lift one to an altitude of a genius. There are genii,
however, who know but little of the emotion of love. Most of them may be
found engaged in some form of action which is destructive, or at least, not
based upon justice and fairness toward others. If good taste would permit, a
dozen genii could be named in the field of industry and finance, who ride
ruthlessly over the rights of their fellow men. They seem totally lacking in
conscience. The reader can easily supply his own list of such men.
The emotions are states of mind. Nature has provided man with a
“chemistry of the mind” which operates in a manner similar to the principles
of chemistry of matter. It is a well known fact that, through the aid of
chemistry of matter, a chemist may create a deadly poison by mixing certain
elements, none of which are—in themselves—harmful in the right
proportions. The emotions may, likewise, be combined so as to create a
deadly poison. The emotions of sex and jealousy, when mixed, may turn a
person into an insane beast.
The presence of any one or more of the destructive emotions in the
human mind, through the chemistry of the mind, sets up a poison which may
destroy one’s sense of justice and fairness. In extreme cases, the presence of
any combination of these emotions in the mind may destroy one’s reason.
The road to genius consists of the development, control, and use of sex,
love, and romance. Briefly, the process may be stated as follows:
Encourage the presence of these emotions as the dominating thoughts in
one’s mind, and discourage the presence of all the destructive emotions. The
mind is a creature of habit. It thrives upon the dominating thoughts fed it.
Through the faculty of will-power, one may discourage the presence of any
emotion, and encourage the presence of any other. Control of the mind,
through the power of will, is not difficult. Control comes from persistence,
and habit. The secret of control lies in understanding the process of
transmutation. When any negative emotion presents itself in one’s mind, it can
be transmuted into a positive, or constructive emotion, by the simple
procedure of changing one’s thoughts.
THERE IS NO OTHER ROAD TO GENIUS THAN THROUGH
VOLUNTARY SELF EFFORT! A man may attain to great heights of financial
or business achievement, solely by the driving force of sex energy, but
history is filled with evidence that he may, and usually does, carry with him
certain traits of character which rob him of the ability to either hold, or enjoy
his fortune. This is worthy of analysis, thought, and meditation, for it states a
truth, the knowledge of which may be helpful to women as well as men.
Ignorance of this has cost thousands of people their privilege of
HAPPINESS, even though they possessed riches.
The emotions of love and sex leave their unmistakable marks upon the
features. Moreover, these signs are so visible, that all who wish may read
them. The man who is driven by the storm of passion, based upon sex desires
alone, plainly advertises that fact to the entire world, by the expression of his
eyes, and the lines of his face. The emotion of love, when mixed with the
emotion of sex, softens, modifies, and beautifies the facial expression. No
character analyst is needed to tell you this—you may observe it for yourself.
The emotion of love brings out, and develops, the artistic and the
aesthetic nature of man. It leaves its impress upon one’s very soul, even after
the fire has been subdued by time and circumstance.
Memories of love never pass. They linger, guide, and influence long
after the source of stimulation has faded. There is nothing new in this. Every
person, who has been moved by GENUINE LOVE, knows that it leaves
enduring traces upon the human heart. The effect of love endures, because
love is spiritual in nature. The man who cannot be stimulated to great heights
of achievement by love, is hopeless—he is dead, though he may seem to live.
Even the memories of love are sufficient to lift one to a higher plane of
creative effort. The major force of love may spend itself and pass away, like
a fire which has burned itself out, but it leaves behind indelible marks as
evidence that it passed that way. Its departure often prepares the human heart
for a still greater love.
Go back into your yesterdays, at times, and bathe your mind in the
beautiful memories of past love. It will soften the influence of the present
worries and annoyances. It will give you a source of escape from the
unpleasant realities of life, and maybe—who knows?—your mind will yield
to you, during this temporary retreat into the world of fantasy, ideas, or plans
which may change the entire financial or spiritual status of your life.
If you believe yourself unfortunate, because you have “loved and lost,”
perish the thought. One who has loved truly, can never lose entirely. Love is
whimsical and temperamental. Its nature is ephemeral, and transitory. It
comes when it pleases, and goes away without warning. Accept and enjoy it
while it remains, but spend no time worrying about its departure. Worry will
never bring it back.
Dismiss, also, the thought that love never comes but once. Love may
come and go, times without number, but there are no two love experiences
which affect one in just the same way. There may be, and there usually is, one
love experience which leaves a deeper imprint on the heart than all the
others, but all love experiences are beneficial, except to the person who
becomes resentful and cynical when love makes its departure.
There should be no disappointment over love, and there would be none
if people understood the difference between the emotions of love and sex.
The major difference is that love is spiritual, while sex is biological. No
experience, which touches the human heart with a spiritual force, can
possibly be harmful, except through ignorance, or jealousy.
Love is, without question, life’s greatest experience. It brings one into
communion with Infinite Intelligence. When mixed with the emotions of
romance and sex, it may lead one far up the ladder of creative effort. The
emotions of love, sex, and romance, are sides of the eternal triangle of
achievement-building genius. Nature creates genii through no other force.
Love is an emotion with many sides, shades, and colors. The love which
one feels for parents, or children is quite different from that which one feels
for one’s sweetheart. The one is mixed with the emotion of sex, while the
other is not.
The love which one feels in true friendship is not the same as that felt for
one’s sweetheart, parents, or children, but it, too, is a form of love.
Then, there is the emotion of love for things inanimate, such as the love
of Nature’s handiwork. But the most intense and burning of all these various
kinds of love, is that experienced in the blending of the emotions of love and
sex. Marriages, not blessed with the eternal affinity of love, properly
balanced and proportioned, with sex, cannot be happy ones—and seldom
endure. Love, alone, will not bring happiness in marriage, nor will sex alone.
When these two beautiful emotions are blended, marriage may bring about a
state of mind, closest to the spiritual that one may ever know on this earthly
plane.
When the emotion of romance is added to those of love and sex, the
obstructions between the finite mind of man and Infinite Intelligence are
removed. Then a genius has been born!
What a different story is this, than those usually associated with the
emotion of sex. Here is an interpretation of the emotion which lifts it out of
the commonplace, and makes of it potter’s clay in the hands of God, from
which He fashions all that is beautiful and inspiring. It is an interpretation
which would, when properly understood, bring harmony out of the chaos
which exists in too many marriages. The disharmonies often expressed in the
form of nagging, may usually be traced to lack of knowledge on the subject of
sex. Where love, romance and the proper understanding of the emotion and
function of sex abide, there is no disharmony between married people.
Fortunate is the husband whose wife understands the true relationship
between the emotions of love, sex, and romance. When motivated by this
holy triumvirate, no form of labor is burdensome, because even the most
lowly form of effort takes on the nature of a labor of love.
It is a very old saying that “a man’s wife may either make him or break
him,” but the reason is not always understood. The “making” and “breaking”
is the result of the wife’s understanding, or lack of understanding of the
emotions of love, sex, and romance.
Despite the fact that men are polygamous, by the very nature of their
biological inheritance, it is true that no woman has as great an influence on a
man as his wife, unless he is married to a woman totally unsuited to his
nature. If a woman permits her husband to lose interest in her, and become
more interested in other women, it is usually because of her ignorance, or
indifference toward the subjects of sex, love, and romance. This statement
presupposes, of course, that genuine love once existed between a man and his
wife. The facts are equally applicable to a man who permits his wife’s
interest in him to die.
Married people often bicker over a multitude of trivialities. If these are
analyzed accurately, the real cause of the trouble will often be found to be
indifference, or ignorance on these subjects.
Man’s greatest motivating force is his desire to please woman! The
hunter who excelled during prehistoric days, before the dawn of civilization,
did so, because of his desire to appear great in the eyes of woman. Man’s
nature has not changed in this respect. The “hunter” of today brings home no
skins of wild animals, but he indicates his desire for her favor by supplying
fine clothes, motor cars, and wealth. Man has the same desire to please
woman that he had before the dawn of civilization. The only thing that has
changed, is his method of pleasing. Men who accumulate large fortunes, and
attain to great heights of power and fame, do so, mainly, to satisfy their
desire to please women. Take women out of their lives, and great wealth
would be useless to most men. It is this inherent desire of man to please
woman, which gives woman the power to make or break a man.
The woman who understands man’s nature and tactfully caters to it, need
have no fear of competition from other women. Men may be “giants” with
indomitable will-power when dealing with other men, but they are easily
managed by the women of their choice.
Most men will not admit that they are easily influenced by the women
they prefer, because it is in the nature of the male to want to be recognized as
the stronger of the species. Moreover, the intelligent woman recognizes this
“manly trait” and very wisely makes no issue of it.
Some men know that they are being influenced by the women of their
choice—their wives, sweethearts, mothers or sisters—but they tactfully
refrain from rebelling against the influence because they are intelligent
enough to know that NO MAN IS HAPPY OR COMPLETE WITHOUT THE
MODIFYING INFLUENCE OF THE RIGHT WOMAN. The man who does
not recognize this important truth deprives himself of the power which has
done more to help men achieve success than all other forces combined.
Chapter Eleven Key Points
1. Sex energy is the creative element behind life.
2. Sexuality is often narrowly understood as physical pleasure or
procreation. But the urge of sexual desire is the perpetuating
energy of life yearning to express itself in all facets of human
endeavor.
3. We use unconsciously use sex energy in many areas of life such as
sales enthusiasm.
4. The method of sex transmutation is simple: when you feel the
sexual urge you mentally shift your attention to a cherished or
critical task.
5. Redirected sex energy adds acumen, inspiration, intelligence, and
power to your efforts.
6. The practice of sex transmutation does not require abstinence from
ordinary sexual activity. You redirect your sexual impulses at times
of your own choosing.
7. Sexual desire is one of the most powerful drives in human nature—
it often proves overpowering. Bring your attention to it and use it
carefully.
Chapter 12
The Subconscious Mind
The Connecting Link
The Eleventh Step to Riches
THE SUBCONSCIOUS MIND consists of a field of consciousness, in which
every impulse of thought that reaches the objective mind through any of the
five senses, is classified and recorded, and from which thoughts may be
recalled or withdrawn as letters may be taken from a filing cabinet.
It receives, and files, sense impressions or thoughts, regardless of their
nature. You may VOLUNTARILY plant in your subconscious mind any plan,
thought, or purpose which you desire to translate into its physical or
monetary equivalent. The subconscious acts first on the dominating desires
which have been mixed with emotional feeling, such as faith.
Consider this in connection with the instructions given in the chapter on
DESIRE, for taking the six steps there outlined, and the instructions given in
the chapter on the building and execution of plans, and you will understand
the importance of the thought conveyed.
THE SUBCONSCIOUS MIND WORKS DAY AND NIGHT. Through a
method of procedure, unknown to man, the subconscious mind draws upon
the forces of Infinite Intelligence for the power with which it voluntarily
transmutes one’s desires into their physical equivalent, making use, always of
the most practical media by which this end may be accomplished.
You cannot entirely control your subconscious mind, but you can
voluntarily hand over to it any plan, desire, or purpose which you wish
transformed into concrete form. Read, again, instructions for using the
subconscious mind, in the chapter on auto-suggestion.
There is plenty of evidence to support the belief that the subconscious
mind is the connecting link between the finite mind of man and Infinite
Intelligence. It is the intermediary through which one may draw upon the
forces of Infinite Intelligence at will. It, alone, contains the secret process by
which mental impulses are modified and changed into their spiritual
equivalent. It, alone, is the medium through which prayer may be transmitted
to the source capable of answering prayer.
The possibilities of creative effort connected with the subconscious
mind are stupendous and imponderable. They inspire one with awe.
I never approach the discussion of the subconscious mind without a
feeling of littleness and inferiority due, perhaps, to the fact that man’s entire
stock of knowledge on this subject is so pitifully limited. The very fact that
the subconscious mind is the medium of communication between the thinking
mind of man and Infinite Intelligence is, of itself, a thought which almost
paralyzes one’s reason.
After you have accepted, as a reality, the existence of the subconscious
mind, and understand its possibilities, as a medium for transmuting your
DESIRES into their physical or monetary equivalent, you will comprehend
the full significance of the instructions given in the chapter on DESIRE. You
will also understand why you have been repeatedly admonished to MAKE
YOUR DESIRES CLEAR, AND TO REDUCE THEM TO WRITING. You
will also understand the necessity of PERSISTENCE in carrying out
instructions.
The thirteen principles are the stimuli with which you acquire the ability
to reach, and to influence your subconscious mind. Do not become
discouraged, if you cannot do this upon the first attempt. Remember that the
subconscious mind may be voluntarily directed only through habit, under the
directions given in the chapter on FAITH. You have not yet had time to
master faith. Be patient. Be persistent.
A good many statements in the chapters on faith and auto-suggestion will
be repeated here, for the benefit of YOUR subconscious mind. Remember,
your subconscious mind functions voluntarily, whether you make any effort
to influence it or not. This, naturally, suggests to you that thoughts of fear and
poverty, and all negative thoughts serve as stimuli to your subconscious
mind, unless, you master these impulses and give it more desirable food
upon which it may feed.
Your subconscious mind functions voluntarily, whether you
make any effort to influence it or not.
The subconscious mind will not remain idle! If you fail to plant
DESIRES in your subconscious mind, it will feed upon the thoughts which
reach it as the result of your neglect. We have already explained that thought
impulses, both negative and positive are reaching the subconscious mind
continuously, from the four sources which were mentioned in the chapter on
Sex Transmutation.
For the present, it is sufficient if you remember that you are living daily,
in the midst of all manner of thought impulses which are reaching your
subconscious mind, without your knowledge. Some of these impulses are
negative, some are positive. You are now engaged in trying to help shut off
the flow of negative impulses, and to aid in voluntarily influencing your
subconscious mind, through positive impulses of DESIRE.
When you achieve this, you will possess the key which unlocks the door
to your subconscious mind. Moreover, you will control that door so
completely, that no undesirable thought may influence your subconscious
mind.
Everything which man creates, BEGINS in the form of a thought impulse.
Man can create nothing which he does not first conceive in THOUGHT.
Through the aid of the imagination, thought impulses may be assembled into
plans. The imagination, when under control, may be used for the creation of
plans or purposes that lead to success in one’s chosen occupation.
Man can create nothing which he does not first conceive in
THOUGHT.
All thought impulses, intended for transmutation into their physical
equivalent, voluntarily planted in the subconscious mind, must pass through
the imagination, and be mixed with faith. The “mixing” of faith with a plan,
or purpose, intended for submission to the subconscious mind, may be done
ONLY through the imagination.
From these statements, you will readily observe that voluntary use of the
subconscious mind calls for coordination and application of all the
principles.
Ella Wheeler Wilcox gave evidence of her understanding of the power
of the subconscious mind when she wrote:
“You never can tell what a thought will do
In bringing you hate or love—
For thoughts are things, and their airy wings
Are swifter than carrier doves.
They follow the law of the universe—
Each thing creates its kind,
And they speed O’er the track to bring you back
Whatever went out from your mind.”
Mrs. Wilcox understood the truth, that thoughts which go out from one’s mind,
also imbed themselves deeply in one’s subconscious mind, where they serve
as a magnet, pattern, or blueprint by which the subconscious mind is
influenced while translating them into their physical equivalent. Thoughts are
truly things, for the reason that every material thing begins in the form of
thought-energy.
The subconscious mind is more susceptible to influence by impulses of
thought mixed with “feeling” or emotion, than by those originating solely in
the reasoning portion of the mind. In fact, there is much evidence to support
the theory, that ONLY emotionalized thoughts have any ACTION influence
upon the subconscious mind. It is a well known fact that emotion or feeling,
rules the majority of people. If it is true that the subconscious mind responds
more quickly to, and is influenced more readily by thought impulses which
are well mixed with emotion, it is essential to become familiar with the more
important of the emotions. There are seven major positive emotions, and
seven major negative emotions. The negatives voluntarily inject themselves
into the thought impulses, which insure passage into the subconscious mind.
The positives must be injected, through the principle of auto-suggestion, into
the thought impulses which an individual wishes to pass on to his
subconscious mind. (Instructions have been given in the chapter on autosuggestion.)
The subconscious mind is more susceptible to influence by
impulses of thought mixed with “feeling” or emotion, than by
those originating solely in the reasoning portion of the mind.
These emotions, or feeling impulses, may be likened to yeast in a loaf of
bread, because they constitute the ACTION element, which transforms
thought impulses from the passive to the active state. Thus may one
understand why thought impulses, which have been well mixed with emotion,
are acted upon more readily than thought impulses originating in “cold
reason.”
You are preparing yourself to influence and control the “inner audience”
of your subconscious mind, in order to hand over to it the DESIRE for
money, which you wish transmuted into its monetary equivalent. It is
essential, therefore, that you understand the method of approach to this “inner
audience.” You must speak its language, or it will not heed your call. It
understands best the language of emotion or feeling. Let us, therefore
describe here the seven major positive emotions, and the seven major
negative emotions, so that you may draw upon the positives, and avoid the
negatives, when giving instructions to your subconscious mind.
The Seven Major Positive Emotions
The emotion of DESIRE
The emotion of FAITH
The emotion of LOVE
The emotion of SEX
The emotion of ENTHUSIASM
The emotion of ROMANCE
The emotion of HOPE
There are other positive emotions, but these are the seven most powerful, and
the ones most commonly used in creative effort. Master these seven emotions
(they can be mastered only by USE), and the other positive emotions will be
at your command when you need them. Remember, in this connection, that
you are studying a book which is intended to help you develop a “money
consciousness” by filling your mind with positive emotions. One does not
become money conscious by filling one’s mind with negative emotions.
The Seven Major Negative Emotions (To be avoided)
The emotion of FEAR
The emotion of JEALOUSY
The emotion of HATRED
The emotion of REVENGE
The emotion of GREED
The emotion of SUPERSTITION
The emotion of ANGER
Positive and negative emotions cannot occupy the mind at the same time.
One or the other must dominate. It is your responsibility to make sure that
positive emotions constitute the dominating influence of your mind. Here the
law of HABIT will come to your aid. Form the habit of applying and using
the positive emotions! Eventually, they will dominate your mind so
completely, that the negatives cannot enter it.
Only by following these instructions literally, and continuously, can you
gain control over your subconscious mind. The presence of a single negative
in your conscious mind is sufficient to destroy all chances of constructive aid
from your subconscious mind.
If you are an observing person, you must have noticed that most people
resort to prayer ONLY after everything else has FAILED! Or else they pray
by a ritual of meaningless words. And, because it is a fact that most people
who pray, do so ONLY AFTER EVERYTHING ELSE HAS FAILED, they go
to prayer with their minds filled with FEAR and DOUBT, which are the
emotions the subconscious mind acts upon, and passes on to Infinite
Intelligence. Likewise, that is the emotion which Infinite Intelligence
receives, and ACTS UPON.
If you pray for a thing, but have fear as you pray, that you may not
receive it, or that your prayer will not be acted upon by Infinite Intelligence,
your prayer will have been in vain.
Prayer does, sometimes, result in the realization of that for which one
prays. If you have ever had the experience of receiving that for which you
prayed, go back in your memory, and recall your actual STATE OF MIND,
while you were praying, and you will know, for sure, that the theory here
described is more than a theory.
The time will come when the schools and educational institutions of the
country will teach the “science of prayer.” Moreover, then prayer may be,
and will be reduced to a science. When that time comes, (it will come as
soon as mankind is ready for it, and demands it), no one will approach the
Universal Mind in a state of fear, for the very good reason that there will be
no such emotion as fear. Ignorance, superstition, and false teaching will have
disappeared, and man will have attained his true status as a child of Infinite
Intelligence. A few have already attained this blessing.
If you believe this prophesy is far-fetched, take a look at the human race
in retrospect. Less than a hundred years ago, men believed the lightning to be
evidence of the wrath of God, and feared it. Now, thanks to the power of
FAITH, men have harnessed the lightning and made it turn the wheels of
industry. Much less than a hundred years ago, men believed the space
between the planets to be nothing but a great void, a stretch of dead
nothingness. Now, thanks to this same power of FAITH, men know that far
from being either dead or a void, the space between the planets is very much
alive, that it is the highest form of vibration known, excepting, perhaps, the
vibration of THOUGHT. Moreover, men know that this living, pulsating,
vibratory energy which permeates every atom of matter, and fills every niche
of space, connects every human brain with every other human brain.
What reason have men to believe that this same energy does not connect
every human brain with Infinite Intelligence?
There are no toll-gates between the finite mind of man and Infinite
Intelligence. The communication costs nothing except Patience, Faith,
Persistence, Understanding, and a SINCERE DESIRE to communicate.
Moreover, the approach can be made only by the individual himself. Paid
prayers are worthless. Infinite Intelligence does no business by proxy. You
either go direct, or you do not communicate.
You may buy prayer books and repeat them until the day of your doom,
without avail. Thoughts which you wish to communicate to Infinite
Intelligence, must undergo transformation, such as can be given only through
your own subconscious mind.
The method by which you may communicate with Infinite Intelligence is
very similar to that through which the vibration of sound is communicated by
radio. If you understand the working principle of radio, you of course, know
that sound cannot be communicated through the ether until it has been
“stepped up,” or changed into a rate of vibration which the human ear cannot
detect. The radio sending station picks up the sound of the human voice, and
“scrambles,” or modifies it by stepping up the vibration millions of times.
Only in this way, can the vibration of sound be communicated through the
ether. After this transformation has taken place, the ether “picks up” the
energy (which originally was in the form of vibrations of sound), carries that
energy to radio receiving stations, and these receiving sets “step” that energy
back down to its original rate of vibration so it is recognized as sound.
The subconscious mind is the intermediary, which translates one’s
prayers into terms which Infinite Intelligence can recognize, presents the
message, and brings back the answer in the form of a definite plan or idea for
procuring the object of the prayer. Understand this principle, and you will
know why mere words read from a prayer book cannot, and will never serve
as an agency of communication between the mind of man and Infinite
Intelligence.
Before your prayer will reach Infinite Intelligence (a statement of the
author’s theory only), it probably is transformed from its original thought
vibration into terms of spiritual vibration. Faith is the only known agency
which will give your thoughts a spiritual nature. FAITH and FEAR make
poor bedfellows. Where one is found, the other cannot exist.
Chapter Twelve Key Points
1. Your subconscious mind mediates between desire and Infinite
Intelligence.
2. Your subconscious is the hidden engine behind life and experience.
3. Through autosuggestion you can positively influence your
subconscious.
4. All action germinates in the subconscious, which is a compact of
thought and emotion.
5. Only emotionalized thoughts have an impact on self and
subconscious.
6. Fear is a powerful negative influence on the subconscious. Study
the methods in this book that help you temper and overcome it.
Chapter 13
The Brain
A Broadcasting and Receiving Station for Thought
The Twelfth Step to Riches
More than twenty years ago, the author, working in conjunction with the late
Dr. Alexander Graham Bell, and Dr. Elmer R. Gates, observed that every
human brain is both a broadcasting and receiving station for the vibration of
thought.
Through the medium of the ether, in a fashion similar to that employed by
the radio broadcasting principle, every human brain is capable of picking up
vibrations of thought which are being released by other brains.
In connection with the statement in the preceding paragraph, compare,
and consider the description of the Creative Imagination, as outlined in the
chapter on Imagination. The Creative Imagination is the “receiving set” of the
brain, which receives thoughts, released by the brains of others. It is the
agency of communication between one’s conscious, or reasoning mind, and
the four sources from which one may receive thought stimuli.
When stimulated, or “stepped up” to a high rate of vibration, the mind
becomes more receptive to the vibration of thought which reaches it through
the ether from outside sources. This “stepping up” process takes place
through the positive emotions, or the negative emotions. Through the
emotions, the vibrations of thought may be increased.
Vibrations of an exceedingly high rate are the only vibrations picked up
and carried, by the ether, from one brain to another. Thought is energy
travelling at an exceedingly high rate of vibration. Thought, which has been
modified or “stepped up” by any of the major emotions, vibrates at a much
higher rate than ordinary thought, and it is this type of thought which passes
from one brain to another, through the broadcasting machinery of the human
brain.
The emotion of sex stands at the head of the list of human emotions, as
far as intensity and driving force are concerned. The brain which has been
stimulated by the emotion of sex, vibrates at a much more rapid rate than it
does when that emotion is quiescent or absent.
The result of sex transmutation, is the increase of the rate of vibration of
thoughts to such a pitch that the Creative Imagination becomes highly
receptive to ideas, which it picks up from the ether. On the other hand, when
the brain is vibrating at a rapid rate, it not only attracts thoughts and ideas
released by other brains through the medium of the ether, but it gives to one’s
own thoughts that “feeling” which is essential before those thoughts will be
picked up and acted upon by one’s subconscious mind.
Thus, you will see that the broadcasting principle is the factor through
which you mix feeling, or emotion with your thoughts and pass them on to
your subconscious mind.
The subconscious mind is the “sending station” of the brain, through
which vibrations of thought are broadcast. The Creative Imagination is the
“receiving set,” through which the vibrations of thought are picked up from
the ether.
Along with the important factors of the subconscious mind, and the
faculty of the Creative Imagination, which constitute the sending and
receiving sets of your mental broadcasting machinery, consider now the
principle of auto-suggestion, which is the medium by which you may put into
operation your “broadcasting” station.
Through the instructions described in the chapter on auto-suggestion, you
were definitely informed of the method by which DESIRE may be transmuted
into its monetary equivalent.
Operation of your mental “broadcasting” station is a comparatively
simple procedure. You have but three principles to bear in mind, and to
apply, when you wish to use your broadcasting station—the
SUBCONSCIOUS MIND, CREATIVE IMAGINATION, and AUTOSUGGESTION. The stimuli through which you put these three principles into
action have been described—the procedure begins with DESIRE.
THE GREATEST FORCES ARE “INTANGIBLE”
The depression brought the world to the very borderline of understanding of
the forces which are intangible and unseen. Through the ages which have
passed, man has depended too much upon his physical senses, and has
limited his knowledge to physical things, which he could see, touch, weigh,
and measure.
We are now entering the most marvelous of all ages—an age which will
teach us something of the intangible forces of the world about us. Perhaps we
shall learn, as we pass through this age, that the “other self” is more
powerful than the physical self we see when we look into a mirror.
Sometimes men speak lightly of the intangibles—the things which they
cannot perceive through any of their five senses, and when we hear them, it
should remind us that all of us are controlled by forces which are unseen
and intangible.
The whole of mankind has not the power to cope with, nor to control the
intangible force wrapped up in the rolling waves of the oceans. Man has not
the capacity to understand the intangible force of gravity, which keeps this
little earth suspended in mid-air, and keeps man from falling from it, much
less the power to control that force. Man is entirely subservient to the
intangible force which comes with a thunder storm, and he is just as helpless
in the presence of the intangible force of electricity—nay, he does not even
know what electricity is, where it comes from, or what is its purpose!
Nor is this by any means the end of man’s ignorance in connection with
things unseen and intangible. He does not understand the intangible force
(and intelligence) wrapped up in the soil of the earth—the force which
provides him with every morsel of food he eats, every article of clothing he
wears, every dollar he carries in his pockets.
THE DRAMATIC STORY OF THE BRAIN
Last, but not least, man, with all of his boasted culture and education,
understands little or nothing of the intangible force (the greatest of all the
intangibles) of thought. He knows but little concerning the physical brain,
and its vast network of intricate machinery through which the power of
thought is translated into its material equivalent, but he is now entering an
age which shall yield enlightenment on the subject. Already men of science
have begun to turn their attention to the study of this stupendous thing called a
brain, and, while they are still in the kindergarten stage of their studies, they
have uncovered enough knowledge to know that the central switchboard of
the human brain, the number of lines which connect the brain cells one with
another, equal the figure one, followed by fifteen million ciphers.
“The figure is so stupendous,” said Dr. C. Judson Herrick, of the
University of Chicago, “that astronomical figures dealing with hundreds of
millions of light years, become insignificant by comparison.… It has been
determined that there are from 10,000,000,000 to 14,000,000,000 nerve cells
in the human cerebral cortex, and we know that these are arranged in definite
patterns. These arrangements are not haphazard. They are orderly. Recently
developed methods of electro-physiology draw off action currents from very
precisely located cells, or fibers with micro-electrodes, amplify them with
radio tubes, and record potential differences to a millionth of a volt.”
It is inconceivable that such a network of intricate machinery should be
in existence for the sole purpose of carrying on the physical functions
incidental to growth and maintenance of the physical body. Is it not likely that
the same system, which gives billions of brain cells the media for
communication one with another, provides, also the means of communication
with other intangible forces?
After this book had been written, just before the manuscript went to the
publisher, there appeared in the New York Times, an editorial showing that at
least one great University, and one intelligent investigator in the field of
mental phenomena, are carrying on an organized research through which
conclusions have been reached that parallel many of those described in this
and the following chapter. The editorial briefly analyzed the work carried on
by Dr. Rhine, and his associates at Duke University, viz:
“WHAT IS ‘TELEPATHY?’
“A month ago we cited on this page some of the remarkable results achieved
by Professor Rhine and his associates in Duke University from more than a
hundred thousand tests to determine the existence of ‘telepathy’ and
‘clairvoyance.’ These results were summarized in the first two articles in
Harpers Magazine. In the second which has now appeared, the author, E. H.
Wright, attempts to summarize what has been learned, or what it seems
reasonable to infer, regarding the exact nature of these ‘extrasensory’ modes
of perception.
“The actual existence of telepathy and clairvoyance now seems to some
scientists enormously probable as the result of Rhine’s experiments. Various
percipients were asked to name as many cards in a special pack as they
could without looking at them and without other sensory access to them.
About a score of men and women were discovered who could regularly
name so many of the cards correctly that ‘there was not one chance in many a
million of their having done their feats by luck or accident.’
“But how did they do them? These powers, assuming that they exist, do
not seem to be sensory. There is no known organ for them. The experiments
worked just as well at distances of several hundred miles as they did in the
same room. These facts also dispose, in Mr. Wright’s opinion, of the attempt
to explain telepathy or clairvoyance through any physical theory of radiation.
All known forms of radiant energy decline inversely as the square of the
distance traversed. Telepathy and clairvoyance do not. But they do vary
through physical causes as our other mental powers do. Contrary to
widespread opinion, they do not improve when the percipient is asleep or
half-asleep, but, on the contrary, when he is most wide-awake and alert.
Rhine discovered that a narcotic will invariably lower a percipient’s score,
while a stimulant will always send it higher. The most reliable performer
apparently cannot make a good score unless he tries to do his best.
“One conclusion that Wright draws with some confidence is that
telepathy and clairvoyance are really one and the same gift. That is, the
faculty that ‘sees’ a card face down on a table seems to be exactly the same
one that ‘reads’ a thought residing only in another mind. There are several
grounds for believing this. So far, for example, the two gifts have been found
in every person who enjoys either of them. In every one so far the two have
been of equal vigor, almost exactly. Screens, walls, distances, have no effect
at all on either. Wright advances from this conclusion to express what he puts
forward as no more than the mere ‘hunch’ that other extra-sensory
experiences, prophetic dreams, premonitions of disaster, and the like, may
also prove to be part of the same faculty. The reader is not asked to accept
any of these conclusions unless he finds it necessary, but the evidence that
Rhine has piled up must remain impressive.”
In view of Dr. Rhine’s announcement in connection with the conditions
under which the mind responds to what he terms “extra-sensory” modes of
perception, I now feel privileged to add to his testimony by stating that my
associates and I have discovered what we believe to be the ideal conditions
under which the mind can be stimulated so that the sixth sense described in
the next chapter, can be made to function in a practical way.
The conditions to which I refer consist of a close working alliance
between myself and two members of my staff. Through experimentation and
practice, we have discovered how to stimulate our minds (by applying the
principle used in connection with the “Invisible Counselors” described in the
next chapter) so that we can, by a process of blending our three minds into
one, find the solution to a great variety of personal problems which are
submitted by my clients.
The procedure is very simple. We sit down at a conference table, clearly
state the nature of the problem we have under consideration, then begin
discussing it. Each contributes whatever thoughts that may occur. The strange
thing about this method of mind stimulation is that it places each participant
in communication with unknown sources of knowledge definitely outside his
own experience.
If you understand the principle described in the chapter on the Master
Mind, you of course recognize the round-table procedure here described as
being a practical application of the Master Mind.
This method of mind stimulation, through harmonious discussion of
definite subjects, between three people, illustrates the simplest and most
practical use of the Master Mind.
By adopting and following a similar plan any student of this
philosophy may come into possession of the famous Carnegie formula
briefly described in the introduction. If it means nothing to you at this time,
mark this page and read it again after you have finished the last chapter.
Chapter Thirteen Key Points
1. Your brain is a kind of receiving station sensitive to all influences
around you.
2. Concepts of ESP, telepathy, and precognition are facts
demonstrated by replicable data. They are inconsistent but no less
real.
3. Due to your receptivity to extra-physical impressions, you must
carefully cultivate environment, relationships, and circumstance.
4. Your brain functions like any other physical organ—it is subject to
fatigue, exhaustion, and overuse, just as it performs better under
conditions of health, vitality, and adequate rest.
5. Beware of factors that cloud your brain’s functions, such as
intoxication, boredom, poor physical habits, and negative emotions.
6. Enthusiasm is a vital factor in effective use of your brain.
THE “DEPRESSION” WAS A BLESSING IN DISGUISE. IT
REDUCED THE WHOLE WORLD TO A NEW STARTING
POINT THAT GIVES EVERY ONE A NEW OPPORTUNITY.
Chapter 14
The Sixth Sense
The Door To The Temple Of Wisdom
The Thirteenth Step to Riches
The “thirteenth” principle is known as the SIXTH SENSE, through which
Infinite Intelligence may, and will communicate voluntarily, without any
effort from, or demands by, the individual.
This principle is the apex of the philosophy. It can be assimilated,
understood, and applied ONLY by first mastering the other twelve principles.
The SIXTH SENSE is that portion of the subconscious mind which has
been referred to as the Creative Imagination. It has also been referred to as
the “receiving set” through which ideas, plans, and thoughts flash into the
mind. The “flashes” are sometimes called “hunches” or “inspirations.”
The sixth sense defies description! It cannot be described to a person
who has not mastered the other principles of this philosophy, because such a
person has no knowledge, and no experience with which the sixth sense may
be compared. Understanding of the sixth sense comes only by meditation
through mind development from within. The sixth sense probably is the
medium of contact between the finite mind of man and Infinite Intelligence,
and for this reason, it is a mixture of both the mental and the spiritual. It is
believed to be the point at which the mind of man contacts the Universal
Mind.
After you have mastered the principles described in this book, you will
be prepared to accept as truth a statement which may, otherwise, be
incredible to you, namely:
Through the aid of the sixth sense, you will be warned of impending
dangers in time to avoid them, and notified of opportunities in time to
embrace them.
There comes to your aid, and to do your bidding, with the development
of the sixth sense, a “guardian angel” who will open to you at all times the
door to the Temple of Wisdom.
Whether or not this is a statement of truth, you will never know, except
by following the instructions described in the pages of this book, or some
similar method of procedure.
The author is not a believer in, nor an advocate of “miracles,” for the
reason that he has enough knowledge of Nature to understand that Nature
never deviates from her established laws. Some of her laws are so
incomprehensible that they produce what appear to be “miracles.” The sixth
sense comes as near to being a miracle as anything I have ever experienced,
and it appears so, only because I do not understand the method by which this
principle is operated.
This much the author does know—that there is a power, or a First Cause,
or an Intelligence, which permeates every atom of matter, and embraces
every unit of energy perceptible to man—that this Infinite Intelligence
converts acorns into oak trees, causes water to flow down hill in response to
the law of gravity, follows night with day, and winter with summer, each
maintaining its proper place and relationship to the other. This Intelligence
may, through the principles of this philosophy, be induced to aid in
transmuting DESIRES into concrete, or material form. The author has this
knowledge, because he has experimented with it—and has EXPERIENCED
IT.
Step by step, through the preceding chapters, you have been led to this,
the last principle. If you have mastered each of the preceding principles, you
are now prepared to accept, without being skeptical, the stupendous claims
made here. If you have not mastered the other principles, you must do so
before you may determine, definitely, whether or not the claims made in this
chapter are fact or fiction.
While I was passing through the age of “hero-worship” I found myself
trying to imitate those whom I most admired. Moreover, I discovered that the
element of FAITH, with which I endeavored to imitate my idols, gave me
great capacity to do so quite successfully.
I have never entirely divested myself of this habit of hero-worship,
although I have passed the age commonly given over to such. My experience
has taught me that the next best thing to being truly great, is to emulate the
great, by feeling and action, as nearly as possible.
Long before I had ever written a line for publication, or endeavored to
deliver a speech in public, I followed the habit of reshaping my own
character, by trying to imitate the nine men whose lives and life-works had
been most impressive to me. These nine men were, Emerson, Paine, Edison,
Darwin, Lincoln, Burbank, Napoleon, Ford, and Carnegie. Every night, over
a long period of years, I held an imaginary Council meeting with this group
whom I called my “Invisible Counselors.”
The procedure was this. Just before going to sleep at night, I would shut
my eyes, and see, in my imagination, this group of men seated with me around
my Council Table. Here I had not only an opportunity to sit among those
whom I considered to be great, but I actually dominated the group, by serving
as the Chairman.
I had a very DEFINITE PURPOSE in indulging my imagination through
these nightly meetings. My purpose was to rebuild my own character so it
would represent a composite of the characters of my imaginary counselors.
Realizing, as I did, early in life, that I had to overcome the handicap of birth
in an environment of ignorance and superstition, I deliberately assigned
myself the task of voluntary rebirth through the method here described.
BUILDING CHARACTER THROUGH AUTOSUGGESTION
Being an earnest student of psychology, I knew, of course, that all men have
become what they are, because of their DOMINATING THOUGHTS AND
DESIRES. I knew that every deeply seated desire has the effect of causing
one to seek outward expression through which that desire may be transmuted
into reality. I knew that self-suggestion is a powerful factor in building
character, that it is, in fact, the sole principle through which character is
builded.
All men have become what they are, because of their
DOMINATING THOUGHTS AND DESIRES.
With this knowledge of the principles of mind operation, I was fairly
well armed with the equipment needed in rebuilding my character. In these
imaginary Council meetings I called on my Cabinet members for the
knowledge I wished each to contribute, addressing myself to each member in
audible words, as follows:
“Mr. Emerson, I desire to acquire from you the marvelous understanding
of Nature which distinguished your life. I ask that you make an impress upon
my subconscious mind, of whatever qualities you possessed, which enabled
you to understand and adapt yourself to the laws of Nature. I ask that you
assist me in reaching and drawing upon whatever sources of knowledge are
available to this end.
“Mr. Burbank, I request that you pass on to me the knowledge which
enabled you to so harmonize the laws of Nature that you caused the cactus to
shed its thorns, and become an edible food. Give me access to the knowledge
which enabled you to make two blades of grass grow where but one grew
before, and helped you to blend the coloring of the flowers with more
splendor and harmony, for you, alone, have successfully gilded the lily.
“Napoleon, I desire to acquire from you, by emulation, the marvelous
ability you possessed to inspire men, and to arouse them to greater and more
determined spirit of action. Also to acquire the spirit of enduring FAITH,
which enabled you to turn defeat into victory, and to surmount staggering
obstacles. Emperor of Fate, King of Chance, Man of Destiny, I salute you!
“Mr. Paine, I desire to acquire from you the freedom of thought and the
courage and clarity with which to express convictions, which so
distinguished you!
“Mr. Darwin, I wish to acquire from you the marvelous patience, and
ability to study cause and effect, without bias or prejudice, so exemplified by
you in the field of natural science.
“Mr. Lincoln, I desire to build into my own character the keen sense of
justice, the untiring spirit of patience, the sense of humor, the human
understanding, and the tolerance, which were your distinguishing
characteristics.
“Mr. Carnegie, I am already indebted to you for my choice of a lifework, which has brought me great happiness and peace of mind. I wish to
acquire a thorough understanding of the principles of organized effort, which
you used so effectively in the building of a great industrial enterprise.
“Mr. Ford, you have been among the most helpful of the men who have
supplied much of the material essential to my work. I wish to acquire your
spirit of persistence, the determination, poise, and self-confidence which
have enabled you to master poverty, organize, unify, and simplify human
effort, so I may help others to follow in your footsteps.
“Mr. Edison, I have seated you nearest to me, at my right, because of the
personal cooperation you have given me, during my research into the causes
of success and failure. I wish to acquire from you the marvelous spirit of
FAITH, with which you have uncovered so many of Nature’s secrets, the
spirit of unremitting toil with which you have so often wrested victory from
defeat.”
My method of addressing the members of the imaginary Cabinet would
vary, according to the traits of character in which I was, for the moment, most
interested in acquiring. I studied the records of their lives with painstaking
care. After some months of this nightly procedure, I was astounded by the
discovery that these imaginary figures became, apparently real.
I was astounded by the discovery that these imaginary figures
became, apparently real.
Each of these nine men developed individual characteristics, which
surprised me. For example, Lincoln developed the habit of always being late,
then walking around in solemn parade. When he came, he walked very
slowly, with his hands clasped behind him, and once in a while, he would
stop as he passed, and rest his hand, momentarily, upon my shoulder. He
always wore an expression of seriousness upon his face. Rarely did I see
him smile. The cares of a sundered nation made him grave.
That was not true of the others. Burbank and Paine often indulged in
witty repartee which seemed, at times, to shock the other members of the
cabinet. One night Paine suggested that I prepare a lecture on “The Age of
Reason,” and deliver it from the pulpit of a church which I formerly attended.
Many around the table laughed heartily at the suggestion. Not Napoleon! He
drew his mouth down at the corners and groaned so loudly that all turned and
looked at him with amazement. To him the church was but a pawn of the
State, not to be reformed, but to be used, as a convenient inciter to mass
activity by the people.
On one occasion Burbank was late. When he came, he was excited with
enthusiasm, and explained that he had been late, because of an experiment he
was making, through which he hoped to be able to grow apples on any sort of
tree. Paine chided him by reminding him that it was an apple which started
all the trouble between man and woman. Darwin chuckled heartily as he
suggested that Paine should watch out for little serpents, when he went into
the forest to gather apples, as they had the habit of growing into big snakes.
Emerson observed—“No serpents, no apples,” and Napoleon remarked, “No
apples, no state!”
Lincoln developed the habit of always being the last one to leave the
table after each meeting. On one occasion, he leaned across the end of the
table, his arms folded, and remained in that position for many minutes. I
made no attempt to disturb him. Finally, he lifted his head slowly, got up and
walked to the door, then turned around, came back, and laid his hand on my
shoulder and said, “My boy, you will need much courage if you remain
steadfast in carrying out your purpose in life. But remember, when
difficulties overtake you, the common people have common sense. Adversity
will develop it.”
One evening Edison arrived ahead of all the others. He walked over and
seated himself at my left, where Emerson was accustomed to sit, and said,
“You are destined to witness the discovery of the secret of life. When the
time comes, you will observe that life consists of great swarms of energy, or
entities, each as intelligent as human beings think themselves to be. These
units of life group together like hives of bees, and remain together until they
disintegrate, through lack of harmony. These units have differences of
opinion, the same as human beings, and often fight among themselves. These
meetings which you are conducting will be very helpful to you. They will
bring to your rescue some of the same units of life which served the members
of your Cabinet, during their lives. These units are eternal. THEY NEVER
DIE! Your own thoughts and DESIRES serve as the magnet which attracts
units of life, from the great ocean of life out there. Only the friendly units are
attracted—the ones which harmonize with the nature of your DESIRES.”
The other members of the Cabinet began to enter the room. Edison got
up, and slowly walked around to his own seat. Edison was still living when
this happened. It impressed me so greatly that I went to see him, and told him
about the experience. He smiled broadly, and said, “Your dream was more a
reality than you may imagine it to have been.” He added no further
explanation to his statement.
These meetings became so realistic that I became fearful of their
consequences, and discontinued them for several months. The experiences
were so uncanny, I was afraid if I continued them I would lose sight of the
fact that the meetings were purely experiences of my imagination.
Some six months after I had discontinued the practice I was awakened
one night, or thought I was, when I saw Lincoln standing at my bedside. He
said, “The world will soon need your services. It is about to undergo a
period of chaos which will cause men and women to lose faith, and become
panic stricken. Go ahead with your work and complete your philosophy. That
is your mission in life. If you neglect it, for any cause whatsoever, you will
be reduced to a primal state, and be compelled to retrace the cycles through
which you have passed during thousands of years.”
I was unable to tell, the following morning, whether I had dreamed this,
or had actually been awake, and I have never since found out which it was,
but I do know that the dream, if it were a dream, was so vivid in my mind the
next day that I resumed my meetings the following night.
At our next meeting, the members of my Cabinet all filed into the room
together, and stood at their accustomed places at the Council Table, while
Lincoln raised a glass and said, “Gentlemen, let us drink a toast to a friend
who has returned to the fold.”
After that, I began to add new members to my Cabinet, until now it
consists of more than fifty, among them Christ, St. Paul, Galileo, Copernicus,
Aristotle, Plato, Socrates, Homer, Voltaire, Bruno, Spinoza, Drummond,
Kant, Schopenhauer, Newton, Confucius, Elbert Hubbard, Brann, Ingersoll,
Wilson, and William James.
This is the first time that I have had the courage to mention this.
Heretofore, I have remained quiet on the subject, because I knew, from my
own attitude in connection with such matters, that I would be misunderstood
if I described my unusual experience. I have been emboldened now to reduce
my experience to the printed page, because I am now less concerned about
what “they say” than I was in the years that have passed. One of the blessings
of maturity is that it sometimes brings one greater courage to be truthful,
regardless of what those who do not understand, may think or say.
Lest I be misunderstood, I wish here to state most emphatically, that I
still regard my Cabinet meetings as being purely imaginary, but I feel entitled
to suggest that, while the members of my Cabinet may be purely fictional, and
the meetings existent only in my own imagination, they have led me into
glorious paths of adventure, rekindled an appreciation of true greatness,
encouraged creative endeavor, and emboldened the expression of honest
thought.
Somewhere in the cell-structure of the brain, is located an organ which
receives vibrations of thought ordinarily called “hunches.” So far, science
has not discovered where this organ of the sixth sense is located, but this is
not important. The fact remains that human beings do receive accurate
knowledge, through sources other than the physical senses. Such knowledge,
generally, is received when the mind is under the influence of extraordinary
stimulation. Any emergency which arouses the emotions, and causes the heart
to beat more rapidly than normal may, and generally does, bring the sixth
sense into action. Anyone who has experienced a near accident while
driving, knows that on such occasions, the sixth sense often comes to one’s
rescue, and aids, by split seconds, in avoiding the accident.
These facts are mentioned preliminary to a statement of fact which I
shall now make, namely, that during my meetings with the “Invisible
Counselors” I find my mind most receptive to ideas, thoughts, and knowledge
which reach me through the sixth sense. I can truthfully say that I owe entirely
to my “Invisible Counselors” full credit for such ideas, facts, or knowledge
as I received through “inspiration.”
On scores of occasions, when I have faced emergencies, some of them
so grave that my life was in jeopardy, I have been miraculously guided past
these difficulties through the influence of my “Invisible Counselors.”
My original purpose in conducting Council meetings with imaginary
beings, was solely that of impressing my own subconscious mind, through the
principle of auto-suggestion, with certain characteristics which I desired to
acquire. In more recent years, my experimentation has taken on an entirely
different trend. I now go to my imaginary counselors with every difficult
problem which confronts me and my clients. The results are often
astonishing, although I do not depend entirely on this form of Counsel.
You, of course, have recognized that this chapter covers a subject with
which a majority of people are not familiar. The Sixth Sense is a subject that
will be of great interest and benefit to the person whose aim is to accumulate
vast wealth, but it need not claim the attention of those whose desires are
more modest.
Henry Ford, undoubtedly understands and makes practical use of the
sixth sense. His vast business and financial operations make it necessary for
him to understand and use this principle. The late Thomas A. Edison
understood and used the sixth sense in connection with the development of
inventions, especially those involving basic patents, in connection with
which he had no human experience and no accumulated knowledge to guide
him, as was the case while he was working on the talking machine, and the
moving picture machine.
Nearly all great leaders, such as Napoleon, Bismarck, Joan of Arc,
Christ, Buddha, Confucius, and Mohammed, understood, and probably made
use of the sixth sense almost continuously. The major portion of their
greatness consisted of their knowledge of this principle.
The sixth sense is not something that one can take off and put on at will.
Ability to use this great power comes slowly, through application of the other
principles outlined in this book. Seldom does any individual come into
workable knowledge of the sixth sense before the age of forty. More often the
knowledge is not available until one is well past fifty, and this, for the reason
that the spiritual forces, with which the sixth sense is so closely related, do
not mature and become usable except through years of meditation, selfexamination, and serious thought.
No matter who you are, or what may have been your purpose in reading
this book, you can profit by it without understanding the principle described
in this chapter. This is especially true if your major purpose is that of
accumulation of money or other material things.
The chapter on the sixth sense was included, because the book is
designed for the purpose of presenting a complete philosophy by which
individuals may unerringly guide themselves in attaining whatever they ask of
life. The starting point of all achievement is DESIRE. The finishing point is
that brand of KNOWLEDGE which leads to understanding—understanding
of self, understanding of others, understanding of the laws of Nature,
recognition and understanding of HAPPINESS.
This sort of understanding comes in its fullness only through familiarity
with, and use of the principle of the sixth sense, hence that principle had to
be included as a part of this philosophy, for the benefit of those who demand
more than money.
Having read the chapter, you must have observed that while reading it,
you were lifted to a high level of mental stimulation. Splendid! Come back to
this again a month from now, read it once more, and observe that your mind
will soar to a still higher level of stimulation. Repeat this experience from
time to time, giving no concern as to how much or how little you learn at the
time, and eventually you will find yourself in possession of a power that will
enable you to throw off discouragement, master fear, overcome
procrastination, and draw freely upon your imagination. Then you will have
felt the touch of that unknown “something” which has been the moving spirit
of every truly great thinker leader, artist, musician, writer, statesman. Then
you will be in position to transmute your DESIRES into their physical or
financial counterpart as easily as you may lie down and quit at the first sign
of opposition.
FAITH VS. FEAR!
Previous chapters have described how to develop FAITH, through Autosuggestion, Desire and the Subconscious. The next chapter presents detailed
instructions for the mastery of FEAR.
Here will be found a full description of the six fears which are the cause
of all discouragement, timidity, procrastination, indifference, indecision, and
the lack of ambition, self-reliance, initiative, self-control, and enthusiasm.
Search yourself carefully as you study these six enemies, as they may
exist only in your subconscious mind, where their presence will be hard to
detect.
Remember, too, as you analyze the “Six Ghosts of Fear,” that they are
nothing but ghosts because they exist only in one’s mind.
Remember, also, that ghosts—creations of uncontrolled imagination—
have caused most of the damage people have done to their own minds,
therefore, ghosts can be as dangerous as if they lived and walked on the earth
in physical bodies.
The Ghost of the Fear of Poverty, which seized the minds of millions of
people in 1929, was so real that it caused the worst business depression this
country has ever known. Moreover, this particular ghost still frightens some
of us out of our wits.
Chapter Fourteen Key Points
1. Through using all the factors in this book, it is possible to cultivate
a sixth sense through which hunches or flashes of insight and
intuition reach you.
2. Pay attention to your enthusiasms and forebodings. This may be the
sixth sense reaching you.
3. You can trust your intuitions and insights when they grow from long
study and effort. These are not fickle or errant ideas but—possibly
—the subconscious and sixth sense communicating to you.
4. An imaginary council, as described in this chapter, can augment—
but not replace—the Master Mind principle.
5. Look toward and learn from the lives of extraordinary figures;
make their stories and biographies part of your regular reading and
viewing.
Chapter 15
How to Outwit the Six Ghosts of Fear
Take Inventory of Yourself, As You Read This Closing
Chapter, and Find out How Many of the “Ghosts” Are
Standing in Your Way.
BEFORE you can put any portion of this philosophy into successful use, your
mind must be prepared to receive it. The preparation is not difficult. It begins
with study, analysis, and understanding of three enemies which you shall
have to clear out. These are INDECISION, DOUBT, and FEAR!
The Sixth Sense will never function while these three negatives, or any
of them remain in your mind. The members of this unholy trio are closely
related; where one is found, the other two are close at hand.
INDECISION is the seedling of FEAR! Remember this, as you read.
Indecision crystalizes into DOUBT, the two blend and become FEAR! The
“blending” process often is slow. This is one reason why these three enemies
are so dangerous. They germinate and grow without their presence being
observed.
The remainder of this chapter describes an end which must be attained
before the philosophy, as a whole, can be put into practical use. It also
analyzes a condition which has, but lately, reduced huge numbers of people
to poverty, and it states a truth which must be understood by all who
accumulate riches, whether measured in terms of money or a state of mind of
far greater value than money.
The purpose of this chapter is to turn the spotlight of attention upon the
cause and the cure of the six basic fears. Before we can master an enemy, we
must know its name, its habits, and its place of abode. As you read, analyze
yourself carefully, and determine which, if any, of the six common fears have
attached themselves to you.
Do not be deceived by the habits of these subtle enemies. Sometimes
they remain hidden in the subconscious mind, where they are difficult to
locate, and still more difficult to eliminate.
THE SIX BASIC FEARS
There are six basic fears, with some combination of which every human
suffers at one time or another. Most people are fortunate if they do not suffer
from the entire six. Named in the order of their most common appearance,
they are:
All other fears are of minor importance, they can be grouped under these
six headings.
The prevalence of these fears, as a curse to the world, runs in cycles.
For almost six years, while the depression was on, we floundered in the
cycle of FEAR OF POVERTY. During the world-war, we were in the cycle
of FEAR OF DEATH. Just following the war, we were in the cycle of FEAR
OF ILL HEALTH, as evidenced by the epidemic of disease which spread
itself all over the world.
Fears are nothing more than states of mind. One’s state of mind is
subject to control and direction. Physicians, as everyone knows, are less
subject to attack by disease than ordinary laymen, for the reason that
physicians DO NOT FEAR DISEASE. Physicians, without fear or hesitation,
have been known to physically contact hundreds of people, daily, who were
suffering from such contagious diseases as small-pox, without becoming
infected. Their immunity against the disease consisted, largely, if not solely,
in their absolute lack of FEAR.
Man can create nothing which he does not first conceive in the form of
an impulse of thought. Following this statement, comes another of still greater
importance,
namely,
MAN’S THOUGHT IMPULSES BEGIN
IMMEDIATELY TO TRANSLATE THEMSELVES INTO THEIR
PHYSICAL EQUIVALENT, WHETHER THOSE THOUGHTS ARE
VOLUNTARY OR INVOLUNTARY. Thought impulses which are picked up
through the ether, by mere chance (thoughts which have been released by
other minds) may determine one’s financial, business, professional, or social
destiny just as surely as do the thought impulses which one creates by intent
and design.
We are here laying the foundation for the presentation of a fact of great
importance to the person who does not understand why some people appear
to be “lucky” while others of equal or greater ability, training, experience,
and brain capacity, seem destined to ride with misfortune. This fact may be
explained by the statement that every human being has the ability to
completely control his own mind, and with this control, obviously, every
person may open his mind to the tramp thought impulses which are being
released by other brains, or close the doors tightly and admit only thought
impulses of his own choice.
Nature has endowed man with absolute control over but one thing, and
that is THOUGHT. This fact, coupled with the additional fact that everything
which man creates, begins in the form of a thought, leads one very near to the
principle by which FEAR may be mastered.
If it is true that ALL THOUGHT HAS A TENDENCY TO CLOTHE
ITSELF IN ITS PHYSICAL EQUIVALENT (and this is true, beyond any
reasonable room for doubt), it is equally true that thought impulses of fear
and poverty cannot be translated into terms of courage and financial gain.
ALL THOUGHT HAS A TENDENCY TO CLOTHE ITSELF
IN ITS PHYSICAL EQUIVALENT
The people of America began to think of poverty, following the Wall
Street crash of 1929. Slowly, but surely that mass thought was crystalized
into its physical equivalent, which was known as a “depression.” This had to
happen, it is in conformity with the laws of Nature.
THE FEAR OF POVERTY
There can be no compromise between POVERTY and RICHES! The two
roads that lead to poverty and riches travel in opposite directions. If you
want riches, you must refuse to accept any circumstance that leads toward
poverty. (The word “riches” is here used in its broadest sense, meaning
financial, spiritual, mental and material estates). The starting point of the path
that leads to riches is DESIRE. In chapter one, you received full instructions
for the proper use of DESIRE. In this chapter, on FEAR, you have complete
instructions for preparing your mind to make practical use of DESIRE.
Here, then, is the place to give yourself a challenge which will definitely
determine how much of this philosophy you have absorbed. Here is the point
at which you can turn prophet and foretell, accurately, what the future holds
in store for you. If, after reading this chapter, you are willing to accept
poverty, you may as well make up your mind to receive poverty. This is one
decision you cannot avoid.
If you demand riches, determine what form, and how much will be
required to satisfy you. You know the road that leads to riches. You have
been given a road map which, if followed, will keep you on that road. If you
neglect to make the start, or stop before you arrive, no one will be to blame,
but YOU. This responsibility is yours. No alibi will save you from accepting
the responsibility if you now fail or refuse to demand riches of Life, because
the acceptance calls for but one thing—incidentally, the only thing you can
control—and that is a STATE OF MIND. A state of mind is something that
one assumes. It cannot be purchased, it must be created.
Fear of poverty is a state of mind, nothing else! But it is sufficient to
destroy one’s chances of achievement in any undertaking, a truth which
became painfully evident during the depression.
This fear paralyzes the faculty of reason, destroys the faculty of
imagination, kills off self-reliance, undermines enthusiasm, discourages
initiative, leads to uncertainty of purpose, encourages procrastination, wipes
out enthusiasm and makes self-control an impossibility. It takes the charm
from one’s personality, destroys the possibility of accurate thinking, diverts
concentration of effort, it masters persistence, turns the will-power into
nothingness, destroys ambition, beclouds the memory and invites failure in
every conceivable form; it kills love and assassinates the finer emotions of
the heart, discourages friendship and invites disaster in a hundred forms,
leads to sleeplessness, misery and unhappiness—and all this despite the
obvious truth that we live in a world of over-abundance of everything the
heart could desire, with nothing standing between us and our desires,
excepting lack of a definite purpose.
The Fear of Poverty is, without doubt, the most destructive of the six
basic fears. It has been placed at the head of the list, because it is the most
difficult to master. Considerable courage is required to state the truth about
the origin of this fear, and still greater courage to accept the truth after it has
been stated. The fear of poverty grew out of man’s inherited tendency to
PREY UPON HIS FELLOW-MAN ECONOMICALLY. Nearly all animals
lower than man are motivated by instinct, but their capacity to “think” is
limited, therefore, they prey upon one another physically. Man, with his
superior sense of intuition, with the capacity to think and to reason, does not
eat his fellowman bodily, he gets more satisfaction out of “eating” him
FINANCIALLY. Man is so avaricious that every conceivable law has been
passed to safeguard him from his fellowman.
Of all the ages of the world, of which we know anything, the age in
which we live seems to be one that is outstanding because of man’s moneymadness. A man is considered less than the dust of the earth, unless he can
display a fat bank account; but if he has money—NEVER MIND HOW HE
ACQUIRED IT—he is a “king” or a “big shot”; he is above the law, he rules
in politics, he dominates in business, and the whole world about him bows in
respect when he passes.
Nothing brings man so much suffering and humility as POVERTY! Only
those who have experienced poverty understand the full meaning of this.
It is no wonder that man fears poverty. Through a long line of inherited
experiences man has learned, for sure, that some men cannot be trusted,
where matters of money and earthly possessions are concerned. This is a
rather stinging indictment, the worst part of it being that it is TRUE.
The majority of marriages are motivated by the wealth possessed by
one, or both of the contracting parties. It is no wonder, therefore, that the
divorce courts are busy.
So eager is man to possess wealth that he will acquire it in whatever
manner he can—through legal methods if possible—through other methods if
necessary or expedient.
Self-analysis may disclose weaknesses which one does not like to
acknowledge. This form of examination is essential to all who demand of
Life more than mediocrity and poverty. Remember, as you check yourself
point by point, that you are both the court and the jury, the prosecuting
attorney and the attorney for the defense, and that you are the plaintiff and the
defendant, also, that you are on trial. Face the facts squarely. Ask yourself
definite questions and demand direct replies. When the examination is over,
you will know more about yourself. If you do not feel that you can be an
impartial judge in this self-examination, call upon someone who knows you
well to serve as judge while you cross-examine yourself. You are after the
truth. Get it, no matter at what cost even, though it may temporarily
embarrass you!
The majority of people, if asked what they fear most, would reply, “I
fear nothing.” The reply would be inaccurate, because few people realize
that they are bound, handicapped, whipped spiritually and physically through
some form of fear. So subtle and deeply seated is the emotion of fear that one
may go through life burdened with it, never recognizing its presence. Only a
courageous analysis will disclose the presence of this universal enemy.
When you begin such an analysis, search deeply into your character. Here is
a list of the symptoms for which you should look:
SYMPTOMS OF THE FEAR OF POVERTY
INDIFFERENCE. Commonly expressed through lack of ambition; willingness to
tolerate poverty; acceptance of whatever compensation life may offer without
protest; mental and physical laziness; lack of initiative, imagination,
enthusiasm and self-control
INDECISION. The habit of permitting others to do one’s thinking. Staying “on
the fence.”
DOUBT. Generally expressed through alibis and excuses designed to cover up,
explain away, or apologize for one’s failures, sometimes expressed in the
form of envy of those who are successful, or by criticising them.
WORRY. Usually expressed by finding fault with others, a tendency to spend
beyond one’s income, neglect of personal appearance, scowling and
frowning; intemperance in the use of alcoholic drink, sometimes through the
use of narcotics; nervousness, lack of poise, self-consciousness and lack of
self-reliance.
The habit of looking for the negative side of every
circumstance, thinking and talking of possible failure instead of concentrating
upon the means of succeeding. Knowing all the roads to disaster, but never
searching for the plans to avoid failure. Waiting for “the right time” to begin
putting ideas and plans into action, until the waiting becomes a permanent
habit. Remembering those who have failed, and forgetting those who have
succeeded. Seeing the hole in the doughnut, but overlooking the doughnut.
Pessimism, leading to indigestion, poor elimination, autointoxication, bad
breath and bad disposition.
OVER-CAUTION.
PROCRASTINATION. The habit of putting off until tomorrow that which should
have been done last year. Spending enough time in creating alibis and
excuses to have done the job. This symptom is closely related to overcaution, doubt and worry. Refusal to accept responsibility when it can be
avoided. Willingness to compromise rather than put up a stiff fight.
Compromising with difficulties instead of harnessing and using them as
stepping stones to advancement. Bargaining with Life for a penny, instead of
demanding prosperity, opulence, riches, contentment and happiness. Planning
what to do IF AND WHEN OVERTAKEN BY FAILURE, INSTEAD OF
BURNING ALL BRIDGES AND MAKING RETREAT IMPOSSIBLE.
Weakness of, and often total lack of self-confidence, definiteness of purpose,
self-control, initiative, enthusiasm, ambition, thrift and sound reasoning
ability. EXPECTING POVERTY INSTEAD OF DEMANDING RICHES.
Association with those who accept poverty instead of seeking the company of
those who demand and receive riches.
MONEY TALKS!
Some will ask, “Why did you write a book about money? Why measure
riches in dollars, alone?” Some will believe, and rightly so, that there are
other forms of riches more desirable than money. Yes, there are riches which
cannot be measured in terms of dollars, but there are millions of people who
will say, “Give me all the money I need, and I will find everything else I
want.”
The major reason why I wrote this book on how to get money is the fact
that the world has but lately passed through an experience that left millions of
men and women paralyzed with the FEAR OF POVERTY. What this sort of
fear does to one was well described by Westbrook Pegler, in the New York
World-Telegram, viz:
“Money is only clam shells or metal discs or scraps of paper, and there
are treasures of the heart and soul which money cannot buy, but most people,
being broke, are unable to keep this in mind and sustain their spirits. When a
man is down and out and on the street, unable to get any job at all, something
happens to his spirit which can be observed in the droop of his shoulders, the
set of his hat, his walk and his gaze. He cannot escape a feeling of inferiority
among people with regular employment, even though he knows they are
definitely not his equals in character, intelligence or ability.
“These people—even his friends—feel, on the other hand, a sense of
superiority and regard him, perhaps unconsciously, as a casualty. He may
borrow for a time, but not enough to carry on in his accustomed way, and he
cannot continue to borrow very long. But borrowing in itself, when a man is
borrowing merely to live, is a depressing experience, and the money lacks
the power of earned money to revive his spirits. Of course, none of this
applies to bums or habitual ne’er-do-wells, but only to men of normal
ambitions and self-respect.
“WOMEN CONCEAL DESPAIR
“Women in the same predicament must be different. We somehow do not
think of women at all in considering the down-and-outers. They are scarce in
the breadlines, they rarely are seen begging on the streets, and they are not
recognizable in crowds by the same plain signs which identify busted men.
Of course, I do not mean the shuffling hags of the city streets who are the
opposite number of the confirmed male bums. I mean reasonably young,
decent and intelligent women. There must be many of them, but their despair
is not apparent. Maybe they kill themselves.
“When a man is down and out he has time on his hands for brooding. He
may travel miles to see a man about a job and discover that the job is filled
or that it is one of those jobs with no base pay but only a commission on the
sale of some useless knickknack which nobody would buy, except out of pity.
Turning that down, he finds himself back on the street with nowhere to go but
just anywhere. So he walks and walks. He gazes into store windows at
luxuries which are not for him, and feels inferior and gives way to people
who stop to look with an active interest. He wanders into the railroad station
or puts himself down in the library to ease his legs and soak up a little heat,
but that isn’t looking for a job, so he gets going again. He may not know it,
but his aimlessness would give him away even if the very lines of his figure
did not. He may be well dressed in the clothes left over from the days when
he had a steady job, but the clothes cannot disguise the droop.
“MONEY MAKES DIFFERENCE
“He sees thousands of other people, bookkeepers or clerks or chemists or
wagon hands, busy at their work and envies them from the bottom of his soul.
They have their independence, their self-respect and manhood, and he simply
cannot convince himself that he is a good man, too, though he argue it out and
arrive at a favorable verdict hour after hour.
“It is just money which makes this difference in him. With a little money
he would be himself again.
“Some employers take the most shocking advantage of people who are
down and out. The agencies hang out little colored cards offering miserable
wages to busted men—$12 a week, $15 a week. An $18 a week job is a
plum, and anyone with $25 a week to offer does not hang the job in front of
an agency on a colored card. I have a want ad clipped from a local paper
demanding a clerk, a good, clean penman, to take telephone orders for a
sandwich shop from 11 A.M. to 2 P.M. for $8 a month—not $8 a week but $8
a month. The ad says also, “State religion.” Can you imagine the brutal
effrontery of anyone who demands a good, clean penman for 11 cents an hour
inquiring into the victim’s religion? But that is what busted people are
offered.”
“Can you imagine the brutal effrontery of anyone who
demands a good, clean penman for 11 cents an hour inquiring
into the victim’s religion?”
THE FEAR OF CRITICISM
Just how man originally came by this fear, no one can state definitely, but one
thing is certain—he has it in a highly developed form. Some believe that this
fear made its appearance about the time that politics became a “profession.”
Others believe it can be traced to the age when women first began to concern
themselves with “styles” in wearing apparel.
This author, being neither a humorist nor a prophet, is inclined to
attribute the basic fear of criticism to that part of man’s inherited nature
which prompts him not only to take away his fellowman’s goods and wares,
but to justify his action by CRITICISM of his fellowman’s character. It is a
well known fact that a thief will criticise the man from whom he steals—that
politicians seek office, not by displaying their own virtues and qualifications,
but by attempting to besmirch their opponents.
The fear of criticism takes on many forms, the majority of which are
petty and trivial. Baldheaded men, for example, are bald for no other reason
than their fear of criticism. Heads become bald because of the tight fitting
bands of hats which cut off the circulation from the roots of the hair. Men
wear hats, not because they actually need them, but mainly because
“everyone is doing it.” The individual falls into line and does likewise, lest
some other individual CRITICISE him. Women seldom have bald heads, or
even thin hair, because they wear hats which fit their heads loosely, the only
purpose of the hats being adornment.
But, it must not be supposed that women are free from the fear of
criticism. If any woman claims to be superior to man with reference to this
fear, ask her to walk down the street wearing a hat of the vintage of 1890.
The astute manufacturers of clothing have not been slow to capitalize
this basic fear of criticism, with which all mankind has been cursed. Every
season the styles in many articles of wearing apparel change. Who
establishes the styles? Certainly not the purchaser of clothing, but the
manufacturer. Why does he change the styles so often? The answer is
obvious. He changes the styles so he can sell more clothes.
For the same reason the manufacturers of automobiles (with a few rare
and very sensible exceptions) change styles of models every season. No man
wants to drive an automobile which is not of the latest style, although the
older model may actually be the better car.
We have been describing the manner in which people behave under the
influence of fear of criticism as applied to the small and petty things of life.
Let us now examine human behavior when this fear affects people in
connection with the more important events of human relationship. Take for
example practically any person who has reached the age of “mental maturity”
(from 35 to 40 years of age, as a general average), and if you could read the
secret thoughts of his mind, you would find a very decided disbelief in most
of the fables taught by the majority of the dogmatists and theologians a few
decades back.
Not often, however, will you find a person who has the courage to
openly state his belief on this subject. Most people will, if pressed far
enough, tell a lie rather than admit that they do not believe the stories
associated with that form of religion which held people in bondage prior to
the age of scientific discovery and education.
Why does the average person, even in this day of enlightenment, shy
away from denying his belief in the fables which were the basis of most of
the religions a few decades ago? The answer is, “because of the fear of
criticism.” Men and women have been burned at the stake for daring to
express disbelief in ghosts. It is no wonder we have inherited a
consciousness which makes us fear criticism. The time was, and not so far in
the past, when criticism carried severe punishments—it still does in some
countries.
The fear of criticism robs man of his initiative, destroys his power of
imagination, limits his individuality, takes away his self-reliance, and does
him damage in a hundred other ways. Parents often do their children
irreparable injury by criticising them. The mother of one of my boyhood
chums used to punish him with a switch almost daily, always completing the
job with the statement, “You’ll land in the penitentiary before you are
twenty.” He was sent to a Reformatory at the age of seventeen.
Criticism is the one form of service, of which everyone has too much.
Everyone has a stock of it which is handed out, gratis, whether called for or
not. One’s nearest relatives often are the worst offenders. It should be
recognized as a crime (in reality it is a crime of the worst nature), for any
parent to build inferiority complexes in the mind of a child, through
unnecessary criticism. Employers who understand human nature, get the best
there is in men, not by criticism, but by constructive suggestion. Parents may
accomplish the same results with their children. Criticism will plant FEAR
in the human heart, or resentment, but it will not build love or affection.
Criticism will plant FEAR in the human heart, or resentment,
but it will not build love or affection.
SYMPTOMS OF THE FEAR OF CRITICISM
This fear is almost as universal as the fear of poverty, and its effects are just
as fatal to personal achievement, mainly because this fear destroys initiative,
and discourages the use of imagination. The major symptoms of the fear are:
SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS. Generally expressed through nervousness, timidity in
conversation and in meeting strangers, awkward movement of the hands and
limbs, shifting of the eyes.
LACK OF POISE. Expressed through lack of voice control, nervousness in the
presence of others, poor posture of body, poor memory.
PERSONALITY. Lacking in firmness of decision, personal charm, and ability to
express opinions definitely. The habit of side-stepping issues instead of
meeting them squarely. Agreeing with others without careful examination of
their opinions.
INFERIORITY COMPLEX. The habit of expressing self-approval
by word of
mouth and by actions, as a means of covering up a feeling of inferiority.
Using “big words” to impress others, (often without knowing the real
meaning of the words). Imitating others in dress, speech and manners.
Boasting of imaginary achievements. This sometimes gives a surface
appearance of a feeling of superiority.
EXTRAVAGANCE. The habit of trying to “keep up with the Joneses,” spending
beyond one’s income.
LACK OF INITIATIVE. Failure to embrace opportunities for selfadvancement, fear to express opinions, lack of confidence in one’s own
ideas, giving evasive answers to questions asked by superiors, hesitancy of
manner and speech, deceit in both words and deeds.
Mental and physical laziness, lack of self-assertion,
slowness in reaching decisions, easily influenced by others, the habit of
criticising others behind their backs and flattering them to their faces, the
habit of accepting defeat without protest, quitting an undertaking when
opposed by others, suspicious of other people without cause, lacking in
tactfulness of manner and speech, unwillingness to accept the blame for
mistakes.
LACK OF AMBITION.
THE FEAR OF ILL HEALTH
This fear may be traced to both physical and social heredity. It is closely
associated, as to its origin, with the causes of fear of Old Age and the fear of
Death, because it leads one closely to the border of “terrible worlds” of
which man knows not, but concerning which he has been taught some
discomforting stories. The opinion is somewhat general, also, that certain
unethical people engaged in the business of “selling health” have had not a
little to do with keeping alive the fear of ill health.
In the main, man fears ill health because of the terrible pictures which
have been planted in his mind of what may happen if death should overtake
him. He also fears it because of the economic toll which it may claim.
A reputable physician estimated that 75% of all people who visit
physicians for professional service are suffering with hypochondria
(imaginary illness). It has been shown most convincingly that the fear of
disease, even where there is not the slightest cause for fear, often produces
the physical symptoms of the disease feared.
Powerful and mighty is the human mind! It builds or it destroys.
Playing upon this common weakness of fear of ill health, dispensers of
patent medicines have reaped fortunes. This form of imposition upon
credulous humanity became so prevalent some twenty years ago that
Colliers’ Weekly Magazine conducted a bitter campaign against some of the
worst offenders in the patent medicine business.
During the “flu” epidemic which broke out during the world war, the
mayor of New York City took drastic steps to check the damage which
people were doing themselves through their inherent fear of ill health. He
called in the newspaper men and said to them, “Gentlemen, I feel it necessary
to ask you not to publish any scare headlines concerning the ‘flu’ epidemic.
Unless you cooperate with me, we will have a situation which we cannot
control.” The newspapers quit publishing stories about the “flu,” and within
one month the epidemic had been successfully checked.
Through a series of experiments conducted some years ago, it was
proved that people may be made ill by suggestion. We conducted this
experiment by causing three acquaintances to visit the “victims,” each of
whom asked the question, “What ails you? You look terribly ill.” The first
questioner usually provoked a grin, and a nonchalant “Oh, nothing, I’m
alright,” from the victim. The second questioner usually was answered with
the statement, “I don’t know exactly, but I do feel badly.” The third
questioner was usually met with the frank admission that the victim was
actually feeling ill.
Try this on an acquaintance if you doubt that it will make him
uncomfortable, but do not carry the experiment too far. There is a certain
religious sect whose members take vengeance upon their enemies by the
“hexing” method. They call it “placing a spell” on the victim.
There is overwhelming evidence that disease sometimes begins in the
form of negative thought impulse. Such an impulse may be passed from one
mind to another, by suggestion, or created by an individual in his own mind.
A man who was blessed with more wisdom than this incident might
indicate, once said “When anyone asks me how I feel, I always want to
answer by knocking him down.”
Doctors send patients into new climates for their health, because a
change of “mental attitude” is necessary. The seed of fear of ill health lives
in every human mind. Worry, fear, discouragement, disappointment in love
and business affairs, cause this seed to germinate and grow. The recent
business depression kept the doctors on the run, because every form of
negative thinking may cause ill health.
Disappointments in business and in love stand at the head of the list of
causes of fear of ill health. A young man suffered a disappointment in love
which sent him to a hospital. For months he hovered between life and death.
A specialist in suggestive therapeutics was called in. The specialist changed
nurses, placing him in charge of a very charming young woman who began
(by pre-arrangement with the doctor) to make love to him the first day of her
arrival on the job. Within three weeks the patient was discharged from the
hospital, still suffering, but with an entirely different malady. HE WAS IN
LOVE AGAIN. The remedy was a hoax, but the patient and the nurse were
later married. Both are in good health at the time of this writing.
SYMPTOMS OF THE FEAR OF ILL HEALTH
The symptoms of this almost universal fear are:
AUTO-SUGGESTION. The habit of negative use of self-suggestion by looking
for, and expecting to find the symptoms of all kinds of disease. “Enjoying”
imaginary illness and speaking of it as being real. The habit of trying all
“fads” and “isms” recommended by others as having therapeutic value.
Talking to others of operations, accidents and other forms of illness.
Experimenting with diets, physical exercises, reducing systems, without
professional guidance. Trying home remedies, patent medicines and “quack”
remedies.
HYPOCHONDRIA. The habit of talking of illness, concentrating the mind upon
disease, and expecting its appearance until a nervous break occurs. Nothing
that comes in bottles can cure this condition. It is brought on by negative
thinking and nothing but positive thought can affect a cure. Hypochondria, (a
medical term for imaginary disease) is said to do as much damage on
occasion, as the disease one fears might do. Most so-called cases of
“nerves” come from imaginary illness.
EXERCISE. Fear of ill health often interferes with proper physical exercise,
and results in over-weight, by causing one to avoid outdoor life.
SUSCEPTIBILITY. Fear of ill health breaks down Nature’s body resistance, and
creates a favorable condition for any form of disease one may contact.
The fear of ill health often is related to the fear of Poverty, especially in
the case of the hypochondriac, who constantly worries about the possibility
of having to pay doctor’s bills, hospital bills, etc. This type of person spends
much time preparing for sickness, talking about death, saving money for
cemetery lots, and burial expenses, etc.
SELF-CODDLING. The habit of making a bid for sympathy, using imaginary
illness as the lure. (People often resort to this trick to avoid work). The habit
of feigning illness to cover plain laziness, or to serve as an alibi for lack of
ambition.
INTEMPERANCE. The habit of using alcohol or narcotics to destroy pains such
as headaches, neuralgia, etc., instead of eliminating the cause.
The habit of reading about illness and worrying over the possibility of
being stricken by it. The habit of reading patent medicine advertisements.
THE FEAR OF LOSS OF LOVE
The original source of this inherent fear needs but little description, because
it obviously grew out of man’s polygamous habit of stealing his fellow man’s
mate, and his habit of taking liberties with her whenever he could.
Jealousy, and other similar forms of dementia praecox grow out of man’s
inherited fear of the loss of love of someone. This fear is the most painful of
all the six basic fears. It probably plays more havoc with the body and mind
than any of the other basic fears, as it often leads to permanent insanity.
The fear of the loss of love probably dates back to the stone age, when
men stole women by brute force. They continue to steal females, but their
technique has changed. Instead of force, they now use persuasion, the
promise of pretty clothes, motor ears, and other “bait” much more effective
than physical force. Man’s habits are the same as they were at the dawn of
civilization, but he expresses them differently.
Careful analysis has shown that women are more susceptible to this fear
than men. This fact is easily explained. Women have learned, from
experience, that men are polygamous by nature, that they are not to be trusted
in the hands of rivals.
SYMPTOMS OF THE FEAR OF LOSS OF LOVE
The distinguishing symptoms of this fear are:
JEALOUSY. The habit of being suspicious of friends and loved ones without
any reasonable evidence of sufficient grounds. (Jealousy is a form of
dementia praecox which sometimes becomes violent without the slightest
cause). The habit of accusing wife or husband of infidelity without grounds.
General suspicion of everyone, absolute faith in no one.
FAULT FINDING. The habit of finding fault with friends, relatives, business
associates and loved ones upon the slightest provocation, or without any
cause whatsoever.
GAMBLING. The habit of gambling, stealing, cheating, and otherwise taking
hazardous chances to provide money for loved ones, with the belief that love
can be bought. The habit of spending beyond one’s means, or incurring debts,
to provide gifts for loved ones, with the object of making a favorable
showing. Insomnia, nervousness, lack of persistence, weakness of will, lack
of self-control, lack of self-reliance, and bad temper.
THE FEAR OF OLD AGE
In the main, this fear grows out of two sources. First, the thought that old age
may bring with it POVERTY. Secondly, and by far the most common source
of origin, from false and cruel teachings of the past which have been too well
mixed with “fire and brimstone,” and other bogies cunningly designed to
enslave man through fear.
In the basic fear of old age, man has two very sound reasons for his
apprehension—one growing out of his distrust of his fellowman, who may
seize whatever worldly goods he may possess, and the other arising from the
terrible pictures of the world beyond, which were planted in his mind,
through social heredity before he came into full possession of his mind.
The possibility of ill health, which is more common as people grow
older, is also a contributing cause of this common fear of old age. Eroticism
also enters into the cause of the fear of old age, as no man cherishes the
thought of diminishing sex attraction.
The most common cause of fear of old age is associated with the
possibility of poverty. “Poorhouse” is not a pretty word. It throws a chill into
the mind of every person who faces the possibility of having to spend his
declining years on a poor farm.
Another contributing cause of the fear of old age, is the possibility of
loss of freedom and independence, as old age may bring with it the loss of
both physical and economic freedom.
SYMPTOMS OF THE FEAR OF OLD AGE
The commonest symptoms of this fear are:
The tendency to slow down and develop an inferiority complex at the
age of mental maturity, around the age of forty, falsely believing one’s self to
be “slipping” because of age. (The truth is that man’s most useful years,
mentally and spiritually, are those between forty and sixty).
The habit of speaking apologetically of one’s self as “being old” merely
because one has reached the age of forty, or fifty, instead of reversing the rule
and expressing gratitude for having reached the age of wisdom and
understanding.
The habit of killing off initiative, imagination, and self-reliance by
falsely believing one’s self too old to exercise these qualities. The habit of
the man or woman of forty dressing with the aim of trying to appear much
younger, and affecting mannerisms of youth; thereby inspiring ridicule by
both friends and strangers.
THE FEAR OF DEATH
To some this is the cruelest of all the basic fears. The reason is obvious. The
terrible pangs of fear associated with the thought of death, in the majority of
cases, may be charged directly to religious fanaticism. So-called “heathen”
are less afraid of death than the more “civilized.” For hundreds of millions of
years man has been asking the still unanswered questions, “whence” and
“whither.” Where did I come from, and where am I going?
During the darker ages of the past, the more cunning and crafty were not
slow to offer the answer to these questions, FOR A PRICE. Witness, now,
the major source of origin of the FEAR OF DEATH.
“Come into my tent, embrace my faith, accept my dogmas, and I will
give you a ticket that will admit you straightaway into heaven when you die,”
cries a leader of sectarianism. “Remain out of my tent,” says the same leader,
“and may the devil take you and burn you throughout eternity.”
ETERNITY is a long time. FIRE is a terrible thing. The thought of
eternal punishment, with fire, not only causes man to fear death, it often
causes him to lose his reason. It destroys interest in life and makes happiness
impossible.
During my research, I reviewed a book entitled “A Catalogue of the
Gods,” in which were listed the 30,000 gods which man has worshiped.
Think of it! Thirty thousand of them, represented by everything from a
crawfish to a man. It is little wonder that men have become frightened at the
approach of death.
While the religious leader may not be able to provide safe conduct into
heaven, nor, by lack of such provision, allow the unfortunate to descend into
hell, the possibility of the latter seems so terrible that the very thought of it
lays hold of the imagination in such a realistic way that it paralyzes reason,
and sets up the fear of death.
In truth, NO MAN KNOWS, and no man has ever known, what heaven
or hell is like, nor does any man know if either place actually exists. This
very lack of positive knowledge opens the door of the human mind to the
charlatan so he may enter and control that mind with his stock of legerdemain
and various brands of pious fraud and trickery.
The fear of DEATH is not as common now as it was during the age when
there were no great colleges and universities. Men of science have turned the
spotlight of truth upon the world, and this truth is rapidly freeing men and
women from this terrible fear of DEATH. The young men and young women
who attend the colleges and universities are not easily impressed by “fire”
and “brimstone.” Through the aid of biology, astronomy, geology, and other
related sciences, the fears of the dark ages which gripped the minds of men
and destroyed their reason have been dispelled.
Insane asylums are filled with men and women who have gone mad,
because of the FEAR OF DEATH.
This fear is useless. Death will come, no matter what anyone may think
about it. Accept it as a necessity, and pass the thought out of your mind. It
must be a necessity, or it would not come to all. Perhaps it is not as bad as it
has been pictured.
The entire world is made up of only two things, ENERGY and
MATTER. In elementary physics we learn that neither matter nor energy (the
only two realities known to man) can be created nor destroyed. Both matter
and energy can be transformed, but neither can be destroyed.
Life is energy, if it is anything. If neither energy nor matter can be
destroyed, of course life cannot be destroyed. Life, like other forms of
energy, may be passed through various processes of transition, or change, but
it cannot be destroyed. Death is mere transition.
If death is not mere change, or transition, then nothing comes after death
except a long, eternal, peaceful sleep, and sleep is nothing to be feared. Thus
you may wipe out, forever, the fear of Death.
SYMPTOMS OF THE FEAR OF DEATH
The general symptoms of this fear are:
The habit of THINKING about dying instead of making the most of LIFE,
due, generally, to lack of purpose, or lack of a suitable occupation. This fear
is more prevalent among the aged, but sometimes the more youthful are
victims of it. The greatest of all remedies for the fear of death is a BURNING
DESIRE FOR ACHIEVEMENT, backed by useful service to others. A busy
person seldom has time to think about dying. He finds life too thrilling to
worry about death. Sometimes the fear of death is closely associated with the
Fear of Poverty, where one’s death would leave loved ones poverty-stricken.
In other cases, the fear of death is caused by illness and the consequent
breaking down of physical body resistance. The commonest causes of the
fear of death are: ill-health, poverty, lack of appropriate occupation,
disappointment over love, insanity, religious fanaticism.
OLD MAN WORRY
Worry is a state of mind based upon fear. It works slowly, but persistently. It
is insidious and subtle. Step by step it “digs itself in” until it paralyzes one’s
reasoning faculty, destroys self-confidence and initiative. Worry is a form of
sustained fear caused by indecision therefore it is a state of mind which can
be controlled.
An unsettled mind is helpless. Indecision makes an unsettled mind. Most
individuals lack the willpower to reach decisions promptly, and to stand by
them after they have been made, even during normal business conditions.
During periods of economic unrest (such as the world recently experienced),
the individual is handicapped, not alone by his inherent nature to be slow at
reaching decisions, but he is influenced by the indecision of others around
him who have created a state of “mass indecision.”
During the depression the whole atmosphere, all over the world, was
filled with “Fearenza” and “Worryitis,” the two mental disease germs which
began to spread themselves after the Wall Street frenzy in 1929. There is only
one known antidote for these germs; it is the habit of prompt and firm
DECISION. Moreover, it is an antidote which every individual must apply
for himself.
We do not worry over conditions, once we have reached a decision to
follow a definite line of action. I once interviewed a man who was to be
electrocuted two hours later. The condemned man was the calmest of some
eight men who were in the death-cell with him. His calmness prompted me to
ask him how it felt to know that he was going into eternity in a short while.
With a smile of confidence on his face, he said, “It feels fine. Just think,
brother, my troubles will soon be over. I have had nothing but trouble all my
life. It has been a hardship to get food and clothing. Soon I will not need
these things. I have felt fine ever since I learned FOR CERTAIN that I must
die. I made up my mind then, to accept my fate in good spirit.”
As he spoke he devoured a dinner of proportions sufficient for three
men, eating every mouthful of the food brought to him, and apparently
enjoying it as much as if no disaster awaited him. DECISION gave this man
resignation to his fate! Decision can also prevent one’s acceptance of
undesired circumstances.
The six basic fears become translated into a state of worry, through
indecision. Relieve yourself, forever of the fear of death, by reaching a
decision to accept death as an inescapable event. Whip the fear of poverty by
reaching a decision to get along with whatever wealth you can accumulate
WITHOUT WORRY. Put your foot upon the neck of the fear of criticism by
reaching a decision NOT TO WORRY about what other people think, do, or
say. Eliminate the fear of old age by reaching a decision to accept it, not as a
handicap, but as a great blessing which carries with it wisdom, self-control,
and understanding not known to youth. Acquit yourself of the fear of ill health
by the decision to forget symptoms. Master the fear of loss of love by
reaching a decision to get along without love, if that is necessary.
Whip the fear of poverty by reaching a decision to get along
with whatever wealth you can accumulate WITHOUT WORRY.
Kill the habit of worry, in all its forms, by reaching a general, blanket
decision that nothing which life has to offer is worth the price of worry. With
this decision will come poise, peace of mind, and calmness of thought which
will bring happiness.
A man whose mind is filled with fear not only destroys his own chances
of intelligent action, but, he transmits these destructive vibrations to the
minds of all who come into contact with him, and destroys, also their
chances.
Even a dog or a horse knows when its master lacks courage; moreover, a
dog or a horse will pick up the vibrations of fear thrown off by its master,
and behave accordingly. Lower down the line of intelligence in the animal
kingdom, one finds this same capacity to pick up the vibrations of fear. A
honey-bee immediately senses fear in the mind of a person—for reasons
unknown, a bee will sting the person whose mind is releasing vibrations of
fear, much more readily than it will molest the person whose mind registers
no fear.
The vibrations of fear pass from one mind to another just as quickly and
as surely as the sound of the human voice passes from the broadcasting
station to the receiving set of a radio—and BY THE SELF-SAME
MEDIUM.
Nothing which life has to offer is worth the price of worry.
Mental telepathy is a reality. Thoughts pass from one mind to another,
voluntarily, whether or not this fact is recognized by either the person
releasing the thoughts, or the persons who pick up those thoughts.
The person who gives expression, by word of mouth, to negative or
destructive thoughts is practically certain to experience the results of those
words in the form of a destructive “kick-back.” The release of destructive
thought impulses, alone, without the aid of words, produces also a
“kickback” in more ways than one. First of all, and perhaps most important to
be remembered, the person who releases thoughts of a destructive nature,
must suffer damage through the breaking down of the faculty of creative
imagination. Secondly, the presence in the mind of any destructive emotion
develops a negative personality which repels people, and often converts
them into antagonists. The third source of damage to the person who
entertains or releases negative thoughts, lies in this significant fact—these
thought-impulses are not only damaging to others, but they IMBED
THEMSELVES IN THE SUBCONSCIOUS MIND OF THE PERSON
RELEASING THEM, and there become a part of his character.
One is never through with a thought, merely by releasing it. When a
thought is released, it spreads in every direction, through the medium of the
ether, but it also plants itself permanently in the subconscious mind of the
person releasing it.
Your business in life is, presumably to achieve success. To be
successful, you must find peace of mind, acquire the material needs of life,
and above all, attain HAPPINESS. All of these evidences of success begin in
the form of thought impulses.
You may control your own mind, you have the power to feed it whatever
thought impulses you choose. With this privilege goes also the responsibility
of using it constructively. You are the master of your own earthly destiny just
as surely as you have the power to control your own thoughts. You may
influence, direct, and eventually control your own environment, making your
life what you want it to be—or, you may neglect to exercise the privilege
which is yours, to make your life to order, thus casting yourself upon the
broad sea of “Circumstance” where you will be tossed hither and yon, like a
chip on the waves of the ocean.
THE DEVIL’S WORKSHOP
THE SEVENTH BASIC EVIL
In addition to the Six Basic Fears, there is another evil by which people
suffer. It constitutes a rich soil in which the seeds of failure grow abundantly.
It is so subtle that its presence often is not detected. This affliction cannot
properly be classed as a fear. IT IS MORE DEEPLY SEATED AND MORE
OFTEN FATAL THAN ALL OF THE SIX FEARS. For want of a better
name, let us call this evil SUSCEPTIBILITY TO NEGATIVE
INFLUENCES.
Men who accumulate great riches always protect themselves against this
evil! The poverty stricken never do! Those who succeed in any calling must
prepare their minds to resist the evil. If you are reading this philosophy for
the purpose of accumulating riches, you should examine yourself very
carefully, to determine whether you are susceptible to negative influences. If
you neglect this self-analysis, you will forfeit your right to attain the object of
your desires.
Make the analysis searching. After you read the questions prepared for
this self-analysis, hold yourself to a strict accounting in your answers. Go at
the task as carefully as you would search for any other enemy you knew to be
awaiting you in ambush and deal with your own faults as you would with a
more tangible enemy.
You can easily protect yourself against highway robbers, because the
law provides organized cooperation for your benefit, but the “seventh basic
evil” is more difficult to master, because it strikes when you are not aware of
its presence, when you are asleep, and while you are awake. Moreover, its
weapon is intangible, because it consists of merely—a STATE OF MIND.
This evil is also dangerous because it strikes in as many different forms as
there are human experiences. Sometimes it enters the mind through the wellmeant words of one’s own relatives. At other times, it bores from within,
through one’s own mental attitude. Always it is as deadly as poison, even
though it may not kill as quickly.
HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF AGAINST
NEGATIVE INFLUENCES
To protect yourself against negative influences, whether of your own making,
or the result of the activities of negative people around you, recognize that
you have a WILL-POWER, and put it into constant use, until it builds a wall
of immunity against negative influences in your own mind.
Recognize the fact that you, and every other human being, are, by nature,
lazy, indifferent, and susceptible to all suggestions which harmonize with
your weaknesses.
Recognize that you are, by nature, susceptible to all the six basic fears,
and set up habits for the purpose of counteracting all these fears.
Recognize that negative influences often work on you through your
subconscious mind, therefore they are difficult to detect, and keep your mind
closed against all people who depress or discourage you in any way.
Clean out your medicine chest, throw away all pill bottles, and stop
pandering to colds, aches, pains and imaginary illness.
Deliberately seek the company of people who influence you to THINK
AND ACT FOR YOURSELF.
Do not EXPECT troubles as they have a tendency not to disappoint.
Without doubt, the most common weakness of all human beings is the
habit of leaving their minds open to the negative influence of other people.
This weakness is all the more damaging, because most people do not
recognize that they are cursed by it, and many who acknowledge it, neglect or
refuse to correct the evil until it becomes an uncontrollable part of their daily
habits.
The most common weakness of all human beings is the habit of
leaving their minds open to the negative influence of other
people.
To aid those who wish to see themselves as they really are, the
following list of questions has been prepared. Read the questions and state
your answers aloud, so you can hear your own voice. This will make it
easier for you to be truthful with yourself.
SELF-ANALYSIS TEST QUESTIONS
Do you complain often of “feeling bad,” and if so, what is the cause?
Do you find fault with other people at the slightest provocation?
Do you frequently make mistakes in your work, and if so, why?
Are you sarcastic and offensive in your conversation?
Do you deliberately avoid the association of anyone, and if so, why?
Do you suffer frequently with indigestion? If so, what is the cause?
Does life seem futile and the future hopeless to you? If so, why?
Do you like your occupation? If not, why? Do you often feel self-pity,
and if so why? Are you envious of those who excel you?
To which do you devote most time, thinking of SUCCESS, or of
FAILURE?
Are you gaining or losing self-confidence as you grow older?
Do you learn something of value from all mistakes?
Are you permitting some relative or acquaintance to worry you? If so,
why?
Are you sometimes “in the clouds” and at other times in the depths of
despondency?
Who has the most inspiring influence upon you? What is the cause?
Do you tolerate negative or discouraging influences which you can
avoid?
Are you careless of your personal appearance? If so, when and why?
Have you learned how to “drown your troubles” by being too busy to
be annoyed by them?
Would you call yourself a “spineless weakling” if you permitted others
to do your thinking for you?
Do you neglect internal bathing until auto-intoxication makes you illtempered and irritable?
How many preventable disturbances annoy you, and why do you
tolerate them?
Do you resort to liquor, narcotics, or cigarettes to “quiet your nerves”?
If so, why do you not try will-power instead?
Does anyone “nag” you, and if so, for what reason?
Do you have a DEFINITE MAJOR PURPOSE, and if so, what is it, and
what plan have you for achieving it?
Do you suffer from any of the Six Basic Fears? If so, which ones?
Have you a method by which you can shield yourself against the
negative influence of others?
Do you make deliberate use of auto-suggestion to make your mind
positive?
Which do you value most, your material possessions, or your privilege
of controlling your own thoughts?
Are you easily influenced by others, against your own judgment?
Has today added anything of value to your stock of knowledge or state
of mind?
Do you face squarely the circumstances which make you unhappy, or
sidestep the responsibility?
Do you analyze all mistakes and failures and try to profit by them or, do
you take the attitude that this is not your duty?
Can you name three of your most damaging weaknesses? What are you
doing to correct them?
Do you encourage other people to bring their worries to you for
sympathy?
Do you choose, from your daily experiences, lessons or influences
which aid in your personal advancement?
Does your presence have a negative influence on other people as a
rule?
What habits of other people annoy you most?
Do you form your own opinions or permit yourself to be influenced by
other people?
Have you learned how to create a mental state of mind with which you
can shield yourself against all discouraging influences?
Does your occupation inspire you with faith and hope?
Are you conscious of possessing spiritual forces of sufficient power to
enable you to keep your mind free from all forms of FEAR?
Does your religion help you to keep your own mind positive?
Do you feel it your duty to share other people’s worries? If so, why?
If you believe that “birds of a feather flock together” what have you
learned about yourself by studying the friends whom you attract?
What connection, if any, do you see between the people with whom you
associate most closely, and any unhappiness you may experience?
Could it be possible that some person whom you consider to be a friend
is, in reality, your worst enemy, because of his negative influence on
your mind?
By what rules do you judge who is helpful and who is damaging to you?
Are your intimate associates mentally superior or inferior to you?
How much time out of every 24 hours do you devote to:
a. your occupation
b. sleep
c. play and relaxation
d. acquiring useful knowledge
e. plain waste
Who among your acquaintances,
a. encourages you most
b. cautions you most
c. discourages you most
d. helps you most in other ways
What is your greatest worry? Why do you tolerate it?
When others offer you free, unsolicited advice, do you accept it without
question, or analyze their motive?
What, above all else, do you most DESIRE? Do you intend to acquire
it? Are you willing to subordinate all other desires for this one? How
much time daily do you devote to acquiring it?
Do you change your mind often? If so, why?
Do you usually finish everything you begin?
Are you easily impressed by other people’s business or professional
titles, college degrees, or wealth?
Are you easily influenced by what other people think or say of you?
Do you cater to people because of their social or financial status?
Whom do you believe to be the greatest person living? In what respect
is this person superior to yourself?
How much time have you devoted to studying and answering these
questions? (At least one day is necessary for the analysis and the
answering of the entire list.)
If you have answered all these questions truthfully, you know more about
yourself than the majority of people. Study the questions carefully, come back
to them once each week for several months, and be astounded at the amount
of additional knowledge of great value to yourself, you will have gained by
the simple method of answering the questions truthfully. If you are not certain
concerning the answers to some of the questions, seek the counsel of those
who know you well, especially those who have no motive in flattering you,
and see yourself through their eyes. The experience will be astonishing.
You have ABSOLUTE CONTROL over but one thing, and that is your
thoughts. This is the most significant and inspiring of all facts known to man!
It reflects man’s Divine nature. This Divine prerogative is the sole means by
which you may control your own destiny. If you fail to control your own
mind, you may be sure you will control nothing else.
If you must be careless with your possessions, let it be in connection
with material things. Your mind is your spiritual estate! Protect and use it
with the care to which Divine Royalty is entitled. You were given a WILLPOWER for this purpose.
Unfortunately, there is no legal protection against those who, either by
design or ignorance, poison the minds of others by negative suggestion. This
form of destruction should be punishable by heavy legal penalties, because it
may and often does destroy one’s chances of acquiring material things which
are protected by law.
Men with negative minds tried to convince Thomas A. Edison that he
could not build a machine that would record and reproduce the human voice,
“because” they said, “no one else had ever produced such a machine.”
Edison did not believe them. He knew that the mind could produce
ANYTHING THE MIND COULD CONCEIVE AND BELIEVE, and that
knowledge was the thing that lifted the great Edison above the common herd.
Edison knew that the mind could produce ANYTHING THE
MIND COULD CONCEIVE AND BELIEVE, and that
knowledge was the thing that lifted the great Edison above the
common herd.
Men with negative minds told F. W. Woolworth, he would go “broke”
trying to run a store on five and ten cent sales. He did not believe them. He
knew that he could do anything, within reason, if he backed his plans with
faith. Exercising his right to keep other men’s negative suggestions out of his
mind, he piled up a fortune of more than a hundred million dollars.
Men with negative minds told George Washington he could not hope to
win against the vastly superior forces of the British, but he exercised his
Divine right to BELIEVE, therefore this book was published under the
protection of the Stars and Stripes, while the name of Lord Cornwallis has
been all but forgotten.
Doubting Thomases scoffed scornfully when Henry Ford tried out his
first crudely built automobile on the streets of Detroit. Some said the thing
never would become practical. Others said no one would pay money for such
a contraption. FORD SAID, “I’LL BELT THE EARTH WITH
DEPENDABLE MOTOR CARS,” AND HE DID! His decision to trust his
own judgment has already piled up a fortune far greater than the next five
generations of his descendants can squander. For the benefit of those seeking
vast riches, let it be remembered that practically the sole difference between
Henry Ford and a majority of the more than one hundred thousand men who
work for him, is this—FORD HAS A MIND AND CONTROLS IT, THE
OTHERS HAVE MINDS WHICH THEY DO NOT TRY TO CONTROL.
Henry Ford has been repeatedly mentioned, because he is an astounding
example of what a man with a mind of his own, and a will to control it, can
accomplish. His record knocks the foundation from under that time-worn
alibi, “I never had a chance.” Ford never had a chance, either, but he
CREATED AN OPPORTUNITY AND BACKED IT WITH PERSISTENCE
UNTIL IT MADE HIM RICHER THAN CROESUS.
Mind control is the result of self-discipline and habit. You either control
your mind or it controls you. There is no half-way compromise. The most
practical of all methods for controlling the mind is the habit of keeping it
busy with a definite purpose, backed by a definite plan. Study the record of
any man who achieves noteworthy success, and you will observe that he has
control over his own mind, moreover, that he exercises that control and
directs it toward the attainment of definite objectives. Without this control,
success is not possible.
“FIFTY-SEVEN” FAMOUS ALIBIS BY OLD MAN
IF
People who do not succeed have one distinguishing trait in common. They
know all the reasons for failure, and have what they believe to be air-tight
alibis to explain away their own lack of achievement.
Some of these alibis are clever, and a few of them are justifiable by the
facts. But alibis cannot be used for money. The world wants to know only
one thing—HAVE YOU ACHIEVED SUCCESS?
A character analyst compiled a list of the most commonly used alibis.
As you read the list, examine yourself carefully, and determine how many of
these alibis, if any, are your own property. Remember, too, the philosophy
presented in this book makes every one of these alibis obsolete.
IF I didn’t have a wife and family …
IF I had enough “pull” …
IF I had money …
IF I had a good education …
IF I could get a job …
IF I had good health …
IF I only had time …
IF times were better …
IF other people understood me …
IF conditions around me were only different …
IF I could live my life over again …
IF I did not fear what “THEY” would say …
IF I had been given a chance …
IF I now had a chance …
IF other people didn’t “have it in for me” …
IF nothing happens to stop me …
IF I were only younger …
IF I could only do what I want …
IF I had been born rich …
IF I could meet “the right people” …
IF I had the talent that some people have …
IF I dared assert myself …
IF I only had embraced past opportunities …
IF people didn’t get on my nerves …
IF I didn’t have to keep house and look after the children …
IF I could save some money …
IF the boss only appreciated me …
IF I only had somebody to help me …
IF my family understood me …
IF I lived in a big city …
IF I could just get started …
IF I were only free …
IF I had the personality of some people …
IF I were not so fat …
IF my talents were known …
IF I could just get a “break” …
IF I could only get out of debt …
IF I hadn’t failed …
IF I only knew how …
IF everybody didn’t oppose me …
IF I didn’t have so many worries …
IF I could marry the right person …
IF people weren’t so dumb …
IF my family were not so extravagant …
IF I were sure of myself …
IF luck were not against me …
IF I had not been born under the wrong star …
IF it were not true that “what is to be will be” …
IF I did not have to work so hard …
IF I hadn’t lost my money …
IF I lived in a different neighborhood …
IF I didn’t have a “past” …
IF I only had a business of my own …
IF other people would only listen to me …
IF * * * and this is the greatest of them all * * * I had the courage to see
myself as I really am, I would find out what is wrong with me, and
correct it, then I might have a chance to profit by my mistakes and
learn something from the experience of others, for I know that there is
something WRONG with me, or I would now be where I WOULD
HAVE BEEN IF I had spent more time analyzing my weaknesses, and
less time building alibis to cover them.
Building alibis with which to explain away failure is a national pastime. The
habit is as old as the human race, and is fatal to success! Why do people
cling to their pet alibis? The answer is obvious. They defend their alibis
because THEY CREATE them! A man’s alibi is the child of his own
imagination. It is human nature to defend one’s own brain-child.
Building alibis is a deeply rooted habit. Habits are difficult to break,
especially when they provide justification for something we do. Plato had
this truth in mind when he said, “The first and best victory is to conquer self.
To be conquered by self is, of all things, the most shameful and vile.”
Another philosopher had the same thought in mind when he said, “It was
a great surprise to me when I discovered that most of the ugliness I saw in
others, was but a reflection of my own nature.”
“It has always been a mystery to me,” said Elbert Hubbard, “why people
spend so much time deliberately fooling themselves by creating alibis to
cover their weaknesses. If used differently, this same time would be
sufficient to cure the weakness, then no alibis would be needed.”
In parting, I would remind you that “Life is a checkerboard, and the
player opposite you is TIME. If you hesitate before moving, or neglect to
move promptly, your men will be wiped off the board by TIME. You are
playing against a partner who will not tolerate INDECISION!”
Previously you may have had a logical excuse for not having forced Life
to come through with whatever you asked, but that alibi is now obsolete,
because you are in possession of the Master Key that unlocks the door to
Life’s bountiful riches.
The Master Key is intangible, but it is powerful! It is the privilege of
creating, in your own mind, a BURNING DESIRE for a definite form of
riches. There is no penalty for the use of the Key, but there is a price you
must pay if you do not use it. The price is FAILURE. There is a reward of
stupendous proportions if you put the Key to use. It is the satisfaction that
comes to all who conquer self and force Life to pay whatever is asked.
The reward is worthy of your effort. Will you make the start and be
convinced?
“If we are related,” said the immortal Emerson, “we shall meet.” In
closing, may I borrow his thought, and say, “If we are related, we have,
through these pages, met.”
THE END
Chapter Fifteen Key Points
1. Outside matters of legitimate physical safety, fear is of no use to
you. It deadens the senses, hampers judgment, and lessens
perception.
2. Indecision results from fear.
3. Study and identify in yourself the six basic causes of fear as
outlined in this chapter. These are common facets of human nature;
identifying them helps reduce fear’s grip.
4. Worry solves nothing—it is passive and unproductive. You cannot
lead a satisfying life under the burden of worry. The effects of
worry of are literally worse than most negative events that can
befall you.
5. The one thing over which you have absolute control are your
thoughts. Value and act upon this fact.
6. The greatest factor for overcoming fear is a burning desire for
achievement.
Appendix A
Napoleon Hill’s Seventeen Laws of Success
Napoleon Hill identified between thirteen and seventeen laws of success. He
refined these principles throughout his career but they remained thematically
consistent. In short, Hill counseled that each of these traits appear in the lives
of almost all exceptional people. Although Hill considered it necessary to
master all seventeen principles, the qualities of the whole are, in a sense,
inherent within each one, the same way that a primeval forest may be traced
back to a single acorn. I describe each here.
—Mitch Horowitz
1. DEFINITE PURPOSE. The starting point of all achievement is one
definite, passionate, and specific aim. This is no ordinary desire, but
something you’re prepared to dedicate your life to. Your aim must be written
down, read daily, acted upon constantly, and held in your heart with iron
commitment.
2. MASTER MIND. This is a harmonious alliance ranging from as few as
two to as many as seven people who meet at regular intervals to exchange
ideas, advice, and sometimes meditations and prayers for one another’s
fulfillment. The Master Mind is critical to your success, as the pooling of
intellects results in heightened insight, acumen, and intuition for all members.
3. APPLIED FAITH. Faith is learnable. Through a passionate aim and
continual effort, you will discover that faith in your abilities and in unseen
sources of help will bolster and fuel your effectiveness and persistence.
Faith is the gelling factor that aids all of your efforts.
4. GOING THE EXTRA MILE. You are most efficient, and will more
quickly and easily succeed, when you dedicate yourself to work that you love
and that you find indistinguishable from leisure or play. When you work with
this kind of passion, the quality and quantity of your work improve and you
naturally do more and better work than you are paid for. This is why you owe
it to yourself to find the work that you most like—and express that work by
always going the extra mile for clients, customers, and employers.
5. POSITIVE MENTAL ATTITUDE (PMA). This does not mean blocking
out bad news or cultivating an unrealistically rosy mindset. Rather, it means
believing in your reserves of resilience, using every positive tool at hand to
approach your goals, and knowing that you possess or can acquire the
necessary resources to deal with nearly any challenge. People with PMA
naturally attract others and become leaders.
6. INITIATIVE. Leadership is essential to success—and initiative is the core
of leadership. Initiative means doing what ought to be done without being
told. Only those who practice initiative become self-starters, examples to
others, and high achievers. Initiative is one of Hill’s simplest (if not easiest)
laws; its practice is transformative.
7. ENTHUSIASM. Without enthusiasm nothing is possible and every task is
menial. With it, you demonstrate acts of tireless commitment, which
sometimes seem extraordinary. This is why your Definite Chief Aim must tap
your passions. Enthusiasm is the closest thing life grants us to a magic elixir.
8. PLEASING PERSONALITY. Your personality is the sum total of your
characteristics and appearance: the clothes you wear, your facial
expressions, the vitality of your body, your handshake, your tone of voice,
your diplomacy, your thoughts, and the character you have developed by
those thoughts.
9. ACCURATE THINKING. Accurate thought is vital to success. Thinking
accurately means relying on facts, observations, experience, and data that are
relevant to your aim. This means shunning gossip, rumor, hearsay, idle talk,
and—above all—casual opinions from people who know little or nothing
about your field.
10. PROFITING BY FAILURE. What we call failure is often temporary
defeat. Temporary defeat frequently proves a blessing because it jolts us and
redirects our energies along more desirable paths. Reversals, setbacks, and
temporary defeat impel the success-driven person toward improved actions
and plans. Never miss an opportunity to review a disappointment for
practical lessons and fresh approaches.
11. BUDGETING OF TIME AND MONEY. A friend once observed, “If you
don’t know how much money you have you probably know very little else.”
You must keep track of and budget your two most precious outer resources:
time and money. This means making a regular schedule of saving and paying
down debts. It also means bringing orderliness to your tasks, knowing when
to let go of a time-wasting activity, and honoring deadlines. Time is the one
resource that no one can replenish or replace.
12. SELF-DISCIPLINE. Self-discipline or self-control is the force through
which your enthusiasm is directed toward constructive ends. Without selfcontrol—in speech, action, and thought—your enthusiasm is like unharnessed
lightning: it may strike anywhere. The successful person combines
enthusiasm and self-discipline.
13. CONTROLLED ATTENTION. This law relates to the two previous
ones. You simply cannot afford the luxuries of a wandering mind (not always
easy in the digital age) or procrastination. The latter is usually a form of fear,
and it can be addressed through several of the methods explored in this book,
including autosuggestion and possession of a Definite Chief Aim. “A man is
what he thinks about all day long,” Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote in “SelfReliance” in 1841.
14. TEAMWORK. Success cannot be attained singlehandedly. It requires
teamwork and cooperative effort. If your work is based upon cooperation
rather than competition, you will go places faster and enjoy an additional
reward in reduced stress and anxieties. To win the cooperation of others you
must also offer them a strong motive or reward.
15. SOUND HEALTH. If you maintain indulgent habits of food, alcohol, or
intoxicants, these things will ultimately take over your time, your health, and
your life. Your work and aims will eventually wither if you do not maintain
reasonable habits of eating, rest, and exercise. If you do not pay adequate
attention to your health now the consequences will claim all of your attention
later.
16. CREATIVE VISION. Creative vision and imagination are the visualizing
faculties that formulate your plans and connect knowledge with new ideas.
Imagination and vision are not the equivalent of daydreams or escapism.
Your imagination must be primed with credible information and facts, which
it will then shape into ideas and applications.
17. COSMIC HABIT FORCE. This is one of Hill’s most exciting and
transformative principles. If you can train your habits of thought, emotion,
and body along the lines of all the laws outlined above, an additional force—
call it Infinite Mind, the Over-Soul, or Cosmic Habit Force—will lend itself
to your efforts and provide an added boost to everything you do. Cosmic
Habit Force expands who you are. It is the energy through which life
replicates itself through established channels. Create the positive channels
through which you want to express your life and Cosmic Habit Force will aid
your advancement.
Appendix B
A Prayer for True Prosperity
I believe that prayer can be lifesaving. You may be able to identify a turning
point in your personal experience where prayer rescued you from a crisis or
clarified a serious problem.
I believe in praying in whatever way speaks to your heart and psyche,
and to whatever your personal conception of a Greater Force. I offer no
instructions other than sincerity.
That said, I want to share with you two of my personal favorite prayers.
These may be the kind of statements for which you’ve been searching, or they
may supplement your existing practice.
I have long admired this prayer from Napoleon Hill, which he used in
several of his talks and articles. You may want to recite daily. If it speaks to
you, write it down on a card and keep it at hand:
I ask not for more blessings, but more wisdom with which to make better use of the blessings
I now possess. And give me, please, more understanding that I may occupy more space in the
hearts of my fellow men by rendering more service tomorrow than I have rendered today.
You can address the prayer to a Greater Force, to Infinite Intelligence
(as Hill often did), or use it simply as a meditation that speaks to your highest
ideals.
Here is a radically ecumenical prayer from director David Lynch, which
I also find deeply meaningful. He sometimes recites this statement at the end
of his public talks. I had the privilege of asking David to speak it live during
a public-radio interview. May its words enter and occupy your life:
May everyone be happy.
May everyone be free from disease.
May auspiciousness be seen everywhere.
May suffering belong to no one.
Peace.
Appendix C
Genius and Sex Transmutation
By Mitch Horowitz
One of the most confounding and fascinating topics in Think and Grow
Rich is “sex transmutation.” To clear up any questions about the practical
uses of this remarkable facet of the psyche, I have provided this expanded
exploration. It is adapted from my Cosmic Habit Force.
Toward the end of his life, the pioneering psychical researcher Frederic
Myers (1843–1901) pondered the nature and origins of genius. The British
scientist came to believe that genius, or remarkable inspiration and
application of ideas, possessed an origin or at least an element outside of the
everyday mind. Myers called it the supraliminal mind.
In his posthumously published 1903 treatise Human Personality and Its
Survival of Bodily Death, the researcher wrote:
Genius—if that vaguely used word is to receive anything like a psychological definition—
should rather be regarded as a power of utilising a wider range than other men can utilise of
faculties in some degree innate in all;—a power of appropriating the results of subliminal
mentation to subserve the supraliminal stream of thought;—so that an “inspiration of Genius”
will be in truth a subliminal uprush, an emergence into the current of ideas which the man is
consciously manipulating of other ideas which he has not consciously originated, but which
have shaped themselves beyond his will, in profounder regions of his being. I shall urge that
there is here no real departure from normality; no abnormality, at least in the sense of
degeneration; but rather a fulfilment of the true norm of man, with suggestions, it may be, of
something supernormal;—of something which transcends existing normality as an advanced
stage of evolutionary progress transcends an earlier stage.
In short, Myers saw genius as an interplay between the subliminal or
subconscious mind—a concept that his work also helped define and establish
—and a supraliminal mind, or what Napoleon Hill called Infinite
Intelligence. In Myers’ view, this interplay resulted in genius, a perspective
that is in harmony with Hill’s outlook. Hill added a powerful adjunct to this
schema: genius, or inspired thought, can be accessed through the method of
sex transmutation.
Hill saw sex transmutation—the process of channeling sexual desire into
inspiration—as a critical facet of Cosmic Habit Force. Hill spoke of using
“the application of the law of Cosmic Habit Force in developing a system for
transmuting sex emotion by directing it through creative habits connected
with your major purpose in life.” He continued in an unpublished talk from
1952,
I can remember the time when even the very word “sex” couldn’t be
mentioned in mixed company. As a matter of fact, that great emotion is the
creative device of nature, through which she perpetuates all living species.
And I have never found a great outstanding person yet, in the pulpit, in law, in
medicine, in authorship, in public speaking, in art nor in any other calling that
was not a highly sexed person who had learned how to transmute that great
emotion into the constructive things represented with that person’s major
objective in life. In the very nature of the subject, I can’t go into finer details
in an audience like this, but certainly it is up to you to learn the possibilities
of making use of the law of Cosmic Habit Force in transmuting that great
creative emotion of nature into the things that you wish to accomplish in this
life.
As Hill alluded, the of topic sex transmutation is one of his most subtle
and powerful teachings. It remains controversial. Even some contemporary
interpreters sidestep the topic by redubbing it “enthusiasm” when reviewing
Hill’s methods. But Hill was plain on the matter, writing about it first in
Think and Grow Rich in 1937 and later in Think Your Way to Wealth in
1948:
The emotion of sex is nature’s own source of inspiration through which she gives both men
and women the impelling desire to create, build, lead, and direct. Every great artist, every
great musician, and every great dramatist gives expression to the emotion of sex transmuted
into human endeavor.
In Hill’s outlook, the urge toward sexuality is the creative impulse of life
expressing itself through the individual, just as Infinite Intelligence expresses
itself through the atmosphere of the Master Mind group.
But Hill also taught—and this is the inner key to sex transmutation and
other ancient and modern traditions that employ the sexual urge—that
sexuality goes far beyond matters of intimacy and reproduction; sexuality
expresses itself in every facet of human creativity. Through this creative
impulse we are driven to function as generative beings in all ways—
commercially and artistically, as well as in health, trade, communication,
travel, culture, and finance. Whenever you strive to actualize your visions in
the world you are, he said, operating from the vital, life-building impulse that
we term sexuality.
Once you cultivate this awareness you can transmute the sexual urge
into improved performance, focus, and insight in matters of wealth, art, or
anything on which you elect to focus. The method is simplicity itself: When
you experience the sexual urge, you redirect your thoughts and energies
along the lines of a cherished project or piece of work. Through the mental
act of redirecting yourself from physical expression to creative expression
you harness and place the sexual urge at the back of your efforts. Doing so,
Hill taught, adds vigor, creativity, and intellectual prowess to your work.
It is important to note that Hill did not call for celibacy or the general
sublimation of sexuality in its physical form. In fact, he underscored the
importance of sex not only as a physical release but also for therapeutic and
stress-reducing purposes, as well as a core part of intimacy.
Rather, his point is that you are capable, at times of your choosing, to
harness this innate life force to elevate your energies and abilities in a
manner far beyond what you may consider possible. Again, this is a mental
act performed privately and at moments of your selection: when you
experience the sexual urge, rather than immediately satisfying it physically,
you instead redirect your thoughts toward a specific goal or task. This places
heightened insight, perspicacity, enthusiasm, and vigor behind your efforts.
Understanding sexuality as a supraliminal force squares with Frederic
Myers’ outlook on the nature of genius. Indeed, Hill argued that figures who
are commonly regarded as geniuses, icons, or impresarios can rise to that
level of excellence because sexual energy is at the back of their efforts.
This energy is the force of creation seeking expression through us in myriad
ways.
Now, for the plural term geniuses, Hill used the arcane plural genii. This
is significant. Genii dates to Roman-Latin usage. It means not only
intellectual prowess but also suggests the Ancient Roman meaning—updated
by Myers—that genius itself is a gift bestowed by higher spirits or daemons.
The same term appears as jinn or genie in Arab folklore and culture, again
referencing a spirit capable of possessing the individual or bestowing
supernatural power. This further suggests the connection that Hill saw
between numinous forces of life and the individual’s capacity for
accomplishment.
Let me offer a somewhat idiosyncratic but entirely real encounter with
sex transmutation, one that is both recent to this writing and, by its quotidian
nature, may prove broadly relevant.
I maintain a small audio and video studio in my apartment, which I use
for digital lectures and events. The studio is outfitted with a large set of
blackout curtains so that I can control the lighting. One evening, one of my
kids accidentally pulled down the curtain rods from the wall. I refastened
them—with mixed results. I live in a Victorian-era home in Brooklyn and we
do our best to take care of the walls, moldings, sconces, and other period
details. But when remounting the curtains, I made a bit of a mess of things.
The plaster is flakey, and it took me several tries to get it right. My effort was
not right enough. One night—don’t ask me how—one of the kids pulled down
the curtains yet again. It was too late to work on the job, so I put it off to the
morning. But—and this is just one of those odd personal peccadillos that I
am sure you have felt in certain areas of your own life—I was anxious and
self-obsessed over the matter. For various reasons, a lot of emotion got
mixed in with this: Was I properly caring for my home? Was I supervising my
kids? Did I know how to adequately repair things? Would I cause harm to the
features of the historic house? Every one of these things had a rational
answer but I was functioning from my emotions; rationality seemed distant.
As I lay awake that night, I vowed to try an experiment. Although I am no
whiz at home repair, I vowed to use sex transmutation in the service of doing
a killer job on reinstalling those curtains. I would not only make it right but I
would repair the previous damage and secure them in a way that both
honored the delicateness of the walls and created a fastening that not even
King Kong could dislodge. On a rainy morning, I reentered the studio, sized
up the situation, and went out to purchase spackle, anchors, and other fix-it
supplies. And I simply aced it. On every count. I preserved the historical
details, repaired the old damage, and securely fastened the brackets.
Perhaps Michelangelo has nothing to worry about; but as an urban
dweller who is caring for a private home for the first time, I stepped up. I
experienced the power and energy of sex transmutation at the back of my
efforts. I purposefully selected a simple—even an easily grinned at—
example to make a point about applicability. Let it serve as encouragement
for your own experiments of whatever nature.
Appendix D
Forming Your Master Mind Group
By Mitch Horowitz
In this appendix, I want to make a practical exploration of one of the most
neglected steps in Napoleon Hill’s program of success—and one that he
personally described as critical to the workability of his overall approach:
maintaining a Master Mind group.
In Think and Grow Rich, Hill defines the Master Mind, which he always
capitalized, as: “Coordination of knowledge and effort, in a spirit of
harmony, between two or more people for the attainment of a definite
purpose.”
Hill also used the term Master Mind on occasion to refer to a group
working not toward one common goal but to accomplish the goals of each
individual.
In plain terms, this second type of Master Mind group is, quite simply, a
support group or fellowship consisting of two or more members (but usually
no more than seven to keep things wieldy), which meets at regular intervals
of at least once a week to give support and advice to members on their
individual goals. Depending on the nature of the group, members may also
offer meditation, prayers, and mental visualization for one another’s goals in
between weekly meetings.
At its heart, this type of Master Mind group is a coordinated effort to
explore and support one another’s purposes and needs. Hill believed that
when several people regularly meet in a spirit of comity and mutual support
—there can be no divisiveness in the Master Mind—it will enhance the
creativity, intuition, and mental faculties of each participant. For this reason,
you must select the members of your Master Mind group carefully; the key
factors are personal chemistry and cooperation. Divisiveness, political
arguments (always keep politics at bay), squabbling, and discursive aims
will deplete the functioning of the Master Mind.
I once described Think and Grow Rich in a single sentence, which could
encompass all of Hill’s work: “Emotionalized thought directed toward one
passionately held aim—aided by organized planning and the Master Mind—
is the root of all accomplishment.” This gives you an idea of how central the
Master Mind concept is in Hill’s system.
“Great power,” he concluded of the Master Mind, “can be accumulated
through no other principle.”
The genius—and demand—of Hill’s work is that none of his steps are
superfluous. Yet in today’s digitally removed world it is tempting to skip or
ignore this advice. Unless you are already a member of a twelve-step or
support group, you are probably accustomed to a “go it alone” approach, not
wanting to share intimacies or accommodate your already-busy routine to
another meeting. Many of us believe that our success is a matter of inner
principle and individual effort, and a group meeting seems mawkish or
extraneous. I understand those feelings—I struggle with them myself.
But I can promise you, as a writer and historian who has studied Hill’s
methods for years and owes his success to them, and as someone who has
been a dedicated member of a Master Mind group since fall of 2013, this
step is as vital today as when Hill prescribed the Master Mind in the first
chapter of his first book, The Law of Success, in 1928.
Another characteristic of our cyber-age is that friends and collaborators
often live and work far distances apart. The members of my Master Mind
group are dispersed from Southern California to New Hampshire. We
structure things this way: all four participants—each possessed of supportive
natures, good humor, and spiritual values—meet at a regularly designated
time by conference call once a week. We begin by reading a short statement
of principles, and each participant then offers a piece of personal good news
from the previous week. Each member then takes a turn describing his wants
and needs for the week ahead. After a caller has expressed his wants and
needs, each group member suggests advice, ideas, encouragement, and may
offer prayer or other forms of support during off times. Our call generally
lasts thirty-to-forty-five minutes.
It is important to begin the Master Mind meeting on time, to commence it
immediately—eschewing small talk and preliminary chatter to respect
people’s time— and to cap the meeting at an hour or less, preferably no more
than 45 minutes. (Though this differs depending on group size.) This kind of
discipline helps prevent drifting of attention or resentment when members are
pressed by the clock or when someone may have greater free time or simply
more tolerance for meetings. All of us have enough meetings in life. Most are
worthless. The Master Mind, by contrast, is vital and potent; as such, its
work should be precise.
This collaborative alliance, if conducted with purpose and harmony,
will, in time, yield extraordinary results. I can honestly say that my Master
Mind group has proven one of the most helpful and dynamic aspects in my
and each members’ life. Our meetings steady me when I am off course, and
give me fresh perspective and an added boost to the week. There are also
practical benefits, in which economic and business issues are hashed out.
And there may be something more at play.
“No two minds,” Hill wrote, “ever come together without, thereby,
creating a third invisible, intangible force which may be likened to a third
mind.” This, to him, was the “psychic” phase of the Master Mind, in which
the mind may be likened to an energy that is pooled with that of others to
intensify intuitions, ideas, and insights. Everyone in a Master Mind group,
Hill said, gains heightened insight through the subconscious minds of all the
other members. This produces a more vivid imaginative and mental state in
which new ideas “flash” into your awareness, he taught.
Whether you are ready to make the leap to this way of thought—I do, and
I explore this more fully in the Napoleon Hill Success Course book The
Power of the Master Mind—I vow to you that the Master Mind will play an
invaluable and practical role in your pursuit of achievement.
One evening at a Denver workshop a participant asked me the following
question, which I provide here with my reply. It likely addresses your most
immediate or lingering questions about finding a Master Mind group.
Q: How do I find or form a Master Mind group?
A: That is the big question everybody has. I was fortunate in that I was
invited into my Master Mind group. It was a pre-existing group and some
people I knew through my own interests in New Thought invited me into it. I
joined a group that was at the time five members, and it’s undergone some
different permutations, but it’s still basically the same core group.
If you don’t have a Master Mind group that presents itself for you to join,
you have to start your own. You can start your own with as few as two
people. It’s that simple. You just need to find one other friend or colleague of
similar values. Likely, you’d want to find somebody who has either read or
who is interested in reading Think and Grow Rich and other works by
Napoleon Hill, and who has a vested interest in mind metaphysics, in New
Thought, in Unity, and programs of mental causation and PsychoCybernetics, what have you.
The group can be spiritually oriented or it can be less so, maybe leaning
more in a secular, business- motivational direction. Either one is fine. The
only critical ingredient is group harmony. If your group is more spiritually
oriented, and you are comfortable with concepts of prayer and mental
visualization and affirmations, so long as everybody’s on board with that and
comfortable with that and there’s nobody sitting on the bench while such
things are being talked about, then you’re good to go.
Again, the beautiful thing is, and I must emphasize this, it can be as few
as two people. I wouldn’t go larger than seven people because that can start
to get a little bit unwieldy, which was something that Napoleon Hill made
note of. But, if you’ve got one other friend or colleague or collaborator of
like-minded principles, you have a Master Mind group.
The key thing of course, too, is that you need a regular meeting time. It
can be by conference call, it can be by Skype or Zoom or what have you, and
everybody should be committed to showing up on time and participating. It
can’t just be something that’s treated like a casual engagement that you attend
if you don’t have some more pressing business to handle. It should be like a
doctor’s appointment. You wouldn’t say to your dentist, “Well, you know, I
was busy.” You have an appointment and you’re expected to show up.
If there are shared values, if there’s a commitment to participation, and
just one other person, you have a Master Mind group. Then, you can invite in
other people as time passes and you’ll be surprised when you do form your
group, chances are as time goes on you will encounter people who tell you,
“Hey, I’m looking to form a Master Mind group.”
You and your other group members will have to decide, will this person
be adding to the bonfire? Will this person be bringing logs to the fire?
Because, you have to have people of similar values and to some degree,
similar humor, tone, temperament. Group harmony is the vital ingredient.
Napoleon Hill really emphasized that again and again. He was much less
concerned with the mechanics of things like: Is the group more religious? Is
the group more secular? Is the group more one way? Is the group more
another way? How many people are in it?, and so on. He felt those details
are all secondary, but the one absolute requirement is group harmony.
About the Author
NAPOLEON HILL was born in 1883 in Wise County, Virginia. He was
employed as a secretary, a reporter for a local newspaper, the manager of a
coalmine and a lumberyard before he began working as a journalist for Bob
Taylor’s Magazine, an inspirational and general-interest monthly. As Hill
told it, in 1908 the job led to his interviewing steel magnate Andrew
Carnegie. The encounter changed the course of Hill’s life. Carnegie, Hill
wrote, believed that success could be distilled into principles that anyone
could follow, and urged Hill to interview the greatest industrialists,
financiers, and inventors of the era to discover these principles. Hill
accepted the challenge, which lasted more than twenty years and formed the
building block for Think and Grow Rich. Hill dedicated the rest of his life to
documenting and refining the principles of success. After a long career as an
author, magazine publisher, lecturer, and consultant to business leaders, the
motivational pioneer died in 1970 in South Carolina.
The Richest Man in Babylon
George S. Clason
Contents
Introduction: The Wisdom That Makes Money
By Mitch Horowitz
To the Reader
Foreword
Chapter 1
An Historical Sketch of Babylon
Chapter 2
The Man Who Desired Gold
Chapter 3
The Richest Man In Babylon
Chapter 4
Seven Cures For a Lean Purse
Chapter 5
The First Cure
Chapter 6
The Second Cure
Chapter 7
The Third Cure
Chapter 8
The Fourth Cure
Chapter 9
The Fifth Cure
Chapter 10
The Sixth Cure
Chapter 11
The Seventh Cure
Chapter 12
Meet the Goddess of Good Luck
Chapter 13
The Five Laws of Gold
Chapter 14
The Gold Lender of Babylon
Chapter 15
The Walls of Babylon
Chapter 16
The Camel Trader of Babylon
Chapter 17
The Clay Tablets From Babylon
Chapter 18
The Luckiest Man In Babylon
Appendix A: Debts Are Enemies By Mitch Horowitz
Appendix B: The 13 Rules of Good Luck By Mitch Horowitz
About the Author
Introduction
The Wisdom That Makes Money
By Mitch Horowitz
In an age of books that extol power and wealth, The Richest Man In Babylon
stands out as a volume that promises financial freedom according to laying
solid and simple plans, and following a few basic rules. The book’s lessons
are as healthful and dynamic today as when the author first began writing his
steps to wealth in 1926. I say this from personal experience as I have relied
on them myself.
“Pay yourself first” is the key lesson of George S. Clason’s guide, which
he presents as a series of parables from the Mesopotamian Empire. Clason
meant that you must set aside at least ten percent of your earnings in savings
—now a standard principle in financial guides—and dedicate the remainder
of your money to paying down debt, procuring a home or other investment
properties, buying insurance, caring for your family, and only then allowing
yourself to spend on life’s pleasures.
His approach is one of thrift. “Every piece of gold you save is a slave to
work for you,” one of his ancient characters says. He does not endorse
asceticism; indeed, he wants money management approached in a spirit of
joy and adventure—knowing that prudence will pay off in comfort and
security. This is the aim of Clason’s rock-ribbed lessons to personal
discretion and safe investment. And he got rich himself offering them.
In the early twentieth century, Clason was a Denver-based publisher of
maps and atlases. He published the first road atlas of the United States and
Canada. In 1926, he hit upon an idea that later saved his own finances and
preserved his name as one of the most popular self-help writers of the last
century and our own. Clason began writing a series of pamphlets on
managing personal finances, which banks, insurance companies, and
brokerage houses bought in bulk and distributed free to their clients. The
map-maker’s pamphlets proved so popular that in 1930 he grouped them
together in a single volume, which he issued from his own publishing
company.
Clason Publishing did not survive the Great Depression. But The
Richest Man in Babylon did—and in the years ahead it emerged as a
mainstay of popular financial literature.
Clason’s outlook was always ardently business-friendly. Companies that
sold insurance, issued home loans, or maintained savings accounts had
everything to like about it. Clason endorsed modern financial products along
with a cheerful and self-sacrificing work ethic. Yet for all its institutional
friendliness, Clason’s book also contains solid, principled advice. There is
not a fickle or unrealistic passage in it.
For me, the book’s most effective chapter is “The Camel Trader of Babylon,”
which is about the imperative of paying down your debts, and the feelings of
nobility that accrue to the individual who does so, even if incrementally. This
principle reminds me of a passage that I read from The Talmud as a teen:
“Who is evil?” a rabbi asks his students. After rumination, the answer
comes: “He who borrows and does not repay.” That statement must be
understood on many levels; but one cannot neglect the material one.
Keep in mind that debts mean not only monetary borrowings, but also
deadlines or obligations in any area of life where you’ve given your word. If
you’ve vowed to complete a task, even a seemingly small domestic chore, or
show up at a certain time, then do so. You’d be surprised how carefully
people note such things, including your family. However you see yourself,
you are evaluated and defined by your incremental workaday ethics. Whether
you are aware, you also experience your own sense of performance and
reliability internally; this can feed feelings of shame and anger, or of dignity
and warranted rightness.
It is, of course, natural to excuse yourself for those times when you feel
justifiably late or in default on a commitment: aren’t there exceptions for
unforeseen circumstance? Yes; but you should always be very disciplined
about such cases. As a friend once put it: “The only real emergency is a
medical emergency.” Consider this before you delay a debt, project, or
commitment.
Clason helped clarify another principle for me: You should dedicate
twice as much money to your debts as to your savings. Immediately save your
ten percent, he wrote; but twenty percent should go toward debt. Debt is
intrinsically a drain both in terms of interest and reputation (as well as credit
score).
This volume is reproduced from one of the earliest extant editions of The
Richest Man in Babylon and retains the author’s original spellings and word
choices. I have added a small number of asterisked footnotes with historical
clarifications. My Afternotes appear in chapters five to eleven, which
makeup Clauson’s “Seven Cures for a Lean Purse.” I include two
appendices, Debts Are Enemies and The 13 Rules of Good Luck. In the
Afternotes and Appendices, I address issues that not only expand on Clason’s
points but that update the book with concerns nonexistent or less pressing in
the era in which he wrote it.
Mitch Horowitz is a PEN Award-winning historian whose books include
Occult America, One Simple Idea, The Miracle Club, Daydream Believer,
Uncertain Places, and Modern Occultism.
To the Reader
Ahead of you stretches your future like a road leading into the distance.
Along that road are ambitions you wish to accomplish … desires you wish to
gratify.
To bring your ambitions and desires to fulfillment, you must be
successful with money. Use the financial principles made clear in the pages
which follow. Let them guide you away from the stringencies of a lean purse
to that fuller, happier life a full purse makes possible.
Like the law of gravity, they are universal and unchanging. May they
prove for you, as they have proven to so many others, a sure key to a fat
purse, larger bank balances and gratifying financial progress.
Lo, money is plentiful
for those who understand
the simple rules of its acquisition
1. Start thy purse to fattening
2. Control thy expenditures
3. Make thy gold multiply
4. Guard thy treasures from loss
5. Make of thy dwelling a profitable investment
6. Insure a future income
7. Increase thy ability to earn
Foreword
Our prosperity as a nation depends upon the personal financial prosperity of
each of us as individuals.
This book deals with the personal successes of each of us. Success
means accomplishments as the result of our own efforts and abilities. Proper
preparation is the key to our success. Our acts can be no wiser than our
thoughts. Our thinking can be no wiser than our understanding.
This book of cures for lean purses has been termed a guide to financial
understanding. That, indeed, is its purpose: to offer those who are ambitious
for financial success an insight which will aid them to acquire money, to
keep money and to make their surpluses earn more money.
In the pages which follow, we are taken back to Babylon, the cradle in
which was nurtured the basic principles of finance now recognized and used
the world over.
To new readers the author is happy to extend the wish that its pages may
contain for them the same inspiration for growing bank accounts, greater
financial successes and the solution of difficult personal financial problems
so enthusiastically reported by readers from coast to coast.
To the business executives who have distributed these tales in such
generous quantities to friends, relatives, employees and associates, the author
takes this opportunity to express his gratitude. No endorsement could be
higher than that of practical men who appreciate its teachings because they,
themselves, have worked up to important successes by applying the very
principles it advocates.
Babylon became the wealthiest city of the ancient world because its
citizens were the richest people of their time. They appreciated the value of
money. They practiced sound financial principles in acquiring money,
keeping money and making their money earn more money. They provided for
themselves what we all desire … incomes for the future.
—G. S. C.
Chapter 1
An Historical Sketch of Babylon
In the pages of history there lives no city more glamorous than Babylon. Its
very name conjures visions of wealth and splendor. Its treasures of gold and
jewels were fabulous. One naturally pictures such a wealthy city as located
in a suitable setting of tropical luxury, surrounded by rich natural resources
of forests, and mines. Such was not the case. It was located beside the
Euphrates River, in a flat, arid valley. It had no forests, no mines—not even
stone for building. It was not even located upon a natural trade-route. The
rainfall was insufficient to raise crops.
Babylon is an outstanding example of man’s ability to achieve great
objectives, using whatever means are at his disposal. All of the resources
supporting this large city were man developed. All of its riches were man
made.
Babylon possessed just two natural resources—a fertile soil and water
in the river. With one of the greatest engineering accomplishments of this or
any other day, Babylonian engineers diverted the waters from the river by
means of dams and immense irrigation canals. Far out across that arid valley
went these canals to pour the life-giving waters over the fertile soil. This
ranks among the first engineering feats known to history. Such abundant crops
as were the reward of this irrigation system the world had never seen before.
Fortunately, during its long existence, Babylon was ruled by successive
lines of kings to whom conquest and plunder were but incidental. While it
engaged in many wars, most of these were local or defensive against
ambitious conquerors from other countries who coveted the fabulous
treasures of Babylon. The outstanding rulers of Babylon live in history
because of their wisdom, enterprise and justice. Babylon produced no
strutting monarchs who sought to conquer the known world that all nations
might pay homage to their egotism.
As a city, Babylon exists no more. When those energizing human forces
that built and maintained the city for thousands of years were withdrawn, it
soon became a deserted ruin. The site of the city is in Asia about six hundred
miles east of the Suez Canal, just north of the Persian Gulf. The latitude is
about thirty degrees above the Equator, practically the same as that of Yuma,
Arizona. It possessed a climate similar to that of this American city, hot and
dry.
Today, this valley of the Euphrates, once a populous irrigated farming
district, is again a wind-swept arid waste. Scant grass and desert shrubs
strive for existence against the windblown sands. Gone are the fertile fields,
the mammoth cities and the long caravans of rich merchandise. Nomadic
bands of Arabs, securing a scant living by tending small herds, are the only
inhabitants. Such it has been since about the beginning of the Christian era.
Dotting this valley are earthen hills. For centuries, they were considered
by travelers to be nothing else. The attention of archaeologists were finally
attracted to them because of broken pieces of pottery and brick washed down
by the occasional rainstorms. Expeditions, financed by European and
American museums, were sent here to excavate and see what could be found.
Picks and shovels soon proved these hills to be ancient cities. City graves,
they might well be called.
Babylon was one of these. Over it for something like twenty centuries,
the winds had scattered the desert dust. Built originally of brick, all exposed
walls had disintegrated and gone back to earth once more. Such is Babylon,
the wealthy city, today. A heap of dirt, so long abandoned that no living
person even knew its name until it was discovered by carefully removing the
refuse of centuries from the streets and the fallen wreckage of its noble
temples and palaces.
Many scientists consider the civilization of Babylon and other cities in
this valley to be the oldest of which there is a definite record. Positive dates
have been proved reaching back 8,000 years.
An interesting fact in this connection is the means used to determine
these dates. Uncovered in the ruins of Babylon were descriptions of an
eclipse of the sun. Modern astronomers readily computed the time when such
an eclipse, visible in Babylon, occurred and thus established a known
relationship between their calendar and our own.
In this way, we have proved that 8,000 years ago, the Sumerites, who
inhabited Babylonia, were living in walled cities. One can only conjecture
for how many centuries previous such cities had existed. Their inhabitants
were not mere barbarians living within protecting walls. They were an
educated and enlightened people. So far as written history goes, they were
the first engineers, the first astronomers, the first mathematicians, the first
financiers and the first people to have a written language.
Mention has already been made of the irrigation systems which
transformed the arid valley into an agricultural paradise. The remains of
these canals can still be traced, although they are mostly filled with
accumulated sand. Some of them were of such size that, when empty of water,
a dozen horses could be ridden abreast along their bottoms. In size they
compare favorably with the largest canals in Colorado and Utah.
In addition to irrigating the valley lands, Babylonian engineers
completed another project of similar magnitude. By means of an elaborate
drainage system they reclaimed an immense area of swamp land at the
mouths of the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers and put this also under cultivation.
Herodotus, the Greek traveler and historian, visited Babylon while it
was in its prime and has given us the only known description by an outsider.
His writings give a graphic description of the city and some of the unusual
customs of its people. He mentions the remarkable fertility of the soil and the
bountiful harvest of wheat and barley which they produced.
The glory of Babylon has faded but its wisdom has been preserved for
us. For this we are indebted to their form of records. In that distant day, the
use of paper had not been invented. Instead, they laboriously engraved their
writing upon tablets of moist clay. When completed, these were baked and
became hard tile. In size, they were about six by eight inches, and an inch in
thickness.
These clay tablets, as they are commonly called, were used much as we
use modern forms of writing. Upon them were engraved legends, poetry,
history, transcriptions of royal decrees, the laws of the land, titles to
property, promissory notes and even letters which were dispatched by
messengers to distant cities. From these clay tablets we are permitted an
insight into the intimate, personal affairs of the people. For example, one
tablet, evidently from the records of a country storekeeper, relates that upon
the given date a certain named customer brought in a cow and exchanged it
for seven sacks of wheat, three being delivered at the time and the other four
to await the customer’s pleasure.
Safely buried in the wrecked cities, archaeologists have recovered
entire libraries of these tablets, hundreds of thousands of them.
One of the outstanding wonders of Babylon was the immense walls
surrounding the city. The ancients ranked them with the great pyramid of
Egypt as belonging to the “seven wonders of the world.” Queen Semiramis*
is credited with having erected the first walls during the early history of the
city. Modern excavators have been unable to find any trace of the original
walls. Nor is their exact height known. From mention made by early writers,
it is estimated they were about fifty to sixty feet high, faced on the outer side
with burnt brick and further protected by a deep moat of water.
The later and more famous walls were started about six hundred years
before the time of Christ by King Nabopolassar.** Upon such a gigantic scale
did he plan the rebuilding; he did not live to see the work finished. This was
left to his son, Nebuchadnezzar,*** whose name is familiar in Biblical history.
The height and length of these later walls staggers belief. They are
reported upon reliable authority to have been about one hundred and sixty
feet high, the equivalent of the height of a modern fifteen story office
building. The total length is estimated as between nine and eleven miles. So
wide was the top that a six-horse chariot could be driven around them. Of
this tremendous structure, little now remains except portions of the
foundations and the moat. In addition to the ravages of the elements, the
Arabs completed the destruction by quarrying the brick for building purposes
elsewhere.
Against the walls of Babylon marched, in turn, the victorious armies of
almost every conqueror of that age of wars of conquest. A host of kings laid
siege to Babylon, but always in vain. Invading armies of that day were not to
be considered lightly. Historians speak of such units as 10,000 horsemen,
25,000 chariots, 1,200 regiments of foot soldiers with 1,000 men to the
regiment. Often two or three years of preparation would be required to
assemble war materials and depots of food along the proposed line of march.
The city of Babylon was organized much like a modern city. There were
streets and shops. Peddlers offered their wares through residential districts.
Priests officiated in magnificent temples.
Within the city was an inner enclosure for the royal palaces. The walls
about this were said to have been higher than those about the city.
The Babylonians were skilled in the arts. These included sculpture,
painting, weaving, gold working and the manufacture of metal weapons and
agricultural implements. Their Jewelers created most artistic jewelry. Many
samples have been recovered from the graves of its wealthy citizens and are
now on exhibition in the leading museums of the world.
At a very early period when the rest of the world was still hacking at
trees with stone-headed axes, or hunting and fighting with flint-pointed
spears and arrows, the Babylonians were using axes, spears and arrows with
metal heads. The Babylonians were clever financiers and traders. So far as
we know, they were the original inventors of money as a means of exchange,
of promissory notes and written titles to property.
Babylon was never entered by hostile armies until about 540 years
before the birth of Christ.
Even then the walls were not captured. The story of the fall of Babylon
is most unusual. Cyrus,* one of the great conquerors of that period, intended
to attack the city and hoped to take its impregnable walls.
Advisors of Nabonidus,** the King of Babylon, persuaded him to go
forth to meet Cyrus and give him battle without waiting for the city to be
besieged. In the succeeding defeat to the Babylonian army, it fled away from
the city. Cyrus, thereupon, entered the open gates and took possession without
resistance.
Thereafter the power and prestige of the city gradually waned until, in
the course of a few hundred years, it was eventually abandoned, deserted,
left for the winds and storms to level once again to that desert earth from
which its grandeur had originally been built. Babylon had fallen, never to
rise again, but to it civilization owes much.
The eons of time have crumbled to dust the proud walls of its temples,
but the wisdom of Babylon endures.
Money is the medium by which earthly success is measured.
Money makes possible the enjoyment of the best the earth affords.
Money is plentiful for those who understand the simple laws which
govern its acquisition.
Money is governed today by the same laws which controlled it when
prosperous men thronged the streets of Babylon, six thousand years ago.
*
A semi-legendary queen thought to have ruled Assyria.
**
King of the second Babylon empire (c. 658—605 BC).
***
Known as Nebuchadnezzar II (c. 642 BC–562 BC).
*
Known as Cyrus the Great (c. 600–530 BC).
**
(c. 620–615 BC).
Chapter 2
The Man Who Desired Gold
Bansir, the chariot builder of Babylon, was thoroughly discouraged. From his
seat upon the low wall surrounding his property, he gazed sadly at his simple
home and the open workshop in which stood a partially completed chariot.
His wife frequently appeared at the open door. Her furtive glances in his
direction reminded him that the meal bag was almost empty and he should be
at work finishing the chariot, hammering and hewing, polishing and painting,
stretching taut the leather over the wheel rims, preparing it for delivery so he
could collect from his wealthy customer.
Nevertheless, his fat, muscular body sat stolidly upon the wall. His slow
mind was struggling patiently with a problem for which he could find no
answer.
The hot, tropical sun, so typical of this valley of the Euphrates, beat
down upon him mercilessly. Beads of perspiration formed upon his brow and
trickled down unnoticed to lose themselves in the hairy jungle on his chest.
Beyond his home towered the high terraced wall surrounding the king’s
palace. Nearby, cleaving the blue heavens, was the painted tower of the
Temple of Bel. In the shadow of such grandeur was his simple home and
many others far less neat and well cared for. Babylon was like this—a
mixture of grandeur and squalor, of dazzling wealth and direst poverty,
crowded together without plan or system within the protecting walls of the
city.
Behind him, had he cared to turn and look, the noisy chariots of the rich
jostled and crowded aside the sandaled tradesmen as well as the barefooted
beggars. Even the rich were forced to turn into the gutters to clear the way for
the long lines of slave water carriers, on the “King’s Business,” each bearing
a heavy goatskin of water to be poured upon the hanging gardens.
Bansir was too engrossed in his own problem to hear or heed the
confused hubbub of the busy city. It was the unexpected twanging of the
strings from a familiar lyre that aroused him from his reverie. He turned and
looked into the sensitive, smiling face of his best friend—Kobbi, the
musician.
“May the Gods bless thee with great liberality, my good friend,” began
Kobbi with an elaborate salute. “Yet, it does appear they have already been
so generous thou needest not to labor. I rejoice with thee in thy good fortune.
More, I would even share it with thee. Pray, from thy purse which must be
bulging else thou wouldst be busy in your shop, extract but two humble
shekels and lend them to me until after the noblemen’s feast this night. Thou
wilt not miss them ere they are returned.”
“If I did have two shekels,” Bansir responded gloomily, “to no one
could I lend them—not even to you, my best of friends; for they would be my
fortune—my entire fortune. No one lends his entire fortune, not even to his
best friend.”
“What,” exclaimed Kobbi with genuine surprise, “Thou hast not one
shekel in thy purse, yet sit like a statue upon a wall! Why not complete that
chariot? How else canst thou provide for thy noble appetite? Tis not like
thee, my friend. Where is thy endless energy? Doth something distress thee?
Have the Gods brought to thee troubles?”
“A torment from the Gods it must be,” Bansir agreed. “It began with a
dream, a senseless dream, in which I thought I was a man of means. From my
belt hung a handsome purse, heavy with coins. There were shekels which I
cast with careless freedom to the beggars; there were pieces of silver with
which I did buy finery for my wife and whatever I did desire for myself;
there were pieces of gold which made me feel assured of the future and
unafraid to spend the silver. A glorious feeling of contentment was within
me! You would not have known me for thy hardworking friend. Nor wouldst
have known my wife, so free from wrinkles was her face and shining with
happiness. She was again the smiling maiden of our early married days.”
“A pleasant dream, indeed,” commented Kobbi, “but why should such
pleasant feelings as it aroused turn thee into a glum statue upon the wall?”
“Why, indeed! Because when I awoke and remembered how empty was
my purse, a feeling of rebellion swept over me. Let us talk it over together,
for, as the sailors do say, we ride in the same boat, we two. As youngsters,
we went together to the priests to learn wisdom. As young men, we shared
each other’s pleasures. As grown men, we have always been close friends.
We have been contented subjects of our kind. We have been satisfied to work
long hours and spend our earnings freely. We have earned much coin in the
years that have passed, yet to know the joys that come from wealth, we must
dream about them. Bah! Are we more than dumb sheep? We live in the
richest city in all the world. The travelers do say none equals it in wealth.
“About us is much display of wealth, but of it we ourselves have naught.
After half a lifetime of hard labor, thou, my best of friends, hast an empty
purse and sayest to me, “May I borrow such a trifle as two shekels until after
the noblemen’s feast this night?” Then, what do I reply? Do I say, “Here is
my purse; its contents will I gladly share?’ No, I admit that my purse is as
empty as thine. What is the matter? Why cannot we acquire silver and gold—
more than enough for food and robes?
“Consider, also, our sons,” Bansir continued, “are they not following in
the footsteps of their fathers? Need they and their families and their sons and
their sons’ families live all their lives in the midst of such treasurers of gold,
and yet, like us, be content to banquet upon sour goat’s milk and porridge?”
“Never, in all the years of our friendship, didst thou talk like this before,
Bansir.” Kobbi was puzzled.
“Never in all those years did I think like this before. From early dawn
until darkness stopped me, I have labored to build the finest chariots any man
could make, soft-heartedly hoping some day the Gods would recognize my
worthy deeds and bestow upon me great prosperity. This they have never
done. At last, I realize this they will never do. Therefore, my heart is sad. I
wish to be a man of means. I wish to own lands and cattle, to have fine robes
and coins in my purse. I am willing to work for these things with all the
strength in my back, with all the skill in my hands, with all the cunning in my
mind, but I wish my labors to be fairly rewarded. What is the matter with us?
“Again I ask you! Why cannot we have our just share of the good things
so plentiful for those who have the gold with which to buy them?”
“Would I knew an answer!” Kobbi replied. “No better than thou am I
satisfied.”
“My earnings from my lyre are quickly gone. Often must I plan and
scheme that my family be not hungry. Also, within my breast is a deep
longing for a lyre large enough that it may truly sing the strains of music that
do surge through my mind. With such an instrument could I make music finer
than even the king has heard before.”
“Such a lyre thou shouldst have. No man in all Babylon could make it
sing more sweetly; could make it sing so sweetly, not only the king but the
Gods themselves would be delighted. But how mayest thou secure it while
we both of us are as poor as the king’s slaves? Listen to the bell! Here they
come.”
He pointed to the long column of half-naked, sweating water bearers
plodding laboriously up the narrow street from the river. Five abreast they
marched, each bent under a heavy goatskin of water.
“A fine figure of a man, he who doth lead them.” Kobbi indicated the
wearer of the bell who marched in front without a load. “A prominent man in
his own country, ‘tis easy to see.”
“There are many good figures in the line,” Bansir agreed, “as good men
as we. Tall, blond men from the north, laughing black men from the south,
little brown men from the nearer countries. All marching together from the
river to the gardens, back and forth, day after day, year after year. Naught of
happiness to look forward to. Beds of straw upon which to sleep—hard grain
porridge to eat. Pity the poor brutes, Kobbi!”
“Pity them I do. Yet, thou dost make me see how little better off are we,
free men though we call ourselves.”
“That is truth, Kobbi, unpleasant thought though it be. We do not wish to
go on year after year living slavish lives. Working, working, working!
Getting nowhere.”
“Might we not find out how others acquire gold and do as they do?”
Kobbi inquired.
“Perhaps there is some secret we might learn if we but sought from those
who knew,” replied Bansir thoughtfully.
“This very day,” suggested Kobbi, “I did pass our old friend, Arkad,
riding in his golden chariot. This I will say, he did not look over my humble
head as many in his station might consider his right. Instead, he did wave his
hand that all onlookers might see him pay greetings and bestow his smile of
friendship upon Kobbi, the musician.”
“He is claimed to be the richest man in all Babylon,” Bansir mused.
“So rich the king is said to seek his golden aid in affairs of the treasury,”
Kobbi replied. “So rich,” Bansir interrupted, “I fear if I should meet him in
the darkness of the night, I should lay my hands upon his fat wallet.”
“Nonsense,” reproved Kobbi, “a man’s wealth is not in the purse he
carries. A fat purse quickly empties if there be no golden stream to refill it.
Arkad has an income that constantly keeps his purse full, no matter how
liberally he spends.”
“Income, that is the thing,” ejaculated Bansir. “I wish an income that will
keep flowing into my purse whether I sit upon the wall or travel to far lands.
Arkad must know how a man can make an income for himself. Dost suppose
it is something he could make clear to a mind as slow as mine?”
“Methinks he did teach his knowledge to his son, Nomasir,” Kobbi
responded.
“Did he not go to Nineveh and, so it is told at the inn, become, without
aid from his father, one of the richest men in that city?”
“Kobbi, thou bringest to me a rare thought.” A new light gleamed in
Bansir’s eyes. “It costs nothing to ask wise advice from a good friend and
Arkad was always that. Never mind though our purses be as empty as the
falcon’s nest of a year ago. Let that not detain us. We are weary of being
without gold in the midst of plenty. We wish to become men of means. Come,
let us go to Arkad and ask how we, also, may acquire incomes for
ourselves.”
“Thou speakest with true inspiration, Bansir. Thou bringeth to my mind a
new understanding.
“Thou makest me to realize the reason why we have never found any
measure of wealth. We never sought it. Thou hast labored patiently to build
the staunchest chariots in Babylon. To that purpose was devoted your best
endeavors. Therefore, at it thou didst succeed. I strove to become a skillful
lyre player. And, at it I did succeed.
“In those things toward which we exerted our best endeavors we
succeeded.
“The Gods were content to let us continue thus. Now, at last, we see a
light, bright like that from the rising sun. It biddeth us to learn more that we
may prosper more. With a new understanding we shall find honourable ways
to accomplish our desires.”
“Let us go to Arkad this very day,” Bansir urged. “Also, let us ask other
friends of our boyhood days, who have fared no better than ourselves, to join
us that they, too, may share in his wisdom.”
“Thou wert ever thus thoughtful of thy friends, Bansir. Therefore hast
thou many friends. It shall be as thou sayest. We go this day and take them
with us.”
Chapter 3
The Richest Man In Babylon
In old Babylon there once lived a certain very rich man named Arkad. Far
and wide he was famed for his great wealth. Also was be famed for his
liberality. He was generous in his charities. He was generous with his family.
He was liberal in his own expenses. But nevertheless each year his wealth
increased more rapidly than he spent it.
And there were certain friends of younger days who came to him and
said: “You, Arkad, are more fortunate than we. You have become the richest
man in all Babylon while we struggle for existence. You can wear the finest
garments and you can enjoy the rarest foods, while we must be content if we
can clothe our families in raiment that is presentable and feed them as best
we can.
“Yet, once we were equal. We studied under the same master. We played
in the same games. And in neither the studies nor the games did you outshine
us. And in the years since, you have been no more an honorable citizen than
we.
“Nor have you worked harder or more faithfully, insofar as we can
judge. Why, then, should a fickle fate single you out to enjoy all the good
things of life and ignore us who are equally deserving?”
Thereupon Arkad remonstrated with them, saying, “If you have not
acquired more than a bare existence in the years since we were youths, it is
because you either have failed to learn the laws that govern the building of
wealth, or else you do not observe them.
“‘Fickle Fate’ is a vicious goddess who brings no permanent good to
anyone. On the contrary, she brings ruin to almost every man upon whom she
showers unearned gold. She makes wanton spenders, who soon dissipate all
they receive and are left beset by overwhelming appetites and desires they
have not the ability to gratify. Yet others whom she favors become misers and
hoard their wealth, fearing to spend what they have, knowing they do not
possess the ability to replace it. They further are beset by fear of robbers and
doom themselves to lives of emptiness and secret misery.
‘Fickle Fate’ is a vicious goddess who brings no permanent
good to anyone.
“Others there probably are, who can take unearned gold and add to it
and continue to be happy and contented citizens. But so few are they, I know
of them but by hearsay. Think you of the men who have inherited sudden
wealth, and see if these things are not so.
His friends admitted that of the men they knew who had inherited wealth
these words were true, and they besought him to explain to them how he had
become possessed of so much prosperity, so he continued: “In my youth I
looked about me and saw all the good things there were to bring happiness
and contentment. And I realized that wealth increased the potency of all
these.
“Wealth is a power. With wealth many things are possible.
“One may ornament the home with the richest of furnishings.
“One may sail the distant seas.
“One may feast on the delicacies of far lands.
“One may buy the ornaments of the gold worker and the stone polisher.
“One may even build mighty temples for the Gods.
“One may do all these things and many others in which there is delight
for the senses and gratification for the soul.
“And, when I realized all this, I decided to myself that I would claim my
share of the good things of life. I would not be one of those who stand afar
off, enviously watching others enjoy. I would not be content to clothe myself
in the cheapest raiment that looked respectable. I would not be satisfied with
the lot of a poor man. On the contrary, I would make myself a guest at this
banquet of good things.
“Being, as you know, the son of a humble merchant, one of a large family
with no hope of an inheritance, and not being endowed, as you have so
frankly said, with superior powers or wisdom, I decided that if I was to
achieve what I desired, time and study would be required.
“As for time, all men have it in abundance. You, each of you, have let
slip by sufficient time to have made yourselves wealthy. Yet, you admit; you
have nothing to show except your good families, of which you can be justly
proud.
As for time, all men have it in abundance.
“As for study, did not our wise teacher teach us that learning was of two
kinds: the one kind being the things we learned and knew, and the other being
the training that taught us how to find out what we did not know?
“Therefore did I decide to find out how one might accumulate wealth,
and when I had found out, to make this my task and do it well. For, is it not
wise that we should enjoy while we dwell in the brightness of the sunshine,
for sorrows enough shall descend upon us when we depart for the darkness
of the world of spirit?
“I found employment as a scribe in the hall of records, and long hours
each day I labored upon the clay tablets. Week after week, and month after
month, I labored, yet for my earnings I had naught to show. Food and clothing
and penance to the gods, and other things of which I could remember not
what, absorbed all my earnings. But my determination did not leave me.
Learning is of two kinds: the one being the things we learned
and knew and the other being the training that taught us how
to find out what we did not know.
“And one day Algamish, the money lender, came to the house of the city
master and ordered a copy of the Ninth Law, and he said to me, ‘I must have
this in two days, and if the task is done by that time, two coppers will I give
to thee.’
“So I labored hard, but the law was long, and when Algamish returned
the task was unfinished.
He was angry, and had I been his slave, he would have beaten me. But
knowing the city master would not permit him to injure me, I was unafraid, so
I said to him, ‘Algamish, you are a very rich man. Tell me how I may also
become rich, and all night I will carve upon the clay, and when the sun rises
it shall be completed.’
“He smiled at me and replied, ‘You are a forward knave, but we will
call it a bargain.’
“All that night I carved, though my back pained and the smell of the wick
made my head ache until my eyes could hardly see. But when he returned at
sunup, the tablets were complete.
“‘Now,’ I said, ‘tell me what you promised.’
“‘You have fulfilled your part of our bargain, my son,’ he said to me
kindly, ‘and I am ready to fulfill mine. I will tell you these things you wish to
know because I am becoming an old man, and an old tongue loves to wag.
And when youth comes to age for advice he receives the wisdom of years.
But too often does youth think that age knows only the wisdom of days that
are gone, and therefore profits not. But remember this: the sun that shines
today is the sun that shone when thy father was born, and will still be shining
when thy last grandchild shall pass into the darkness.’
“‘The thoughts of youth,’ he continued, ‘are bright lights that shine forth
like the meteors that oft make brilliant the sky, but the wisdom of age is like
the fixed stars that shine so unchanged that the sailor may depend upon them
to steer his course.’
“‘Mark you well my words, for if you do not you will fail to grasp the
truth that I will tell you, and you will think that your night’s work has been in
vain.’
“Then he looked at me shrewdly from under his shaggy brows and said
in a low, forceful tone, ‘I found the road to wealth when I decided that a part
of all I earned was mine to keep. And so will you.’
“Then he continued to look at me with a glance that I could feel pierce
me but said no more.
“‘Is that all?’ I asked.
“‘That was sufficient to change the heart of a sheep herder into the heart
of a money lender,’ he replied.
“‘But all I earn is mine to keep, is it not?’ I demanded.
“‘Far from it,’ he replied. ‘Do you not pay the garment-maker? Do you
not pay the sandal-maker? Do you not pay for the things you eat? Can you
live in Babylon without spending? What have you to show for your earnings
of the past mouth? What for the past year? Fool! You pay to everyone but
yourself. Dullard, you labor for others. As well be a slave and work for what
your master gives you to eat and wear. If you did keep for yourself one-tenth
of all you earn, how much would you have in ten years?’
“My knowledge of the numbers did not forsake me, and I answered, ‘As
much as I earn in one year.’
“‘You speak but half the truth,’ he retorted. ‘Every gold piece you save
is a slave to work for you. Every copper it earns is its child that also can
earn for you. If you would become wealthy, then what you save must earn,
and its children must earn, that all may help to give to you the abundance you
crave.’
“‘You think I cheat you for your long night’s work,’ he continued, ‘but I
am paying you a thousand times over if you have the intelligence to grasp the
truth I offer you.’
“‘A part of all you earn is yours to keep. It should be not less than a tenth
no matter how little you earn. It can be as much more as you can afford. Pay
yourself first. Do not buy from the clothes-maker and the sandal-maker more
than you can pay out of the rest and still have enough for food and charity and
penance to the gods.’
“‘Wealth, like a tree, grows from a tiny seed. The first copper you save
is the seed from which your tree of wealth shall grow. The sooner you plant
that seed the sooner shall the tree grow. And the more faithfully you nourish
and water that tree with consistent savings, the sooner may you bask in
contentment beneath its shade.’”
“So saying, he took his tablets and went away.
“I thought much about what he had said to me, and it seemed reasonable.
So I decided that I would try it. Each time I was paid I took one from each
ten pieces of copper and hid it away. And strange as it may seem, I was no
shorter of funds, than before. I noticed little difference as I managed to get
along without it. But often I was tempted, as my hoard began to grow, to
spend it for some of the good things the merchants displayed, brought by
camels and ships from the land of the Phoenicians. But I wisely refrained.
“A twelfth month after Algamish had gone he again returned and said to
me, ‘Son, have you paid to yourself not less than one-tenth of all you have
earned for the past year?’
“I answered proudly, ‘Yes, master, I have.’ ‘That is good,’ he answered
beaming upon me, ‘and what have you done with it?’
“‘I have given it to Azmur, the brick maker, who told me he was
traveling over the far seas and in Tyre he would buy for me the rare jewels of
the Phoenicians. When he returns we shall sell these at high prices and
divide the earnings.’
“‘Every fool must learn,’ he growled, ‘but why trust the knowledge of a
brick maker about jewels? Would you go to the bread maker to inquire about
the stars? No, by my tunic, you would go to the astrologer, if you had power
to think. Your savings are gone, youth, you have jerked your wealth-tree up
by the roots. But plant another. Try again. And next time if you would have
advice about jewels, go to the jewel merchant. If you would know the truth
about sheep, go to the herdsman. Advice is one thing that is freely given
away, but watch that you take only what is worth having. He who takes
advice about his savings from one who is inexperienced in such matters,
shall pay with his savings for proving the falsity of their opinions.’ Saying
this, he went away.
“And it was as he said. For the Phoenicians are scoundrels and sold to
Azmur worthless bits of glass that looked like gems. But as Algamish had bid
me, I again saved each tenth copper, for I now had formed the habit and it
was no longer difficult.
“Again, twelve months later, Algamish came to the room of the scribes
and addressed me.
“‘What progress have you made since last I saw you?’
“‘I have paid myself faithfully,’ I replied, ‘and my savings I have
entrusted to Agger the shield maker, to buy bronze, and each fourth month he
does pay me the rental.’
“‘That is good. And what do you do with the rental?’
“‘I do have a great feast with honey and fine wine and spiced cake. Also
I have bought me a scarlet tunic. And some day I shall buy me a young ass
upon which to ride.’ To which Algamish laughed, ‘You do eat the children of
your savings. Then how do you expect them to work for you?’
“‘And how can they have children that will also work for you?’
“‘First get thee an army of golden slaves and then many a rich banquet
may you enjoy without regret.’ So saying he again went away.
“Nor did I again see him for two years, when he once more returned and
his face was full of deep lines and his eyes drooped, for he was becoming a
very old man. And he said to me, ‘Arkad, hast thou yet achieved the wealth
thou dreamed of?’
“And I answered, ‘Not yet all that I desire, but some I have and it earns
more, and its earnings earn more.’
“‘And do you still take the advice of brick makers?’
“‘About brick making they give good advice,’ I retorted.
“‘Arkad,’ he continued, ‘you have learned your lessons well. You first
learned to live upon less than you could earn. Next you learned to seek
advice from those who were competent through their own experiences to
give it. And, lastly, you have learned to make gold work for you.’
“‘You have taught yourself how to acquire money, how to keep it, and
how to use it. Therefore, you are competent for a responsible position. I am
becoming an old man. My sons think only of spending and give no thought to
earning. My interests are great and I fear too much for me to look after. If you
will go to Nippur and look after my lands there, I shall make you my partner
and you shall share in my estate.’
“So I went to Nippur and took charge of his holdings, which were large.
And because I was full of ambition and because I had mastered the three
laws of successfully handling wealth, I was enabled to increase greatly the
value of his properties.
“So I prospered much, and when the spirit of Algamish departed for the
sphere of darkness, I did share in his estate as he had arranged under the
law.” So spake Arkad, and when he had finished his tale, one of his friends
said, “You were indeed fortunate that Algamish made of you an heir.”
“Fortunate only in that I had the desire to prosper before I first met him.
For four years did I not prove my definiteness of purpose by keeping onetenth of all earned? Would you call a fisherman lucky who for years so
studied the habits of the fish that with each changing wind he could cast his
nets about them? Opportunity is a haughty goddess who wastes no time with
those who are unprepared.”
“You had strong will power to keep on after you lost your first year’s
savings. You are unusual in that way,” spoke up another.
“Will power!” retorted Arkad. “What nonsense. Do you think will
power gives a man the strength to lift a burden the camel cannot carry, or to
draw a load the oxen cannot budge? Will power is but the unflinching
purpose to carry a task you set for yourself to fulfillment. If I set for myself a
task, be it ever so trifling, I shall see it through. How else shall I have
confidence in myself to do important things? Should I say to myself, ‘For a
hundred days as I walk across the bridge into the city, I will pick from the
road a pebble and cast it into the stream,’ I would do it.
“If on the seventh day I passed by without remembering, I would not say
to myself, ‘Tomorrow I will cast two pebbles which will do as well.’
Instead, I would retrace my steps and cast the pebble. Nor on the twentieth
day would I say to myself, ‘Arkad, this is useless. What does it avail you to
cast a pebble every day? Throw in a handful and be done with it.’ No, I
would not say that nor do it. When I set a task for myself, I complete it.
“Therefore, I am careful not to start difficult and impractical tasks,
because I love leisure.”
And then another friend spoke up and said, “If what you tell is true, and
it does seem as you have said, reasonable, then being so simple, if all men
did it, there would not be enough wealth to go around.”
“Wealth grows wherever men exert energy,” Arkad replied. “If a rich
man builds him a new palace, is the gold he pays out gone? No, the brick
maker has part of it and the laborer has part of it, and the artist has part of it.
And everyone who labors upon the house has part of it. Yet when the palace
is completed, is it not worth all it cost? And is the ground upon which it
stands not worth more because it is there? And is the ground that adjoins it
not worth more because it is there? Wealth grows in magic ways. No man can
prophesy the limit of it. Have not the Phoenicians built great cities on barren
coasts with the wealth that comes from their ships of commerce on the seas?”
Wealth grows wherever men exert energy.
“What then do you advise us to do that we also may become rich?”
asked still another of his friends. “The years have passed and we are no
longer young men and we have nothing put by.”
“I advise that you take the wisdom of Algamish and say to yourselves,
‘A part of all I earn is mine to keep.’ Say it in the morning when you first
arise. Say it at noon. Say it at night. Say it each hour of every day. Say it to
yourself until the words stand out like letters of fire across the sky.
“Impress yourself with the idea. Fill yourself with the thought. Then take
whatever portion seems wise. Let it be not less than one-tenth and lay it by.
Arrange your other expenditures to do this if necessary. But lay by that
portion first. Soon you will realize what a rich feeling it is to own a treasure
upon which you alone have claim. As it grows it will stimulate you. A new
joy of life will thrill you.
“Greater efforts will come to you to earn more. For of your increased
earnings, will not the same percentage be also yours to keep?
“Then learn to make your treasure work for you. Make it your slave.
Make its children and its children’s children work for you.
“Insure an income for thy future. Look thou at the aged and forget not that
in the days to come thou also will be numbered among them. Therefore invest
thy treasure with greatest caution that it be not lost. Usurious rates of return
are deceitful sirens that sing but to lure the unwary upon the rocks of loss and
remorse.
Insure an income for thy future.
“Provide also that thy family may not want should the Gods call thee to
their realms. For such protection it is always possible to make provision
with small payments at regular intervals. Therefore the provident man delays
not in expectation of a large sum becoming available for such a wise
purpose.
Provide also that thy family may not want s hould the Gods call
thee to their realms.
“Counsel with wise men. Seek the advice of men whose daily work is
handling money. Let them save you from such an error as I myself made in
entrusting my money to the judgment of Azmur, the brick maker. A small
return and a safe one is far more desirable than risk.
Counsel with wise men.
“Enjoy life while you are here. Do not overstrain or try to save too
much. If one-tenth of all you earn is as much as you can comfortably keep, be
content to keep this portion. Live otherwise according to your income and let
not yourself get niggardly and afraid to spend. Life is good and life is rich
with things worthwhile and things to enjoy.”
Enjoy life while you are here.
His friends thanked him and went away. Some were silent because they
had no imagination and could not understand. Some were sarcastic because
they thought that one so rich should divide with old friends not so fortunate.
But some had in their eyes a new light. They realized that Algamish had come
back each time to the room of the scribes because he was watching a man
work his way out of darkness into light. When that man had found the light, a
place awaited him. No one could fill that place until he had for himself
worked out his own understanding, until he was ready for opportunity.
These latter were the ones, who, in the following years, frequently
revisited Arkad, who received them gladly. He counseled with them and
gave them freely of his wisdom as men of broad experience are always glad
to do. And he assisted them in so investing their savings that it would bring in
a good interest with safety and would neither be lost nor entangled in
investments that paid no dividends.
The turning point in these men’s lives came upon that day when they
realized the truth that had come from Algamish to Arkad and from Arkad to
them.
A Part of All You Earn Is Yours to Keep.
Chapter 4
Seven Cures For a Lean Purse
The glory of Babylon endures. Down through the ages its reputation comes to
us as the richest of cities, its treasures as fabulous.
Yet it was not always so. The riches of Babylon were the results of the
wisdom of its people.
They first had to learn how to become wealthy.
When the Good King, Sargon, returned to Babylon after defeating his
enemies, the Elamites, he was confronted with a serious situation. The Royal
Chancellor explained it to the King thus:
“After many years of great prosperity brought to our people because
your majesty built the great irrigation canals and the mighty temples of the
Gods, now that these works are completed the people seem unable to support
themselves.
“The laborers are without employment. The merchants have few
customers. The farmers are unable to sell their produce. The people have not
enough gold to buy food.”
“But where has all the gold gone that we spent for these great
improvements?” demanded the King.
“It has found its way, I fear,” responded the Chancellor, “into the
possession of a few very rich men of our city. It filtered through the fingers of
most our people as quickly as the goat’s milk goes through the strainer. Now
that the stream of gold has ceased to flow, most of our people have nothing to
show for their earnings.”
The King was thoughtful for some time. Then he asked, “Why should so
few men be able to acquire all the gold?”
“Because they know how,” replied the Chancellor. “One may not
condemn a man for succeeding because he knows how. Neither may one with
justice take away from a man what he has fairly earned, to give to men of less
ability.”
“But why,” demanded the King, “should not all the people learn how to
accumulate gold and therefore become themselves rich and prosperous?”
“Quite possible, your excellency. But who can teach them? Certainly not
the priests, because they know naught of money making.”
“Who knows best in all our city how to become wealthy, Chancellor?”
asked the King.
“Thy question answers itself, your majesty. Who has amassed the
greatest wealth in Babylon?”
“Well said, my able Chancellor. It is Arkad. He is richest man in
Babylon. Bring him before me on the morrow.”
Upon the following day, as the King had decreed, Arkad appeared
before him, straight and sprightly despite his three score years and ten.
“Arkad,” spoke the King, “is it true thou art the richest man in Babylon?”
“So it is reported, your majesty, and no man disputes it.”
“How becamest thou so wealthy?”
“By taking advantage of opportunities available to all citizens of our
good city.”
“Thou hadst nothing to start with?”
“Only a great desire for wealth. Besides this, nothing.”
“Arkad,” continued the King, “our city is in a very unhappy state
because a few men know how to acquire wealth and therefore monopolize it,
while the mass of our citizens lack the knowledge of how to keep any part of
the gold they receive.
“It is my desire that Babylon be the wealthiest city in the world.
Therefore, it must be a city of many wealthy men. Therefore, we must teach
all the people how to acquire riches. Tell me, Arkad, is there any secret to
acquiring wealth? Can it be taught?”
“It is practical, your majesty. That which one man knows can be taught to
others.”
The king’s eyes glowed. “Arkad, thou speaketh the words I wish to hear.
Wilt thou lend thyself to this great cause? Wilt thou teach thy knowledge to a
school for teachers, each of whom shall teach others until there are enough
trained to teach these truths to every worthy subject in my domain?”
Arkad bowed and said, “I am thy humble servant to command. Whatever
knowledge I possess will I gladly give for the betterment of my fellowmen
and the glory of my King. Let your good chancellor arrange for me a class of
one hundred men and I will teach to them those seven cures which did fatten
my purse, than which there was none leaner in all Babylon.”
A fortnight later, in compliance with the King’s command, the chosen
hundred assembled in the great hall of the Temple of Learning, seated upon
colorful rings in a semicircle. Arkad sat beside a small taboret upon which
smoked a sacred lamp sending forth a strange and pleasing odor.
“Behold the richest man in Babylon,” whispered a student, nudging his
neighbor as Arkad arose. “He is but a man even as the rest of us.”
“As a dutiful subject of our great King,” Arkad began, “I stand before
you in his service.
“Because once I was a poor youth who did greatly desire gold, and
because I found knowledge that enabled me to acquire it, he asks that I impart
unto you my knowledge.
“I started my fortune in the humblest way. I had no advantage not enjoyed
as fully by you and every citizen in Babylon.
“The first storehouse of my treasure was a well-purse. I loathed its
useless emptiness. I desired it be round and full, clinking with the sound of
gold. Therefore, I sought every remedy for a lean purse. I found seven.
“To you, who are assembled before me, shall I explain the seven cures
for a lean purse which I do recommend to all men who desire much gold.
Each day for seven days will I explain to you one of the seven remedies.
“Listen attentively to the knowledge that I will impart. Debate it with
me. Discuss it among yourselves. Learn these lessons thoroughly, that ye may
also plant in your own purse the seed of wealth. First must each of you start
wisely to build a fortune of his own. Then wilt thou be competent, and only
then, to teach these truths to others.
“I shall teach to you in simple ways how to fatten your purses. This is
the first step leading to the temple of wealth, and no man may climb who
cannot plant his feet firmly upon the first step.
“We shall now consider the first cure.”
Chapter 5
The First Cure: Start Thy Purse to Fattening
Arkad addressed a thoughtful man in the second row. “My good friend, at
what craft workest thou?”
“I,” replied the man, “am a scribe and carve records upon the clay
tablets.”
“Even at such labor did I myself earn my first coppers. Therefore, thou
hast the same opportunity to build a fortune.”
He spoke to a florid-faced man, farther back. “Pray tell also what dost
thou to earn thy bread?”
“I,” responded this man, “am a meat butcher. I do buy the goats the
farmers raise and kill them and sell the meat to the housewives and the hides
to the sandal makers.”
“Because thou dost also labor and earn, thou hast every advantage to
succeed that I did possess.”
In this way did Arkad proceed to find out how each man labored to earn
his living. When he had done questioning them, he said:
“Now, my students, ye can see that there are many trades and labors at
which men may earn coins. Each of the ways of earning is a stream of gold
from which the worker doth divert by his labors a portion to his own purse.
Therefore into the purse of each of you flows a stream of coins large or small
according to his ability. Is it not so?”
Thereupon they agreed that it was so. “Then,” continued Arkad, “if each
of you desireth to build for himself a fortune, is it not wise to start by
utilizing that source of wealth which he already has established?”
To this they agreed.
Then Arkad turned to a humble man who had declared himself an egg
merchant. “If thou select one of thy baskets and put into it each morning ten
eggs and take out from it each evening nine eggs, what will eventually
happen?”
“It will become in time overflowing.”
“Why?”
“Because each day I put in one more egg than I take out.”
Arkad turned to the class with a smile. “Does any man here have a lean
purse?”
First they looked amused. Then they laughed. Lastly they waved their
purses in jest.
“All right,” he continued, “Now I shall tell thee the first remedy I
learned to cure a lean purse.
“Do exactly as I have suggested to the egg merchant. For every ten coins
thou placest within thy purse take out for use but nine. Thy purse will start to
fatten at once and its increasing weight will feel good in thy hand and bring
satisfaction to thy soul.
“Deride not what I say because of its simplicity. Truth is always simple.
I told thee I would tell how I built my fortune. This was my beginning. I, too,
carried a lean purse and cursed it because there was naught within to satisfy
my desires. But when I began to take out from my purse but nine parts of ten I
put in, it began to fatten. So will thine.
Truth is always simple.
“Now I will tell a strange truth, the reason for which I know not. When I
ceased to pay out more than nine-tenths of my earnings, I managed to get
along just as well. I was not shorter than before. Also, ere long, did coins
come to me more easily than before. Surely it is a law of the Gods that unto
him who keepeth and spendeth not a certain part of all his earnings, shall
gold come more easily.
“Likewise, him whose purse is empty does gold avoid.
“Which desirest thou the most? Is it the gratification of thy desires of
each day, a jewel, a bit of finery, better raiment, more food; things quickly
gone and forgotten? Or is it substantial belongings, gold, lands, herds,
merchandise, income-bringing investments? The coins thou takest from thy
purse bring the first. The coins thou leavest within it will bring the latter.
“This, my students, was the first cure I did discover for my lean purse:
‘For each ten coins I put in, to spend but nine.’ Debate this amongst
yourselves. If any man proves it untrue, tell me upon the morrow when we
shall meet again.”
It is a law of the Gods that unto him who keepeth and spendeth
not a certain part of all his earnings, shall gold come more
easily.
Afternote
“Pay yourself first” is the foundational commandment of The Richest
Man in Babylon.
You must set aside at least ten percent of your income into savings
as soon as you’re paid. If you work in a corporate job, taxes are
probably already withheld. If you are a contractor or freelancer, I
advise subtracting this ten percent from the remaining net of your
income after you have subtracted thirty percent for taxes. And never
neglect withholding that thirty percent; in time, it will bring you greater
peace of mind than you may imagine, whether you pay taxes quarterly or
at the year’s end.
This ten-percent savings can be higher but Clason recognized that
the figure is unlikely to be missed from your income. It is a significant
but manageable sum. (I recognize that during times of crisis such a sum
may, in fact, be missed, or sometimes prove unmanageable. I address
this in Appendix A: Debts Are Enemies.) This practice fulfills the
principle of accumulation. One of Clason’s characters observes:
Every gold piece you save is a slave to work for you. Every copper it earns is its child
that also can earn for you. If you would become wealthy, then what you save must
earn, and its children must earn, that all may help to give to you the abundance you
crave … A part of all you earn is yours to keep. It should be not less than a tenth no
matter how little you earn. It can be as much more as you can afford. Pay yourself
first. Do not buy from the clothes-maker and the sandal-maker more than you can pay
out of the rest.
Wealth, like a tree, grows from a tiny seed. The first copper you save is the seed
from which your tree of wealth shall grow. The sooner you plant that seed the sooner
shall the tree grow. And the more faithfully you nourish and water that tree with
consistent savings, the sooner may you bask in contentment beneath its shade.
No matter your obligations, Clason advises, set aside this ten
percent—just as though it is a vital, nonnegotiable expense like rent or
mortgage. It is your hallowed payment to yourself, no more to be
bargained away than a monthly bill you regard as basic to your
existence. As Clason writes, “A part of all you earn is yours to keep.”
—MH
Chapter 6
The Second Cure: Control Thy Expenditures
“Some of your members, my students, have asked me this: How can a man
keep one-tenth of all he earns in his purse when all the coins he earns are not
enough for his necessary expenses?” So did Arkad address his students upon
the second day.
“Yesterday how many of thee carried lean purses?”
“All of us,” answered the class.
“Yet, thou do not all earn the same. Some earn much more than others.
Some have much larger families to support. Yet, all purses were equally
lean. Now I will tell thee an unusual truth about men and sons of men. It is
this; that what each of us calls our ‘necessary expenses’ will always grow to
equal our incomes unless we protest to the contrary.
“Confuse not the necessary expenses with thy desires. Each of you,
together with your good families, have more desires than your earnings can
gratify. Therefore are thy earnings spent to gratify these desires insofar as
they will go. Still thou retainest many ungratified desires.
Confuse not the necessary expenses with thy desires.
“All men are burdened with more desires than they can gratify. Because
of my wealth thinkest thou I may gratify every desire? ‘Tis a false idea. There
are limits to my time. There are limits to my strength. There are limits to the
distance I may travel. There are limits to what I may eat. There are limits to
the zest with which I may enjoy.
All men are burdened with more desires than they can gratify.
“I say to you that just as weeds grow in a field wherever the farmer
leaves space for their roots, even so freely do desires grow in men whenever
ther.e is a possibility of their being gratified. Thy desires are a multitude and
those that thou mayest gratify are but few.
“Study thoughtfully thy accustomed habits of living. Herein may be most
often found certain accepted expenses that may wisely be reduced or
eliminated. Let thy motto be one hundred percent of appreciated value
demanded for each coin spent.
Study thoughtfully thy accustomed habits of living.
“Therefore, engrave upon the clay each thing for which thou desireth to
spend. Select those that are necessary and others that are possible through the
expenditure of nine-tenths of thy income. Cross out the rest and consider them
but a part of that great multitude of desires that must go unsatisfied and regret
them not.
“Budget then thy necessary expenses. Touch not the one-tenth that is
fattening thy purse. Let this be thy great desire that is being fulfilled. Keep
working with thy budget; keep adjusting it to help thee. Make it thy first
assistant in defending thy fattening purse.”
Hereupon one of the students, wearing a robe of red and gold, arose and
said, “I am a free man.
I believe that it is my right to enjoy the good things of life. Therefore do
I rebel against the slavery of a budget which determines just how much I may
spend and for what. I feel it would take much pleasure from my life and make
me little more than a pack-ass to carry a burden.”
To him Arkad replied, “Who, my friend, would determine thy budget?”
“I would make it for myself,” responded the protesting one.
“In that case were a pack-ass to budget his burden would he include
therein jewels and rugs and heavy bars of gold? Not so. He would include
hay and grain and a bag of water for the desert trail.
“The purpose of a budget is to help thy purse to fatten. It is to assist thee
to have thy necessities and, insofar as attainable, thy other desires. It is to
enable thee to realize thy most cherished desires by defending them from thy
casual wishes. Like a bright light in a dark cave thy budget shows up the
leaks from thy purse and enables thee to stop them and control thy
expenditures for definite and gratifying purposes.
“This, then, is the second cure for a lean purse. Budget thy expenses that
thou mayest have coins to pay for thy necessities, to pay for thy enjoyments
and to gratify thy worthwhile desires without spending more than nine-tenths
of thy earnings.”
Afternote
One of Clason’s character’s makes a key observation: “All men are
burdened with more desires than they can gratify.”
You will never find yourself in a position where you can buy
whatever you want. This is true of even the very rich. I personally knew
of a famous author who grew extremely wealthy writing popular
thrillers. Yet he was always filled with financial dissatisfaction. He
would look across the golf course in the development where he lived
and see the home of a tech magnate that was larger than his. This author
possessed more than most people could dream of but his psyche was
burdened with a sense of lack. On a publicity tour, he even made a
media escort pay for a cup of coffee that he bought from a street cart.
That’s not someone who enjoys wealth but who fears lack.
The point I am trying to make is that budget-setting and
acknowledging limits may seem like a dreary or depriving act; but every
one of us, even the very wealthy, must make peace with some form of
financial limit. No one gets to buy everything he sees or wants. Although
a certain minimum of income is necessary for happiness, our desires
tend to rise in tandem with our earnings.
Clason summed up this situation with two aphorisms: 1) “That
which each of us calls our ‘necessary expenses’ will always grow
equal to our incomes unless we protest to the contrary.” 2) “Confuse not
the necessary expenses with thy desires.”
As alluded, budgeting is an act about which we all feel conflicted.
We wish for the good things in life and limits always seem like having
to get up from a meal without your hunger abated. But this predicament
is often a matter of perspective. Here is one of Clason’s most
penetrating passages:
Each of you, together with your good families, have more desires than your earnings
can gratify. Therefore are thy earnings spent to gratify these desires insofar as they
will go. Still thou retainest many ungratified desires.
All men are burdened with more desires than they can gratify. Because of my
wealth thinkest thou I may gratify every desire? There are limits to my time. There are
limits to my strength. There are limits to the distance I may travel. There are limits to
what I may eat. There are limits to the zest with which I may enjoy.
I say to you that just as weeds grow in a field wherever the farmer leaves space
for their roots, even so freely do desires grow in men whenever there is a possibility of
their being gratified. Thy desires are a multitude and those that thou mayest gratify are
but few.
Study thoughtfully thy accustomed habits of living. Herein may be most often
found certain accepted expenses that may wisely be reduced or eliminated. Let thy
motto be one hundred percent of appreciated value demanded for each coin spent.
Therefore, engrave upon the clay each thing for which thou desireth to spend.
Select those that are necessary and possible through the expenditure of nine-tenths of
thy income. Cross out the rest and consider them but a part of that great multitude of
desires that must go unsatisfied and regret them not.
Budget then thy necessary expenses. Touch not the one-tenth that is fattening thy
purse. Let this be thy great desire that is being fulfilled. Remember: the purpose of a
budget is to help thy purse to fatten. It is to assist thee to have thy necessities and,
insofar as attainable, thy other desires. It is to enable thee to realize thy most cherished
desires by defending them from thy casual wishes. Like a bright light in a dark cave
thy budget shows up the leaks from thy purse and enables thee to stop them and
control thy expenditures for definite and gratifying purposes.
This, then, is the second cure for a lean purse. Budget thy expenses that thou
mayest have coins to pay for thy necessities, to pay for thy enjoyments, and to gratify
thy worthwhile desires without spending more than nine-tenths of thy earnings.
In Appendix A: Debts Are Enemies, I revisit the question of
specific expenses—and which ones work for and against you.
—MH
Chapter 7
The Third Cure: Make Thy Gold Multiply
Behold thy lean purse is fattening. Thou hast disciplined thyself to leave
therein one-tenth of all thou earneth. Thou hast controlled thy expenditures to
protect thy growing treasure. Next, we will consider means to put thy
treasure to labor and to increase. Gold in a purse is gratifying to own and
satisfieth a miserly soul but earns nothing. The gold we may retain from our
earnings is but the start.
“The earnings it will make shall build our fortunes.” So spoke Arkad
upon the third day to his class.
“How therefore may we put our gold to work? My first investment was
unfortunate, for I lost all. Its tale I will relate later. My first profitable
investment was a loan I made to a man named Aggar, a shield maker. Once
each year did he buy large shipments of bronze brought from across the sea to
use in his trade. Lacking sufficient capital to pay the merchants, he would
borrow from those who had extra coins. He was an honorable man. His
borrowing he would repay, together with a liberal rental, as he sold his
shields.
“Each time I loaned to him I loaned back also the rental he had paid to
me. Therefore not only did my capital increase, but its earnings likewise
increased. Most gratifying was it to have these sums return to my purse.
“I tell you, my students, a man’s wealth is not in the coins he carries in
his purse; it is the income he buildeth, the golden stream that continually
floweth into his purse and keepeth it always bulging. That is what every man
desireth. That is what thou, each one of thee, desireth; an income that
continueth to come whether thou work or travel.
“Great income I have acquired. So great that I am called a very rich
man. My loans to Aggar were my first training in profitable investment.
Gaining wisdom from this experience, I extended my loans and investments
as my capital increased. From a few sources at first, from many sources later,
flowed into my purse a golden stream of wealth available for such wise uses
as I should decide.
“Behold, from my humble earnings I had begotten a hoard of golden
slaves, each laboring and earning more gold. As they labored for me, so their
children also labored and their children’s children until great was the income
from their combined efforts.
“Gold increaseth rapidly when making reasonable earnings as thou wilt
see from the following:
“A farmer, when his first son was born, took ten pieces of silver to a
money lender and asked him to keep it on rental for his son until he became
twenty years of age. This the money lender did, and agreed the rental should
be one fourth of its value each four years. The farmer asked, because this sum
he had set aside as belonging to his son, that the rental be add to the
principal.
“When the boy had reached the age of twenty years, the farmer again
went to the money lender to inquire about the silver. The money lender
explained that because this sum had been increased by compound interest, the
original ten pieces of silver had now grown to thirty and one-half pieces.
“The farmer was well pleased and because the son did not need the
coins, he left them with the money lender. When the son became fifty years of
age, the father meantime having passed to the other world, the money lender
paid the son in settlement one hundred and sixty-seven pieces of silver.
“Thus in fifty years had the investment multiplied itself at rental almost
seventeen times.
“This, then, is the third cure for a lean purse: to put each coin to laboring
that it may reproduce its kind even as the flocks of the field and help bring to
thee income, a stream of wealth that shall flow constantly into thy purse.”
Afternote
Clason advises you to “put each coin to laboring.” By this he means not
just sitting on your savings but dedicating them to sound and safe
investments.
In that vein, I want to share a personal story. I once visited the
home of a successful financier for Thanksgiving. Many of the people
seated around the table were financial analysts, investors, and denizens
of Wall Street. I said the following: “I want to put a question to you
financial wizards—and I want you to be completely frank with me. For
more than twenty years, I have invested in nothing other than index funds
—and not only have my long-term returns been outstanding but I have
found that they surpass the returns I’ve heard about in various hedge
funds managed by industry superstars. Am I correct that over time index
funds do better than virtually all other structured funds?” Each one
agreed.
If you work in a corporate job with access to a 401k account—
especially with employer matches—I urge you to max out contributing
the legal limit or work your way up to it. I did this for many years in a
publishing job and it made all the difference in my financial life. A Roth
IRA is also a greatly useful tool. When contributing to investment
accounts, my advice, which speaks to Clason’s need for sound, safe
investment, is to rely on index funds, which generally rebound even
following severe economic downturns. During the Covid crisis in
spring of 2020 my S&P 500 index fund lost nearly half its value. It was
harrowing. But by the year’s end it had more than made up all of the lost
ground. I cannot warrant that such rebounds will continue open-endedly
but that kind of recovery has been my experience during two financial
meltdowns: the mortgage crash of 2008 and the Covid lockdown of
2020–2021.
As noted in the next chapter, Clason cautions that you must avoid
investing in fields or funds of which you know little. Writing on the eve
of and during the Great Depression, he had an allergy to any kind of
financial speculation. I have witnessed people lose their money—as
well as their emotional and ethical compass points—by venturing into
seemingly exciting fields, including tech and media, without appropriate
research, background, and understanding, as well as willingness to put
in due diligence. The time to learn sailing is not when on you’re the
open seas .
—MH
Chapter 8
The Fourth Cure: Guard Thy Treasures from
Loss
“Misfortune loves a shining mark. Gold in a man’s purse must be guarded
with firmness, else it be lost. Thus it is wise that we must first secure small
amounts and learn to protect them before the Gods entrust us with larger.” So
spoke Arkad upon the fourth day to his class.
“Every owner of gold is tempted by opportunities whereby it would
seem that he could make large sums by its investment in most plausible
projects. Often friends and relatives are eagerly entering such investment and
urge him to follow.
“The first sound principle of investment is security for thy principal. Is it
wise to be intrigued by larger earnings when thy principal may be lost? I say
not. The penalty of risk is probable loss. Study carefully, before parting with
thy treasure, each assurance that it may be safely reclaimed. Be not misled by
thine own romantic desires to make wealth rapidly.
“Before thou loan it to any man assure thyself of his ability to repay and
his reputation for doing so, that thou mayest not unwittingly be making him a
present of thy hard-earned treasure.
“Before thou entrust it as an investment in any field acquaint thyself with
the dangers which may beset it.
“My own first investment was a tragedy to me at the time. The guarded
savings of a year I did entrust to a brick maker, named Azmur, who was
traveling over the far seas and in Tyre agreed to buy for me the rare jewels of
the Phoenicians. These we would sell upon his return and divide the profits.
The Phoenicians were scoundrels and sold him bits of glass. My
treasure was lost. Today, my training would show to me at once the folly of
entrusting a brick maker to buy jewels.
“Therefore, do I advise thee from the wisdom of my experiences: be not
too confident of thine own wisdom in entrusting thy treasures to the possible
pitfalls of investments. Better by far to consult the wisdom of those
experienced in handling money for profit. Such advice is freely given for the
asking and may readily possess a value equal in gold to the sum thou
considerest investing. In truth, such is its actual value if it save thee from
loss.
“This, then, is the fourth cure for a lean purse and of great importance if
it prevent thy purse from being emptied once it has become well filled.
Guard thy treasure from loss by investing only where thy principal is safe,
where it may be reclaimed if desirable, and where thou will not fail to
collect a fair rental. Consult with wise men. Secure the advice of those
experienced in the profitable handling of gold. Let their wisdom protect thy
treasure from unsafe investments.”
Afternote
Most of us believe in our ability to identify unsafe investments or
unsound collaborators. Tough experience has taught me the insufficiency
of this confidence. Predatory investors or business partners usually take
advantage of us by exploiting weaknesses that we do not always see,
such as blinding ambition or the wish for a quick fix or by first gaining
our trust in other areas of life.
Sometimes even a business collaborator with whom we’ve
fruitfully worked for years can reveal different colors if that person
experiences an addiction, emotional breakdown, or financial crisis. I’ve
known seasoned businesspeople who are shocked to discover that a
longtime partner has been suddenly or incrementally deceiving them.
When the reality comes to light, it creates so great a break with
perception that the victim cannot immediately digest it. When digestion
eventually occurs, and damage is assessed and mitigated, the betrayal
itself may remain partly undigested, perhaps for a lifetime. This is
understandable. The feeling that someone you trusted and shared
intimacies with could also behave with duplicity may be impossible to
fully accept.
In high school, an acting teacher of mine had a motto that he drilled
into students: never trust anyone. For years, I resisted it, thinking it
cynical or overly broad. Looking back, however, I realize that he was
right. Withholding trust does not mean walking around with an attitude
of suspicion. Indeed, too much suspicion is emotionally off-putting and
harms your ability to form good relationships. The point, rather, is to
verify everything put in front of you, including routine contracts or
agreements from people with whom you’ve previously worked. In
matters of trust, you cannot afford to overlook details or count on others
to do the right thing.
One of the maladies of human nature is that we see our own traits in
others. We project them. Hence, an ethical person is likely to see others
as such. While a dishonest person not only sees his or her motives in
others but experiences another’s honesty as weakness or a trick. This is
why we are rarely as perceptive as we believe.
A lawyer from South Africa once told me that a contract cannot
protect you—it can only mitigate loss once damage has begun. In fact,
she said, if you even need to return to looking at your contract after
signature, the likelihood is that something is already wrong. This
attorney—someone with broad experience in the government sector—
said that she valued a handshake more than a contract (though not as a
substitute for one) because your feeling about whether someone is
ethical is likelier to ensure your protection than a contract. “People are
either honest or they’re not,” she said.
I respect this—but only to a point. Due to all the factors previously
mentioned, I have made the mistake of misjudging bad players as good.
It is necessary to continually vet your judgment. I used to consider it
gauche or unsavory to research people before doing business with them.
Looking back, I can hardly believe my naivete. Simply because
someone tells you that he or she held a particular job or logged certain
accomplishments does not mean that it is true. Sadly, people lie all the
time about their records. Those who do so effectively are often very
likeable. What con artist isn’t?
A filmmaker friend of mine said, “The difference between a crook
and a con artist is that a con artist thinks long term.” This means that con
artists or predatory personalities are often intellectually and
emotionally sophisticated. They may sustain periods of friendship and
even intimacy for months or years: for as long as the arrangement
delivers what they need. Despite simulation of bonding, however, this
person does not experience empathy or live by ethics.
Hence, the burden falls on you, if you are to avoid or at least
minimize such contacts (and they abound), to take on the additional time
commitment of examining and vetting claims, reviewing documents, and
seeking references. One thing I’ve learned: actions repeat. A single
falsehood or act of bad faith usually begats another.
If you have cause for doubt, honor it. As I write in Appendix B:
The 13 Rules of Good Luck, “Enthusiasm coupled with watchful
wariness forms a potent combination.”
—MH
Chapter 9
The Fifth Cure: Make of Thy Dwelling a
Profitable Investment
“If a man setteth aside nine parts of his earnings upon which to live and enjoy
life, and if any part of this nine parts he can turn into a profitable investment
without detriment to his wellbeing, then so much faster will his treasures
grow.” So spake Arkad to his class at their fifth lesson.
“All too many of our men of Babylon do raise their families in unseemly
quarters. They do pay to exacting landlords liberal rentals for rooms where
their wives have not a spot to raise the blooms that gladden a woman’s heart
and their children have no place to play their games except in the unclean
alleys.
“No man’s family can fully enjoy life unless they do have a plot of
ground wherein children can play in the clean earth and where the wife may
raise not only blossoms but good rich herbs to feed her family.
“To a man’s heart it brings gladness to eat the figs from his own trees
and the grapes of his own vines. To own his own domicile and to have it a
place he is proud to care for, putteth confidence in his heart and greater effort
behind all his endeavors. Therefore, do I recommend that every man own the
roof that sheltereth him and his.
“Nor is it beyond the ability of any well intentioned man to own his
home. Hath not our great king so widely extended the walls of Babylon that
within them much land is now unused and may be purchased at sums most
reasonable?
“Also I say to you, my students, that the money lenders gladly consider
the desires of men who seek homes and land for their families. Readily may
thou borrow to pay the brick maker and the builder for such commendable
purposes, if thou can show a reasonable portion of the necessary sum which
thou thyself hath provided for the purpose.
“Then when the house be built, thou canst pay the money lender with the
same regularity as thou didst pay the landlord. Because each payment will
reduce thy indebtedness to the money lender, a few years will satisfy his
loan.
“Then will thy heart be glad because thou wilt own in thy own right a
valuable property and thy only cost will be the king’s taxes.
“Also wilt thy good wife go more often to the river to wash thy robes,
that each time returning she may bring a goatskin of water to pour upon the
growing things.
“Thus come many blessings to the man who owneth his own house. And
greatly will it reduce his cost of living, making available more of his
earnings for pleasures and the gratification of his desires. This, then, is the
fifth cure for a lean purse: Own thy own home.”
Afternote
In terms of residence, owning versus buying is the perennial debate.
Clason came down firmly on the principle of home ownership and
vested equity. “Make of thy dwelling a profitable investment,” he wrote.
On a related note, the mortgage crisis that triggered the Great
Recession of 2008 ought to make every consumer wary of too-good-tobe-true credit and mortgage offers.
In the years leading up to that crisis, speculators, predatory lenders,
and short-sighted banking officers and loan guarantors issued millions
of unsustainable mortgages, sometimes with deceptively low
introductory rates, and often with foreknowledge that borrowers would
prove unable to repay them. Predatory lenders and financial giants then
bunched these poison loans into securities products to be sold, traded,
and gambled on. This included gambling on their failure. The market
literally incentivized failure and mass suffering on the part of American
consumers. The resulting losses nearly toppled the nation’s banking
system and created waves of foreclosures, evictions, and home
abandonment on a scale that I do not believe we as a nation have fully
come to terms with emotionally, financially, legally, and ethically.
Mortgages are wonderful tools but they must be approached with
care and fiscal conservatism. When I was a child, my father started a
new business simultaneous to our moving into a new home, made
enticingly affordable by mortgage rates. The business failed and we
entered years of financial nightmare, almost losing our home. Excessive
expansion is the single-greatest cause of financial failure among most
businesses and this is a crisis for individuals, too. Never attempt to
expand on two fronts at once.
I am an urban dweller who rents rather than owns. Am I breaking
Clason’s rule? To some degree, yes. But financial analysts are divided
on the matter. The benefits of owning a home that increases in value
under a thirty-year mortgage are plain and undeniable. And yet … some
argue that housing costs are never a free ride, and that you are, under
almost every circumstance, going to sustain a net outflow of expenses
for the financing and maintenance of a home. Hence, renting may not be
the money-suck that it first appears, especially if you’re using your
money and household productively in other ways. For example, during
the Covid lockdown many of us worked from home. This may prove an
enduring trend. As a writer, working from home has long been part of
my life. It is vital to claim appropriate tax deductions for household
space and utilities that facilitate working from home. Never neglect that.
It is also important to watch carefully for the manner in which
employers may allow, encourage—or even require—employees to work
from home. Think of it: it’s a great deal for employers. You’re providing
and upkeeping the space, often the technology, and almost always the
utilities and maintenance. Indeed, we are poised for a new era in which
employees effectively function as uncompensated landlords to their
employers. If this continues—and on some scale it almost certainly will
—new laws, protections, and tax deductions will be required to meet
this shift in work life. If you’re like me, you probably have little faith
that legislation benefiting the wage-earning employee will arrive in a
complete way; hence, it is vital to understand and exercise current tax
laws that recognize the value you invest in your home-work setup.
A home often doubles as a workplace. You should benefit from
both.
—MH
Chapter 10
The Sixth Cure: Insure a Future Income
“The life of every man proceedeth from his childhood to his old age. This is
the path of life and no man may deviate from it unless the Gods call him
prematurely to the world beyond. Therefore do I say that it behooves a man
to make preparation for a suitable income in the days to come, when he is no
longer young, and to make preparations for his family should he be no longer
with them to comfort and support them. This lesson shall instruct thee in
providing a full purse when time has made thee less able to learn.” So Arkad
addressed his class upon the sixth day.
“The man, who because of his understanding of the laws of wealth,
acquireth a growing surplus, should give thought to those future days. He
should plan certain investments or provision that may endure safely for many
years, yet will be available when the time arrives which he has so wisely
anticipated.
“There are diverse ways by which a man may provide with safety for his
future. He may provide a hiding place and there bury a secret treasure. Yet,
no matter with what skill it be hidden, it may nevertheless become the loot of
thieves. For this reason I recommend not this plan.
“A man may buy houses or lands for this purpose. If wisely chosen as to
their usefulness and value in the future, they are permanent in their value and
their earnings or their sale will provide well for his purpose.
“A man may loan a small sum to the money lender and increase it at
regular periods. The rental which the money lender adds to this will largely
add to its increase. I do know a sandal maker, named Ansan, who explained
to me not long ago that each week for eight years he had deposited with his
money lender two pieces of silver. The money lender had but recently given
him an accounting over which he greatly rejoiced. The total of his small
deposits with their rental at the customary rate of one-fourth their value for
each four years, had now become a thousand and forty pieces of silver.
“I did gladly encourage him further by demonstrating to him with my
knowledge of the numbers that in twelve years more, if he would keep his
regular deposits of but two pieces of silver each week, the money lender
would then owe him four thousand pieces of silver, a worthy competence for
the rest of his life.
“Surely, when such a small payment made with regularity doth produce
such profitable results, no man can afford not to insure a treasure for his old
age and the protection of his family, no matter how prosperous his business
and his investments may be.
“I would that I might say more about this. In my mind rests a belief that
some day wise-thinking men will devise a plan to insure against death
whereby many men pay in but a trifling sum regularly, the aggregate making a
handsome sum for the family of each member who passeth to the beyond.
This do I see as something desirable and which I could highly recommend.
But today it is not possible because it must reach beyond the life of any
man or any partnership to operate. It must be as stable as the King’s throne.
Some day do I feel that such a plan shall come to pass and be a great blessing
to many men, because even the first small payment will make available a
snug fortune for the family of a member should he pass on.
“But because we live in our own day and not in the days which are to
come, must we take advantage of those means and ways of accomplishing our
purposes. Therefore do I recommend to all men, that they, by wise and well
thought out methods, do provide against a lean purse in their mature years.
For a lean purse to a man no longer able to earn or to a family without its
head is a sore tragedy.
“This, then, is the sixth cure for a lean purse. Provide in advance for the
needs of thy growing age and the protection of thy family.”
Afternote
When facing the financial future, many of us experience fear. Clason
addresses the topic of money and fear only indirectly. But I think the
role of fear in personal finance requires amplification and exploration.
The fact is, many of us grew up with—and are controlled by—fearful
attitudes around money. This is natural. No human quality other than
sexuality is fraught with greater or more complex emotions than money.
That is why we are often prone to irrational actions around money,
including massive debt spending or the breaking of family ties and
friendships over financial disputes.
Emotion rules money. That is a core truth of life. As such, fear often
controls us in areas of money management, earnings, debt, and a sense
of financial security. This can cloud our decision-making and spoil our
enthusiasm for life. I write these words from experience. I grew up in a
childhood home devastated by financial crisis and it marked me ever
after.
Yet in adulthood I also came to realize that fear—unless calling
attention to a legitimate need for safety at times of crisis—rarely
produces sound judgment or responses relating to money or anything
else. In actuality, fear is the greatest barrier to your personal progress
and capacity for action. Procrastination itself is a type of fear and is
probably the most common (and overlooked) form that fear takes.
As you begin any new undertaking you are, at one point or another,
likely to find yourself palpably gripped by fear. Depending on your
nature, you may experience this constantly, or at least more often than
you would like. You may also experience the paralysis of fear when
confronting financial decisions or problems. At a certain point, nearly
everyone does. My wish is that you use crisis as a goad to action.
“Opposition is true Friendship,” wrote poet William Blake (1757-
1827). We grow only when challenged. But we cannot grow if fear
dominates us.
In that vein, I am providing a condensation of Napoleon Hill’s
immensely important advice on fear from his 1937 Think and Grow
Rich. Whenever you feel plagued by fear, including in the middle of the
night or the early hours of the morning when you should be sleeping, I
ask you to reflect on this short passage. (There may be times I’m doing
it with you.) It is the absolute truth. Let it serve as a beacon to guide you
through corridors of fear. If you find this passage useful, write it down,
hang it up someplace you can see it—and share it.
Fear should never be bargained with or capitulated to. It takes the appeal from your
personality, destroys the possibility of accurate thinking, diverts concentration of effort,
stifles persistence, turns your willpower into nothingness, erases ambition, clouds your
memory, and invites failure in every conceivable form.
Fear kills love, assassinates the finer emotions of the heart, discourages friendship,
and leads to sleeplessness, misery, and unhappiness.
So pernicious and destructive is the emotion of fear that it is, almost literally, worse
than anything that can befall you.
If you suffer from a fear of poverty, reach a decision to get along with whatever
wealth you can accumulate WITHOUT WORRY. If you fear the loss of love, reach a
decision to get along without love, if that becomes necessary. If you experience a
general sense of worry, reach a blanket decision that nothing life has to offer is
worth the price of fear. This places Ultimate Truth at your back.
And remember: The greatest of all remedies for fear is a BURNING DESIRE
FOR ACHIEVEMENT, backed by useful action in pursuit of your aim.
—MH
Chapter 11
The Seventh Cure: Increase Thy Ability to
Earn
This day do I speak to thee, my students, of one of the most vital remedies for
a lean purse.
Yet, I will talk not of gold but of yourselves, of the men beneath the
robes of many colors who do sit before me. I will talk to you of those things
within the minds and lives of men which do work for or against their
success.” So did Arkad address his class upon the seventh day.
“Not long ago came to me a young man seeking to borrow. When I
questioned him the cause of his necessity, he complained that his earnings
were insufficient to pay his expenses. Thereupon I explained to him, this
being the case, he was a poor customer for the money lender, as he possessed
no surplus earning capacity to repay the loan.
“‘What you need, young man,’ I told him, ‘is to earn more coins. What
dost thou to increase thy capacity to earn?’
“‘All that I can do,’” he replied. ‘Six times within two moons have I
approached my master to request my pay be increased, but without success.
No man can go oftener than that.’
“We may smile at his simplicity, yet he did possess one of the vital
requirements to increase his earnings. Within him was a strong desire to earn
more, a proper and commendable desire.
“Preceding accomplishment must be desire. Thy desires must be strong
and definite. General desires are but weak longings. For a man to wish to be
rich is of little purpose. For a man to desire five pieces of gold is a tangible
desire which he can press to fulfillment. After he has backed his desire for
five pieces of gold with strength of purpose to secure it, next he can find
similar ways to obtain ten pieces and then twenty pieces and later a thousand
pieces and, behold, he has become wealthy. In learning to secure his one
definite small desire, he hath trained himself to secure a larger one. This is
the process by which wealth is accumulated: first in small sums, then in
larger ones as a man learns and becomes more capable.
Preceding accomplishment must be desire. Thy desires must be
strong and definite.
“Desires must be simple and definite. They defeat their own purpose
should they be too many, too confusing, or beyond a man’s training to
accomplish.
“As a man perfecteth himself in his calling even so doth his ability to
earn increase. In those days when I was a humble scribe carving upon the
clay for a few coppers each day, I observed that other workers did more than
I and were paid more. Therefore, did I determine that I would be exceeded
by none. Nor did it take long for me to discover the reason for their greater
success. More interest in my work, more concentration upon my task, more
persistence in my effort, and, behold, few men could carve more tablets in a
day than I. With reasonable promptness my increased skill was rewarded,
nor was it necessary for me to go six times to my master to request
recognition.
“The more of wisdom we know, the more we may earn. That man who
seeks to learn more of his craft shall be richly rewarded. If he is an artisan,
he may seek to learn the methods and the tools of those most skillful in the
same line. If he laboreth at the law or at healing, he may consult and
exchange knowledge with others of his calling. If he be a merchant, he may
continually seek better goods that can be purchased at lower prices.
“Always do the affairs of man change and improve because keen-minded
men seek greater skill that they may better serve those upon whose patronage
they depend. Therefore, I urge all men to be in the front rank of progress and
not to stand still, lest they be left behind. “Many things come to make a man’s
life rich with gainful experiences. Such things as the following, a man must
do if he respect himself:
“He must pay his debts with all the promptness within his power, not
purchasing that for which he is unable to pay.
“He must take care of his family that they may think and speak well of
him. He must make a will of record that, in case the Gods call him, proper
and honorable division of his property be accomplished.
“He must have compassion upon those who are injured and smitten by
misfortune and aid them within reasonable limits. He must do deeds of
thoughtfulness to those dear to him.
“Thus the seventh and last remedy for a lean purse is to cultivate thy
own powers, to study and become wiser, to become more skillful, to so act
as to respect thyself. Thereby shalt thou acquire confidence in thy self to
achieve thy carefully considered desires.
“These then are the seven cures for a lean purse, which, out of the
experience of a long and successful life, I do urge for all men who desire
wealth. There is more gold in Babylon, my students, than thou dreamest of.
There is abundance for all.
“Go thou forth and practice these truths that thou mayest prosper and
grow wealthy, as is thy right.
“Go thou forth and teach these truths that every honorable subject of his
majesty may also share liberally in the ample wealth of our beloved city.”
He must pay his debts with all the promptness within his
power, not purchasing that for which he is unable to pay.
Afternote
In 2020, I was touched by the candor of a therapist on Twitter who
tweeted: “As a therapist I can say confidently, that while therapy is
helpful, what most people really need is money.” Given that the number
of retweets exceeded 100,000, her honesty clearly resonated with a lot
of people. There were also vocal critics. I personally considered her
statement an important acknowledgment.
Clason, too, noted that sometimes—in fact, often—people simply
need more money. I see three steps in his outlook on how to earn more.
They are simple. But look twice at them. It is only when you apply or
live with a seemingly simple idea that its greater dimensions become
clear. That is why cynics rarely get at the truth of things. They see
simplicity as naiveté. Simplicity is the language of truth.
Here are Clauson’s three steps:
1. You must sincerely and powerfully desire to earn more. Doesn’t
everyone? Well, not exactly. This does not mean an unspecified
wish to “get rich.” Or a “sure, why not?” attitude. It means a
burning and specific desire to increase your earning ability. And be
precise: how much do you want to earn and how? Don’t vacillate.
Name an amount. For help in this area, I recommend reading
Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich. If you’ve already read it,
read it again. I reread it once a year. I often advise readers to do its
exercises as though their lives depend on it. If you do, things will
change for the better.
2. One victory naturally leads to another. What you do on a micro
scale can be repeated on a macro scale. “As above, so below,”
goes the Hermetic dictum. One act of earning extra money teaches
you your capability and generally leads to more. Don’t overshoot
and get disappointed. Be focused, clear, and active. When you
succeed you will have discovered a steppingstone.
3. Cultivate skill and excellence. This principle encompasses many
things. You must not only do a job well and expeditiously, but you
must keep up with the technology of your field. This is not always
easy for me. I am tech-shy. But I impel myself to stay current. When
I fall behind, I strive to make up for it. Another thing that cultivates
excellence is sobriety. Like many people, I enjoy booze and other
intoxicants. But they can disrupt sleep patterns, foster lethargy, and
contribute to negative or obsessive thoughts. Even if temporarily,
stop drinking or using recreational drugs when you want to earn
more. It’s a real help and it’s entirely in your hands. Here is a
further ingredient to excellence and reputation: pay your debts
quickly, especially to contractors and freelancers. Such an act
fosters comity and loyalty. Those people depend on your timely
payment as you do on your weekly paycheck. Pay them quickly and
they become allies in your efforts.
In further probing how to earn more money, I find important lessons
in Ralph Waldo Emerson’s 1860 essay “Wealth.” The philosopher
outlined roughly three steps to accumulating money: 1) First, filling
some nonnegotiable, subsistence-level need in your own life: this is
what drove the primeval farmers, hunter-gathers, and villagers. 2) Next,
applying one’s particular talents to the surrounding environment and
expansively filling the needs of others. If you do not know or understand
your talents, you must start there before anything is possible. Your
particular talent is a source of excellence. And, finally, 3) using your
wealth for the purposes of productiveness: paying down debts, making
compound investments, and procuring the tools and training of your
trade. Building and expanding are the only sound ways to amass money.
And such efforts reflect your code and fiber as a progressing being.
Also, when offered opportunities to earn, act decisively. Do not
dither. I was once offered a massive book contract for which I felt
unprepared. I quickly caught myself and said yes. It was one of the best
decisions of my life. Growing up, my mother told me never to refuse
business. That was sound advice. I am absolutely shocked when I see
storeowners, managers, or contractors turn away business. Actually turn
away people who want to pay them for a service and who need their
service. I saw this occur even during the Covid recession. In Brooklyn,
New York, where I live, I witnessed computer and bicycle stores turn
away customers—or shun them by requiring weeks-long waits—rather
than expand, hire new people (a greatly productive thing to do for your
community, especially during a recession), and embrace new business.
To me, refusing work is one of the most deleterious of practices. There
is always an excuse to say no. Seldom a good one. Do not be that
person.
Cultivation of excellence and purpose is so important, and was to
Clason, that I want to return to the question from a different angle. In
1854, the pioneering scientist and germ theorist Louis Pasteur said in a
lecture: “In the fields of observation chance favors only the prepared
mind.” This statement has been popularly—and, I think, accurately—
shortened into: “Chance favors the prepared mind.” If you want to foster
earning opportunities in your life, make it your motto. (I return to this
principle in Appendix B: The 13 Rules of Good Luck.)
Chance opportunities are useful only to those who are prepared for
them—and the greater the preparation the more fully you will be able to
take advantage of them when they arrive. Preparation means training,
studying, reliability, keeping your word, and showing up ready to
perform whatever task you face. It heightens all of the other chance
factors around you; it ensures that you’ll be in the right mental state to
notice, receive, and profit from opportunities. That’s why I don’t
believe in opportunities arriving “out of the blue.” Opportunities
require context.
Dale Carnegie, author of the motivational classic How to Win
Friends and Influence People, began his career in the early twentieth
century as a teacher of public speaking. A former actor, Carnegie
understood that public speaking was becoming a vital business skill in
the years following World War I. When preparing for a talk or pitch,
Carnegie advised that you should amass so much material that you
discard ninety percent of it when actually speaking. The very fact of
your preparation gives you confidence and power to speak without
notes, and to deliver a relaxed, enthusiastic, and freestyle performance.
Carnegie’s formula is a recipe for good outcomes in every area of
life. Once you are justifiably confident and expert in a task or project,
you can watch, listen, intuit, and become cognizant of important cues.
Ardent preparation makes you persuasive. Your actions are natural and
effortless. You can pivot. You exude confidence.
When opportunities appear before you, such as a job opening,
audition, call to present on the fly at a conference, or even being seated
next to your boss or a senior manager on an airplane, the prepared
person will be able to seize that golden moment.
—MH
Chapter 12
Meet the Goddess of Good Luck*
“If a man be lucky, there is no foretelling the possible extent of
his good fortune. Pitch him into the Euphrates and like as not he
will swim out with a pearl in his hand.”
—BABYLONIAN PROVERB.
The desire to be lucky is universal. It was just as strong in the breasts of men
four thousand years ago in ancient Babylon as it is in the hearts of men today.
We all hope to be favored by the whimsical Goddess of Good Luck.
Is there some way we can meet her and attract, not only her favorable
attention, but her generous favors? Is there a way to attract good luck? That is
just what the men of ancient Babylon wished to know. It is exactly what they
decided to find out. They were shrewd men and keen thinkers. That explains
why their city became the richest and most powerful city of their time.
In that distant past, they had no schools or colleges. Nevertheless they
had a center of learning and a very practical one it was. Among the towered
buildings in Babylon was one that ranked in importance with the Palace of
the King, the Hanging Gardens and the temples of the Gods. You will find
scant mention of it in the history books, more likely no mention at all, yet it
exerted a powerful influence upon the thought of that time.
This building was the Temple of Learning where the wisdom of the past
was expounded by voluntary teachers and where subjects of popular interest
were discussed in open forums. Within its walls all men met as equals. The
humblest of slaves could dispute with impunity the opinions of a prince of the
royal house.
Among the many who frequented the Temple of Learning, was a wise
rich man named Arkad, called the richest man in Babylon. He had his own
special hall where almost any evening a large group of men, some old, some
very young, but mostly middle-aged, gathered to discuss and argue interesting
subjects. Suppose we listen in to see whether they knew how to attract good
luck.
The sun had just set like a great red ball of fire shining through the haze
of desert dust when Arkad strolled to his accustomed platform. Already full
four score men were awaiting his arrival, reclining on their small rugs
spread upon the floor. More were still arriving.
“What shall we discuss this night?” Arkad inquired.
After a brief hesitation, a tall cloth weaver addressed him, arising as
was the custom. “I have a subject I would like to hear discussed yet hesitate
to offer lest it seem ridiculous to you, Arkad, and my good friends here.”
Upon being urged to offer it, both by Arkad and by calls from the others,
he continued: “This day I have been lucky, for I have found a purse in which
there are pieces of gold. To continue to be lucky is my great desire. Feeling
that all men share with me this desire, I do suggest we debate how to attract
good luck that we may discover ways it can be enticed to one.”
“A most interesting subject has been offered,” Arkad commented, “one
most worthy of our discussion. To some men, good luck bespeaks but a
chance happening that, like an accident, may befall one without purpose or
reason. Others do believe that the instigator of all good fortune is our most
bounteous goddess, Ashtar, ever anxious to reward with generous gifts those
who please her. Speak up, my friends, what say you, shall we seek to find if
there be means by which good luck may be enticed to visit each and all of
us?”
“Yea! Yea! And much of it!” responded the growing group of eager
listeners.
Thereupon Arkad continued, “To start our discussion, let us first hear
from those among us who have enjoyed experiences similar to that of the
cloth weaver in finding or receiving, without effort upon their part, valuable
treasures or jewels.”
There was a pause in which all looked about expecting someone to reply
but no one did.
“What, no one?” Arkad said, “Then rare indeed must be this kind of
good luck. Who now will offer a suggestion as to where we shall continue
our search?”
“That I will do,” spoke a well-robed young man, arising. “When a man
speaketh of luck is it not natural that his thoughts turn to the gaming tables? Is
it not there we find many men courting the favor of the goddess in hope she
will bless them with rich winnings?”
As he resumed his seat a voice called, “Do not stop! Continue thy story!
Tell us, didst thou find favor with the goddess at the gaming tables? Did she
turn the cubes with red side up so thou filled thy purse at the dealer’s
expense or did she permit the blue sides to come up so the dealer raked in thy
hard-earned pieces of silver?”
The young man joined the good-natured laughter, then replied, “I am not
averse to admitting she seemed not to know I was even there. But how about
the rest of you? Have you found her waiting about such places to roll the
cubes in your favor? We are eager to hear as well as to learn.”
“A wise start,” broke in Arkad. “We meet here to consider all sides of
each question. To ignore the gaming table would be to overlook an instinct
common to most men, the love of taking a chance with a small amount of
silver in the hope of winning much gold.”
“That doth remind me of the races but yesterday,” called out another
listener. “If the goddess frequents the gaming tables, certainly she dost not
overlook the races where the gilded chariots and the foaming horses offer far
more excitement. Tell us honestly, Arkad, didst she whisper to you to place
your bet upon those grey horses from Nineveh yesterday? I was standing just
behind thee and could scarce believe my ears when I heard thee place thy bet
upon the greys. Thou knowest as well as any of us that no team in all Assyria
can beat our beloved bays in a fair race.
“Didst the goddess whisper in thy ear to bet upon the greys because at
the last turn the inside black would stumble and so interfere with our bays
that the greys would win the race and score an unearned victory?”
Arkad smiled indulgently at the banter. “What reason have we to feel the
good goddess would take that much interest in any man’s bet upon a horse
race? To me she is a goddess of love and dignity whose pleasure it is to aid
those who are in need and to reward those who are deserving. I look to find
her not at the gaming tables or the races where men lose more gold than they
win but in other places where the doings of men are more worthwhile and
more worthy of reward.
“In tilling the soil, in honest trading, in all of man’s occupations, there is
opportunity to make a profit upon his efforts and his transactions. Perhaps not
all the time will he be rewarded because sometimes his judgment may be
faulty and other times the winds and the weather may defeat his efforts. Yet,
if he persists, he may usually expect to realize his profit. This is so because
the chances of profit are always in his favor.
“But, when a man playeth the games, the situation is reversed for the
chances of profit are always against him and always in favor of the game
keeper. The game is so arranged that it will always favor the keeper. It is his
business at which he plans to make a liberal profit for himself from the coins
bet by the players. Few players realize how certain are the game keeper’s
profits and how uncertain are their own chances to win.
“For example, let us consider wagers placed upon the cube. Each time it
is cast we bet which side will be uppermost. If it be the red side the game
master pays to us four times our bet. But if any other of the five sides come
uppermost, we lose our bet. Thus the figures show that for each cast we have
five chances to lose, but because the red pays four for one, we have four
chances to win. In a night’s play the game master can expect to keep for his
profit one-fifth of all the coins wagered. Can a man expect to win more than
occasionally against odds so arranged that he should lose one-fifth of all his
bets?”
“Yet some men do win large sums at times,” volunteered one of the
listeners.
“Quite so, they do,” Arkad continued. “Realizing this, the question
comes to me whether money secured in such ways brings permanent value to
those who are thus lucky. Among my acquaintances are many of the
successful men of Babylon, yet among them I am unable to name a single one
who started his success from such a source.
“You who are gathered here tonight know many more of our substantial
citizens. To me it would be of much interest to learn how many of our
successful citizens can credit the gaming tables with their start to success.
Suppose each of you tell of those you know. What say you?”
After a prolonged silence, a wag ventured, “Wouldst thy inquiry include
the game keepers?”
“If you think of no one else,” Arkad responded.
“If not one of you can think of anyone else, then how about yourselves?
Are there any consistent winners with us who hesitate to advise such a
source for their incomes?”
His challenge was answered by a series of groans from the rear taken up
and spread amid much laughter.
“It would seem we are not seeking good luck in such places as the
goddess frequents,” he continued. “Therefore let us explore other fields. We
have not found it in picking up lost wallets. Neither have we found it haunting
the gaming tables. As to the races, I must confess to have lost far more coins
there than I have ever won.
“Now, suppose we consider our trades and businesses. Is it not natural if
we conclude a profitable transaction to consider it not good luck but a just
reward for our efforts? I am inclined to think we may be overlooking the gifts
of the goddess. Perhaps she really does assist us when we do not appreciate
her generosity. Who can suggest further discussion?”
Thereupon an elderly merchant arose, smoothing his genteel white robe.
“With thy permission, most honorable Arkad and my friends, I offer a
suggestion. If, as you have said, we take credit to our own industry and
ability for our business success, why not consider the successes we almost
enjoyed but which escaped us, happenings which would have been most
profitable. They would have been rare examples of good luck if they had
actually happened. Because they were not brought to fulfillment we cannot
consider them as our just rewards. Surely many men here have such
experiences to relate.”
“Here is a wise approach,” Arkad approved. “Who among you have had
good luck within your grasp only to see it escape?”
Many hands were raised, among them that of the merchant. Arkad
motioned to him to speak.
“As you suggested this approach, we should like to hear first from you.”
“I will gladly relate a tale,” he resumed, “that doth illustrate how
closely unto a man good luck may approach and how blindly he may permit it
to escape, much to his loss and later regret.
“Many years ago, when I was a young man, just married and well-started
to earning, my father did come one day and urge most strongly that I enter in
an investment. The son of one of his good friends had taken notice of a barren
tract of land not far beyond the outer walls of our city. It lay high above the
canal where no water could reach it.
“The son of my father’s friend devised a plan to purchase this land,
build three large water wheels that could be operated by oxen and thereby
raise the life-giving waters to the fertile soil. This accomplished, he planned
to divide into small tracts and sell to the residents of the city for herb
patches.
“The son of my father’s friend did not possess sufficient gold to
complete such an undertaking. Like myself, he was a young man earning a fair
sum. His father, like mine, was a man of large family and small means. He,
therefore, decided to interest a group of men to enter the enterprise with him.
The group was to comprise twelve, each of whom must be a money earner
and agree to pay one-tenth of his earnings into the enterprise until the land
was made ready for sale. All would then share justly in the profits in
proportion to their investment.
“‘Thou, my son,’ bespoke my father unto me, ‘art now in thy young
manhood. It is my deep desire that thou begin the building of a valuable
estate for thyself that thou mayest become respected among men. I desire to
see thou profit from a knowledge of the thoughtless mistakes of thy father.’
“‘This do I most ardently desire, my father,’ I replied.
“‘Then, this do I advise. Do what I should have done at thy age. From
thy earnings keep out one-tenth to put into favorable investments. With this
one tenth of thy earnings and what it will also earn, thou canst, before thou art
my age, accumulate for thyself a valuable estate.’
“‘Thy words are words of wisdom, my father. Greatly do I desire riches.
Yet there are many uses to which my earnings are called. Therefore, do I
hesitate to do as thou dost advise. I am young. There is plenty of time.’
“‘So I thought at thy age, yet behold, many years have passed and I have
not yet made the beginning.’
“‘We live in a different age, my father. I shall avoid thy mistakes.’
“‘Opportunity stands before thee, my son. It is offering a chance that may
lead to wealth. I beg of thee, do not delay. Go upon the morrow to the son of
my friend and bargain with him to pay ten percent of thy earnings into this
investment. Go promptly upon the morrow. Opportunity waits for no man.
Today it is here; soon it is gone. Therefore, delay not!’
“In spite of the advice of my father, I did hesitate. There were beautiful
new robes just brought by the tradesmen from the East, robes of such richness
and beauty my good wife and I felt we must each possess one. Should I agree
to pay one-tenth of my earnings into the enterprise, we must deprive
ourselves of these and other pleasures we dearly desired. I delayed making a
decision until it was too late, much to my subsequent regret. The enterprise
did prove to be more profitable than any man had prophesied. This is my
tale, showing how I did permit good luck to escape.”
“In this tale we see how good luck waits to come to that man who
accepts opportunity,” commented a swarthy man of the desert. “To the
building of an estate there must always be the beginning. That start may be a
few pieces of gold or silver which a man diverts from his earnings to his first
investment. I, myself, am the owner of many herds. The start of my herds I
did begin when I was a mere boy and did purchase with one piece of silver a
young calf. This, being the beginning of my wealth, was of great importance
to me.
“To take his first start to building an estate is as good luck as can come
to any man. With all men, that first step, which changes them from men who
earn from their own labor to men who draw dividends from the earnings of
their gold, is important. Some, fortunately, take it when young and thereby
outstrip in financial success those who do take it later or those unfortunate
men, like the father of this merchant, who never take it.
“Had our friend, the merchant, taken this step in his early manhood when
this opportunity came to him, this day he would be blessed with much more
of this world’s goods. Should the good luck of our friend, the cloth weaver,
cause him to take such a step at this time, it will indeed be but the beginning
of much greater good fortune.”
“Thank you! I like to speak, also.” A stranger from another country
arose. “I am a Syrian. Not so well do I speak your tongue. I wish to call this
friend, the merchant, a name. Maybe you think it not polite, this name. Yet I
wish to call him that. But, alas, I not know your word for it. If I do call it in
Syrian, you will not understand. Therefore, please some good gentlemen, tell
me that right name you call man who puts off doing those things that mighty
good for him.”
“Procrastinator,” called a voice.
“That’s him,” shouted the Syrian, waving his hands excitedly, “he
accepts not opportunity when she comes. He waits. He says I have much
business right now. Bye and bye I talk to you. Opportunity, she will not wait
for such slow fellow. She thinks if a man desires to be lucky he will step
quick. Any man not step quick when opportunity comes, he big procrastinator
like our friend, this merchant.”
The merchant arose and bowed good naturedly in response to the
laughter. “My admiration to thee, stranger within our gates, who hesitates not
to speak the truth.”
“And now let us hear another tale of opportunity. Who has for us another
experience?” demanded Arkad.
“I have,” responded a red-robed man of middle age. “I am a buyer of
animals, mostly camels and horses. Sometimes I do also buy the sheep and
goats. The tale I am about to relate will tell truthfully how opportunity came
one night when I did least expect it. Perhaps for this reason I did let it
escape. Of this you shall be the judge.
“Returning to the city one evening after a disheartening ten days’ journey
in search of camels, I was much angered to find the gates of the city closed
and locked. While my slaves spread our tent for the night, which we looked
to spend with little food and no I water, I was approached by an elderly
farmer who, like ourselves, found himself locked outside.
“‘Honored sir,’ he addressed me, ‘from thy appearance, I do judge thee
to be a buyer. If this be so, much would I like to sell to thee the most
excellent flock of sheep just driven up. Alas, my good wife lies very sick
with the fever. I must return with all haste. Buy thou my sheep that I and my
slaves may mount our camels and travel back without delay.’”
“So dark it was that I could not see his flock, but from the bleating I did
know it must be large.
“Having wasted ten days searching for camels I could not find, I was
glad to bargain with him. In his anxiety, he did set a most reasonable price. I
accepted, well knowing my slaves could drive the flock through the city gates
in the morning and sell at a substantial profit.
“The bargain concluded, I called my slaves to bring torches that we
might count the flock which the farmer declared to contain nine hundred. I
shall not burden you, my friends, with a description of our difficulty in
attempting to count so many thirsty, restless, milling sheep. It proved to be an
impossible task. Therefore, I bluntly informed the farmer I would count them
at daylight and pay him then.
“‘Please, most honorable sir,’ he pleaded, ‘pay me but two-thirds of the
price tonight that I may be on my way. I will leave my most intelligent and
educated slave to assist to make the count in the morning. He is trustworthy
and to him thou canst pay the balance.
“But I was stubborn and refused to make payment that night. Next
morning, before I awoke, the city gates opened and four buyers rushed out in
search of flocks. They were most eager and willing to pay high prices
because the city was threatened with siege, and food was not plentiful.
Nearly three times the price at which he had offered the flock to me did the
old farmer receive for it. Thus was rare good luck allowed to escape.”
“Here is a tale most unusual,” commented Arkad. “What wisdom doth it
suggest?”
“The wisdom of making a payment immediately when we are convinced
our bargain is wise,” suggested a venerable saddle maker. “If the bargain be
good, then dost thou need protection against thy own weaknesses as much as
against any other man. We mortals are changeable. Alas, I must say more apt
to change our minds when right than wrong. Wrong, we are stubborn indeed.
Right, we are prone to vacillate and let opportunity escape. My first
judgment is my best. Yet always have I found it difficult to compel myself to
proceed with a good bargain when made. Therefore, as a protection against
my own weaknesses, I do make a prompt deposit thereon. This doth save me
from later regrets for the good luck that should have been mine.”
“Thank you! Again I like to speak.” The Syrian was upon his feet once
more. “These tales much alike. Each time opportunity flies away for same
reason. Each time she come to procrastinator, bringing good plan. Each time
they hesitate, not say, right now best time, I do it quick. How can men
succeed that way?”
“Wise are thy words, my friend,” responded the buyer. “Good luck fled
from procrastination in both these tales. Yet, this is not unusual. The spirit of
procrastination is within all men. We desire riches; yet, how often when
opportunity doth appear before us, that spirit of procrastination from within
doth urge various delays in our acceptance.
“In listening to it we do become our own worst enemies.
“In my younger days I did not know it by this long word our friend from
Syria doth enjoy. I did think at first it was my own poor judgment that did
cause me loss of many profitable trades. Later, I did credit it to my stubborn
disposition. At last, I did recognize it for what it was—a habit of needless
delaying where action was required, action prompt and decisive. How I did
hate it when its true character stood revealed. With the bitterness of a wild
ass hitched to a chariot, I did break loose from this enemy to my success.”
“Thank you! I like ask question from Mr. Merchant.” The Syrian was
speaking.
“You wear fine robes, not like those of poor man. You speak like
successful man. Tell us, do you listen now when procrastination whispers in
your ear?”
“Like our friend the buyer, I also had to recognize and conquer
procrastination,” responded the merchant. “To me, it proved to be an enemy,
ever watching and waiting to thwart my accomplishments.
“The tale I did relate is but one of many similar instances I could tell to
show how it drove away my opportunities. Tis not difficult to conquer, once
understood. No man willingly permits the thief to rob his bins of grain. Nor
does any man willingly permit an enemy to drive away his customers and rob
him of his profits. When once I did recognize that such acts as these my
enemy was committing, with determination I conquered him. So must every
man master his own spirit of procrastination before he can expect to share in
the rich treasures of Babylon.
I had to recognize and conquer procrastination. To me, it
proved to be an enemy, ever watching and waiting to thwart my
accomplishments.
“What sayest, Arkad? Because thou art the richest man in Babylon, many
do proclaim thee to be the luckiest. Dost agree with me that no man can
arrive at a full measure of success until he hath completely crushed the spirit
of procrastination within him?”
“It is even as thou sayest,” Arkad admitted. “During my long life I have
watched generation following generation, marching forward along those
avenues of trade, science and learning that lead to success in life.
Opportunities came to all these men. Some grasped theirs and moved steadily
to the gratification of their deepest desires, but the majority hesitated,
faltered and fell behind.”
Arkad turned to the cloth weaver. “Thou didst suggest that we debate
good luck. Let us hear what thou now thinkest upon the subject.”
“I do see good luck in a different light. I had thought of it as something
most desirable that might happen to a man without effort upon his part. Now,
I do realize such happenings are not the sort of thing one may attract to
himself. From our discussion have I learned that to attract good luck to
oneself, it is necessary to take advantage of opportunities. Therefore, in the
future, I shall endeavor to make the best of such opportunities as do come to
me.”
“Thou hast well grasped the truths brought forth in our discussion,”
Arkad replied. “Good luck, we do find, often follows opportunity but seldom
comes otherwise. Our merchant friend would have found great good luck had
he accepted the opportunity the good goddess did present to him. Our friend
the buyer, likewise, would have enjoyed good luck had he completed the
purchase of the flock and sold at such a handsome profit.
“We did pursue this discussion to find a means by which good luck
could be enticed to us. I feel that we have found the way. Both the tales did
illustrate how good luck follows opportunity. Herein lies a truth that many
similar tales of good luck, won or lost, could not change. The truth is this:
Good luck can be enticed by accepting opportunity.
“Those eager to grasp opportunities for their betterment, do attract the
interest of the good goddess. She is ever anxious to aid those who please her.
Men of action please her best.
“Action will lead thee forward to the successes thou dost desire.”
Men of Action are Favored by the Goddess of Good
Luck
*
See Appendix B: The 13 Rules of Good Luck.—MH
Chapter 13
The Five Laws of Gold
“A bag heavy with gold or a clay tablet carved with words of wisdom; if
thou hadst thy choice, which wouldst thou choose?”
By the flickering light from the fire of desert shrubs, the sun-tanned faces
of the listeners gleamed with interest.
“The gold, the gold,” chorused the twenty-seven.
Old Kalabab smiled knowingly.
“Hark,” he resumed, raising his hand. “Hear the wild dogs out there in
the night. They howl and wail because they are lean with hunger. Yet feed
them, and what do they? Fight and strut. Then fight and strut some more,
giving no thought to the morrow that will surely come.
“Just so it is with the sons of men. Give them a choice of gold and
wisdom—what do they do? Ignore the wisdom and waste the gold. On the
morrow they wail because they have no more gold.
“Gold is reserved for those who know its laws and abide by them.”
Kalabab drew his white robe close about his lean legs, for a cool night
wind was blowing.
“Because thou hast served me faithfully upon our long journey, because
thou cared well for my camels, because thou toiled uncomplainingly across
the hot sands of the desert, because thou fought bravely the robbers that
sought to despoil my merchandise, I will tell thee this night the tale of the
five laws of gold, such a tale as thou never hast heard before.
“Hark ye, with deep attention to the words I speak, for if you grasp their
meaning and heed them, in the days that come thou shalt have much gold.”
He paused impressively. Above in a canopy of blue, the stars shone
brightly in the crystal clear skies of Babylonia. Behind the group loomed
their faded tents tightly staked against possible desert storms. Beside the
tents were neatly stacked bales of merchandise covered with skins. Nearby
the camel herd sprawled in the sand, some chewing their cuds contentedly,
others snoring in hoarse discord.
“Thou hast told us many good tales, Kalabab,” spoke up the chief
packer. “We look to thy wisdom to guide us upon the morrow when our
service with thee shall be at an end.”
“I have but told thee of my adventures in strange and distant lands, but
this night I shall tell thee of the wisdom of Arkad, the wise rich man.”
“Much have we heard of him,” acknowledged the chief packer, “for he
was the richest man that ever lived in Babylon.”
“The richest man he was, and that because he was wise in the ways of
gold, even as no man had ever been before him. This night shall I tell you of
his great wisdom as it was told to me by Nomasir, his son, many years ago in
Nineveh, when I was but a lad.
“My master and myself had tarried long into the night in the palace of
Nomasir. I had helped my master bring great bundles of fine rugs, each one to
be tried by Nomasir until his choice of colors was satisfied. At last he was
well pleased and commanded us to sit with him and to drink a rare vintage
odorous to the nostrils and most warming to my stomach, which was
unaccustomed to such a drink.
“Then, did he tell us this tale of the great wisdom of Arkad, his father,
even as I shall tell it to you.
“In Babylon it is the custom, as you know, that the sons of wealthy
fathers live with their parents in expectation of inheriting the estate. Arkad
did not approve of this custom. Therefore, when Nomasir reached the man’s
estate, he sent for the young man and addressed him:
“‘My son, it is my desire that thou succeed to my estate. Thou must,
however, first prove that thou art capable of wisely handling it. Therefore, I
wish that thou go out into the world and show thy ability both to acquire gold
and to make thyself respected among men.
“‘To start thee well, I will give thee two things of which I, myself, was
denied when I started as a poor youth to build up a fortune.
“‘First, I give thee this bag of gold. If thou use it wisely, it will be the
basis of thy future success.
“‘Second, I give thee this clay tablet upon which is carved the five laws
of gold. If thou dost but interpret them in thy own acts, they shall bring thee
competence and security.
“‘Ten years from this day come thou back to the house of thy father and
give account of thyself. If thou prove worthy, I will then make thee the heir to
my estate. Otherwise, I will give it to the priests that they may barter for my
soul the kind consideration of the gods.’
“So Nomasir went forth to make his own way, taking his bag of gold, the
clay tablet carefully wrapped in silken cloth, his slave and the horses upon
which they rode.
“The ten years passed, and Nomasir, as he had agreed, returned to the
house of his father who provided a great feast in his honor, to which he
invited many friends and relatives. After the feast was over, the father and
mother mounted their throne-like seats at one side of the great hall, and
Nomasir stood before them to give an account of himself as he had promised
his father.
“It was evening. The room was hazy with smoke from the wicks of the
oil lamps that but dimly lighted it. Slaves in white woven jackets and tunics
fanned the humid air rhythmically with long-stemmed palm leaves. A stately
dignity colored the scene. The wife of Nomasir and his two young sons, with
friends and other members of the family, sat upon rugs behind him, eager
listeners.
“‘My father,’ he began deferentially, I bow before thy wisdom. Ten
years ago when I stood at the gates of manhood, thou bade me go forth and
become a man among men, instead of remaining a vassal to thy fortune.
“‘Thou gave me liberally of thy gold. Thou gave me liberally of thy
wisdom. Of the gold, alas!
I must admit of a disastrous handling. It fled, indeed, from my
inexperienced hands even as a wild hare flees at the first opportunity from
the youth who captures it.’
“The father smiled indulgently. ‘Continue, my son, thy tale interests me
in all its details.’”
“‘I decided to go to Nineveh, as it was a growing city, believing that I
might find there opportunities. I joined a caravan and among its members
made numerous friends. Two well-spoken men who had a most beautiful
white horse as fleet as the wind were among these.
“‘As we journeyed, they told me in confidence that in Nineveh was a
wealthy man who owned a horse so swift that it had never been beaten. Its
owner believed that no horse living could run with greater speed. Therefore,
would he wager any sum however large that his horse could outspeed any
horse in all Babylonia. Compared to their horse, so my friends said, it was
but a lumbering ass that could be beaten with ease.
“‘They offered, as a great favor, to permit me to join them in a wager. I
was quite carried away with the plan.
“‘Our horse was badly beaten and I lost much of my gold.’ The father
laughed. ‘Later, I discovered that this was a deceitful plan of these men and
they constantly journeyed with caravans seeking victims. You see, the man in
Nineveh was their partner and shared with them the bets he won. This
shrewd deceit taught me my first lesson in looking out for myself.
“‘I was soon to learn another, equally bitter. In the caravan was another
young man with whom I became quite friendly. He was the son of wealthy
parents and, like myself, journeying to Nineveh to find a suitable location.
Not long after our arrival, he told me that a merchant had died and his shop
with its rich merchandise and patronage could be secured at a paltry price.
Saying that we would be equal partners but first he must return to Babylon to
secure his gold, he prevailed upon me to purchase the stock with my gold,
agreeing that his would be used later to carry on our venture.
“‘He long delayed the trip to Babylon, proving in the meantime to be an
unwise buyer and a foolish spender. I finally put him out, but not before the
business had deteriorated to where we had only unsalable goods and no gold
to buy other goods. I sacrificed what was left to an Israelite for a pitiful sum.
“‘Soon there followed, I tell you, my father, bitter days. I sought
employment and found it not, for I was without trade or training that would
enable me to earn. I sold my horses. I sold my slave. I sold my extra robes
that I might have food and a place to sleep, but each day grim want crouched
closer.
“‘But in those bitter days, I remembered thy confidence in me, my father.
Thou hadst sent me forth to become a man, and this I was determined to
accomplish.’ The mother buried her face and wept softly.
“‘At this time, I bethought me of the table thou had given to me upon
which thou had carved the five laws of gold. Thereupon, I read most
carefully thy words of wisdom, and realized that had I but sought wisdom
first, my gold would not have been lost to me.
“‘I learned by heart each law and determined that, when once more the
goddess of good fortune smiled upon me, I would be guided by the wisdom
of age and not by the inexperience of youth.
“‘For the benefit of you who are seated here this night, I will read the
wisdom of my father as engraved upon the clay tablet which he gave to me
ten years ago:
THE FIVE LAWS OF GOLD
I. Gold cometh gladly and in increasing quantity to any man who will put
by not less than one-tenth of his earnings to create an estate for his future
and that of his family.
II. Gold laboreth diligently and contentedly for the wise owner who finds
for it profitable employment, multiplying even as the flocks of the field.
III. Gold clingeth to the protection of the cautious owner who invests it
under the advice of men wise in its handling.
IV. Gold slippeth away from the man who invests it in businesses or
purposes with which he is not familiar or which are not approved by
those skilled in its keep.
V. Gold flees the man who would force it to impossible earnings or who
followeth the alluring advice of tricksters and schemers or who trusts it
to his own inexperience and romantic desires in investment.
“‘These are the five laws of gold as written by my father. I do proclaim
them as of greater value than gold itself, as I will show by the continuance of
my tale.’
“He again faced his father. ‘I have told thee of the depth of poverty and
despair to which my inexperience brought me.
“‘However, there is no chain of disasters that will not come to an end.
Mine came when I secured employment managing a crew of slaves working
upon the new outer wall of the city.
“‘Profiting from my knowledge of the first law of gold, I saved a copper
from my first earnings, adding to it at every opportunity until I had a piece of
silver. It was a slow procedure, for one must live.
There is no chain of disasters that will not come to an end.
“‘I did spend grudgingly, I admit, because I was determined to earn back
before the ten years were over as much gold as you, my father, had given to
me.
“‘One day the slave master, with whom I had become quite friendly, said
to me: “Thou art a thrifty youth who spends not wantonly what he earns. Hast
thou gold put by that is not earning?”
“‘Yes,’ I replied, ‘It is my greatest desire to accumulate gold to replace
that which my father gave to me and which I have lost.’
““Tis a worthy ambition, I will grant, and do you know that the gold
which you have saved can work for you and earn much more gold?”
“‘Alas! my experience has been bitter, for my father’s gold has fled from
me, and I am in much fear lest my own do the same.’
““If thou hast confidence in me, I will give thee a lesson in the profitable
handling of gold,” he replied. “Within a year the outer wall will be complete
and ready for the great gates of bronze that will be built at each entrance to
protect the city from the king’s enemies.
““In all Nineveh there is not enough metal to make these gates and the
king has not thought to provide it. Here is my plan: A group of us will pool
our gold and send a caravan to the mines of copper and tin, which are distant,
and bring to Nineveh the metal for the gates. When the king says, ‘Make the
great gates,’ we alone can supply the metal and a rich price he will pay. If the
king will not buy from us, we will yet have the metal which can be sold for a
fair price.”
“‘In his offer I recognized an opportunity to abide by the third law and
invest my savings under the guidance of wise men. Nor was I disappointed.
Our pool was a success, and my small store of gold was greatly increased by
the transaction.
“‘In due time, I was accepted as a member of this same group in other
ventures. They were men wise in the profitable handling of gold. They talked
over each plan presented with great care, before entering upon it. They
would take no chance on losing their principal or tying it up in unprofitable
investments from which their gold could not be recovered. Such foolish
things as the horse race and the partnership into which I had entered with my
inexperience would have had scant consideration with them. They would
have immediately pointed out their weaknesses.
“‘Through my association with these men, I learned to safely invest gold
to bring profitable returns. As the years went on, my treasure increased more
and more rapidly. I not only made back as much as I lost, but much more.
“‘Through my misfortunes, my trials and my success, I have tested time
and again the wisdom of the five laws of gold, my father, and have proven
them true in every test. To him who is without knowledge of the five laws,
gold comes not often, and goeth away quickly. But to him who abide by the
five laws, gold comes and works as his dutiful slave.’
“Nomasir ceased speaking and motioned to a slave in the back of the
room. The slave brought forward, one at a time, three heavy leather bags.
One of these Nomasir took and placed upon the floor before his father
addressing him again:
“‘Thou didst give to me a bag of gold, Babylon gold. Behold in its
place, I do return to thee a bag of Nineveh gold of equal weight An equal
exchange, as all will agree.
“‘Thou didst give to me a clay tablet inscribed with wisdom. Behold, in
its stead, I do return two bags of gold.’ So saying, he took from the slave the
other two bags and, likewise, placed them upon the floor before his father.
“‘This I do to prove to thee, my father, of how much greater value I
consider thy wisdom than thy gold. Yet, who can measure in bags of gold, the
value of wisdom? Without wisdom, gold is quickly lost by those who have it,
but with wisdom, gold can be secured by those who have it not, as these
three bags of gold do prove.
“‘It does, indeed, give to me the deepest satisfaction, my father, to stand
before thee and say that, because of thy wisdom, I have been able to become
rich and respected before men.’
“The father placed his hand fondly upon the head of Nomasir. ‘Thou hast
learned well thy lessons, and I am, indeed, fortunate to have a son to whom I
may entrust my wealth.’
Kalabab ceased his tale and looked critically at his listeners.
“What means this to thee, this tale of Nomasir?” he continued.
“Who amongst thee can go to thy father or to the father of thy wife and
give an account of wise handling of his earnings?
“What would these venerable men think were you to say: ‘I have
traveled much and learned much and labored much and earned much, yet
alas, of gold I have little. Some I spent wisely, some I spent foolishly and
much I lost in unwise ways.’
“Dost still think it but an inconsistency of fate that some men have much
gold and others have naught? Then you err.
“Men have much gold when they know the five laws of gold and abide
thereby.
“Because I learned these five laws in my youth and abided by them, I
have become a wealthy merchant. Not by some strange magic did I
accumulate my wealth.
“Wealth that comes quickly goeth the same way.
“Wealth that stayeth to give enjoyment and satisfaction to its owner
comes gradually, because it is a child born of knowledge and persistent
purpose.
“To earn wealth is but a slight burden upon the thoughtful man. Bearing
the burden consistently from year to year accomplishes the final purpose.
Wealth that comes quickly goeth the same way.
“The five laws of gold offer to thee a rich reward for their observance.
Each of these five laws is rich with meaning and lest thou overlook this in the
briefness of my tale, I will now repeat them. I do know them each by heart
because in my youth, I could see their value and would not be content until I
knew them word for word.”
THE FIRST LAW OF GOLD
Gold cometh gladly and in increasing quantity to any man who will put by
not less than one-tenth of his earnings to create an estate for his future
and that of his family.
“Any man who will put by one-tenth of his earnings consistently and
invest it wisely will surely create a valuable estate that will provide an
income for him in the future and further guarantee safety for his family in case
the gods call him to the world of darkness. This law always sayeth that gold
cometh gladly to such a man. I can truly certify this in my own life. The more
gold I accumulate, the more readily it comes to me and in increased
quantities. The gold which I save earns more, even as yours will, and its
earnings earn more, and this is the working out of the first law.”
THE SECOND LAW OF GOLD
Gold laboreth diligently and contentedly for the wise owner who finds for
it profitable employment, multiplying even as the flocks of the field.
“Gold, indeed, is a willing worker. It is ever eager to multiply when
opportunity presents itself. To every man who hath a store of gold set by,
opportunity comes for its most profitable use. As the years pass, it multiplies
itself in surprising fashion.”
THE THIRD LAW OF GOLD
Gold clingeth to the protection of the cautious owner who invests it under
the advice of men wise in its handling.
“Gold, indeed, clingeth to the cautious owner, even as it flees the
careless owner. The man who seeks the advice of men wise in handling gold
soon learneth not to jeopardize his treasure, but to preserve in safety and to
enjoy in contentment its consistent increase.”
THE FOURTH LAW OF GOLD
Gold slippeth away from the man who invests it in businesses or purposes
with which he is not familiar or which are not approved by those skilled in
its keep.
“To the man who hath gold, yet is not skilled in its handling, many uses
for it appear most profitable. Too often these are fraught with danger of loss,
and if properly analyzed by wise men, show small possibility of profit.
Therefore, the inexperienced owner of gold who trusts to his own judgment
and invests it in business or purposes with which he is not familiar, too often
finds his judgment imperfect, and pays with his treasure for his inexperience.
Wise indeed is he who investeth his treasures under the advice of men skilled
In the ways of gold.”
THE FIFTH LAW OF GOLD
Gold flees the man who would force it to impossible earnings or who
followeth the alluring advice of tricksters and schemers or who trusts it to
his own inexperience and romantic desires in investment.
“Fanciful propositions that thrill like adventure tales always come to the
new owner of gold. These appear to endow his treasure with magic powers
that will enable it to make impossible earnings. Yet heed ye the wise men for
verily they know the risks that lurk behind every plan to make great wealth
suddenly.
“Forget not the rich men of Nineveh who would take no chance of losing
their principal or tying it up in unprofitable investments.
“This ends my tale of the five laws of gold. In telling it to thee, I have
told the secrets of my own success.
“Yet, they are not secrets but truths which every man must first learn and
then follow who wishes to step out of the multitude that, like yon wild dogs,
must worry each day for food to eat.
“Tomorrow, we enter Babylon. Look! See the fire that burns eternal
above the Temple of Bel! We are already in sight of the golden city.
Tomorrow, each of thee shall have gold, the gold thou has so well earned by
thy faithful services.
“Ten years from this night, what can you tell about this gold?
“If there be men among you, who, like Nomasir, will use a portion of
their gold to start for themselves an estate and be thenceforth wisely guided
by the wisdom of Arkad, ten years from now, ‘tis a safe wager, like the son
of Arkad, they will be rich and respected among men.
“Our wise acts accompany us through life to please us and to help us.
Just as surely, our unwise acts follow us to plague and torment us. Alas, they
cannot be forgotten. In the front rank of the torments that do follow us are the
memories of the things we should have done, of the opportunities which came
to us and we took not.
“Rich are the treasures of Babylon, so rich no man can count their value
in pieces of gold. Each year, they grow richer and more valuable. Like the
treasures of every land, they are a reward, a rich reward awaiting those men
of purpose who determine to secure their just share.
“In the strength of thine own desires is a magic power. Guide this power
with thy knowledge of the five laws of gold and thou shall share the treasures
of Babylon.”
Chapter 14
The Gold Lender of Babylon
Fifty pieces of gold! Never before had Rodan, the spear maker of old
Babylon, carried so much gold in his leather wallet. Happily down the king’s
highway from the palace of his most liberal Majesty he strode. Cheerfully the
gold clinked as the wallet at his belt swayed with each step—the sweetest
music he had ever heard.
Fifty pieces of gold! All his! He could hardly realize his good fortune.
What power in those clinking discs! They could purchase anything he
wanted, a grand house, land, cattle, camels, horses, chariots, whatever he
might desire.
What use should he make of it? This evening as he turned into a side
street towards the home of his sister, he could think of nothing he would
rather possess than those same glittering, heavy pieces of gold—his to keep.
It was upon an evening some days later that a perplexed Rodan entered the
shop of Mathon, the lender of gold and dealer in jewels and rare fabrics.
Glancing neither to the right nor the left at the colorful articles artfully
displayed, he passed through to the living quarters at the rear. Here he found
the genteel Mathon lounging upon a rug partaking of a meal served by a black
slave.
“I would counsel with thee for I know not what to do.” Rodan stood
stolidly, feet apart, hairy breast exposed by the gaping front of his leather
jacket. Mathon’s narrow, sallow face smiled a friendly greeting. “What
indiscretions hast thou done that thou shouldst seek the lender of gold? Hast
been unlucky at the gaming table? Or hath some plump dame entangled thee?
For many years have I known thee, yet never hast thou sought me to aid thee
in thy troubles.”
“No, no. Not such as that. I seek no gold. Instead I crave thy wise
advice.”
“Hear! Hear! What this man doth say. No one comes to the lender of
gold for advice. My ears must play me false.”
“They listen true.”
“Can this be so? Rodan, the spear maker, doth display more cunning than
all the rest, for he comes to Mathon, not for gold, but for advice. Many men
come to me for gold to pay for their follies, but as for advice, they want it
not. Yet who is more able to advise than the lender of gold to whom many
men come in trouble?
“Thou shalt eat with me, Rodan,” he continued. “Thou shalt be my guest
for the evening. Ando!” he commanded of the black slave, “draw up a rug for
my friend, Rodan, the spear maker, who comes for advice. He shall be mine
honored guest. Bring to him much food and get for him my largest cup.
Choose well of the best wine that he may have satisfaction in the drinking.
“Now, tell me what troubles thee.”
“It is the king’s gift.”
“The king’s gift? The king did make thee a gift and it gives thee trouble?
What manner of gift?”
“Because he was much pleased with the design I did submit to him for a
new point on the spears of the royal guard, he did present me with fifty
pieces of gold, and now I am much perplexed.
“I am beseeched each hour the sun doth travel across the sky by those
who would share it with me.”
“That is natural. More men want gold than have it, and would wish one
who comes by it easily to divide. But can you not say ‘No?’ Is thy will not as
strong as thy fist?”
“To many I can say no, yet sometimes it would be easier to say yes. Can
one refuse to share with one’s sister to whom he is deeply devoted?”
“Surely, thy own sister would not wish to deprive thee of enjoying thy
reward.”
“But it is for the sake of Araman, her husband, whom she wishes to see a
rich merchant. She does feel that he has never had a chance and she
beseeches me to loan to him this gold that he may become a prosperous
merchant and repay me from his profits.”
“My friend,” resumed Mathon, “tis a worthy subject thou bringest to
discuss. Gold bringeth unto its possessor responsibility and a changed
position with his fellow men. It bringeth fear lest he lose it or it be tricked
away from him. It bringeth a feeling of power and ability to do good.
Likewise, it bringeth opportunities whereby his very good intentions may
bring him into difficulties.
“Didst ever hear of the farmer of Nineveh who could understand the
language of animals? I wot not, for ‘tis not the kind of tale men like to tell
over the bronze caster’s forge. I will tell it to thee for thou shouldst know that
to borrowing and lending there is more than the passing of gold from the
hands of one to the hands of another.
“This farmer, who could understand what the animals said to each other,
did linger in the farm yard each evening just to listen to their words. One
evening he did hear the ox bemoaning to the ass the hardness of his lot: ‘I do
labor pulling the plow from morning until night. No matter how hot the day,
or how tired my legs, or how the bow doth chafe my neck, still must I work.
But you are a creature of leisure. You are trapped with a colorful blanket and
do nothing more than carry our master about where he wishes to go. When he
goes nowhere you do rest and eat the green grass all the day.’
“Now the ass, in spite of his vicious heels, was a goodly fellow and
sympathized with the ox. ‘My good friend,’ he replied, ‘you do work very
hard and I would help ease your lot. Therefore, will I tell you how you may
have a day of rest. In the morning when the slave comes to fetch you to the
plow, lie upon the ground and bellow much that he may say you are sick and
cannot work.’
“So the ox took the advice of the ass and the next morning the slave
returned to the farmer and told him the ox was sick and could not pull the
plow.
“‘Then,’ said the farmer, ‘hitch the ass to the plow for the plowing must
go on.’
“All that day the ass, who had only intended to help his friend, found
himself compelled to do the ox’s task. When night came and he was released
from the plow his heart was bitter and his legs were weary and his neck was
sore where the bow had chafed it.
“The farmer lingered in the barnyard to listen.
“The ox began first. ‘You are my good friend. Because of your wise
advice I have enjoyed a day of rest.’
“‘And I,’ retorted the ass, ‘am like many another simple-hearted one
who starts to help a friend and ends up by doing his task for him. Hereafter
you draw your own plow, for I did hear the master tell the slave to send for
the butcher were you sick again. I wish he would, for you are a lazy fellow.’
Thereafter they spoke to each other no more—this ended their friendship.
Canst thou tell the moral to this tale, Rodan?”
“’Tis a good tale,” responded Rodan, “but I see not the moral.”
“I thought not that you would. But it is there and simple too. Just this: If
you desire to help thy friend, do so in a way that will not bring thy friend’s
burdens upon thyself.”
“I had not thought of that. It is a wise moral. I wish not to assume the
burdens of my sister’s husband. But tell me. You lend to many. Do not the
borrowers repay?”
Mathon smiled the smile of one whose soul is rich with much
experience.
“Could a loan be well made if the borrower cannot repay? Must not the
lender be wise and judge carefully whether his gold can perform a useful
purpose to the borrower and return to him once more; or whether it will be
wasted by one unable to use it wisely and leave him without his treasure, and
leave the borrower with a debt he cannot repay? I will show to thee the
tokens in my token chest and let them tell thee some of their stories.”
Into the room he brought a chest as long as his arm covered with red
pigskin and ornamented with bronze designs. He placed it upon the floor and
squatted before it, both hands upon the lid.
“From each person to whom I lend, I do exact a token for my token chest,
to remain there until the loan is repaid. When they repay I give back, but if
they never repay it will always remind me of one who was not faithful to my
confidence.
“The safest loans, my token box tells me, are to those whose possessions
are of more value than the one they desire. They own lands, or jewels, or
camels, or other things which could be sold to repay the loan. Some of the
tokens given to me are jewels of more value than the loan. Others are
promises that if the loan be not repaid as agreed they will deliver to me
certain property settlement. On loans like those I am assured that my gold
will be returned with the rental thereon, for the loan is based on property.
The safest loans are to those whose possessions are of more
value than the one they desire.
“In another class are those who have the capacity to earn. They are such
as you, who labor or serve and are paid. They have income and if they are
honest and suffer no misfortune, I know that they also can repay the gold I
loan them and the rental to which I am entitled. Such loans are based on
human effort.
“Others are those who have neither property nor assured earning
capacity. Life is hard and there will always be some who cannot adjust
themselves to it. Alas for the loans I make them, even though they be no
larger than a pence, my token box may censure me in the years to come unless
they be guaranteed by good friends of the borrower who know him
honorable.”
Mathon released the clasp and opened the lid. Rodan leaned forward
eagerly. At the top of the chest a bronze neck-piece lay upon a scarlet cloth.
Mathon picked up the piece and patted it affectionately. “This shall always
remain in my token chest because the owner has passed on into the great
darkness. I treasure, it, his token, and I treasure his memory; for he was my
good friend. We traded together with much success until out of the east he
brought a woman to wed, beautiful, but not like our women. A dazzling
creature. He spent his gold lavishly to gratify her desires.
“He came to me in distress when his gold was gone. I counseled with
him. I told him I would help him to once more master his own affairs. He
swore by the sign of the Great Bull that he would. But it was not to be. In a
quarrel she thrust a knife into the heart he dared her to pierce.”
“And she?” questioned Rodan.
“Yes, of course, this was hers.” He picked up the scarlet cloth. “In bitter
remorse she threw herself into the Euphrates. These two loans will never be
repaid. The chest tells you, Rodan, that humans in the throes of great
emotions are not safe risks for the gold lender.
“Here! Now this is different.” He reached for a ring carved of ox bone.
“This belongs to a farmer. I buy the rugs of his women. The locusts came and
they had not food. I helped him and when the new crop came he repaid me.
Later he came again and told of strange goats in a distant land as described
by a traveler. They had long hair so fine and soft it would weave into rugs
more beautiful than any ever seen in Babylon. He wanted a herd but he had
no money. So I did lend him gold to make the journey and bring back goats.
Now his herd is begun and next year I shall surprise the lords of Babylon
with the most expensive rugs it has been their good fortune to buy. Soon I
must return his ring.
“He doth insist on repaying promptly.”
“Some borrowers do that?’ queried Rodan.
“If they borrow for purposes that bring money back to them, I find it so.
But if they borrow because of their indiscretions, I warn thee to be cautious
if thou wouldst ever have thy gold back in hand again.”
“Tell me about this,” requested Rodan, picking up a heavy gold bracelet
inset with jewels in rare designs.
“The women do appeal to my good friend,” bantered Mathon.
“I am still much younger than you,” retorted Rodan.
“I grant that, but this time thou doth suspicion romance where it is not.
The owner of this is fat and wrinkled and doth talk so much and say so little
she drives me mad. Once they had much money and were good customers, but
ill times came upon them. She has a son of whom she would make a
merchant. So she came to me and borrowed gold that he might become a
partner of a caravan owner who travels with his camels bartering in one city
what he buys in another.
“This man proved a rascal for he left the poor boy in a distant city
without money and without friends, pulling out early while the youth slept.
Perhaps when this youth has grown to manhood, he will repay; until then I get
no rental for the loan—only much talk. But I do admit the jewels are worthy
of the loan.”
“Did this lady ask thy advice as to the wisdom of the loan?”
“Quite otherwise. She had pictured to herself this son of hers as a
wealthy and powerful man of Babylon. To suggest the contrary was to
infuriate her. A fair rebuke I had. I knew the risk for this inexperienced boy,
but as she offered security I could not refuse her.
“This,” continued Mathon, waving a bit of pack rope tied into a knot,
“belongs to Nebatur, the camel trader. When he would buy a herd larger than
his funds he brings to me this knot and I lend to him according to his needs.
He is a wise trader. I have confidence in his good judgment and can lend him
freely. Many other merchants of Babylon have my confidence because of
their honorable behavior.
“Their tokens come and go frequently in my token box. Good merchants
are an asset to our city and it profits me to aid them to keep trade moving that
Babylon be prosperous.”
Mathon picked out a beetle carved in turquoise and tossed it
contemptuously on the floor. “A bug from Egypt. The lad who owns this does
not care whether I ever receive back my gold. When I reproach him he
replies, ‘How can I repay when ill fate pursues me? You have plenty more.’
What can I do? The token is his father’s—a worthy man of small means who
did pledge his land and herd to back his son’s enterprises. The youth found
success at first and then was overzealous to gain great wealth.
“His knowledge was immature. His enterprises collapsed. Youth is
ambitious. Youth would take short cuts to wealth and the desirable things for
which it stands. To secure wealth quickly youth often borrows unwisely.
“Youth, never having had experience, cannot realize that hopeless debt is
like a deep pit into which one may descend quickly and where one may
struggle vainly for many days. It is a pit of sorrow and regrets where the
brightness of the sun is overcast and night is made unhappy by restless
sleeping.
“Yet, I do not discourage borrowing gold. I encourage it. I recommend it
if it be for a wise purpose. I myself made my first real success as a merchant
with borrowed gold.
“Yet, what should the lender do in such a case? The youth is in despair
and accomplishes nothing. He is discouraged. He makes no effort to repay.
My heart turns against depriving the father of his land and cattle.”
“You tell me much that I am interested to hear,” ventured Rodan, “but I
hear no answer to my question. Should I lend my fifty pieces of gold to my
sister’s husband? They mean much to me.”
“Thy sister is a sterling woman whom I do much esteem. Should her
husband come to me and ask to borrow fifty pieces of gold I should ask him
for what purpose he would use it.
“If he answered that he desired to become a merchant like myself and
deal in jewels and rich furnishings, I would say, ‘What knowledge have you
of the ways of trade? Do you know where you can buy at lowest cost? Do
you know where you can sell at a fair price?’ Could he say ‘Yes’ to these
questions?”
“No, he could not,” Rodan admitted. “He has helped me much in making
spears and he has helped some in the shops.”
“Then, would I say to him that his purpose was not wise. Merchants
must learn their trade. His ambition, though worthy, is not practical and I
would not lend him any gold.
“But, supposing he could say: ‘Yes, I have helped merchants much. I
know how to travel to Smyrna and to buy at low cost the rugs the housewives
weave. I also know many of the rich people of Babylon to whom I can sell
these at a large profit.’ Then I would say: ‘Your purpose is wise and your
ambition honorable. I shall be glad to lend you the fifty pieces of gold if you
can give me security that they will be returned.’ But would he say, ‘I have no
security other than that I am an honored man and will pay you well for the
loan.’ Then would I reply, ‘I treasure much each piece of gold. Were the
robbers to take it from you as you journeyed to Smyrna or take the rugs from
you as you returned, then you would have no means of repaying me and my
gold would be gone.’
“Gold, you see, Rodan, is the merchandise of the lender of money. It is
easy to lend. If it is lent unwisely then it is difficult to get back. The wise
lender wishes not the risk of the undertaking but the guarantee of safe
repayment.
“Tis well,” he continued, “to assist those that are in trouble, ‘tis well to
help those upon whom fate has laid a heavy hand. ‘Tis well to help those
who are starting that they may progress and become valuable citizens. But
help must be given wisely, lest, like the farmer’s ass, in our desire to help we
but take upon ourselves the burden that belongs to another.
“Again I wandered from thy question, Rodan, but hear my answer: Keep
thy fifty pieces of gold. What thy labor earns for thee and what is given thee
for reward is thine own and no man can put an obligation upon thee to part
with it unless it do be thy wish. If thee wouldst lend it so that it may earn thee
more gold, then lend with caution and in many places. I like not idle gold,
even less I like too much of risk.
“How many years hast thou labored as a spear maker?”
“Fully three.”
“How much besides the king’s gift hast saved?”
“Three gold pieces.”
“Each year that thou hast labored thou has denied thyself good things to
save from thine earnings one piece of gold?”
“Tis as you say.”
“Then mightest save in fifty years of labor fifty pieces of gold by thy
self-denial?”
“A lifetime of labor it would be.”
“Thinkest thou thy sister would wish to jeopardize the savings of fifty
years of labor over the bronze melting pot that her husband might experiment
on being a merchant?”
“Not if I spoke in your words.”
“Then go to her and say: ‘Three years I have labored each day except
fast days, from morning until night, and I have denied myself many things that
my heart craved. For each year of labor and self-denial I have to show one
piece of gold. Thou art my favored sister and I wish that thy husband may
engage in business in which he will prosper greatly. If he will submit to me a
plan that seems wise and possible to my friend, Mathon, then will I gladly
lend to him my savings of an entire year that he may have an opportunity to
prove that he can succeed.’ Do that, I say, and if he has within him the soul to
succeed he can prove it. If he fails he will not owe thee more than he can
hope some day to repay.
“I am a gold lender because I own more gold than I can use in my own
trade. I desire my surplus gold to labor for others and thereby earn more
gold. I do not wish to take risk of losing my gold for I have labored much and
denied myself much to secure it. Therefore, I will no longer lend any of it
where I am not confident that it is safe and will be returned to me. Neither
will I lend it where I am not convinced that its earnings will be promptly
paid to me.
“I have told to thee, Rodan, a few of the secrets of my token chest. From
them you may understand the weakness of men and their eagerness to borrow
that which they have no certain means to repay. From this you can see how
often their high hopes of the great earnings they could make, if they but had
gold, are but false hopes they have not the ability or training to fulfill.
“Thou, Rodan, now have gold which thou shouldst put to earning more
gold for thee. Thou art about to become even as I, a gold lender. If thou dost
safely preserve thy treasure it will produce liberal earnings for thee and be a
rich source of pleasure and profit during all thy days. But if thou dost let it
escape from thee, it will be a source of constant sorrow and regret as long as
thy memory doth last.
“What desirest thou most of this gold in thy wallet?”
“To keep it safe.”
“Wisely spoken,” replied Mathon approvingly. “Thy first desire is for
safety. Thinkest thou that in the custody of thy sister’s husband it would be
truly safe from possible loss?”
“I fear not, for he is not wise in guarding gold.”
“Then be not swayed by foolish sentiments of obligation to trust thy
treasure to any person. If thou wouldst help thy family or thy friends, find
other ways than risking the loss of thy treasure. Forget not that gold slippeth
away in unexpected ways from those unskilled in guarding it. As well waste
thy treasure in extravagance as let others lose it for thee.
“What next after safety dost desire of this treasure of thine?”
“That it earn more gold.”
Gold slippeth away in unexpected ways from those unskilled in
guarding it.
“Again thou speakest with wisdom. It should be made to earn and grow
larger. Gold wisely lent may even double itself with its earnings before a
man like you groweth old. If you risk losing it you risk losing all that it would
earn as well.
“Therefore, be not swayed by the fantastic plans of impractical men who
think they see ways to force thy gold to make earnings unusually large. Such
plans are the creations of dreamers unskilled in the safe and dependable laws
of trade. Be conservative in what thou expect it to earn that thou mayest keep
and enjoy thy treasure. To hire it out with a promise of usurious returns is to
invite loss.
“Seek to associate thyself with men and enterprises whose success is
established that thy treasure may earn liberally under their skillful use and be
guarded safely by their wisdom and experience.
“Thus, mayest thou avoid the misfortunes that follow most of the sons of
men to whom the gods see fit to entrust gold.”
Seek to associate thyself with men and enterprises whose
success is established.
When Rodan would thank him for his wise advice he would not listen,
saying, “The king’s gift shall teach thee much wisdom. If wouldst keep thy
fifty pieces of gold thou must be discreet indeed.
Many uses will tempt thee. Much advice will be spoken to thee.
Numerous opportunities to make large profits will be offered thee. The
stories from my token box should warn thee, before thou let any piece of gold
leave thy pouch to be sure that thou hast a safe way to pull it back again.
Should my further advice appeal to thee, return again. It is gladly given.
“E’re thou goest read this which I have carved beneath the lid of my
token box. It applies equally to the borrower and the lender:
Better a Little Caution than a Great Regret
Chapter 15
The Walls of Babylon
Old Banzar, grim warrior of another day, stood guard at the passageway
leading to the top of the ancient walls of Babylon. Up above, valiant
defenders were battling to hold the walls. Upon them depended the future
existence of this great city with its hundreds of thousands of citizens.
Over the walls came the roar of the attacking armies, the yelling of many
men, the trampling of thousands of horses, the deafening boom of the
battering rams pounding the bronzed gates.
In the street behind the gate lounged the spearmen, waiting to defend the
entrance should the gates give way. They were but few for the task. The main
armies of Babylon were with their king, far away in the east on the great
expedition against the Elamites. No attack upon the city having been
anticipated during their absence, the defending forces were small.
Unexpectedly, from the north, bore down the mighty armies of the
Assyrians. And now the walls must hold or Babylon was doomed.
About Banzar were great crowds of citizens, white-faced and terrified,
eagerly seeking news of the battle. With hushed awe they viewed the stream
of wounded and dead being carried or led out of the passageway. Here was
the crucial point of attack. After three days of circling about the city, the
enemy had suddenly thrown his great strength against this section and this
gate.
The defenders from the top of the wall fought off the climbing platforms
and the scaling ladders of the attackers with arrows, burning oil and, if any
reached the top, spears. Against the defenders, thousands of the enemy’s
archers poured a deadly barrage of arrows.
Old Banzar had the vantage point for news. He was closest to the
conflict and first to hear of each fresh repulse of the frenzied attackers.
An elderly merchant crowded close to him, his palsied hands quivering.
“Tell me! Tell me!” he pleaded. “They cannot get in. My sons are with the
good king. There is no one to protect my old wife.
“My goods, they will steal all. My food, they will leave nothing. We are
old, too old to defend ourselves—too old for slaves. We shall starve. We
shall die. Tell me they cannot get in.”
“Calm thyself, good merchant,” the guard responded. “The walls of
Babylon are strong. Go back to the bazaar and tell your wife that the walls
will protect you and all of your possessions as safely as they protect the rich
treasures of the king. Keep close to the walls, lest the arrows flying over
strike you!”
A woman with a babe in arms took the old man’s place as he withdrew.
“Sergeant, what news from the top? Tell me truly that I may reassure my poor
husband. He lies with fever from his terrible wounds, yet insists upon his
armor and his spear to protect me, who am with child. Terrible he says will
be the vengeful lust of our enemies should they break in.”
“Be thou of good heart, thou mother that is, and is again to be, the walls
of Babylon will protect you and your babes. They are high and strong. Hear
ye not the yells of our valiant defenders as they empty the caldrons of burning
oil upon the ladder scalers?”
“Yes, that do I hear and also the roar of the battering rams that do
hammer at our gates.”
“Back to thy husband. Tell him the gates are strong and withstand the
rams. Also that the scalers climb the walls but to receive the waiting spear
thrust. Watch, thy way and hasten behind yon buildings.”
Banzar stepped aside to clear the passage for heavily armed
reinforcements. As, with clanking bronze shields and heavy tread, they
tramped by, a small girl plucked at his girdle.
“Tell me please, soldier, are we safe?” she pleaded. “I hear the awful
noises. I see the men all bleeding. I am so frightened. What will become of
our family, of my mother, little brother and the baby?”
The grim old campaigner blinked his eyes and thrust forward his chin as
he beheld the child.
“Be not afraid, little one,” he reassured her. “The walls of Babylon will
protect you and mother and little brother and the baby. It was for the safety of
such as you that the good Queen Semiramis built them over a hundred years
ago. Never have they been broken through. Go back and tell your mother and
little brother and the baby that the walls of Babylon will protect them and
they need have no fear.”
Day after day old Banzar stood at his post and watched the
reinforcements file up the passageway, there to stay and fight until wounded
or dead they came down once more. Around him, unceasingly crowded the
throngs of frightened citizens eagerly seeking to learn if the walls would
hold.
To all he gave his answer with the fine dignity of an old soldier, “The
walls of Babylon will protect you.”
For three weeks and five days the attack waged with scarcely ceasing
violence. Harder and grimmer set the jaw of Banzar as the passage behind,
wet with the blood of the many wounded, was churned into mud by the never
ceasing streams of men passing up and staggering down. Each day the
slaughtered attackers piled up in heaps before the wall. Each night they were
carried back and buried by their comrades. Upon the fifth night of the fourth
week the clamor without diminished. The first streaks of daylight,
illuminating the plains, disclosed great clouds of dust raised by the retreating
armies.
A mighty shout went up from the defenders. There was no mistaking its
meaning. It was repeated by the waiting troops behind the walls. It was
echoed by the citizens upon the streets. It swept over the city with the
violence of a storm.
People rushed from the houses. The streets were jammed with a
throbbing mob. The pent-up fear of weeks found an outlet in the wild chorus
of joy. From the top of the high tower of the Temple of Bel burst forth the
flames of victory. Skyward floated the column of blue smoke to carry the
message far and wide.
The walls of Babylon had once again repulsed a mighty and vicious foe
determined to loot her rich treasures and to ravish and enslave her citizens.
Babylon endured century after century because it was fully protected. It could
not afford to be otherwise.
The walls of Babylon were an outstanding example of man’s need and
desire for protection.
This desire is inherent in the human race. It is just as strong today as it
ever was, but we have developed broader and better plans to accomplish the
same purpose.
In this day, behind the impregnable walls of insurance, savings accounts
and dependable investments, we can guard ourselves against the unexpected
tragedies that may enter any door and seat themselves before any fireside.
We Cannot Afford to be Without Adequate Protection
Chapter 16
The Camel Trader of Babylon
The hungrier one becomes, the clearer one’s mind works—also the more
sensitive one becomes to the odors of food.
Tarkad, the son of Azure, certainly thought so. For two whole days he
had tasted no food except two small figs purloined from over the wall of a
garden. Not another could he grab before the angry woman rushed forth and
chased him down the street. Her shrill cries were still ringing in his ears as
he walked through the market place. They helped him to retrain his restless
fingers from snatching the tempting fruits from the baskets of the market
women.
Never before had he realized how much food was brought to the markets
of Babylon and how good it smelled. Leaving the market, he walked across
to the inn and paced back and forth in front of the eating house. Perhaps here
he might meet someone he knew; someone from whom he could borrow a
copper that would gain him a smile from the unfriendly keeper of the inn and,
with it, a liberal helping. Without the copper he knew all too well how
unwelcome he would be.
In his abstraction he unexpectedly found himself face to face with the
one man he wished most to avoid, the tall bony figure of Dabasir, the camel
trader. Of all the friends and others from whom he had borrowed small sums,
Dabasir made him feel the most uncomfortable because of his failure to keep
his promises to repay promptly.
Dabasir’s face lighted up at the sight of him. “Ha! ‘Tis Tarkad, just the
one I have been seeking that he might repay the two pieces of copper which I
lent him a moon ago; also the piece of silver which I lent to him before that.
We are well met. I can make good use of the coins this very day. What say,
boy? What say?”
Tarkad stuttered and his face flushed. He had naught in his empty
stomach to nerve him to argue with the outspoken Dabasir. “I am sorry, very
sorry,” he mumbled weakly, “but this day I have neither the copper nor the
silver with which I could repay.” “Then get it,” Dabasir insisted. “Surely
thou canst get hold of a few coppers and a piece of silver to repay the
generosity of an old friend of thy father who aided thee whenst thou wast in
need?”
“Tis because ill fortune does pursue me that I cannot pay.”
“Ill fortune! Wouldst blame the gods for thine own weakness. Ill fortune
pursues every man who thinks more of borrowing than of repaying. Come
with me, boy, while I eat. I am hungry and I would tell thee a tale.”
Tarkad flinched from the brutal frankness of Dabasir, but here at least
was an invitation to enter the coveted doorway of the eating house.
Dabasir pushed him to a far corner of the room where they seated
themselves upon small rugs.
When Kauskor, the proprietor, appeared smiling, Dabasir addressed him
with his usual freedom, “Fat lizard of the desert, bring to me a leg of the goat,
brown with much juice, and bread and all of the vegetables for I am hungry
and want much food. Do not forget my friend here. Bring to him a jug of
water. Have it cooled, for the day is hot.”
Tarkad’s heart sank. Must he sit here and drink water while he watched
this man devour an entire goat leg? He said nothing. He thought of nothing he
could say.
Dabasir, however, knew no such thing as silence. Smiling and waving
his hand good-naturedly to the other customers, all of whom knew him, he
continued. “I did hear from a traveler just returned from Urfa of a certain rich
man who has a piece of stone cut so thin that one can look through it. He put
it in the window of his house to keep out the rains.
“It is yellow, so this traveler does relate, and he was permitted to look
through it and all the outside world looked strange and not like it really is.
What say you to that, Tarkad? Thinkest all the world could look to a man a
different color from what it is?”
“I dare say,” responded the youth, much more interested in the fat leg of
goat placed before Dabasir.
“Well, I know it to be true for I myself have seen the world all of a
different color from what it really is and the tale I am about to tell relates
how I came to see it in its right color once more.”
“Dabasir will tell a tale,” whispered a neighboring diner to his
neighbor, and dragged his rug close. Other diners brought their food and
crowded in a semicircle. They crunched noisily in the ears of Tarkad and
brushed him with their meaty bones. He alone was without food. Dabasir did
not offer to share with him nor even motion him to a small corner of the hard
bread that was broken off and had fallen from the platter to the floor.
“The tale that I am about to tell,” began Dabasir, pausing to bite a goodly
chunk from the goat leg, “relates to my early life and how I came to be a
camel trader. Didst anyone know that I once was a slave in Syria?”
A murmur of surprise ran through the audience to which Dabasir listened
with satisfaction.
“When I was a young man,” continued Dabasir after another vicious
onslaught on the goat leg, “I learned the trade of my father, the making of
saddles. I worked with him in his shop and took to myself a wife.
“Being young and not greatly skilled, I could earn but little, just enough
to support my excellent wife in a modest way. I craved good things which I
could not afford. Soon I found that the shop keepers would trust me to pay
later even though I could not pay at the time.
“Being young and without experience I did not know that he who spends
more than he earns is sowing the winds of needless self-indulgence from
which he is sure to reap the whirlwinds of trouble and humiliation. So I
indulged my whims for fine raiment and bought luxuries for my good wife
and our home, beyond our means. “I paid as I could and for a while all went
well. But in time I discovered I could not use my earnings both to live upon
and to pay my debts.
“Creditors began to pursue me to pay for my extravagant purchases and
my life became miserable. I borrowed from my friends, but could not repay
them either. Things went from bad to worse. My wife returned to her father
and I decided to leave Babylon and seek another city where a young man
might have better chances.
“For two years I had a restless and unsuccessful life working for
caravan traders. From this I fell in with a set of likeable robbers who
scoured the desert for unarmed caravans. Such deeds were unworthy of the
son of my father, but I was seeing the world through a colored stone and did
not realize to what degradation I had fallen.
“We met with success on our first trip, capturing a rich haul of gold and
silks and valuable merchandise. This loot we took to Ginir and squandered.
“The second time we were not so fortunate. Just after we had made our
capture, we were attacked by the spearsmen of a native chief to whom the
caravans paid for protection. Our two leaders were killed, and the rest of us
were taken to Damascus where we were stripped of our clothing and sold as
slaves.
“I was purchased for two pieces of silver by a Syrian desert chief. With
my hair shorn and but a loin cloth to wear, I was not so different from the
other slaves. Being a reckless youth, I thought it merely an adventure until my
master took me before his four wives and told them they could have me for a
eunuch.
“Then, indeed, did I realize the hopelessness of my situation. These men
of the desert were fierce and warlike. I was subject to their will without
weapons or means of escape.
“Fearful I stood, as those four women looked me over. I wondered if I
could expect pity from them. Sira, the first wife, was older than the others.
Her face was impassive as she looked upon me. I turned from her with little
consolation. The next was a contemptuous beauty who gazed at me as
indifferently as if I had been a worm of the earth. The two younger ones
tittered as though it were all an exciting joke.
“It seemed an age that I stood waiting sentence. Each woman appeared
willing for the others to decide. Finally Sira spoke up in a cold voice.
“Of eunuchs we have plenty, but of camel tenders we have few and they
are a worthless lot.
“Even this day I would visit my mother who is sick with the fever and
there is no slave I would trust to lead my camel. Ask this slave if he can lead
a camel.”
“My master thereupon questioned me, ‘What know you of camels?’
“Striving to conceal my eagerness, I replied, ‘I can make them kneel, I
can load them, I can lead them on long trips without tiring. If need be, I can
repair their trappings.’”
“‘The slave speaks forward enough,’ observed my master. If thou so
desire, Sira, take this man for thy camel tender.’
“So I was turned over to Sira and that day I led her camel upon a long
journey to her sick mother. I took the occasion to thank her for her
intercession and also to tell her that I was not a slave by birth, but the son of
a freeman, an honorable saddle maker of Babylon. I also told her much of my
story. Her comments were disconcerting to me and I pondered much
afterwards on what she said.
“‘How can you call yourself a free man when your weakness has brought
you to this? If a man has in himself the soul of a slave will he not become one
no matter what his birth, even as water seeks its level? If a man has within
him the soul of a free man, will he not become respected and honored in his
own city in spite of his misfortune?’
“For over a year I was a slave and lived with the slaves, but I could not
become as one of them.
“One day Sira asked me, ‘In the eventime when the other slaves can
mingle and enjoy the society of each other, why dost thou sit in thy tent
alone?’
“To which I responded, ‘I am pondering what you have said to me. I
wonder if I have the soul of a slave. I cannot join them, so I must sit apart.’
‘‘‘My dowry was large and my lord married me because of it. Yet he
does not desire me. What every woman longs for is to be desired. Because of
this and because I am barren and have neither son nor daughter, must I sit
apart. Were I a man I would rather die than be such a slave, but the
conventions of our tribe make slaves of women.’
“‘What think thou of me by this time?’ I asked her suddenly, ‘Have I the
soul of a man or have I the soul of a slave?’
“‘Have you a desire to repay the just debts you owe in Babylon?’ she
parried.
“‘Yes, I have the desire, but I see no way.’
“‘If thou contentedly let the years slip by and make no effort to repay,
then thou hast but the contemptible soul of a slave. No man is otherwise who
cannot respect himself and no man can respect himself who does not repay
honest debts.’
“‘But what can I do who am a slave in Syria?’
“‘Stay a slave in Syria, thou weakling.’
“‘I am not a weakling,’ I denied hotly.
“‘Then prove it.’
“‘How?’
“‘Does not thy great king fight his enemies in every way he can and with
every force he has?
“‘Thy debts are thy enemies. They ran thee out of Babylon. You left them
alone and they grew too strong for thee. Hadst fought them as a man, thou
couldst have conquered them and been one honored among the townspeople.
But thou had not the soul to fight them and behold thy pride hast gone down
until thou art a slave in Syria.’
“Much I thought over her unkind accusations and many defensive phrases
I worded to prove myself not a slave at heart, but I was not to have the
chance to use them. Three days later the maid of Sira took me to her mistress.
“‘My mother is again very sick,’ she said. ‘Saddle the two best camels
in my husband’s herd. Tie on water skins and saddle bags for a long journey.
The maid will give thee food at the kitchen tent.’ I packed the camels
wondering much at the quantity of provisions the maid provided, for the
mother dwelt less than a day’s journey away. The maid rode the rear camel
which followed and I led the camel of my mistress. When we reached her
mother’s house it was just dark. Sira dismissed the maid and said to me:
“‘Dabasir, hast thou the soul of a free man or the soul of a slave?’ ‘The
soul of a free man,’ I insisted.
“‘Now is thy chance to prove it. Thy master hath imbibed deeply and his
chiefs are in a stupor. Take then these camels and make thy escape. Here in
this bag is raiment of thy master’s to disguise thee. I will say thou stole the
camels and ran away while I visited my sick mother.’
“‘Thou hast the soul of a queen,’ I told her. ‘Much do I wish that I might
lead thee to happiness.’
“‘Happiness,’ she responded, ‘awaits not the runaway wife who seeks it
in far lands among strange people. Go thy own way and may the gods of the
desert protect thee for the way is far and barren of food or water.’
“I needed no further urging, but thanked her warmly and was away into
the night. I knew not this strange country and had only a dim idea of the
direction in which lay Babylon, but struck out bravely across the desert
toward the hills. One camel I rode and the other I led. All that night I traveled
and all the next day, urged on by the knowledge of the terrible fate that was
meted out to slaves who stole their master’s property and tried to escape.
“Late that afternoon, I reached a rough country as uninhabitable as the
desert. The sharp rocks bruised the feet of my faithful camels and soon they
were picking their way slowly and painfully along.
“I met neither man nor beast and could well understand why they
shunned this inhospitable land.
“It was such a journey from then on as few men live to tell of. Day after
day we plodded along.
“Food and water gave out. The heat of the sun was merciless. At the end
of the ninth day, I slid from the back of my mount with the feeling that I was
too weak to ever remount and I would surely die, lost in this abandoned
country.
“I stretched out upon the ground and slept, not waking until the first
gleam of daylight.
“I sat up and looked about me. There was a coolness in the morning air.
My camels lay dejected not far away. About me was a vast waste of broken
country covered with rock and sand and thorny things, no sign of water,
naught to eat for man or camel.
“Could it be that in this peaceful quiet I faced my end? My mind was
clearer than it had ever been before. My body now seemed of little
importance. My parched and bleeding lips, my dry and swollen tongue, my
empty stomach, all had lost their supreme agonies of the day before.
“I looked across into the uninviting distance and once again came to me
the question, ‘Have I the soul of a slave or the soul of a free man?’ Then with
clearness I realized that if I had the soul of a slave, I should give up, lie
down in the desert and die, a fitting end for a runaway slave.
“But if I had the soul of a free man, what then? Surely I would force my
way back to Babylon, repay the people who had trusted me, bring happiness
to my wife who truly loved me and bring peace and contentment to my
parents.
“‘Thy debts are thine enemies who have run thee out of Babylon,’ Sira
had said. Yes it was so.
Why had I refused to stand my ground like a man? Why had I permitted
my wife to go back to her father?
Thy debts are thine enemies.
“Then a strange thing happened. All the world seemed to be of a
different color as though I had been looking at it through a colored stone
which had suddenly been removed. At last I saw the true values in life.
“Die in the desert! Not I! With a new vision, I saw the things that I must
do.
“First I would go back to Babylon and face every man to whom I owed
an unpaid debt. I should tell them that after years of wandering and
misfortune, I had come back to pay my debts as fast as the gods would
permit. Next I should make a home for my wife and become a citizen of
whom my parents should be proud.
“My debts were my enemies, but the men I owed were my friends for
they had trusted me and believed in me.
“I staggered weakly to my feet. What mattered hunger? What mattered
thirst? They were but incidents on the road to Babylon. Within me surged the
soul of a free man going back to conquer his enemies and reward his friends.
I thrilled with the great resolve.
“The glazed eyes of my camels brightened at the new note in my husky
voice. With great effort, after many attempts, they gained their feet. With
pitiful perseverance, they pushed on toward the north where something
within me said we would find Babylon.
“We found water. We passed into a more fertile country where were
grass and fruit. We found the trail to Babylon because the soul of a free man
looks at life as a series of problems to be solved and solves them, while the
soul of a slave whines, ‘What can I do who am but a slave?’
“How about thee, Tarkad? Dost thy empty stomach make thy head
exceedingly clear? Art ready to take the road that leads back to self-respect?
Canst thou see the world in its true color? Hast thou the desire to pay thy
honest debts, however many they may be, and once again be a man respected
in Babylon?”
Moisture came to the eyes of the youth. He rose eagerly to his knees.
“Thou has shown me a vision; already I feel the soul of a free man surge
within me.”
“But how fared you upon your return?” questioned an interested listener.
“Where the determination is, the way can be found” Dabasir replied. “I
now had the determination so I set out to find a way. First I visited every man
to whom I was indebted and begged his indulgence until I could earn that
with which to repay. Most of them met me gladly. Several reviled me but
others offered to help me; one indeed did give me the very help I needed. It
was Mathon, the gold lender. Learning that I had been a camel tender in
Syria; he sent me to old Nebatur, the camel trader, just commissioned by our
good king to purchase many herds of sound camels for the great expedition.
With him, my knowledge of camels I put to good use. Gradually I was able to
repay every copper and every piece of silver. Then at last I could hold up my
head and feel that I was an honourable man among men.”
Again Dabasir turned to his food. “Kauskor, thou snail,” he called loudly
to be heard in the kitchen, “the food is cold. Bring me more meat fresh from
the roasting. Bring thou also a very large portion for Tarkad, the son of my
old friend, who is hungry and shall eat with me.”
So ended the tale of Dabasir the camel trader of old Babylon. He found
his own soul when he realized a great truth, a truth that had been known and
used by wise men long before his time.
It has led men of all ages out of difficulties and into success and it will
continue to do so for those who have the wisdom to understand its magic
power. It is for any man to use who reads these lines.
Where the Determination Is, The Way Can Be Found
Chapter 17
The Clay Tablets From Babylon
St. Swithin’s College
Nottingham University
Newark-on-Trent
Nottingham
Professor Franklin Caldwell, Care of British Scientific Expedition, Hillah,
Mesopotamia.
October 21, 1934.
My dear Professor:
The five clay tablets from your recent excavation in the ruins of Babylon
arrived on the same boat with your letter. I have been fascinated no end, and
have spent many pleasant hours translating their inscriptions. I should have
answered your letter at once but delayed until I could complete the
translations which are attached.
The tablets arrived without damage, thanks to your careful use of
preservatives and excellent packing.
You will be as astonished as we in the laboratory at the story they relate.
One expects the dim and distant past to speak of romance and adventure.
“Arabian Nights” sort of things, you know. When instead it discloses the
problem of a person named Dabasir to pay off his debts, one realizes that
conditions upon this old world have not changed as much in five thousand
years as one might expect.
It’s odd, you know, but these old inscriptions rather “rage” me, as the
students say. Being a college professor, I am supposed to be a thinking human
being possessing a working knowledge of most subjects.
Yet, here comes this old chap out of the dust-covered ruins of Babylon to
offer a way I had never heard of to pay off my debts and at the same time
acquire gold to jingle in my wallet.
Pleasant thought, I say, and interesting to prove whether it will work as
well nowadays as it did in old Babylon. Mrs. Shrewsbury and myself are
planning to try out his plan upon our own affairs which could be much
improved. Wishing you the best of luck in your worthy undertaking and
waiting eagerly another opportunity to assist, I am
Yours sincerely,
Alfred H. Shewsbury,
Department of Archaeology.
TABLET NO. I
Now, when the moon becometh full, I, Dabasir, who am but recently returned
from slavery in Syria, with the determination to pay my many just debts and
become a man of means worthy of respect in my native city of Babylon, do
here engrave upon the clay a permanent record of my affairs to guide and
assist me in carrying through my high desires.
Under the wise advice of my good friend Mathon, the gold lender, I am
determined to follow an exact plan that he doth say will lead any honorable
man out of debt into means and self-respect.
This plan includeth three purposes which are my hope and desire.
First, the plan doth provide for my future prosperity.
Therefore one-tenth of all I earn shall be set aside as my own to keep.
For Mathon speaketh wisely when he saith:
“That man who keepeth in his purse both gold and silver that he need not
spend is good to his family and loyal to his king.
“The man who hath but a few coppers in his purse is indifferent to his
family and indifferent to his king.
“But the man who hath naught in his purse is unkind to his family and is
disloyal to his king, for his own heart is bitter.
“Therefore, the man who wisheth to achieve must have coin that he may
keep to jingle in his purse, that he have in his heart love for his family and
loyalty to his king.”
Second, the plan doth provide that I shall support and clothe my good
wife who hath returned to me with loyalty from the house of her father. For
Mathon doth say that to take good care of a faithful wife putteth self-respect
into the heart of a man and addeth strength and determination to his purposes.
Therefore seven-tenths of all I earn shall be used to provide a home,
clothes to wear, and food to eat, with a bit extra to spend, that our lives be
not lacking in pleasure and enjoyment. But he doth further enjoin the greatest
care that we spend not greater than seven-tenths of what I earn for these
worthy purposes. Herein lieth the success of the plan.
I must live upon this portion and never use more nor buy what I may not
pay for out of this portion.
I must live upon this portion and never use more nor buy what
I may not pay for out of this portion.
TABLET NO. II
Third, the plan doth provide that out of my earnings my debts shall be paid.
Therefore each time the moon is full, two-tenths of all I have earned shall be
divided honourably and fairly among those who have trusted me and to whom
I am indebted.* Thus in due time will all my indebtedness be surely paid.
Therefore, do I here engrave the name of every man to whom I am
indebted and the honest amount of my debt.
Fahru, the cloth weaver, 2 silver, 6 copper.
Sinjar, the couch maker, 1 silver.
Ahmar, my friend, 3 silver, 1 copper.
Zankar, my friend, 4 silver, 7 copper,
Askamir, my friend, 1 silver, 3 copper.
Harinsir, the Jewelmaker, 6 silver, 2 copper.
Diarbeker, my father’s friend, 4 silver, 1 copper.
Alkahad, the house owner, 14 silver.
Mathon, the gold lender, 9 silver.
Birejik, the farmer, 1 silver, 7 copper.
(From here on, disintegrated. Cannot be deciphered.)
Out of my earnings my debts shall be paid.
TABLET NO. III
To these creditors do I owe in total one hundred and nineteen pieces of silver
and one hundred and forty-one pieces of copper. Because I did owe these
sums and saw no way to repay, in my folly I did permit my wife to return to
her father and didst leave my native city and seek easy wealth elsewhere,
only to find disaster and to see myself sold into the degradation of slavery.
Now that Mathon doth show me how I can repay my debts in small sums of
my earnings, do I realize the great extent of my folly in running away from the
results of my extravagances. Therefore have I visited my creditors and
explained to them that I have no resources with which to pay except my
ability to earn, and that I intend to apply two tenths of all I earn upon my
indebtedness evenly and honestly. This much can I pay but no more.
Therefore if they be patient, in time my obligations will be paid in full.
Ahmar, whom I thought my best friend, reviled me bitterly and I left him
in humiliation.
Birejik, the farmer, pleaded that I pay him first as he didst badly need
help.
Alkahad, the house owner, was indeed disagreeable and insisted that he
would make me trouble unless I didst soon settle in full with him.
All the rest willingly accepted my proposal. Therefore am I more
determined than ever to carry through, being convinced that it is easier to pay
one’s just debts than to avoid them. Even though I cannot meet the needs and
demands of a few of my creditors I will deal impartially with all.
I will deal impartially with all.
TABLET NO. IV
Again the moon shines full. I have worked hard with a free mind. My good
wife hath supported my intentions to pay my creditors. Because of our wise
determination, I have earned during the past moon, buying camels of sound
wind and good legs, for Nebatur, the sum of nineteen pieces of silver.
This I have divided according to the plan. One-tenth have I set aside to
keep as my own, seven-tenths have I divided with my good wife to pay for
our living. Two-tenths have I divided among my creditors as evenly as could
be done in coppers. I did not see Ahmar but left it with his wife. Birejik was
so pleased he would kiss my hand. Old Alkahad alone was grouchy and said
I must pay faster. To which I replied that if I were permitted to be well fed
and not worried, that alone would enable me to pay faster. All the others
thanked me and spoke well of my efforts.
Therefore, at the end of one moon, my indebtedness is reduced by almost
four pieces of silver and I possess almost two pieces of silver besides, upon
which no man hath claim. My heart is lighter than it hath been for a long time.
Again the moon shines full. I have worked hard but with poor success.
Few camels have I been able to buy. Only eleven pieces of silver have I
earned. Nevertheless my good wife and I have stood by the plan even though
we have bought no new raiment and eaten little but herbs.
Again I paid ourselves one-tenth of the eleven pieces, while we lived
upon seven-tenths. I was surprised when Ahmar commended my payment,
even though small. So did Birejik. Alkahad flew into a rage but when told to
give back his portion if he did not wish it, he became reconciled. The others,
as before, were content. Again the moon shines full and I am greatly rejoiced.
I intercepted a fine herd of camels and bought many sound ones, therefore my
earnings were forty-two pieces of silver. This moon my wife and myself
have bought much needed sandals and raiment Also we have dined well on
meat and fowl.
More than eight pieces of silver we have paid to our creditors. Even
Alkahad did not protest.
Great is the plan for it leadeth us out of debt and giveth us wealth which
is ours to keep.
Three times the moon had been full since I last carved upon this clay.
Each time I paid to myself one-tenth of all I earned. Each time my good wife
and I have lived upon seven-tenths even though at times it was difficult. Each
time have I paid to my creditors two-tenths.
In my purse I now have twenty one pieces of silver that are mine. It
maketh my head to stand straight upon my shoulders and maketh me proud to
walk among my friends. My wife keepeth well our home and is becomingly
gowned. We are happy to live together.
The plan is of untold value. Hath it not made an honorable man of an exslave?
Great is the plan for it leadeth us out of debt and giveth us
wealth which is ours to keep.
TABLET NO. V
Again the moon shines full and I remember that it is long since I carved upon
the clay. Twelve moons in truth have come and gone. But this day I will not
neglect my record because upon this day I have paid the last of my debts.
This is the day upon which my good wife and my thankful self celebrate
with great feasting that our determination hath been achieved.
Many things occurred upon my final visit to my creditors that I shall long
remember. Ahmar begged my forgiveness for his unkind words and said that I
was one of all others he most desired for a friend.
Old Alkahad is not so bad after all, for he said, “Thou wert once a piece
of soft clay to be pressed and moulded by any hand that touched thee, but
now thou art a piece of bronze capable of holding an edge. If thou needst
silver or gold at any time come to me.”
Nor is he the only one who holdeth me in high regard. Many others speak
deferentially to me.
My good wife looketh upon me with a light in her eyes that doth make a
man have confidence in himself.
Yet it is the plan that hath made my success. It hath enabled me to pay all
my debts and to jingle both gold and silver in my purse. I do commend it to
all who wish to get ahead. For truly if it will enable an ex-slave to pay his
debts and have gold in his purse, will it not aid any man to find
independence? Nor am I, myself, finished with it, for I am convinced that if I
follow it further it will make me rich among men.
St. Swithin’s College
Nottingham University
Newark-on-Trent
Nottingham
Professor Franklin Caldwell,
Care of British Scientific Expedition,
Hillah, Mesopotamia.
November 7th, 1936.
My dear professor:
If, in your further digging into those ruins of Babylon, you encounter the
ghost of a former resident, an old camel trader named Dabasir, do me a
favor. Tell him that his scribbling upon those clay tablets, so long ago, has
earned for him the lifelong gratitude of a couple of college folks back here in
England.
You will possibly remember my writing a year ago that Mrs.
Shrewsbury and myself intended to try his plan for getting out of debt and at
the same time having gold to jingle. You may have guessed, even though we
tried to keep it from our friends, our desperate straits.
We were frightfully humiliated for years by a lot of old debts and
worried sick for fear some of the trades-people might start a scandal that
would force me out of the college. We paid and paid—every shilling we
could squeeze out of income—but it was hardly enough to hold things even.
Besides we were forced to do all our buying where we could get further
credit regardless of higher costs.
It developed into one of those vicious circles that grow worse instead of
better. Our struggles were getting hopeless. We could not move to less costly
rooms because we owed the landlord. There did not appear to be anything
we could do to improve our situation.
Then, here comes your acquaintance, the old camel trader from Babylon,
with a plan to do just what we wished to accomplish. He jolly well stirred us
up to follow his system. We made a list of all our debts and I took it around
and showed it to everyone we owed.
I explained how it was simply impossible for me to ever pay them the
way things were going along. They could readily see this themselves from the
figures. Then I explained that the only way I saw to pay in full was to set
aside twenty percent of my income each month to be divided pro rata, which
would pay them in full in a little over two years. That, in the meantime, we
would go on a cash basis and give them the further benefit of our cash
purchases.
They were really quite decent. Our greengrocer, a wise old chap, put it
in a way that helped to bring around the rest. “If you pay for all you buy and
then pay some on what you owe, that is better than you have done, for ye ain’t
paid down the account none in three years.” Finally I secured all their names
to an agreement binding them not to molest us as long as the twenty percent of
income was paid regularly.
Then we began scheming on how to live upon seventy percent. We were
determined to keep that extra ten percent to jingle. The thought of silver and
possibly gold was most alluring.
It was like having an adventure to make the change. We enjoyed figuring
this way and that, to live comfortably upon that remaining seventy percent.
We started with rent and managed to secure a fair reduction. Next we put our
favorite brands of tea and such under suspicion and were agreeably surprised
how often we could purchase superior qualities at less cost.
It was like having an adventure to make the change. We
enjoyed figuring this way and that, to live comfortably upon
that remaining seventy percent.
It is too long a story for a letter but anyhow it did not prove difficult. We
managed and right cheerfully at that. What a relief it proved to have our
affairs in such a shape we were no longer persecuted by past due accounts.
I must not neglect, however, to tell you about that extra ten percent we
were supposed to jingle. Well, we did jingle it for some time. Now don’t
laugh too soon. You see, that is the sporty part. It is the real fun, to start
accumulating money that you do not want to spend.
There is more pleasure in running up such a surplus than there could be
in spending it.
After we had jingled to our hearts’ content, we found a more profitable
use for it. We took up an investment upon which we could pay that ten
percent each month. This is proving to be the most satisfying part of our
regeneration. It is the first thing we pay out of my check.
There is more pleasure in running up such a surplus than there
could be in spending it.
There is a most gratifying sense of security to know our investment is
growing steadily. By the time my teaching days are over it should be a snug
sum, large enough so the income will take care of us from then on.
All this out of my same old check. Difficult to believe, yet absolutely
true. All our debts being gradually paid and at the same time our investment
increasing. Besides we get along, financially, even better than before. Who
would believe there could be such a difference in results between following
a financial plan and just drifting along.
At the end of the next year, when all our old bills shall have been paid,
we will have more to pay upon our investment besides some extra for travel.
We are determined never again to permit our living expenses to exceed
seventy percent of our income. Now you can understand why we would like
to extend our personal thanks to that old chap whose plan saved us from our
“Hell on Earth.”
He knew. He had been through it all. He wanted others to benefit from
his own bitter experiences. That is why he spent tedious hours carving his
message upon the clay. He had a real message for fellow sufferers, a message
so important that after five thousand years it has risen out of the ruins of
Babylon, just as true and just as vital as the day it was buried.
Yours sincerely,
Alfred H. Shrewsbury,
Department of Archaeology.
*
For more on this principle, see Appendix A: Debts Are Enemies.—MH
Chapter 18
The Luckiest Man In Babylon
At the head of his caravan, proudly rode Sharru Nada, the merchant prince of
Babylon. He liked fine cloth and wore rich and becoming robes. He liked
fine animals and sat easily upon his spirited Arabian stallion. To look at him
one would hardly have guessed his advanced years. Certainly they would not
have suspected that he was inwardly troubled.
The journey from Damascus is long and the hardships of the desert many.
These he minded not.
The Arab tribes are fierce and eager to loot rich caravans. These he
feared not for his many fleet mounted guards were a safe protection.
About the youth at his side, whom he was bringing from Damascus, was
he disturbed. This was Hadan Gula, the grandson of his partner of other
years, Arad Gula, to whom he felt he owed a debt of gratitude which could
never be repaid. He would like to do something for this grandson, but the
more he considered this, the more difficult it seemed because of the youth
himself.
Eyeing the young man’s rings and earrings, he thought to himself, “He
thinks jewels are for men, still he has his grandfather’s strong face. But his
grandfather wore no such gaudy robes. Yet, I sought him to come, hoping I
might help him get a start for himself and get away from the wreck his father
has made of their inheritance.”
Hadan Gula broke in upon his thoughts, “Why dost thou work so hard,
riding always with thy caravan upon its long journeys? Dost thou never take
time to enjoy life?”
Sharru Nada smiled. “To enjoy life?” he repeated. “What wouldst thou
do to enjoy life if thou wert Sharru Nada?”
“If I had wealth equal to thine, I would live like a prince. Never across
the hot desert would I ride. I would spend the shekels as fast as they came to
my purse. I would wear the richest of robes and the rarest of jewels. That
would be a life to my liking, a life worth living.” Both men laughed.
“Thy grandfather wore no jewels.” Sharru Nada spoke before he
thought, then continued jokingly, “Wouldst thou leave no time for work?”
“Work was made for slaves,” Hadan Gula responded.
Sharru Nada bit his lip but made no reply, riding in silence until the trail
led them to the slope.
Here he reined his mount and pointing to the green valley far away,
“See, there is the valley. Look far down and thou canst faintly see the walls
of Babylon. The tower is the Temple of Bel. If thine eyes are sharp thou
mayest even see the smoke from the eternal fire upon its crest.”
“So that is Babylon? Always have I longed to see the wealthiest city in
all the world,” Hadan Gula commented. “Babylon, where my grandfather
started his fortune. Would he were still alive. We would not be so sorely
pressed.”
“Why wish his spirit to linger on earth beyond its allotted time? Thou
and thy father can well carry on his good work.”
“Alas, of us, neither has his gift. Father and myself know not his secret
for attracting the golden shekels.”
Sharru Nada did not reply but gave rein to his mount and rode
thoughtfully down the trail to the valley. Behind them followed the caravan in
a cloud of reddish dust. Some time later they reached the kings’ highway and
turned south through the irrigated farms.
Three old men plowing a field caught Sharru Nada’s attention. They
seemed strangely familiar.
How ridiculous! One does not pass a field after forty years and find the
same men plowing there. Yet, something within him said they were the same.
One, with an uncertain grip, held the plow. The others laboriously plodded
beside the oxen, ineffectually beating them with their barrel staves to keep
them pulling.
Forty years ago he had envied these men! How gladly he would have
exchanged places! But what a difference now. With pride he looked back at
his trailing caravan, well-chosen camels and donkeys, loaded high with
valuable goods from Damascus. All this was but one of his possessions.
He pointed to the plowers, saying, “Still plowing the same field where
they were forty years ago.”
“They look it, but why thinkest thou they are the same?”
“I saw them there,” Sharru Nada replied. Recollections were racing
rapidly through his mind.
Why could he not bury the past and live in the present? Then he saw, as
in a picture, the smiling face of Arad Gula. The barrier between himself and
the cynical youth beside him dissolved.
But how could he help such a superior youth with his spendthrift ideas
and bejeweled hands?
Work he could offer in plenty to willing workers, but naught for men
who considered themselves too good for work. Yet he owed it to Arad Gula
to do something, not a half-hearted attempt. He and Arad Gula had never
done things that way. They were not that sort of men.
A plan came almost in a flash. There were objections. He must consider
his own family and his own standing. It would be cruel; it would hurt. Being
a man of quick decisions, he waived objections and decided to act.
“Wouldst thou be interested in hearing how thy worthy grandfather and
myself joined in the partnership which proved so profitable?” he questioned.
“Why not just tell me how thou madest the golden shekels? That is all I
need to know,” the young man parried.
Sharru Nada ignored the reply and continued, “We start with those men
plowing. I was no older than thou. As the column of men in which I marched
approached, good old Megiddo, the farmer, scoffed at the slip-shod way in
which they plowed. Megiddo was chained next to me. ‘Look at the lazy
fellows,’ he protested, ‘the plow holder makes no effort to plow deep, nor
do the beaters keep the oxen in the furrow. How can they expect to raise a
good crop with poor plowing?”
“Didst thou say Megiddo was chained to thee?” Hadan Gula asked in
surprise.
“Yes, with bronze collars about our necks and a length of heavy chain
between us. Next to him was Zabado, the sheep thief. I had known him in
Harroun. At the end was a man we called Pirate because he told us not his
name. We judged him as a sailor as he had entwined serpents tattooed upon
his chest in sailor fashion. The column was made up thus so the men could
walk in fours.”
“Thou wert chained as a slave?” Hadan Gula asked incredulously.
“Did not thy grandfather tell thee I was once a slave?”
“He often spoke of thee but never hinted of this.”
“He was a man thou couldst trust with innermost secrets. Thou, too, are
a man I may trust, am I not right?” Sharru Nada looked him squarely in the
eye.
“Thou mayest rely upon my silence, but I am amazed. Tell me how didst
thou come to be a slave?”
Sharru Nada shrugged his shoulders, “Any man may find himself a slave.
It was a gaming house and barley beer that brought me disaster. I was the
victim of my brother’s indiscretions. In a brawl he killed his friend. I was
bonded to the widow by my father, desperate to keep my brother from being
prosecuted under the law. When my father could not raise the silver to free
me, she in anger sold me to the slave dealer.”
“What a shame and injustice!” Hadan Gula protested. “But tell me, how
didst thou regain freedom?”
“We shall come to that, but not yet. Let us continue my tale. As we
passed, the plowers jeered at us. One did doff his ragged hat and bow low,
calling out, ‘Welcome to Babylon, guests of the King. He waits for thee on
the city walls where the banquet is spread, mud bricks and onion soup.’ With
that they laughed uproariously.
“Pirate flew into a rage and cursed them roundly. ‘What do those men
mean by the King awaiting us on the walls?’ I asked him.
“‘To the city walls ye march to carry bricks until the back breaks.
Maybe they beat thee to death before it breaks. They won’t beat me. I’ll kill
‘em.’
“Then Megiddo spoke up, ‘It doesn’t make sense to me to talk of masters
beating willing, hard-working slaves to death. Masters like good slaves and
treat them well.’”
“‘Who wants to work hard?’ commented Zabado. ‘Those plowers are
wise fellows. They’re not breaking their backs. Just letting on as if they be.’
“‘Thou can’t get ahead by shirking,’ Megiddo protested. ‘If thou plow a
hectare, that’s a good day’s work and any master knows it. But when thou
plow only a half, that’s shirking. I don’t shirk. I like to work and I like to do
good work, for work is the best friend I’ve ever known. It has brought me all
the good things I’ve had, my farm and cows and crops, everything.’
“‘Yea, and where be these things now?’ scoffed Zabado. ‘I figure it pays
better to be smart and get by without working. You watch Zabado, if we’re
sold to the walls, he’ll be carrying the water bag or some easy job when
thou, who like to work, will be breaking thy back carrying bricks.’ He
laughed his silly laugh.
“Terror gripped me that night. I could not sleep. I crowded close to the
guard rope, and when the others slept, I attracted the attention of Godoso who
was doing the first guard watch. He was one of those brigand Arabs, the sort
of rogue who, if he robbed thee of thy purse, would think he must also cut thy
throat.
“‘Tell me, Godoso,’ I whispered, ‘when we get to Babylon will we be
sold to the walls?’
“’Why want to know?’ he questioned cautiously.
“‘Canst thou not understand?’ I pleaded. ‘I am young. I want to live. I
don’t want to be worked or beaten to death on the walls. Is there any chance
for me to get a good master?’
“He whispered back, ‘I tell something. Thou good fellow, give Godoso
no trouble. Most times we go first to slave market. Listen now. When buyers
come, tell ‘em you good worker, like to work hard for good master. Make
‘em want to buy. You not make ‘em buy, next day you carry brick. Mighty
hard work.’
“After he walked away, I lay in the warm sand, looking up at the stars
and thinking about work.
“What Megiddo had said about it being his best friend made me wonder
if it would be my best friend.
“Certainly it would be if it helped me out of this.
“When Megiddo awoke, I whispered my good news to him. It was our
one ray of hope as we marched toward Babylon. Late in the afternoon we
approached the walls and could see the lines of men, like black ants,
climbing up and down the steep diagonal paths. As we drew closer, we were
amazed at the thousands of men working; some were digging in the moat,
others mixed the dirt into mud bricks. The greatest number were carrying the
bricks in large baskets up those steep trails to the masons.*
“Overseers cursed the laggards and cracked bullock whips over the
backs of those who failed to keep in line. Poor, worn-out fellows were seen
to stagger and fall beneath their heavy baskets, unable to rise again. If the
lash failed to bring them to their feet, they were pushed to the side of the
paths and left writhing in agony. Soon they would be dragged down to join
other craven bodies beside the roadway to await un-sanctified graves. As I
beheld the ghastly sight, I shuddered. So this was what awaited my father’s
son if he failed at the slave market.
“Godoso had been right. We were taken through the gates of the city to
the slave prison and next morning marched to the pens in the market. Here the
rest of the men huddled in fear and only the whips of our guard could keep
them moving so the buyers could examine them. Megiddo and myself eagerly
talked to every man who permitted us to address him.
“The slave dealer brought soldiers from the King’s Guard who shackled
Pirate and brutally beat him when he protested. As they led him away, I felt
sorry for him.
“Megiddo felt that we would soon part. When no buyers were near, he
talked to me earnestly to impress upon me how valuable work would be to
me in the future: ‘Some men hate it. They make it their enemy. Better to treat
it like a friend, make thyself like it. Don’t mind because it is hard. If thou
thinkest about what a good house thou build, then who cares if the beams are
heavy and it is far from the well to carry the water for the plaster. Promise
me, boy, if thou get a master, work for him as hard as thou canst. If he does
not appreciate all thou do, never mind. Remember, work, well-done, does
good to the man who does it. It makes him a better man.’ He stopped as a
burly farmer came to the enclosure and looked at us critically.
“Megiddo asked about his farm and crops, soon convincing him that he
would be a valuable man. After violent bargaining with the slave dealer, the
farmer drew a fat purse from beneath his robe, and soon Megiddo had
followed his new master out of sight.
“A few other men were sold during the morning. At noon Godoso
confided to me that the dealer was disgusted and would not stay over another
night but would take all who remained at sundown to the King’s buyer. I was
becoming desperate when a fat, good-natured man walked up to the wall and
inquired if there was a baker among us.
“I approached him saying, ‘Why should a good baker like thyself seek
another baker of inferior ways? Would it not be easier to teach a willing man
like myself thy skilled ways? Look at me, I am young, strong and like to
work. Give me a chance and I will do my best to earn gold and silver for thy
purse.’
“He was impressed by my willingness and began bargaining with the
dealer who had never noticed me since he had bought me but now waxed
eloquent on my abilities, good health and good disposition. I felt like a fat ox
being sold to a butcher. At last, much to my joy, the deal was closed. I
followed my new master away, thinking I was the luckiest man in Babylon.
“My new home was much to my liking. Nana-naid, my master, taught me
how to grind the barley in the stone bowl that stood in the courtyard, how to
build the fire in the oven and then how to grind very fine the sesame flour for
the honey cakes. I had a couch in the shed where his grain was stored. The
old slave housekeeper, Swasti, fed me well and was pleased at the way I
helped her with the heavy tasks.
“Here was the chance I had longed for to make myself valuable to my
master and, I hoped, to find a way to earn my freedom.
“I asked Nana-naid to show me how to knead the bread and to bake.
This he did, much pleased at my willingness. Later, when I could do this
well, I asked him to show me how to make the honey cakes, and soon I was
doing all the baking. My master was glad to be idle, but Swasti shook her
head in disapproval, ‘No work to do is bad for any man,’ she declared.
No work to do is bad for any man.
“I felt it was time for me to think of a way by which I might start to earn
coins to buy my freedom. As the baking was finished at noon, I thought Nananaid would approve if I found profitable employment for the afternoons and
might share my earnings with me. Then the thought came to me, why not bake
more of the honey cakes and peddle them to hungry men upon the streets of
the city?
“I presented my plan to Nana-naid this way: ‘If I can use my afternoons
after the baking is finished to earn for thee coins, would it be only fair for
thee to share my earnings with me that I might have money of my own to
spend for those things which every man desires and needs?
“‘Fair enough, fair enough,’ he admitted. When I told him of my plan to
peddle our honey cakes, he was well pleased. ‘Here is what we will do,’ he
suggested. ‘Thou sellest them at two for a penny, then half of the pennies will
be mine to pay for the flour and the honey and the wood to bake them. Of the
rest, I shall take half and thou shall keep half.’
“I was much pleased by his generous offer that I might keep for myself,
one fourth of my sales.
“That night I worked late to make a tray upon which to display them.
Nana-naid gave me one of his worn robes that I might look well, and Swasti
helped me patch it and wash it clean.
“The next day I baked an extra supply of honey cakes. They looked
brown and tempting upon the tray as I went along the street, loudly calling my
wares. At first no one seemed interested, and I became discouraged. I kept on
and later in the afternoon as men became hungry, the cakes began to sell and
soon my tray was empty.
“Nana-naid was well pleased with my success and gladly paid me my
share. I was delighted to own pennies. Megiddo had been right when he said
a master appreciated good work from his slaves.
“That night I was so excited over my success I could hardly sleep and
tried to figure how much I could earn in a year and how many years would be
required to buy my freedom.
“As I went forth with my tray of cakes every day, I soon found regular
customers. One of these was none other than thy grandfather, Arad Gula. He
was a rug merchant and sold to the housewives, going from one end of the
city to the other, accompanied by a donkey loaded high with rugs and a black
slave to tend it. He would buy two cakes for himself and two for his slave,
always tarrying to talk with me while they ate them.
“Thy grandfather said something to me one day that I shall always
remember. ‘I like thy cakes, boy, but better still I like the fine enterprise with
which thou offerest them. Such spirit can carry thee far on the road to
success.’
“But how canst thou understand, Hadan Gula, what such words of
encouragement could mean to a slave boy, lonesome in a great city, struggling
with all he had in him to find a way out of his humiliation?
“As the months went by I continued to add pennies to my purse. It began
to have a comforting weight upon my belt. Work was proving to be my best
friend Just as Megiddo had said. I was happy but Swasti was worried.
“‘Thy master, I fear to have him spend so much time at the gaming
houses,’ she protested.
“I was overjoyed one day to meet my friend Megiddo upon the street. He
was leading three donkeys loaded with vegetables to the market. ‘I am doing
mighty well,’ he said. ‘My master does appreciate my good work for now I
am a foreman. See, he does trust the marketing to me, and also he is sending
for my family. Work is helping me to recover from my great trouble. Some
day it will help me to buy my freedom and once more own a farm of my
own.’
“Time went on and Nana-naid became more and more anxious for me to
return from selling. He would be waiting when I returned and would eagerly
count and divide our money. He would also urge me to seek further markets
and increase my sales.
“Often I went outside the city gates to solicit the overseers of the slaves
building the walls. I hated to return to the disagreeable sights but found the
overseers liberal buyers. One day I was surprised to see Zabado waiting in
line to fill his basket with bricks. He was gaunt and bent, and his back was
covered with welts and sores from the whips of the overseers. I was sorry
for him and handed him a cake which he crushed into his mouth like a hungry
animal. Seeing the greedy look in his eyes, I ran before he could grab my
tray.
“‘Why dost thou work so hard?’ Arad Gula said to me one day. Almost
the same question thou asked of me today, dost thou remember? I told him
what Megiddo had said about work and how it was proving to be my best
friend. I showed him with pride my wallet of pennies and explained how I
was saving them to buy my freedom.
“‘When thou art free, what wilt thou do?’ he inquired.
“‘Then,’ I answered, ‘I intend to become a merchant.’
“‘At that, he confided in me. Something I had never suspected. ‘Thou
knowest not that I, also, am a slave. I am in partnership with my master.’
“Stop,” demanded Hadan Gula. ‘I will not listen to lies defaming my
grandfather. He was no slave.” His eyes blazed in anger.
Sharru Nada remained calm. “I honor him for rising above his
misfortune and becoming a leading citizen of Damascus. Art thou, his
grandson, cast of the same mold? Art thou man enough to face true facts, or
dost thou prefer to live under false illusions?”
Hadan Gula straightened in his saddle. In a voice suppressed with deep
emotion he replied, “My grandfather was beloved by all. Countless were his
good deeds. When the famine came did not his gold buy grain in Egypt and
did not his caravan bring it to Damascus and distribute it to the people so
none would starve? Now thou sayest he was but a despised slave in
Babylon.”
“Had he remained a slave in Babylon, then he might well have been
despised, but when, through his own efforts, he became a great man in
Damascus, the Gods indeed condoned his misfortunes and honored him with
their respect,” Sharru Nada replied.
“After telling me that he was a slave,” Sharru Nada continued, “he
explained how anxious he had been to earn his freedom. Now that he had
enough money to buy this he was much disturbed as to what he should do. He
was no longer making good sales and feared to leave the support of his
master.
“I protested his indecision: ‘Cling no longer to thy master. Get once
again the feeling of being a free man. Act like a free man and succeed like
one! Decide what thou desirest to accomplish and then work will aid thee to
achieve it!’ He went on his way saying he was glad I had shamed him for his
cowardice.*
“One day I went outside the gates again, and was surprised to find a
great crowd gathering there. When I asked a man for an explanation he
replied: ‘Hast thou not heard? An escaped slave who murdered one of the
King’s guards has been brought to justice and will this day be flogged to
death for his crime. Even the King himself is to be here.’
“So dense was the crowd about the flogging post, I feared to go near lest
my tray of honey cakes be upset. Therefore, I climbed up the unfinished wall
to see over the heads of the people. I was fortunate in having a view of
Nebuchadnezzar himself as he rode by in his golden chariot. Never had I
beheld such grandeur, such robes and hangings of gold cloth and velvet.
“I could not see the flogging though I could hear the shrieks of the poor
slave. I wandered how one so noble as our handsome King could endure to
see such suffering, yet when I saw he was laughing and joking with his
nobles, I knew he was cruel and understood why such inhuman tasks were
demanded of the slaves building the walls.
“After the slave was dead, his body was hung upon a pole by a rope
attached to his leg so all might see. As the crowd began to thin, I went close.
On the hairy chest, I saw tattooed, two entwined serpents. It was Pirate.
“The next time I met Arad Gula he was a changed man. Full of
enthusiasm he greeted me: ‘Behold, the slave thou knewest is now a free
man. There was magic in thy words. Already my sales and my profits are
increasing. My wife is overjoyed. She was a free woman, the niece of my
master. She much desires that we move to a strange city where no man shall
know I was once a slave. Thus our children shall be above reproach for their
father’s misfortune. Work has become my best helper. It has enabled me to
recapture my confidence and my skill to sell.’
“I was overjoyed that I had been able even in a small way, to repay him
for the encouragement he had given me.
“One evening Swasti came to me in deep distress: ‘Thy master is in
trouble. I fear for him.
‘Some months ago he lost much at the gaming tables. He pays not the
farmer for his grain nor his honey.
‘He pays not the money lender. They are angry and threaten him.’
“‘Why should we worry over his folly. We are not his keepers,’ I replied
thoughtlessly.
“‘Foolish youth, thou understandeth not. To the money lender didst he
give thy title to secure a loan. Under the law he can claim thee and sell thee. I
know not what to do. He is a good master. Why?
Oh why, should such trouble come upon him?’
“Not were Swasti’s fears groundless. While I was doing the baking next
morning, the money lender returned with a man he called Sasi. This man
looked me over and said I would do.
“The money lender waited not for my master to return but told Swasti to
tell him he had taken me. With only the robe on my back and the purse of
pennies hanging safely from my belt, I was hurried away from the unfinished
baking.
“I was whirled away from my dearest hopes as the hurricane snatches
the tree from the forest and casts it into the surging sea. Again a gaming house
and barley beer had caused me disaster.
“Sasi was a blunt, gruff man. As he led me across the city, I told him of
the good work I had been doing for Nana-naid and said I hoped to do good
work for him. His reply offered no encouragement:
‘I like not this work. My master likes it not. The King has told him to
send me to build a section of the Grand Canal. Master tells Sasi to buy more
slaves, work hard and finish quick. Bah, how can any man finish a big job
quick?’
“Picture a desert with not a tree, just low shrubs and a sun burning with
such fury the water in our barrels became so hot we could scarcely drink it.
Then picture rows of men, going down into the deep excavation and lugging
heavy baskets of dirt up soft, dusty trails from daylight until dark. Picture
food served in open troughs from which we helped ourselves like swine. We
had no tents, no straw for beds. That was the situation in which I found
myself. I buried my wallet in a marked spot, wondering if I would ever dig it
up again.
“At first I worked with good will, but as the months dragged on, I felt my
spirit breaking. Then the heat fever took hold of my weary body. I lost my
appetite and could scarcely eat the mutton and vegetables. At night I would
toss in unhappy wakefulness.
“In my misery, I wondered if Zabado had not the best plan, to shirk and
keep his back from being broken in work. Then I recalled my last sight of him
and knew his plan was not good.
“I thought of Pirate with his bitterness and wondered if it might be just
as well to fight and kill. The memory of his bleeding body reminded me that
his plan was also useless.
“Then I remembered my last sight of Megiddo. His hands were deeply
calloused from hard work but his heart was light and there was happiness on
his face. His was the best plan.
“Yet I was just as willing to work as Megiddo; he could not have
worked harder than I. Why did not my work bring me happiness and success?
Was it work that brought Megiddo happiness, or was happiness and success
merely in the laps of the Gods? Was I to work the rest of my life without
gaining my desires, without happiness and success? All of these questions
were jumbled in my mind and I had not an answer. Indeed, I was sorely
confused.
“Several days later when it seemed that I was at the end of my endurance
and my questions still unanswered, Sasi sent for me. A messenger had come
from my master to take me back to Babylon. I dug up my precious wallet,
wrapped myself in the tattered remnants of my robe and was on my way.
“As we rode, the same thoughts of a hurricane whirling me hither and
thither kept racing through my feverish brain. I seemed to be living the weird
words of a chant from my native town of Harroun:
Besetting a man like a whirlwind,
Driving him like a storm,
Whose course no one can foliate,
Whose destiny no one can foretell.
“Was I destined to be ever thus punished for I knew not what? What new
miseries and disappointments awaited me?
“When we rode to the courtyard of my master’s house, imagine my
surprise when I saw Arad Gula awaiting me. He helped me down and hugged
me like a long lost brother.
“As we went our way I would have followed him as a slave should
follow his master, but he would not permit me. He put his arm about me,
saying, ‘I hunted everywhere for thee. When I had almost given up hope, I did
meet Swasti who told me of the money lender, who directed me to thy noble
owner. A hard bargain he did drive and made me pay an outrageous price,
but thou art worth it.
Thy philosophy and thy enterprise have been my inspiration to this new
success.”
“‘Megiddo’s philosophy, not mine,’ I interrupted.
“‘Megiddo’s and thine. Thanks to thee both, we are going to Damascus
and I need thee for my partner.
“‘See,’ he exclaimed, ‘in one moment thou will be a free man!’ So
saying he drew from beneath his robe the clay tablet carrying my title. This
he raised above his head and hurled it to break in a hundred pieces upon the
cobble stones. With glee he stamped upon the fragments until they were but
dust.
“Tears of gratitude filled my eyes. I knew I was the luckiest man in
Babylon.
“Work, thou see, by this, in the time of my greatest distress, didst prove
to be my best friend.
“My willingness to work enabled me to escape from being sold to join
the slave gangs upon the walls. It also so impressed thy grandfather, he
selected me for his partner.”
Then Hadan Gula questioned, “Was work my grandfather’s secret key to
the golden shekels?”
“It was the only key he had when I first knew him,” Sharru Nada replied.
“Thy grandfather enjoyed working. The Gods appreciated his efforts and
rewarded him liberally.”
“I begin to see,” Hadan Gula was speaking thoughtfully. “Work attracted
his many friends who admired his industry and the success it brought. Work
brought him the honors he enjoyed so much in Damascus. Work brought him
all those things I have approved. And I thought work was fit only for slaves.”
“Life is rich with many pleasures for men to enjoy,” Sharru Nada
commented.
“Each has its place. I am glad that work is not reserved for slaves. Were
that the case I would be deprived of my greatest pleasure. Many things do I
enjoy but nothing takes the place of work.”
Sharru Nada and Hadan Gula rode in the shadows of the towering walls
up to the massive, bronze gates of Babylon. At their approach the gate guards
jumped to attention and respectfully saluted an honored citizen. With head
held high Sharru Nada led the long caravan through the gates and up the
streets of the city.
“I have always hoped to be a man like my grandfather,” Hadan Gula
confided to him. “Never before did I realize just what kind of man he was.
This thou hast shown me. Now that I understand, I do admire him all the more
and feel more determined to be like him. I fear I can never repay thee for
giving me the true key to his success. From this day forth, I shall use his key. I
shall start humbly as he started, which befits my true station far better than
jewels and fine robes.”
So saying Hadan Gula pulled the jeweled baubles from his ears and the
rings from his fingers. Then reining his horse, He dropped back and rode
with deep respect behind the leader of the caravan.
*
The famous works of ancient Babylon, its walls, temples, hanging gardens and great canals, were
built by slave labor, mainly prisoners of war, which explain the inhuman treatment they received. This
force of workmen also included many citizens of Babylon and its provinces who had been sold into
slavery because of crimes or financial troubles. It was a common custom for men to put themselves,
their wives or their children up as a bond to guarantee payment of loans, legal judgments or other
obligations. In case of default, those so bonded were sold into slavery.
*
Slave customs in ancient Babylon, though they may seem inconsistent to us, were strictly regulated
by law. For example, a slave could own property of any kind, even other slaves upon which his master
had no claim. Slaves intermarried freely with non-slaves. Children of free mothers were free. Most of
the city merchants were slaves. Many of these were in partnership with their masters and wealthy in
their own right.
Appendix A
Debts Are Enemies
By Mitch Horowitz
In a vital and often overlooked point, George S. Clason wrote that you must
dedicate twice the sum of your regular savings—your ten-percent minimum—
to paying down debt. I set aside ten percent and endeavor to pay down debt
at twenty percent. Indeed, Clason urges that you do everything you can, both
financially and as a matter of personal and ethical resolve, to get debt-free.
There is a dimension of psychological wellness and self-respect to reducing
debt. In The Richest Man in Babylon one character tells another:
Does not thy great king fight his enemies in every way he can and with every force he has?
Thy debts are thy enemies. They ran thee out of Babylon. You left them alone and they grew
too strong for thee. Hadst fought them as a man, thou couldst have conquered them and been
one honored among the townspeople. But thou had not the soul to fight them and behold thy
pride hast gone down until thou are a slave in Syria.
The character being spoken to does return to Babylon with steely
resolve to clear his name and pay down his debt at which he finally
succeeds. As noted, Clason believed that a significant dimension of morale
and self-respect are required to sustain the determination to pay down debt. I
have personally found this true.
I hardly need to tell you about the dangers of revolving debt on credit
cards, which generally carry yearly interest rates of more than twenty
percent. (Cash advances are even higher—avoid them like exposed electrical
wires other than in an emergency.) The compound effects can be staggering.
Billionaire Mark Cuban was once asked for his core financial advice for
everyday people. Don’t use credit cards, he said.
For a billionaire such advice seems plain—and I honor it. But I also
know the real-world pressures that lead to debt, including high-interest
credit-card debt. The fact is: at some point in life nearly all of us are going to
use credit cards to purchase things we need, either medical, educational, or
work-related. In such cases, you can attempt to take out a low-interest loan to
consolidate and pay off debt. Some banks even offer such loans on the
remaining balance of your card—but be wary: while these loans may carry a
fixed yearly interest rate as low as 8.99 percent (less than half your average
credit-card rate) they often come with a high monthly repayment schedule.
Taking them on is the equivalent of a D-Day assault on your debt. Be ready
for it.
Credit cards or any kind of loans are poison when used to purchase
luxuries. A word of advice: always buy or lease a car one step below the
class that you can afford. A lawyer told me that he knows a client is
responsible when he or she drives a car below their tax bracket; that, he said,
is an infallible indicator of financial responsibility. In terms of personal
accoutrements, it is far better to pay cash for one or two quality items, such
as a Schott leather jacket or Chanel skirt, than a closetful of so-so items
purchased on credit. A friend who studied fashion in Paris told me that one
of her teachers would come to class each day wearing the same black Chanel
skirt. At first, she thought it was weird. Then she realized the teacher was
exemplifying a principle. In Rome, the best cabdrivers wear designer suits.
In many cases, it is the only suit they own. They always look great.
Fashion or consumer items aside, I want to revisit the question: what are
appropriate or necessary expenses? In that area I am again guided by the
1860 essay “Wealth” by Ralph Waldo Emerson. The Transcendentalist
philosopher declares, chin out, that the individual is “born to be rich.” And
by riches, Emerson means cold, hard cash. But he also identifies
accumulation of capital as befitting only the person who uses it to productive
ends. Emerson writes:
Every man is a consumer, and ought to be a producer. He fails to make his place good in the
world, unless he not only pays his debt, but also adds something to the common wealth. Nor
can he do justice to his genius, without making some larger demand on the world than a bare
subsistence. He is by constitution expensive, and needs to be rich.
Emerson concludes that only those purchases that expand your power
and abilities leave you any richer. Indeed, wealth that fails to accompany
expansion is thrown away. “Nor is the man enriched,” he writes, “in
repeating the old experiments of animal sensation.” Rather, you are enriched
when you increase your ability to earn, to do, and to grow. When you are
contemplating a purchase outside of basic needs ask: Is there a circuitry of
return on this item or am I just spending money on sensation? Wealth,
properly understood, is power—and power must be renewable. Bear that in
mind whenever you part with any of your resources, including your time.
In sum, Emerson’s advice is to spend in ways that increase your
capacity to earn. In today’s terms, that might mean investing in technology,
training, and tools of your profession, art, or trade. “The man who seeks to
learn more of his craft shall be richly rewarded,” Clason writes. Seen in that
light, anything that enhances your abilities is a worthy expense and, to me, a
legitimate reason to take on debt if properly managed and monitored.
Given that the Covid pandemic shook the finances of nearly every
household, I must add a special caveat. During periods of financial crisis, it
is vital to maintain liquidity. You must have cash on hand. In such cases, it is
advisable to cease paying down debt (other than managing legally minimum
payments) in order to sustain your cash access. Depending on the interest rate
of your debt, you may instead opt to suspend your ten-percent savings—yet
the ten percent set aside can be used for on-hand cash whereas debt
repayment does not necessarily translate to liquidity. In all realism, it is
sometimes necessary to break a rule in order to remain solvent during
periods of crisis. Break or suspend a rule only during periods of true
urgency.
Finally, I must say a word about a source of debt that Clason did not
address and that was not the same issue in his era as it is in ours: medical
costs and health insurance. Healthcare, prescriptions, and health insurance
present a grave financial difficulty, and often impossibility, for millions of
Americans. Political reforms may eventually control pharmaceutical prices,
create a public option, expand Medicare, or provide some other form of
affordable insurance (universal basic income, or UBI, coupled with price
controls, may accomplish this, too), and protect consumers dealing with
recalcitrant and misleading insurance companies. The last of these problems
could be helped by transparency laws that regulate and shine daylight on
arcane coding schemes insurers use to deny or delay coverage. Until reform
arrives, or if it ever does, my operative principle is that most health
insurance in America today is organized crime with a refrigerator magnet.
Hence, their “services”—which are based on a model of taking in as high a
premium as possible and paying out as few claims as possible—must be
approached with prudential thought and caution.
If you work in a corporate or union job and receive good health
insurance you are fortunate. Yet even those plans have gaps and lock you into
a group model where you have very little consumer choice. If you are an
independent worker, service worker, or contractor, the options become
thinner and more stressful. Most personal finance writers ignore or gloss
over this reality in their programs to wealth and solvency.
For example, starting in 2015 (and continuing through 2020) financial
journalists fell in love with writing about a Vermont janitor who died with $8
million in the bank, which he left to his local library and hospital. It sounds
like a great American parable: the “millionaire next door” makes good
through savings and thrift, and it’s all the more touching that the self-made
philanthropist was a laborer. But the news coverage omitted one crucial fact.
The man served in World War II—and there’s the answer: he had lifelong
healthcare through the Veterans Administration. That’s what made it all
possible. I know a cat sitter in Manhattan who has amassed a huge portfolio
through his Roth IRA. He’s a wonderful eccentric who lives cheaply in a
rent-controlled apartment, eschews digital culture, cable, cell service, eating
out, and most luxuries. He exists like an urban Thoreau. Like the janitor, he’s
also a millionaire. And like his counterpart, he is a veteran, in this case from
Vietnam. He receives lifelong VA coverage, which got him through a
harrowing illness.
If these thrifty men didn’t have VA coverage, all of the money that they
wisely invested would’ve been wiped out by a single health emergency,
chronic condition, or purchasing of their own insurance. It is that simple.
Few people who write on investment strategies or personal finance get it. We
need more working people in financial journalism who know what it means
to purchase insurance or otherwise cover health costs without a corporate or
family net.
For freelancers and contractors, I wish I had a magic bullet to offer, but I
do not. If you have children then you need insurance; it’s that simple. Some
states help close that gap. If you’re single, look carefully at the question of
health insurance. Most of the Affordable Care Act plans that are anywhere
near affordable are limited in coverage, may not include prescriptions,
dental, or eyecare, and come with high deductibles. You might consider
whether they are worth it. I wish that there existed catastrophic-care plans
that really hold down costs and allow you to plan for emergencies, but those
are difficult to find especially if you’re over 40.
All I am really trying to say is: if you are independently employed do
careful research (including into healthcare savings accounts), consider
whether or what coverage makes sense for you, and think flexibly about your
needs.
Appendix B
The 13 Rules of Good Luck
By Mitch Horowitz
All my life, I’ve been fascinated with the question of good luck. I believe that
what we call luck or fortuitous circumstance is not blind chance but rather a
network of causative factors, which can be identified and cultivated.
As the 1908 occult classic The Kybalion puts it: “Chance is merely a
term indicating cause existing but not recognized or perceived.” This is close
in nature to chaos theory, although the word complexity might be substituted
for chance.
In matters of luck, I suggest 13 basic rules:
1. Luck is learnable.
2. Good chemistry is powerfully lucky.
3. To be lucky you must be noticed.
4. Prepared minds win.
5. Sobriety is lucky.
6. Persistence beats odds. (This does not apply to gambling.)
7. Failure can be lucky.
8. No is not always the final answer.
9. Enthusiasm and pessimism are a fortuitous combination.
10. Humiliating people brings bad luck.
11. Recognizing others improves luck.
12. You must help “fate” find you.
13. Lucky people are decisive.
I briefly explore each:
1. LUCK IS LEARNABLE
A neurosurgeon at the University of Arizona College of Medicine told me
never to take notions of luck lightly: “I’ve seen many patients live or die on
an operating table based on what we call luck.”
Yet we have difficulty saying what luck really is. Good or bad luck
could be seen merely as an accident. Yet barring extreme exceptions, is
anything truly accidental when cause-and-effect are detectable behind every
event, even if only afterwards?
Obviously, no one can control myriad and vast factors behind every
occurrence. Yet I have observed that certain practices and habits regularly
improve good luck or put differently, sway circumstances. This is true even
when the recipient is unconscious of what is occurring.
A famous actor told my friend his key to success: “Determine the things
that make you lucky and then do more of them.” Implicit in his statement is
the belief that identifiable actions, habits, relationships, and environments
are, by their nature, lucky.
Talent and intellect matter; but I have observed, again and again, that
pivotal events in people’s lives, and sometimes the arc of their entire
adulthoods, result from the presence or absence of the practices and
disciplines considered here.
If followed, these practices place motivated people into the current of
destiny or flow of good luck.
2. CULTIVATE CHEMISTRY
The company you select plays a tremendous part not only in the values you
live by but also in the opportunities you experience.
Never take for granted the powers of relationship and collaboration.
Things we attribute to talent alone are, in reality, due to the intangible but
vital chemistry that arises from complementary efforts, well-balanced
weaknesses and strengths, personal affinities, and shared visions. It also
arises from being in the profit center of a particular business.
Good chemistry is good luck. Scan your life for it. When you find or
already have it, value and maintain it. Flee from the opposite.
3. GET NOTICED
You cannot profit from opportunities unless other people, including those of
influence, know who you are and what you are doing. This does not mean
becoming a slave to social media or a tiresome self-promoter. (Although I
must grudgingly note that a not-insignificant number of self-promoters do
meet with success.) Rather, you must honestly and plainly make clear to
others your actions and enthusiasms.
A friend who works in audio publishing once told me she was having
difficulty getting noticed at work. She realized that she had been concealing
her enthusiasm and dedication. This may have arisen from bad advice she
received years earlier. As she told it:
I don’t know why I haven’t been sharing my passion at work. It may be
because a manager once told me that the way to get ahead in corporate
publishing is to “keep your head down.” At the time, I thought that was good,
practical advice. It was not. It was a formula for mediocrity. And, most
importantly, it is not me.
My friend’s realization was right. Keeping your head down is feckless
and self-defeating. And it is poor ethics: many people who keep their heads
down never learn; they rarely take responsibility; and they make others carry
the load for them.
Getting noticed and taking responsibility are more likely, in the long run,
to place you in the stream of recognition and good luck. If you step up to take
responsibility there may be times when you get saddled with blame. And
there may be occasions where blame is unfairly pinned on you. But even this
can be a reminder of a lucky practice: taking credit when it is given.
I once sat in a meeting where a publicist was complimented for scoring
an important media hit. “I didn’t really do anything…,” he began to explain.
A top executive turned to him and whispered: “Take credit. You’ll get blame
when you don’t deserve it, too.”
4. PREPARED MINDS WIN
In 1854, the pioneering scientist and germ theorist Louis Pasteur (18221895) said in a lecture at the University of Lille in Northern France: “In the
fields of observation chance favors only the prepared mind.”
Preparation heightens all fortuitous chance factors around you; it ensures
that you’ll be in the proper mental state to notice, receive, and benefit from
opportunities.
You should know and be reasonably versed in every aspect of your field,
even as you focus on a niche or specialty within it. Be aware of current
technology and developments. Above all, be an absolute expert within your
area of focus. Practice your craft as a martial artist repeatedly runs a routine
to the point where it becomes part of his or her innate knowledge.
Motivational writer Dale Carnegie (1888-1955) began his career as a
teacher of public speaking. A former actor, Carnegie grasped that public
speaking was a vital skill for business success in the years following World
War I. When preparing for a talk or pitch, Carnegie observed that you should
amass so much material that you discard ninety percent of it when speaking.
The very fact of your preparation gives you the confidence and power to
speak without notes and to deliver a relaxing, enthusiastic, and freestyle
performance.
Carnegie’s formula is a recipe for good outcomes in all areas of life.
Ardent preparation makes you persuasive. Your actions are natural and
effortless. You can pivot. You gain childlike exuberance. And, as Pasteur
alluded, things have a way of reaching you that would otherwise go
undetected.
5. SOBRIETY IS LUCKY
A New York City prosecutor once told me: “If you want to avoid violence,
keep away from places where large amounts of alcohol are served.” He saw
a repeat connection between booze and accidents or violence. A majority of
cases that crossed his desk, he said, occurred at clubs, sporting events,
picnics, or parties where lots of alcohol was consumed.
I enjoy booze and weed and I am not puritanical on this question. But it
is self-evident that either going clean or taking an extended break improves
productivity, dependability, safety, and earning power.
Sometimes the simplest and most impactful thing that you can do to
heighten your abilities and avail yourself of opportunities is to get sober,
even if for a fixed time. The best part: it is among the few life choices
completely in your hands.
6. PERSISTENCE BEATS ODDS
I once knew a seasoned editor at one of New York’s largest publishing
houses. In truth, he was one of the least talented people I’ve ever met. His
every utterance seemed predicated on consensus opinion. He conceived of
(and often encumbered) book titles by stringing together lists of stock
phrases. His ideas centered on copycatting whatever worked somewhere
else.
Yet for years I witnessed him survive in a fairly competitive atmosphere.
Why? I believe the answer is persistence. If you stick with something long
enough and manage to avoid the swing of the thresher, you inevitably
experience runs of good luck. And bad luck—more on which in a moment.
In the case of this person, a few of the books he published were hits just
because of the odds of the wheel of life. Life is a continual ebb and flow.
Consider: If a mediocre person can benefit, or at least survive, through the
dice roll of chance imagine how much more a truly talented person stands
to gain by sticking with a task.
If persistence possesses some hidden power, it is this: runs of luck,
whether good or bad, always reverse. And in work situations people are far
likelier to recognize you for the good runs than the bad. One success can
outweigh several failures. That may be irrational but it is how many
workplaces function.
Hence, it behooves you to stick with things. Or at least those for which
you are well suited and personally enjoy. The wheel of fortune will
inevitably turn your way. And the gains you reap—especially as a prepared
person—outweigh what you lose when the opposite occurs.
7. FAILURE IS LUCKY
This isn’t some cute statement. I can think of numerous times when a seeming
failure proved lucky for either one of two reasons:
A. It protected me from a job, relationship, or course of action for which I
was unsuited or from an environment that may have been on the perch of
bad luck. I twice lost job bids and felt hurt—but the outcome was lucky.
One was at a political magazine whose celebrity editor soon died in a
tragic accident, plunging the publication into disorder and failure.
Another time it was to head a publishing house that had recently been
acquired by an inexperienced buyer who proceeded to gut and nearly
wreck the place.
B. Other times failures or setbacks lit a fire within me by highlighting my
own weaknesses and missteps, which drove me to more intelligent
striving and long-term realization of cherished aims. This again touches
on persistence.
Too much success, too soon, can be self-destructive. I witnessed a
talented author get catapulted to sudden notability. Perhaps unprepared,
flawed in some deeper way, or both, his success made him insufferable to
nearly everyone around him; he took advantage of his status; disrespected
people and commitments; and soon grew sufficiently self-satisfied so that his
work suffered. Struggle served him better than arrival.
Peaking at a young age, which is a different kind of success, can also
prove disadvantageous. In addition to issues of emotional preparation, this is
because your run of luck arrives early, almost inevitably reverses, and you
spend years ahead trying to regain past glories. At one point in my publishing
career, I noticed that nearly every writer I worked with who produced books
of depth and posterity was already in middle age. They worked all the harder
—and extended their runs of luck—because they never took success for
granted.
8. NO IS NOT ALWAYS FINAL
A businessman I admire was trying to reach a colleague to get together. But
the colleague ignored him or put him off. Finally, they did get together—and
connected well. My friend asked his formerly hesitant companion why he had
resisted meeting.
“Well,” the other man said, “you’re someone who has a reputation of not
taking no for an answer.” In other words, he considered my friend pushy and
wasn’t sure he wanted to meet.
My friend responded pensively: “You’re right. I don’t take no for an
answer. But it’s because conditions can change and then the answer changes.”
Always remember: Conditions can change and then the answer
changes.
This doesn’t mean being a pest or badgering people—much less sticking
around people who don’t appreciate or get you, which is distinctly unlucky. It
means keeping open lines of communication and maintaining sound
relationships so you can always reapproach someone.
Essayist Elbert Hubbard (1856-1915) wrote in his “Credo” in 1912: “I
believe that when I part with you I must do it in such a way that when you see
me again you will be glad—and so will I.”
Conditions in business and other facets of life change or reverse all the
time. If you have the capacity to reapproach people, and the presence of mind
to do so, you can benefit from those changes. Or as a music industry
executive once told me: “Be a pest, but be a nice pest.”
I know a successful movie producer who has a talent for not taking no.
He is unerringly friendly to nearly everyone. He offends no one and knows
when to back off—temporarily. Hence, he is always ready to revisit plans,
pitches, and opportunities.
When conditions shift in your favor, and someone replaces a no with a
yes, accept your good luck gladly—and never remind someone of his or her
previous refusals.
9. DO NOT CONFUSE ENTHUSIASM WITH
OPTIMISM
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) famously wrote in his 1841 essay
“Circles”: “Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.” Absent
enthusiasm, every task is menial. But never confuse enthusiasm with blind
optimism. Indeed, enthusiasm coupled with watchful wariness forms a potent
combination.
I know a lucky minority of people who continually check and recheck
their work. They do so well past the point where another person would stop.
When unexpected glitches occur—and they always occur—they catch them
before harm is done.
You will never regret giving in to that creeping feeling that something
may be off. Assuming the worst and rechecking or resaving work will, at one
time or another, rescue an important assignment, presentation, legal matter, or
exam. Luck favors the pessimistic enthusiast.
10. HUMILIATE NO ONE
When you insult or disrespect someone you will forget it a lot sooner than he
or she will. In fact, when you really humiliate someone—in a meeting, on
social media, or at an event—that person literally never forgets. Emotions
form memories.
And human nature holds that most people will, at an unexpected moment,
strike back if given the opportunity. Life has hidden tendrils of connection.
The same holds true in supposedly private emails or texts. Rid yourself
of the notion that anything is truly private. Confidential communications are
shared all the time. And all of us have had—or will have—the experience of
mistakenly hitting “reply all,” or copying the wrong party, maybe even the
party you’re talking about.
I know at least three people whose jobs were lost due to such innocent
errors. Before you hit send, ask yourself if you’ve written anything that
would embarrass or harm you if it got read in public. A boss once told her
staff never to include anything in an email that they wouldn’t want read aloud
in a court of law while sitting on the witness stand.
When you’re posting on social media, the temptation to be snarky and
sarcastic is omnipresent. People feel disinhibited by distance or anonymity.
Always remember that online comments are forever. Anonymity may afford
some protection but I have my doubts. And, believe me, when you insult
someone online that person remembers it—always. The injured party may
circle back at an unexpected moment.
An entrepreneur once told me, “When you have the opportunity to be a
smartass—don’t.” It could save your job and peace of mind. There are other
good reasons too, such as invisible shame and damage to self-respect.
11. RECOGNIZE OTHERS
Rather than merely avoiding offense, you should actively buildup people—
sincerely and when properly due. Get in the habit of thanking people and
recognizing their contribution to a project, and do so in cold, hard cash when
the occasion calls for it.
Saying thank you is not just a matter of courtesy and ethics, although it is
both. By recognizing other people, privately and publicly, you allow them to
feel that they benefit from your success and you give them a stake in its
continuance.
In 1896, philosopher William James (1842–1910) wrote in a letter to his
students: “The deepest principle of Human Nature is the craving to be
appreciated.” People hunger to be seen. Never underestimate the power of
simple recognition.
The opposite is also true. If you fail to recognize people, they won’t
necessarily hinder your work but they will feel apathy (if not antipathy)
toward your needs. I have been thanked innumerable times and truly
appreciated it. But, in full disclosure, I more keenly recall when I have not
been appropriately thanked. It is a fissure of human nature that we are more
likely to recall expectations unfulfilled than fulfilled. It might have to do with
some primal need for safety.
In any case, it should always be remembered that “invisible helpers”
appear based on whether we have thanked and recognized them. Recognizing
people is homage to the gods of luck.
In matters of money, you can and should additionally remunerate
valuable people. But even if you cannot, or have reasons for not doing so,
you can accrue similar benefit by paying them quickly. I cannot fully
emphasize the goodwill engendered when you pay a contractor, employee, or
helper quickly—preferably on completion of a task. That is how you pay a
barber or stylist. Why not a freelancer? Quick pay often means as much or
more than the fee itself.
I know a publisher who pays people by electronic transfer twenty-four
to forty-eight hours after delivery of a project. It breeds tremendous loyalty.
It is also good ethics. Speed is free. Its dividends are invaluable.
12. HELP “FATE” FIND YOU, OR SHOW UP
Are you reliable? A large part of what makes someone reliable is the simple
but vital act of showing up and doing so on time. You have no idea how fully
other people notice and judge you by this.
In today’s culture, people feel at ease bailing on commitments, whether
family, social or work-related, for nearly any reason. The need to run an
errand is not a sufficient excuse. Busyness is not a sufficient excuse (at least
usually). Nor is feeling a bit under-the-weather. We as a culture are, I
believe, too self-coddling. We deem things urgent that are merely passing. As
philosopher Jacob Needleman (1934–2022) told me: “The only real
emergency is a medical emergency.”
One night I was speaking with a group of successful photographers.
These were people who had distinguished themselves in the hard-knuckled
world of photojournalism. Many of them knew each other when they were
younger and working as interns at Time magazine in New York. As the night
went on, they started trading “war stories.” To laughter all around, one
recounted when he was tasked with bringing important film from news
coverage across town. On the way he got into a car accident, which wasn’t
grave but was serious enough so that an ambulance was called and
paramedics removed him from his car. Asked how he was feeling, he replied
in halting terms that he needed to get this film across town.
The group of photographers laughed at what seemed an absurd mismatch
of priorities. The speaker himself was good-natured about it and, since no
one was hurt, it was the kind of story that one could look back on and laugh.
But consider how few people demonstrate that kind of instinctive
dedication. (As it happens, the film did arrive.) Certainly, you could say that
it was going too far or that he displayed an unhealthy degree of one-
sidedness. But is that really so? Wouldn’t you want your surgeon, nurse,
pilot, or caregiver to demonstrate that kind of dedication? The example is
perhaps extreme but it highlights the character of those who distinguish
themselves.
Every photographer who sat in on our discussion had a similar attitude
or story.
13. ACT QUICKLY
“Time dissipates energy,” a powerful agent once told me. When presented
with a good chance—move on it. Slowness dampens or negates
opportunities.
Quick and decisive action should not be confused with impulsiveness. If
you are following all of the rules laid out here you will not fall victim to
blind impulse. You will have sufficient information about yourself and your
surroundings so that you can act intelligently and quickly when the wheel of
fortune stops where you are standing.
Intuition arises from amassing and storing a huge amount of information
so that when chance arrives the prepared person has “data banks” on which
to rely.
Jacob Needleman once asked me: “What do you do when someone
offers you a gift?” I looked at him blankly. “You accept it!” he replied. When
something good comes your way—an offer, a job, an opportunity—do not
dither.
And if it’s the wrong opportunity, handle it with a quick and courteous
refusal. But the unluckiest thing you can do is demonstrate half-heartedness,
delay, or silence. No worthy employer or backer respects that. He or she
wants to know that your dedication matches their own. When chance arrives,
act.
In closing, I offer 13 Aphorisms of Good Luck:
1. Good luck is not a happy accident. It is more often a selection of
habits and techniques that can be cultivated to maximize desirable
events that enter your life.
2. Watch for fruitful collaborations. Valuable chemistry is irreplaceable.
In areas of your life where it already exists, honor, cultivate, and
maintain it. Good chemistry is at the root of good luck. The opposite
is also true.
3. Luck reaches those who are seen. Act with dignity and decorum but
ensure that people are aware of your work, passions, and
contributions.
4. Luck favors the prepared mind. You can seize chances only when you
detect them. The prepared eye notices things no one else does.
5. The decision to quit drinking and drugs—even if for a fixed time—is
one of the most powerful you can make. Sobriety increases your
effectiveness, output, and opportunities. It is one of the few decisions
placed wholly in your hands.
6. Runs of luck always reverse. A fertile period replaces a fallow one.
And back again. In workplaces, successes are often remembered more
than failures. Hence, persistence beats odds. (This is not true in
games of chance.)
7. Failure or setback may rescue you from contact with the wrong people
and circumstances. It can also rouse your urge toward selfrefinement.
8. “Conditions can change and then the answer changes.” Watch for
chances to revisit missed possibilities—and keep your relational
ledger clean so that you can revisit them.
9. Never confuse enthusiasm with optimism. Check and recheck your
work. Mishaps will be averted. Entire projects are saved by
pessimistic enthusiasm.
10. Any time you humiliate someone you run the risk of laying a hidden
timebomb. People rarely forget and sometimes avenge humiliations.
(Plus, it’s better not to be a dick.)
11. Thanking and recognizing people—publicly, privately, and sometimes
financially—helps them feel a shared stake in your project. They may
assist you at subtle and important moments. Neglecting this invites
others to feel apathy (if not antipathy) toward your efforts.
12. Luck shines only on those it can reach. Show up. Keep commitments.
Be in the flow of life.
13. Opportunities dissipate. When they arrive, act quickly and decisively.
If you are prepared, this isn’t impulsivity. Decisiveness is lucky.
About the Author
Born in Missouri in 1874, GEORGE S. CLASON attended the University of
Nebraska and served in the U.S. Army during the Spanish-American War.
Soon after the war he founded the Clason Map Company of Denver,
Colorado, where he published the first road atlas of the U.S. and Canada. In
1926, Clason began issuing a series of pamphlets on personal finance using
fictionalized parables set in ancient Babylon. Banks and insurance
companies distributed his pamphlets free to clients and customers, and in
1930 Clason collected and published them in book form, where they became
famous as The Richest Man in Babylon. Clason died in Napa, California, in
1957.
The Science of Getting Rich
Wallace D. Wattles
Contents
Introduction:
The Green Doorknob By Mitch Horowitz
Preface
Chapter 1
The Right to be Rich
Chapter 2
There is a Science of Getting Rich
Chapter 3
Is Opportunity Monopolized?
Chapter 4
The First Principle in the Science of Getting Rich
Chapter 5
Increasing Life
Chapter 6
How Riches Come to You
Chapter 7
Gratitude
Chapter 8
Thinking in a Certain Way
Chapter 9
How to Use the Will
Chapter 10
Further Use of the Will
Chapter 11
Acting in the Certain Way
Chapter 12
Efficient Action
Chapter 13
Getting into the Right Business
Chapter 14
The Impression of Increase
Chapter 15
The Advancing Man
Chapter 16
Some Cautions, and Concluding Observations
Chapter 17
Summary of the Science of Getting Rich
About the Author
Introduction
The Green Doorknob
By Mitch Horowitz
I want to open this Maple Spring edition of The Science of Getting Rich on a
very personal note. The day I began preparing my introduction and
annotations to this volume, I randomly came across notes I had made about an
intriguing dream from December 23, 2017. I rarely write down my dreams
and I had long forgotten this one. The fact that I recorded it spoke to how
deeply the dream struck me then—as its unexpected recollection does now.
In the dream, I encountered a deceased and beloved spiritual teacher of
mine: a powerful, temperamental man with a razor-sharp intellect. He
assigned me a certain task, which seemed easy enough. What follows are my
notes exactly as I wrote them:
But then he gave me another, more difficult task involving painting a DOORKNOB GREEN.
Stores with supplies were spotted but were closing, one then another. It would be difficult. I
took this to mean perseverance in my aim, and green being money.
The truth is: almost no vocation in life proves satisfying unless it is
healthfully remunerative. We qualify and flee from that truth, but it catches up
with us. Wallace D. Wattles affirms this tough verity over and over in these
pages. If you’re like me, you probably require little convincing. Although life
invariably places many demands on us, the attainment of money is a constant.
Unless you were born affluent, money is likely on your mind every day.
Wattles, a man of deep ethical passion and broad-ranging social and spiritual
vision, dedicated his book to attainment—and provided metaphysical keys
that had worked for him. In presenting his keys, Wattles offered a complete
philosophy of life.
There is a conflict today in New Thought, or positive-mind, culture. Some
seekers want a New Thought that emphasizes personal advancement and
ambition. Others believe that New Thought should focus on some conception
of social justice—they consider emphasizing money as gauche, unspiritual,
or selfish. Wattles’ 1910 classic points the way out of this conflict. The
author demonstrates how these two priorities are actually one and the same.
A Quaker, social reformer, and early theorist of positive-mind
metaphysics, the Indiana seeker believed that the true aim of enrichment is
not accumulation of personal resources alone but establishment of a more
equitable world of common abundance and possibility. Wattles felt that
combining mind-power mechanics with dedication to self-improvement and
creativity above sharp-elbowed competition, makes you part of an
interlinking chain that leads to a more thriving culture.
His slender guidebook The Science of Getting Rich remained obscure
among mainstream readers until about 2007. At that time, word spread that
The Science of Getting Rich was a source behind Rhonda Byrne’s The
Secret. The Science of Getting Rich began to hit bestseller lists nearly a
century after the author’s death in 1911. I published a paperback edition that
reached number-one on the Bloomberg Businessweek bestseller list. My
audio condensation later hit number-two on iTunes.
What many of Wattles’ new fans missed, however, was his dedication to
the ethic of cooperative advancement and his belief that competition itself is
an outmoded idea, soon to be supplanted by the causative faculties of the
mind. Once unlocked, he taught, these greater abilities will grant working
people the secrets to a life of affluence for themselves and others.
Wattles was born in 1860 on an Illinois family farm, where he was still
laboring at age 19 in the rural Nunda Township. By the time he emerged as a
New Thought leader, the seeker had already been forced to resign from his
Methodist pulpit in North Judson, Indiana, in 1900. He had gone too far in his
social radicalism, at one point insisting that churches should refuse monetary
offerings from businessmen who profited off sweatshop labor. Soon after, he
announced his departure from Methodism and grew active in the more liberal
environs of Quakerism.
Wattles gained allies in mind-power circles—particularly his
trailblazing publisher Elizabeth Towne (1865–1960), a Massachusetts
suffragette who ran his work in her New Thought journal Nautilus. Towne
began the magazine in 1898 as a single mother with two children to support.
Her marriage—which began when she dropped out of school at age 14—
finally ended in divorce in 1900. Relying on temporary financial backing
from her father of $30 a month for six months, Towne built Nautilus into a
relative powerhouse of up to 90,000 monthly subscribers with some of her
own books surpassing sales of 100,000 copies. Towne ran the journal until
age 88 in 1953, making it one of the longest-running spiritual magazines in
American history. Her career played out in the political arena, as well. In
1926, Towne was elected the first female alderman in Holyoke,
Massachusetts. Two years later she mounted an unsuccessful independent bid
for mayor. Towne and her second husband, William, were also active in
Theodore Roosevelt’s 1912 Progressive Party campaign for president.
Wattles himself made three upstart bids for public office, each time on
the ticket of the Socialist Party of America of Eugene V. Debs, to whom he
pays tribute in his 1911 book The Science of Being Great. In Indiana, Wattles
first campaigned for Congress in the Eighth Congressional District in 1908.
After distantly trailing, he ran the following year for mayor of his hometown
of Elwood, where he ran a surprisingly close second. Finally, in 1910 he ran
for Prosecuting Attorney for Madison County, Indiana, coming in third.
During his 1909 mayoral campaign, the delicate-framed man stood before
1,300 striking workers during a heated showdown at a local tin mill and
pledged them his support.
Rather than a narrowly conceived iteration of the prosperity gospel, The
Science of Getting Rich is, in fact, a guidebook to personal utopia, where
state and corporate dinosaurs are predicted to wither away, replaced by a
cooperative system of personal wealth and beneficent anarchy. By “thinking
in a Certain Way,” the author taught, you can at once personally succeed and
overthrow the old social order. Wattles wrote:
You are to become a creator, not a competitor; you are going to get what you want, but in such
a way that when you get it every other man will have more than he has now.
I am aware that there are men who get a vast amount of money by proceeding in direct
opposition to the statements in the paragraph above, and may add a word of explanation here.
Men of the plutocratic type, who become very rich, do so sometimes purely by their
extraordinary ability on the plane of competition.… Rockefeller, Carnegie, Morgan, et al., have
been the unconscious agents of the Supreme in the necessary work of systematizing and
organizing productive industry; and in the end, their work will contribute immensely toward
increased life for all. Their day is nearly over; they have organized production, and will soon
be succeeded by the agents of the multitude, who will organize the machinery of
distribution.
If Wattles’ more careful readers detected a tinge of socialist language,
they were right. The author saw New Thought as a means to the kind of
leisurely socialist utopia that had enthralled legions of readers of Edward
Bellamy’s Victorian-era futuristic novel, Looking Backward. Within Wattles
there existed a struggle to unite two mighty currents that were sweeping early
twentieth century America: social radicalism and mind-power mysticism.
Was Wattles’ century-old vision of New Thought and social reform really so
utopian? We live in an age of remarkable new discoveries of the mind’s
power: physicians have performed successful placebo surgeries and
demonstrated the placebo response in weight loss as well as in instances
where placebos are transparently administered; in the field called
neuroplasticity, brain scans reveal that the brain’s neural pathways are
actually “rewired” by thought patterns—a biological act of mind over matter;
quantum physics experiments pose extraordinary questions about causality
between thought and object, with implications extending to the perceptual
basis of reality itself; and academic ESP research repeatedly demonstrates
the nonphysical conveyance of data across boundaries of time, space, and
mass in laboratory settings. Wattles’ mission was to ask whether these
extraordinary possibilities, which were only hinted at in the science of his
day, can be applied and experimented with on the material and social scales
of life.
Wattles did not live long enough to see his book’s influence. Less than a
year after it appeared, he died of tuberculosis in 1911 at age fifty while
traveling to Ruskin, Tennessee, which had been home to the Ruskin
Commonwealth Association, a socialist commune from 1894 to 1901. But
Wattles’ calm certainty and confident yet gentle tone as a writer suggest that
he understood the portent of what he was conveying. In addition to his
numerous books and articles on mind metaphysics, Wattles left behind a sole
novel published in 1910, Hell-Fire Harrison, about the adventures of an
independent-minded American tobacco farmer and congressman in lateeighteenth century England.
Like every great thinker, Wattles left us not with a doctrine but rather
with articles of experimentation. The finest thing you can do to honor the
memory of this good man—and to advance your own place in life—is to
heed his advice: experiment with the capacities of your mind. Try. And if you
experience results, as I think you will, do what he did: share what you found.
This volume of The Science of Getting Rich is reproduced from one of the
earliest extant editions published by Elizabeth Towne on April 1, 1910, in
Holyoke, Massachusetts. It includes all of the author’s original passages and
word choices, capitalizations and italics. Hence, you are encountering a
definitive edition as Wattles originally produced it. My Afternotes, which
include exercises and ideas to work with, follow each chapter, with the
exception of the preface and summary.
Mitch Horowitz is a PEN Award-winning historian whose books include
Occult America, One Simple Idea, The Miracle Club, Daydream Believer,
Uncertain Places, and Modern Occultism.
Preface
This book is pragmatical, not philosophical; a practical manual, not a treatise
upon theories. It is intended for the men and women whose most pressing
need is for money; who wish to get rich first, and philosophize afterward. It
is for those who have, so far, found neither the time, the means, nor the
opportunity to go deeply into the study of metaphysics, but who want results
and who are willing to take the conclusions of science as a basis for action,
without going into all the processes by which those conclusions were
reached.
It is expected that the reader will take the fundamental statements upon
faith, just as he would take statements concerning a law of electrical action if
they were promulgated by a Marconi or an Edison; and, taking the statements
upon faith, that he will prove their truth by acting upon them without fear or
hesitation. Every man or woman who does this will certainly get rich; for the
science herein applied is an exact science, and failure is impossible. For the
benefit, however, of those who wish to investigate philosophical theories and
so secure a logical basis for faith, I will here cite certain authorities.
The monistic theory of the universe—the theory that One is All, and that
All is One; that one Substance manifests itself as the seeming many elements
of the material world—is of Hindu origin, and has been gradually winning its
way into the thought of the western world for two hundred years. It is the
foundation of all the Oriental philosophies, and of those of Descartes,
Spinoza, Leibnitz, Schopenhauer, Hegel, and Emerson.
The reader who would dig to the philosophical foundations is advised to
read Hegel and Emerson; and he will do well to read “The Eternal News,” a
very excellent pamphlet published by J. J. Brown, 300 Cathcart Road,
Govanhill, Glasgow, Scotland. He may also find some help in a series of
articles written by the author, which were published in Nautilus (Holyoke,
Mass.) during the spring and summer of 1909, under the title “What is
Truth?”
In writing this book I have sacrificed all other considerations to
plainness and simplicity of style, so that all might understand. The plan of
action laid down herein was deduced from the conclusions of philosophy; it
has been thoroughly tested, and bears the supreme test of practical
experiment; it works. If you wish to know how the conclusions were arrived
at, read the writings of the authors mentioned above; and if you wish to reap
the fruits of their philosophies in actual practice, read this book and do
exactly as it tells you to do.
THE AUTHOR.
Chapter 1
The Right to be Rich
Whatever may be said in praise of poverty, the fact remains that it is not
possible to live a really complete or successful life unless one is rich. No
man can rise to his greatest possible height in talent or soul development
unless he has plenty of money; for to unfold the soul and to develop talent he
must have many things to use, and he cannot have these things unless he has
money to buy them with.
Man develops in mind, soul, and body by making use of things, and
society is so organized that man must have money in order to become the
possessor of things; therefore, the basis of all advancement for man must be
the science of getting rich.
The object of all life is development; and everything that lives has an
inalienable right to all the development it is capable of attaining.
Man’s right to life means his right to have the free and unrestricted use of
all the things which may be necessary to his fullest mental, spiritual, and
physical unfoldment; or, in other words, his right to be rich.
The object of all life is development; and everything that lives
has an inalienable right to all the development it is capable of
attaining.
In this book, I shall not speak of riches in a figurative way; to be really
rich does not mean to be satisfied or contented with a little. No man ought to
be satisfied with a little if he is capable of using and enjoying more. The
purpose of Nature is the advancement and unfoldment of life; and every man
should have all that can contribute to the power, elegance, beauty, and
richness of life; to be content with less is sinful.
The man who owns all he wants for the living of all the life he is
capable of living is rich; and no man who has not plenty of money can have
all he wants. Life has advanced so far, and become so complex, that even the
most ordinary man or woman requires a great amount of wealth in order to
live in a manner that even approaches completeness. Every person naturally
wants to become all that he is capable of becoming; this desire to realize
innate possibilities is inherent in human nature; we cannot help wanting to be
all that we can be. Success in life is becoming what you want to be; you can
become what you want to be only by making use of things, and you can have
the free use of things only as you become rich enough to buy them. To
understand the science of getting rich is therefore the most essential of all
knowledge.
There is nothing wrong in wanting to get rich. The desire for riches is
really the desire for a richer, fuller, and more abundant life; and that desire is
praiseworthy. The man who does not desire to live more abundantly is
abnormal, and so the man who does not desire to have money enough to buy
all he wants is abnormal.
There is nothing wrong in wanting to get rich. The desire for
riches is really the desire for a richer, fuller, and more
abundant life; and that desire is praiseworthy.
There are three motives for which we live; we live for the body, we live
for the mind, and we live for the soul. No one of these is better or holier than
the other; all are alike desirable, and no one of the three—body, mind, or
soul—can live fully if either of the others is cut short of full life and
expression. It is not right or noble to live only for the soul and deny mind or
body; and it is wrong to live for the intellect and deny body and soul.
We are all acquainted with the loathsome consequences of living for the
body and denying both mind and soul; and we see that real life means the
complete expression of all that man can give forth through body, mind, and
soul. Whatever he may say, no man can be really happy or satisfied unless his
body is living fully in every function, and unless the same is true of his mind
and his soul. Wherever there is unexpressed possibility, or function not
performed, there is unsatisfied desire. Desire is possibility seeking
expression, or function seeking performance.
Man cannot live fully in body without good food, comfortable clothing,
and warm shelter; and without freedom from excessive toil. Rest and
recreation are also necessary to his physical life.
Desire is possibility seeking expression.
He cannot live fully in mind without books and time to study them,
without opportunity for travel and observation, or without intellectual
companionship.
To live fully in mind he must have intellectual recreations, and must
surround himself with all the objects of art and beauty he is capable of using
and appreciating.
To live fully in soul, man must have love; and love is denied expression
by poverty.
Man’s highest happiness is found in the bestowal of benefits on those he
loves; love finds its most natural and spontaneous expression in giving. The
man who has nothing to give cannot fill his place as a husband or father, as a
citizen, or as a man. It is in the use of material things that man finds full life
for his body, develops his mind, and unfolds his soul. It is therefore of
supreme importance to him that he should be rich.
Man’s highest happiness is found in the bestowal of benefits on
those he loves.
It is perfectly right that you should desire to be rich; if you are a normal
man or woman you cannot help doing so. It is perfectly right that you should
give your best attention to the Science of Getting Rich, for it is the noblest
and most necessary of all studies. If you neglect this study, you are derelict in
your duty to yourself, to God, and to humanity; for you can render God and
humanity no greater service than to make the most of yourself.
Afternote
Wattles is refreshingly blunt about his aims and attitudes in his opening
chapter. Hence, it behooves you to be equally blunt with yourself. With
complete privacy and unembarrassed frankness ask yourself how you
feel about money.
If you’re like me you may be surprised to discover unexplored or
mixed feelings. I once vacationed in the Central American nation of
Belize, a beautiful, lush landscape of rolling hills, deep jungle forests,
and winding rivers. The rustic areas of Belize abound with legends,
wildlife, and a rich and remarkable culture. We spent the first half of
our vacation at an eco-lodge tucked away on a river up in the highlands.
Our days were given to canoeing and walking in nature.
For the second half of our trip, we stayed at a more traditional
beach resort off one of the nation’s barrier islands. When we arrived, I
experienced a bit of culture shock: Gone were the dreadlocked guests
and funky atmosphere of the eco-resort in exchange for the more
manicured and Volvo-driving environs of the beach hotel. I could feel
judgment welling up inside me about the more “establishment” nature of
the beach hotel.
And then it hit me: there was no price difference between the two
places, but I was reacting against the “scene” of the second, as if a more
obviously luxuriant setting was somehow less authentic and real. It
struck me that since childhood I had harbored the unspoken notion that
somehow money was compromising of street-level cred or artistic or
cultural integrity. I equated “being real” with a grittier-seeming life,
although the eco-lodge was, in its way, every bit as commercialized as
the more standard beach resort.
I realized that this attitude was not only a needless bit of cultural
conditioning, but it was—in subtle but still real ways—restraining my
attentiveness and impulses toward earning money. I was, in an unspoken
manner, placing money on the backburner of life.
“There is nothing wrong in wanting to get rich,” Wattles writes.
“The desire for riches is really the desire for a richer, fuller, and more
abundant life; and that desire is praiseworthy.” He is right. Money pays
for education, travel, home life, and for this book itself. Not everyone
with money does good in the world, but generally speaking you can do
greater good with money than without it. I don’t know a single artist,
activist, soldier, or working person who does not believe this.
Wattles understood that life stands on three pillars: “There are three
motives for which we live; we live for the body, we live for the mind,
we live for the soul. No one of these is better or holier than the other.”
Indeed, he notes that desire itself is potential awaiting formation;
desire drives you forward: “Wherever there is unexpressed possibility,
or function not performed, there is unsatisfied desire. Desire is
possibility seeking expression … It is in the use of material things that a
man finds full life for his body, develops his mind, and unfolds his soul.
It is therefore of supreme importance to him that he should be rich.”
Hence, if you began this book with an unfulfilled yearning—or even
with a sense of gnawing anxiety over your finances—do not be
depressed or disappointed. The very urgency that you feel is what
brought you here—and will, I aver, deliver you to more constructive
possibilities.
That success may arrive slowly or suddenly; it may be direct or
indirect; it may reach you according to your mind’s-eye image or may
arrive in completely different and unexpected ways. But I believe that
the very needs that drove you to this program, and to the work of this
good and foresightful man, are your engine of progress.
Nothing is possible without some sense of dissatisfaction with your
present state—so neither fight nor fear it but use it.
“Desire is a manifestation of power,” Wattles writes. “The desire
to play music is the power which can play music seeking expression and
development; the desire to invent mechanical devices is the mechanical
talent seeking expression and development.”
Do you want to be rich? By “rich” I mean having enough money to
secure your own needs and wishes, and those of the people you love. If
you can search your psyche and answer yes—and never turn back—you
are, by Wattles’ lights, poised on the threshold of exactly what you need.
—MH
Chapter 2
There is a Science of Getting Rich
There is a Science of getting rich, and it is an exact science, like algebra or
arithmetic. There are certain laws which govern the process of acquiring
riches; once these laws are learned and obeyed by any man, he will get rich
with mathematical certainty.
The ownership of money and property comes as a result of doing things
in a certain way; those who do things in this Certain Way, whether on
purpose or accidentally, get rich; while those who do not do things in this
Certain Way, no matter how hard they work or how able they are, remain
poor.
It is a natural law that like causes always produce like effects; and,
therefore, any man or woman who learns to do things in this Certain Way will
infallibly get rich.
That the above statement is true is shown by the following facts:—
Getting rich is not a matter of environment, for, if it were, all the people
in certain neighborhoods would become wealthy; the people of one city
would all be rich, while those of other towns would all be poor; or the
inhabitants of one state would roll in wealth, while those of an adjoining
state would be in poverty.
But everywhere we see rich and poor living side by side, in the same
environment, and often engaged in the same vocations. When two men are in
the same locality, and in the same business, and one gets rich while the other
remains poor, it shows that getting rich is not, primarily, a matter of
environment. Some environments may be more favorable than others, but
when two men in the same business are in the same neighborhood, and one
gets rich while the other fails, it indicates that getting rich is the result of
doing things in a Certain Way.
And further, the ability to do things in this Certain Way is not due solely
to the possession of talent, for many people who have great talent remain
poor, while others who have very little talent get rich.
Studying the people who have got rich, we find that they are an average
lot in all respects, having no greater talents and abilities than other men. It is
evident that they do not get rich because they possess talents and abilities that
other men have not, but because they happen to do things in a Certain Way.
Getting rich is not the result of saving, or “thrift”; many very penurious
people are poor, while free spenders often get rich.
Nor is getting rich due to doing things which others fail to do; for two
men in the same business often do almost exactly the same things, and one
gets rich while the other remains poor or becomes a bankrupt.
From all these things, we must come to the conclusion that getting rich is
the result of doing things in a Certain Way.
If getting rich is the result of doing things in a Certain Way, and if like
causes always produce like effects, then any man or woman who can do
things in that way can become rich, and the whole matter is brought within
the domain of exact science.
The question arises here, whether this Certain Way may not be so
difficult that only a few may follow it. This cannot be true, as we have seen,
so far as natural ability is concerned. Talented people get rich, and
blockheads get rich; intellectually brilliant people get rich, and very stupid
people get rich; physically strong people get rich, and weak and sickly
people get rich.
Some degree of ability to think and understand is, of course, essential;
but in so far as natural ability is concerned, any man or woman who has
sense enough to read and understand these words can certainly get rich.
Also, we have seen that it is not a matter of environment. Location
counts for something; one would not go to the heart of the Sahara and expect
to do successful business.
Getting rich involves the necessity of dealing with men, and of being
where there are people to deal with; and if these people are inclined to deal
in the way you want to deal, so much the better. But that is about as far as
environment goes.
If anybody else in your town can get rich, so can you; and if anybody
else in your state can get rich, so can you.
Again, it is not a matter of choosing some particular business or
profession. People get rich in every business, and in every profession; while
their next door neighbors in the same vocation remain in poverty.
It is true that you will do best in a business which you like, and which is
congenial to you; and if you have certain talents which are well developed,
you will do best in a business which calls for the exercise of those talents.
Also, you will do best in a business which is suited to your locality; an
ice-cream parlor would do better in a warm climate than in Greenland, and a
salmon fishery will succeed better in the Northwest than in Florida, where
there are no salmon.
But, aside from these general limitations, getting rich is not dependent
upon your engaging in some particular business, but upon your learning to do
things in a Certain Way. If you are now in business, and anybody else in your
locality is getting rich in the same business, while you are not getting rich, it
is because you are not doing things in the same Way that the other person is
doing them.
No one is prevented from getting rich by lack of capital. True, as you get
capital the increase becomes more easy and rapid; but one who has capital is
already rich, and does not need to consider how to become so. No matter
how poor you may be, if you begin to do things in the Certain Way you will
begin to get rich; and you will begin to have capital. The getting of capital is
a part of the process of getting rich; and it is a part of the result which
invariably follows the doing of things in the Certain Way.
You may be the poorest man on the continent, and be deeply in debt; you
may have neither friends, influence, nor resources; but if you begin to do
things in this Way, you must infallibly begin to get rich, for like causes must
produce like effects. If you have no capital, you can get capital; if you are in
the wrong business, you can get into the right business; if you are in the
wrong location, you can go to the right location; and you can do so by
beginning in your present business and in your present location to do
things in the Certain Way which causes success.
Afternote
Author Napoleon Hill wrote that his 1937 book Think and Grow Rich
contained a “secret,” which Hill said he concealed no less than a
hundred times in his text. To state the secret flat out, Hill wrote, would
deprive the reader of the fruitful effort involved in finding and learning
to apply it. At the same time, Hill did not intend to play coy with his
readers. With that in mind, I believe we can embark on a transparent and
applicable exploration of his secret, which is, in a sense, the secret to
fulfillment itself.
I reference this secret not to sound mysterious but to describe a
facet of life that is frequently overlooked and even undiscovered yet is
also vividly clear. Hill references his secret in the chapter on
“Imagination” in Think and Grow Rich:
Strange and paradoxical as it may seem, the “secret” is NOT A SECRET. Nature,
herself, advertises it in the earth on which we live, the stars, the planets suspended
within our view, in the elements above and around us, in every blade of grass, and
every form of life within our vision.
Nature advertises this “secret” in the terms of biology, in the conversion of a tiny
cell, so small that it may be lost on the point of a pin, into the HUMAN BEING now
reading this line. The conversion of desire into its physical equivalent is, certainly, no
more miraculous!
I have written about Hill’s secret before, and there are different
ways of stating it. But all of them refer back to one basic truth: you
experience innate and inevitable power when you enter natural
alignment with laws that enable the growth and maintenance of all
life. This is not dissimilar to concepts found within Taoism and
Transcendentalism. Once you function within this cosmic flow, cycles of
growth appear at your back. You become like the seedling that
eventually bursts through the soil. All of nature aids your progress. This
is not because you are somehow elevated or advanced but simply
because you are operating within natural cycles of growth and
production.
With the cultivation of right habits and choices—which means
sustained, generative conduct and activity—you merge with
reproductive, cyclical, and natural laws. These laws, Hill wrote, also
possess a metaphysical or extra-material dimension. Barring some
equally powerful intervention, self-generative laws deliver you to the
destination you intently seek.
In the passages ahead, Wattles helps you identify and live within
those transcendentally and physically harmonious habits and choices.
—MH
Chapter 3
Is Opportunity Monopolized?
No man is kept poor because opportunity has been taken away from him;
because other people have monopolized the wealth, and have put a fence
around it. You may be shut off from engaging in business in certain lines, but
there are other channels open to you. Probably it would be hard for you to get
control of any of the great railroad systems; that field is pretty well
monopolized. But the electric railway business is still in its infancy, and
offers plenty of scope for enterprise; and it will be but a very few years until
traffic and transportation through the air will become a great industry, and in
all its branches will give employment to hundreds of thousands, and perhaps
to millions, of people. Why not turn your attention to the development of
aerial transportation, instead of competing with J. J. Hill and others for a
chance in the steam railway world?
It is quite true that if you are a workman in the employ of the steel trust
you have very little chance of becoming the owner of the plant in which you
work; but it is also true that if you will commence to act in a Certain Way,
you can soon leave the employ of the steel trust; you can buy a farm of from
ten to forty acres, and engage in business as a producer of foodstuffs. There
is great opportunity at this time for men who will live upon small tracts of
land and cultivate the same intensively; such men will certainly get rich. You
may say that it is impossible for you to get the land, but I am going to prove
to you that it is not impossible, and that you can certainly get a farm if you
will go to work in a Certain Way.
At different periods the tide of opportunity sets in different directions,
according to the needs of the Whole, and the particular stage of social
evolution which has been reached. At present, in America, it is setting
toward agriculture and the allied industries and professions. To-day,
opportunity is open before the farmer in his line more than before the factory
worker in his line. It is open before the business man who supplies the
farmer more than before the one who supplies the factory worker; and before
the professional man who waits upon the farmer more than before the one
who serves the working class.
There is abundance of opportunity for the man who will go with the tide,
instead of trying to swim against it.
So the factory workers, either as individuals or as a class, are not
deprived of opportunity. The workers are not being “kept down” by their
masters; they are not being “ground” by the trusts and combinations of
capital. As a class, they are where they are because they do not do things in a
Certain Way. If the workers of America chose to do so, they could follow the
example of their brothers in Belgium and other countries, and establish great
department stores and co-operative industries; they could elect men of their
own class to office, and pass laws favoring development of such cooperative industries; and in a few years they could take peaceable possession
of the industrial field.
The working class may become the master class whenever they will
begin to do things in a Certain Way; the law of wealth is the same for them as
it is for all others. This they must learn; and they will remain where they are
as long as they continue to do as they do. The individual worker, however, is
not held down by the ignorance or the mental slothfulness of his class; he can
follow the tide of opportunity to riches, and this book will tell him how.
The working class may become the master class whenever they
will begin to do things in a Certain Way.
No one is kept in poverty by a shortness in the supply of riches; there is
more than enough for all. A palace as large as the capitol at Washington
might be built for every family on earth from the building material in the
United States alone; and under intensive cultivation, this country would
produce wool, cotton, linen, and silk enough to clothe each person in the
world finer than Solomon was arrayed in all his glory; together with food
enough to feed them all luxuriously. The visible supply is practically
inexhaustible; and the invisible supply really IS inexhaustible.
Everything you see on earth is made from one original substance, out
of which all things proceed.
New forms are constantly being made, and older ones are dissolving; but
all are shapes assumed by One Thing.
There is no limit to the supply of Formless Stuff, or Original Substance.
The universe is made out of it; but it was not all used in making the universe.
The spaces in, through, and between the forms of the visible universe are
permeated and filled with the Original Substance; with the Formless Stuff;
with the raw material of all things. Ten thousand times as much as has been
made might still be made, and even then we should not have exhausted the
supply of universal raw material.
No man, therefore, is poor because nature is poor, or because there is
not enough to go around.
Everything you see on earth is made from one original
substance, out of which all things proceed.
Nature is an inexhaustible storehouse of riches; the supply will never run
short. Original Substance is alive with creative energy, and is constantly
producing more forms. When the supply of building material is exhausted,
more will be produced; when the soil is exhausted so that foodstuffs and
materials for clothing will no longer grow upon it, it will be renewed or
more soil will be made. When all the gold and silver has been dug from the
earth, if man is still in such a stage of social development that he needs gold
and silver, more will be produced from the Formless.
The Formless Stuff responds to the needs of man; it will not let him be
without any good thing.
This is true of man collectively; the race as a whole is always
abundantly rich, and if individuals are poor, it is because they do not follow
the Certain Way of doing things which makes the individual man rich.
The Formless Stuff is intelligent; it is stuff which thinks. It is alive, and
is always impelled toward more life.
It is the natural and inherent impulse of life to seek to live more; it is the
nature of intelligence to enlarge itself, and of consciousness to seek to extend
its boundaries and find fuller expression. The universe of forms has been
made by Formless Living Substance, throwing itself into form in order to
express itself more fully.
The universe is a great Living Presence, always moving inherently
toward more life and fuller functioning.
Nature is formed for the advancement of life; its impelling motive is the
increase of life. For this cause, everything which can possibly minister to life
is bountifully provided; there can be no lack unless God is to contradict
himself and nullify his own works.
The Formless Stuff is intelligent; it is stuff which thinks. It is
alive, and is always impelled toward more life.
You are not kept poor by lack in the supply of riches; it is a fact which I
shall demonstrate a little farther on that even the resources of the Formless
Supply are at the command of the man or woman who will act and think in a
Certain Way.
Afternote
One of my favorite passages from Friedrich Nietzsche is: “Formula for
our happiness: a Yes, a No, a straight line, a goal.”
This is from Walter Kaufmann’s translation of Nietzsche’s The
Antichrist, written in 1888 but considered sufficiently controversial so
that its initial publication was delayed until 1895. It was not bluster
when Nietzsche wrote in his preface, “Only the day after tomorrow
belongs to me.”
Many of us are educated to think of “serious” philosophy as
scholastic, logical, macro, and abstract. I dissent from that. Philosophy
should govern next Tuesday.
In an 1898 lecture, William James challenged American
philosophers to produce a philosophy of “cash-value, in terms of
particular experience,” with his emphasis in the original. In 1860, Ralph
Waldo Emerson wrote essays on the themes of “Wealth” and “Power,”
speaking of such things not abstractly but explicitly. We need a
philosophy of actuality. Of results. One that honors the goals of the
individual rather than seeking to deny, rearrange, or ignore them.
What do you want? If asked with stark self-honesty, that may be the
most important question of your life. It belongs to you alone. It has no
parameters.
I believe that nothing does more to enact the powers of the psyche
—including the causative and creative potentials of thought—than
focusing on one passionately felt aim. It is the single greatest guarantee
we have of getting where we wish to go. It is not an absolute guarantee.
But it is the closest that we are granted.
Why the emphasis on focus? Nature is powerful when focused. Air,
water, light—all are dispersible. But when concentrated, all are
extremely powerful. We mirror nature. “As above, so below” goes the
Hermetic dictum. Focus is extraordinarily powerful.
I ask that you state privately exactly what you want. You may or
may not be able to attain it in the precise mind’s-eye form it takes. Life
often delivers things to us in disguise. But to not know is a tragedy. And
we often do not know because we internalize peer pressure in ways that
deter self-acknowledgment. As self-indulgent as our culture is, peer
pressure and conventions of self-image often deprive us of the bravery
to be internally honest.
Permit yourself freedom within—acknowledge what you want; be
specific; write it down; tell no one. That is the seed of attainment. You
will receive something.
—MH
Chapter 4
The First Principle in the Science of Getting
Rich
Thought is the only power which can produce tangible riches from the
Formless Substance. The stuff from which all things are made is a substance
which thinks, and a thought of form in this substance produces the form.
Original Substance moves according to its thoughts; every form and
process you see in nature is the visible expression of a thought in Original
Substance. As the Formless Stuff thinks of a form, it takes that form; as it
thinks of a motion, it makes that motion. That is the way all things were
created. We live in a thought world, which is part of a thought universe.
The thought of a moving universe extended throughout Formless
Substance, and the Thinking Stuff moving according to that thought, took the
form of systems of planets, and maintains that form. Thinking Substance takes
the form of its thought, and moves according to the thought. Holding the idea
of a circling system of suns and worlds, it takes the form of these bodies, and
moves them as it thinks. Thinking the form of a slow-growing oak tree, it
moves accordingly, and produces the tree, though centuries may be required
to do the work. In creating, the Formless seems to move according to the
lines of motion it has established; the thought of an oak tree does not cause
the instant formation of a full-grown tree, but it does start in motion the
forces which will produce the tree, along established lines of growth.
Every thought of form, held in thinking Substance, causes the creation of
the form, but always, or at least generally, along lines of growth and action
already established.
The thought of a house of a certain construction, if it were impressed
upon Formless Substance, might not cause the instant formation of the house;
but it would cause the turning of creative energies already working in trade
and commerce into such channels as to result in the speedy building of the
house. And if there were no existing channels through which the creative
energy could work, then the house would be formed directly from primal
substance, without waiting for the slow processes of the organic and
inorganic world.
Every thought of form, held in thinking Substance, causes the
creation of the form, but always, or at least generally, along
lines of growth and action already established.
No thought of form can be impressed upon Original Substance without
causing the creation of the form.
Man is a thinking center, and can originate thought. All the forms that
man fashions with his hands must first exist in his thought; he cannot shape a
thing until he has thought that thing.
And so far man has confined his efforts wholly to the work of his hands;
he has applied manual labor to the world of forms, seeking to change or
modify those already existing. He has never thought of trying to cause the
creation of new forms by impressing his thoughts upon Formless Substance.
When man has a thought-form, he takes material from the forms of nature,
and makes an image of the form which is in his mind. He has, so far, made
little or no effort to cooperate with Formless Intelligence; to work “with the
Father.” He has not dreamed that he can “do what he seeth the Father doing.”
Man re-shapes and modifies existing forms by manual labor; he has given no
attention to the question whether he may not produce things from Formless
Substance by communicating his thoughts to it. We propose to prove that he
may do so; to prove that any man or woman may do so, and to show how. As
our first step, we must lay down three fundamental propositions.
Man is a thinking center, and can originate thought. All the
forms that man fashions with his hands must first exist in his
thought; he cannot shape a thing until he has thought that
thing.
First, we assert that there is one original formless stuff, or substance,
from which all things are made. All the seemingly many elements are but
different presentations of one element; all the many forms found in organic
and inorganic nature are but different shapes, made from the same stuff. And
this stuff is thinking stuff; a thought held in it produces the form of the thought.
Thought, in thinking substance, produces shapes. Man is a thinking center,
capable of original thought; if man can communicate his thought to original
thinking substance, he can cause the creation, or formation, of the thing he
thinks about. To summarize this:—
There is a thinking stuff from which all things are made, and which, in its original state,
permeates, penetrates, and fills the interspaces of the universe.
A thought, in this substance, produces the thing that is imaged by the thought.
Man can form things in his thought, and, by impressing his thought upon formless
substance, can cause the thing he thinks about to be created.
It may be asked if I can prove these statements; and without going into
details, I answer that I can do so, both by logic and experience.
Reasoning back from the phenomena of form and thought, I come to one
original thinking substance; and reasoning forward from this thinking
substance, I come to man’s power to cause the formation of the thing he thinks
about.
And by experiment, I find the reasoning true; and this is my strongest
proof.
If one man who reads this book gets rich by doing what it tells him to do,
that is evidence in support of my claim; but if every man who does what it
tells him to do gets rich, that is positive proof until some one goes through the
process and fails. The theory is true until the process fails; and this process
will not fail, for every man who does exactly what this book tells him to do
will get rich.
I have said that men get rich by doing things in a Certain Way; and in
order to do so, men must become able to think in a certain way.
A man’s way of doing things is the direct result of the way he thinks
about things.
To do things in the way you want to do them, you will have to acquire
the ability to think the way you want to think; this is the first step toward
getting rich.
To think what you want to think is to think TRUTH, regardless of
appearances.
Every man has the natural and inherent power to think what he wants to
think, but it requires far more effort to do so than it does to think the thoughts
which are suggested by appearances. To think according to appearances is
easy; to think truth regardless of appearances is laborious, and requires the
expenditure of more power than any other work man is called upon to
perform.
A man’s way of doing things is the direct result of the way he
thinks about things.
There is no labor from which most people shrink as they do from that of
sustained and consecutive thought; it is the hardest work in the world. This is
especially true when truth is contrary to appearances. Every appearance in
the visible world tends to produce a corresponding form in the mind which
observes it; and this can only be prevented by holding the thought of the
TRUTH.
To look upon the appearance of disease will produce the form of disease
in your own mind, and ultimately in your body, unless you hold the thought of
the truth, which is that there is no disease; it is only an appearance, and the
reality is health.
To look upon the appearances of poverty will produce corresponding
forms in your own mind, unless you hold to the truth that there is no poverty;
there is only abundance.
To think health when surrounded by the appearances of disease, or to
think riches when in the midst of appearances of poverty, requires power; but
he who acquires this power becomes a MASTER MIND. He can conquer
fate; he can have what he wants.
This power can only be acquired by getting hold of the basic fact which
is behind all appearances; and that fact is that there is one Thinking
Substance, from which and by which all things are made.
Then we must grasp the truth that every thought held in this substance
becomes a form, and that man can so impress his thoughts upon It as to cause
them to take form and become visible things.
When we realize this, we lose all doubt and fear, for we know that we
can create what we want to create; we can get what we want to have, and can
become what we want to be. As a first step toward getting rich, you must
believe the three fundamental statements given previously in this chapter; and
in order to emphasize them, I repeat them here:—
There is a thinking stuff from which all things are made, and which, in its original state,
permeates, penetrates, and fills the interspaces of the universe.
A thought, in this substance, produces the thing that is imaged by the thought.
Man can form things in his thought, and, by impressing his thought upon formless
substance, can cause the thing he thinks about to be created.
You must lay aside all other concepts of the universe than this monistic
one; and you must dwell upon this until it is fixed in your mind, and has
become your habitual thought. Read these creed statements over and over
again; fix every word upon your memory, and meditate upon them until you
firmly believe what they say. If a doubt comes to you, cast it aside as a sin.
Do not listen to arguments against this idea; do not go to churches or lectures
where a contrary concept of things is taught or preached. Do not read
magazines or books which teach a different idea; if you get mixed up in your
faith, all your efforts will be in vain.
Do not ask why these things are true, nor speculate as to how they can be
true; simply take them on trust.
The science of getting rich begins with the absolute acceptance of this
faith.
Afternote
The principle of working along “established lines” is one of the subtlest
and most important points not only in Wattles’ program but also in all of
practical spirituality. It means you must pay attention to practical
channels of arrival and fulfillment. Wattles put it this way:
In creating, the Formless seems to move according to the lines of motion it has
established; the thought of an oak tree does not cause the instant formation of a fullgrown tree, but does start in motion the forces which will produce the tree, along
established lines of growth. Every thought of form, held in thinking Substance, causes
the creation of the form, but always, or at least generally, along lines of growth and
action already established. The thought of a house of a certain construction, if it were
impressed upon Formless Substance, might not cause the instant formation of the house;
but it would cause the turning of creative energies already working in trade and
commerce into such channels as to result in the speedy building of the house. And if
there were no existing channels through which the creative energy could work, then the
house would be formed directly from primal substance without waiting for the slow
processes of the organic and inorganic world.
In practical terms, this means that your goal is likely to reach you
along familiar or already existing channels. For example, if you seek the
cure of an illness, the likelihood is not that your illness will
spontaneously lift, but rather that you will discover a network of
treatments that will produce your recovery. If you are looking for work,
the overwhelming odds are that you will make connections and find
ideas and leads that will deliver you to exactly what you need—less
likely is that someone will just walk up to you and hand you, signed and
sealed, exactly what you need.
Some people who practice spell work or ceremonial magick take
this principle a step further. When prescribing a spell or ceremony—
which is really just a ritualized intention, no different from Wattles’
formula for “thinking in a Certain Way”—they note that, in order for
such operations to work, there must be a clear avenue of arrival. For
example, if you wish for love but dwell as a shut-in there is no obvious
channel of delivery. But if you wish for love and actively circulate
among people, you are providing an established means or channel for
your fulfillment.
Each individual must study and consider this step for him or
herself. Are you asking for something that fits the context of your life,
practices, and habits? Is there a foreseeable means of delivery? Or, put
from a different perspective, are you neglecting or overlooking patterns
of delivery—or perhaps the very arrival of what you want simply
because it reaches you in unfamiliar ways?
I devised an exercise to help people work with this principle. I call
it the 10-Day Miracle Challenge. It is very simple—but, as the title
implies, potentially very powerful. It works according to these six
steps:
1. Decide on something that you truly and passionately want in your
life.
2. Write it down—your wish should be easily boiled down to a
single-sentence, such as “I have a peaceful new home nearby.”
3. Set a fixed period of time—in this case ten days—by which to
receive your desired element.
4. Draw a grid of ten boxes and consecutively cross one out each day
to mark your progress toward your aim.
5. Every day, often as you can and as much as you can, pray,
visualize, affirm, and meditate upon the realization of your wish.
6. Finally—and here is the most important part—watch very carefully
for the arrival of your aim and take care not to overlook or
discount the means by which it arrives.
Your wish could reach you in a wholly unexpected manner,
fulfilling your need but arriving in a very different fashion from what
you pictured or expected. Or your wish could arrive along such
seemingly mundane or ordinary lines that you are apt to miss it, and you
overlook the realization of the very thing you need.
The point of this exercise is that our needs are often fulfilled, at least in
potential, in ways that we are prone to neglect because the arrival
doesn’t resemble our preconceptions, or it happens in such a seemingly
mundane fashion that we discount it.
You may, for example, wish for recovery from an injury, but at the
same time reject an invitation to a movement or energy medicine class,
or the sanctioned advice of a teacher, therapist, or physician, which may
set you on the road to wellness Remember: life generally works along
previously established lines. Hence, the thing that you wish for may
reach you in ways that seem ordinary even though they are the royal
road to your fulfillment.
I want to share a joke that drives home this point. During a terrible
flood a clergyman fled to the roof of his church to avoid being swept
away in the waters. A man in a raft came by and told him to come
aboard. The clergyman refused. “God will save me,” he said. Someone
rowed by in a boat and urged him to come on it. But again, the
clergyman refused. “God will save me,” he said. Finally, a helicopter
appeared overhead and dropped a ladder. But the man waved it away.
“God will save me!” he yelled. The floodwaters eventually overtook
the clergyman and he drowned. Upon reaching heaven he protested to
God, “I’ve served you all my life! Why didn’t you save me?” To which
God replied: “I didn’t save you? I sent the raft, I sent the boat, I sent the
helicopter …”
The lesson is: Remain open. Take the road when it appears. Reject
nothing out of hand. And never neglect established means. Watch for
them.
—MH
Chapter 5
Increasing Life
You must get rid of the last vestige of the old idea that there is a Deity whose
will it is that you should be poor, or whose purposes may be served by
keeping you in poverty.
The Intelligent Substance which is All, and in all, and which lives in All
and lives in you, is a consciously Living Substance. Being a consciously
living substance, It must have the natural and inherent desire of every living
intelligence for increase of life. Every living thing must continually seek for
the enlargement of its life, because life, in the mere act of living, must
increase itself.
A seed, dropped into the ground, springs into activity, and in the act of
living produces a hundred more seeds; life, by living, multiplies itself. It is
forever Becoming More; it must do so, if it continues to be at all.
Intelligence is under this same necessity for continuous increase. Every
thought we think makes it necessary for us to think another thought;
consciousness is continually expanding. Every fact we learn leads us to the
learning of another fact; knowledge is continually increasing. Every talent we
cultivate brings to the mind the desire to cultivate another talent; we are
subject to the urge of life, seeking expression, which ever drives us on to
know more, to do more, and to be more.
In order to know more, do more, and be more we must have more; we
must have things to use, for we learn, and do, and become, only by using
things. We must get rich, so that we can live more.
The desire for riches is simply the capacity for larger life seeking
fulfillment; every desire is the effort of an unexpressed possibility to come
into action. It is power seeking to manifest which causes desire. That which
makes you want more money is the same as that which makes the plant grow;
it is Life, seeking fuller expression.
The One Living Substance must be subject to this inherent law of all life;
it is permeated with the desire to live more; that is why it is under the
necessity of creating things.
The One Substance desires to live more in you; hence it wants you to
have all the things you can use.
It is the desire of God that you should get rich. He wants you to get rich
because he can express himself better through you if you have plenty of things
to use in giving him expression. He can live more in you if you have
unlimited command of the means of life.
The universe desires you to have everything you want to have.
Nature is friendly to your plans.
Everything is naturally for you.
Make up your mind that this is true.
It is essential, however, that your purpose should harmonize with the
purpose that is in All.
You must want real life, not mere pleasure or sensual gratification. Life
is the performance of function; and the individual really lives only when he
performs every function, physical, mental, and spiritual, of which he is
capable, without excess in any.
You do not want to get rich in order to live swinishly, for the
gratification of animal desires; that is not life. But the performance of every
physical function is a part of life, and no one lives completely who denies the
impulses of the body a normal and healthful expression.
The individual really lives only when he performs every
function, physical, mental, and spiritual, of which he is
capable, without excess in any.
You do not want to get rich solely to enjoy mental pleasures, to get
knowledge, to gratify ambition, to outshine others, to be famous. All these are
a legitimate part of life, but the man who lives for the pleasures of the
intellect alone will only have a partial life, and he will never be satisfied
with his lot.
You do not want to get rich solely for the good of others, to lose yourself
for the salvation of mankind, to experience the joys of philanthropy and
sacrifice. The joys of the soul are only a part of life; and they are no better or
nobler than any other part.
You want to get rich in order that you may eat, drink, and be merry when
it is time to do these things; in order that you may surround yourself with
beautiful things, see distant lands, feed your mind, and develop your intellect;
in order that you may love men and do kind things, and be able to play a good
part in helping the world to find truth.
But remember that extreme altruism is no better and no nobler than
extreme selfishness; both are mistakes.
Get rid of the idea that God wants you to sacrifice yourself for others,
and that you can secure his favor by doing so; God requires nothing of the
kind.
What he wants is that you should make the most of yourself, for yourself,
and for others; and you can help others more by making the most of yourself
than in any other way.
You can make the most of yourself only by getting rich; so it is right and
praiseworthy that you should give your first and best thought to the work of
acquiring wealth.
Remember, however, that the desire of Substance is for all, and its
movements must be for more life to all; it cannot be made to work for less
life to any, because it is equally in all, seeking riches and life.
You can help others more by making the most of yourself than
in any other way.
Intelligent Substance will make things for you, but it will not take things
away from some one else and give them to you.
You must get rid of the thought of competition. You are to create, not to
compete for what is already created.
You do not have to take anything away from any one.
You do not have to drive sharp bargains.
You do not have to cheat, or to take advantage. You do not need to let
any man work for you for less than he earns.
You do not have to covet the property of others, or to look at it with
wishful eyes; no man has anything of which you cannot have the like, and that
without taking what he has away from him.
You are to create, not to compete for what is already created.
You are to become a creator, not a competitor; you are going to get what
you want, but in such a way that when you get it every other man will have
more than he has now.
I am aware that there are men who get a vast amount of money by
proceeding in direct opposition to the statements in the paragraph above, and
may add a word of explanation here. Men of the plutocratic type, who
become very rich, do so sometimes purely by their extraordinary ability on
the plane of competition; and sometimes they unconsciously relate
themselves to Substance in its great purposes and movements for the general
racial upbuilding through industrial evolution. Rockefeller, Carnegie,
Morgan, et al., have been the unconscious agents of the Supreme in the
necessary work of systematizing and organizing productive industry; and in
the end, their work will contribute immensely toward increased life for all.
Their day is nearly over; they have organized production, and will soon be
succeeded by the agents of the multitude, who will organize the machinery
of distribution.
The multi-millionaires are like the monster reptiles of the prehistoric
eras; they play a necessary part in the evolutionary process, but the same
Power which produced them will dispose of them. And it is well to bear in
mind that they have never been really rich; a record of the private lives of
most of this class will show that they have really been the most abject and
wretched of the poor.
You are to become a creator, not a competitor; you are going to
get what you want, but in such a way that when you get it every
other man will have more than he has now.
Riches secured on the competitive plane are never satisfactory and
permanent; they are yours to-day, and another’s to-morrow. Remember, if you
are to become rich in a scientific and certain way, you must rise entirely out
of the competitive thought. You must never think for a moment that the supply
is limited. Just as soon as you begin to think that all the money is being
“cornered” and controlled by bankers and others, and that you must exert
yourself to get laws passed to stop this process, and so on; in that moment
you drop into the competitive mind, and your power to cause creation is gone
for the time being; and what is worse, you will probably arrest the creative
movements you have already instituted.
KNOW that there are countless millions of dollars’ worth of gold in the
mountains of the earth, not yet brought to light; and know that if there were
not, more would be created from Thinking Substance to supply your needs.
KNOW that the money you need will come, even if it is necessary for a
thousand men to be led to the discovery of new gold mines to-morrow.
Never look at the visible supply; look always at the limitless riches in
Formless Substance, and KNOW that they are coming to you as fast as you
can receive and use them. Nobody, by cornering the visible supply, can
prevent you from getting what is yours.
So never allow yourself to think for an instant that all the best building
spots will be taken before you get ready to build your house, unless you
hurry. Never worry about the trusts and combines, and get anxious for fear
they will soon come to own the whole earth. Never get afraid that you will
lose what you want because some other person “beats you to it.” That cannot
possibly happen; you are not seeking anything that is possessed by anybody
else; you are causing what you want to be created from Formless Substance,
and the supply is without limits. Stick to the formulated statement:—
There is a thinking stuff from which all things are made, and which, in its original state,
permeates, penetrates, and fills the interspaces of the universe.
A thought, in this substance, produces the thing that is imaged by the thought.
Man can form things in his thought, and, by impressing his thought upon formless
substance, can cause the thing he thinks about to be created.
Never look at the visible supply; look always at the limitless
riches in Formless Substance.
Afternote
In the mid-1990s, I was an editor at a prominent political publishing
house. I had a “friend” on staff of the kind that no one needs. He was
also an editor and he sought to contact and attempt to sign up books with
authors I had worked with just before I started there; he continued to do
so after I arrived. His ethos was one of unbridled competition.
I responded in the wrong way by trying to match him at his own
game. I failed. In two years, I was fired. The firing was actually good
because it put me in contact with my current work and passion for
practical spirituality. The change of path helped me discover myself as
a writer.
Looking back, however, if I had to do it over again and wanted to
approach things in a more constructive and creative manner, I would
have followed Wattles’ dictum to reject the plane of competition. He
wrote this in The Science of Getting Rich:
You are to become a creator, not a competitor; you are going to get what you want, but
in such a way that when you get it every other man will have more than he has now …
riches secured on the competitive plane are never satisfactory and permanent; they are
yours today and another’s tomorrow. Remember, if you are to become rich in a certain
way, you must rise entirely out of the competitive thought.
So, how is this actually workable on a practical scale?
Well, if I knew Wattles’ work back in the 1990s, I would have
dedicated myself to coming up with my own original ideas, contacts,
and acquisitions rather than struggling with the false perception of a
limited stock of authors, topics, and book proposals.
If supply is limitless, as Wattles teaches, then we first experience
this limitlessness in the mind, through ideas and thought. Ideas are a
constantly renewable commodity. Conceive of your own approaches
and possibilities rather than trying to corner or counter another’s.
And if you cannot produce your own stream of ideas, that in itself is
a valuable sign that you may be in the wrong setting or line of business.
But to learn this you must first experiment: unplug from competitiveness
and apply Wattles’ formula. He wrote the following, with his emphasis
in the original:
Never look at the visible supply; look always at the limitless riches in Formless
Substance, and KNOW that they are coming to you as fast as you can receive and
use them. Nobody, by cornering the visible supply, can prevent you from getting what is
yours.
The point is that supply, like ideas, is unbounded and everrenewing. Use this principle to escape the treadmill of anxious
competition. Creativity requires no permission and can never be taken
from you.
“You do not have to covet the property of others,” Wattles writes,
“or look at it with wishful eyes; no man has anything of which you
cannot have the like.”
—MH
Chapter 6
How Riches Come to You
When I say that you do not have to drive sharp bargains, I do not mean that
you do not have to drive any bargains at all, or that you are above the
necessity for having any dealings with your fellow men. I mean that you will
not need to deal with them unfairly; you do not have to get something for
nothing, but can give to every man more than you take from him.
You cannot give every man more in cash market value than you take from
him, but you can give him more in use value than the cash value of the thing
you take from him. The paper, ink, and other material in this book may not be
worth the money you paid for it; but if the ideas suggested by it bring you
thousands of dollars, you have not been wronged by those who sold it to you;
they have given you a great use value for a small cash value.
You cannot give every man more in cash market value than you
take from him, but you can give him more in use value than the
cash value of the thing you take from him.
Let us suppose that I own a picture by one of the great artists, which, in
any civilized community, is worth thousands of dollars. I take it to Baffin
Bay, and by “salesmanship” induce an Eskimo to give a bundle of furs worth
$500 for it. I have really wronged him, for he has no use for the picture; it
has no use value to him; it will not add to his life.
But suppose I give him a gun worth $50 for his furs; then he has made a
good bargain. He has use for the gun; it will get him many more furs and
much food; it will add to his life in every way; it will make him rich.
When you rise from the competitive to the creative plane, you can scan
your business transactions very strictly, and if you are selling any man
anything which does not add more to his life than the thing he gives you in
exchange, you can afford to stop it. You do not have to beat anybody in
business. And if you are in a business which does beat people, get out of it at
once.
Give every man more in use value than you take from him in cash value;
then you are adding to the life of the world by every business transaction.
If you have people working for you, you must take from them more in
cash value than you pay them in wages; but you can so organize your
business that it will be filled with the principle of advancement, and so that
each employee who wishes to do so may advance a little every day.
You can make your business do for your employees what this book is
doing for you. You can so conduct your business that it will be a sort of
ladder, by which every employee who will take the trouble may climb to
riches himself; and given the opportunity, if he will not do so it is not your
fault.
And finally, because you are to cause the creation of your riches from
Formless Substance which permeates all your environment, it does not
follow that they are to take shape from the atmosphere and come into being
before your eyes.
If you want a sewing machine, for instance, I do not mean to tell you that
you are to impress the thought of a sewing machine on Thinking Substance
until the machine is formed without hands, in the room where you sit, or
elsewhere. But if you want a sewing machine, hold the mental image of it
with the most positive certainty that it is being made, or is on its way to you.
After once forming the thought, have the most absolute and unquestioning
faith that the sewing machine is coming; never think of it, or speak of it, in
any other way than as being sure to arrive. Claim it as already yours.
It will be brought to you by the power of the Supreme Intelligence,
acting upon the minds of men. If you live in Maine, it may be that a man will
be brought from Texas or Japan to engage in some transaction which will
result in your getting what you want.
If so, the whole matter will be as much to that man’s advantage as it is to
yours.
Do not forget for a moment that the Thinking Substance is through all, in
all, communicating with all, and can influence all. The desire of Thinking
Substance for fuller life and better living has caused the creation of all the
sewing machines already made; and it can cause the creation of millions
more, and will, whenever men set it in motion by desire and faith, and by
acting in a Certain Way.
You can certainly have a sewing machine in your house; and it is just as
certain that you can have any other thing or things which you want, and which
you will use for the advancement of your own life and the lives of others.
You need not hesitate about asking largely; “it is your Father’s pleasure
to give you the kingdom,” said Jesus.
Original Substance wants to live all that is possible in you, and wants
you to have all that you can or will use for the living of the most abundant
life.
If you fix upon your consciousness the fact that the desire you feel for the
possession of riches is one with the desire of Omnipotence for more
complete expression, your faith becomes invincible.
Once I saw a little boy sitting at a piano, and vainly trying to bring
harmony out of the keys; and I saw that he was grieved and provoked by his
inability to play real music. I asked him the cause of his vexation, and he
answered, “I can feel the music in me, but I can’t make my hands go right.”
The music in him was the URGE of Original Substance, containing all the
possibilities of all life; all that there is of music was seeking expression
through the child.
God, the One Substance, is trying to live and do and enjoy things through
humanity. He is saying, “I want hands to build wonderful structures, to play
divine harmonies, to paint glorious pictures; I want feet to run my errands,
eyes to see my beauties, tongues to tell mighty truths and to sing marvelous
songs,” and so on.
God, the One Substance, is trying to live and do and enjoy
things through humanity.
All that there is of possibility is seeking expression through men. God
wants those who can play music to have pianos and every other instrument,
and to have the means to cultivate their talents to the fullest extent; He wants
those who can appreciate beauty to be able to surround themselves with
beautiful things; He wants those who can discern truth to have every
opportunity to travel and observe; He wants those who can appreciate dress
to be beautifully clothed, and those who can appreciate good food to be
luxuriously fed.
He wants all these things because it is Himself that enjoys and
appreciates them; it is God who wants to play, and sing, and enjoy beauty,
and proclaim truth, and wear fine clothes, and eat good foods.
“It is God that worketh in you to will and to do,” said Paul.
The desire you feel for riches is the Infinite, seeking to express Himself
in you as He sought to find expression in the little boy at the piano.
So you need not hesitate to ask largely.
Your part is to focalize and express the desires of God.
All that there is of possibility is seeking expression through
men.
This is a difficult point with most people; they retain something of the
old idea that poverty and self-sacrifice are pleasing to God. They look upon
poverty as a part of the plan, a necessity of nature. They have the idea that
God has finished His work, and made all that He can make, and that the
majority of men must stay poor because there is not enough to go around.
They hold to so much of this erroneous thought that they feel ashamed to ask
for wealth; they try not to want more than a very modest competence, just
enough to make them fairly comfortable.
I recall now the case of one student who was told that he must get in
mind a clear picture of the things he desired, so that the creative thought of
them might be impressed on Formless Substance. He was a very poor man,
living in a rented house, and having only what he earned from day to day; and
he could not grasp the fact that all wealth was his. So, after thinking the
matter over, he decided that he might reasonably ask for a new rug for the
floor of his best room, and an anthracite coal stove to heat the house during
the cold weather. Following the instructions given in this book, he obtained
these things in a few months; and then it dawned upon him that he had not
asked enough. He went through the house in which he lived, and planned all
the improvements he would like to make in it; he mentally added a bay
window here and a room there, until it was complete in his mind as his ideal
home; and then he planned its furnishings.
Holding the whole picture in his mind, he began living in the Certain
Way, and moving toward what he wanted; and he owns the house now, and is
rebuilding it after the form of his mental image. And now, with still larger
faith, he is going on to get greater things. It has been unto him according to his
faith, and it is so with you and with all of us.
Afternote
I am not always comfortable with talk of faith. I frankly find it difficult
to define, at least in a manner that speaks to everyone’s experience. But
it is undeniable that Wattles asks the user of his program to have faith,
that is to harbor a sense of powerful inner conviction that these ideas
can and will work. He asks that you truly and really believe and accept
his premises.
Specifically, Wattles wrote of three principles that require
acceptance:
1. There is a thinking stuff from which all things are made, and
which, in its original state, permeates, penetrates, and fills the
interspaces of the universe.
2. A thought, in this Substance, produces the thing that is imaged by
the thought.
3. Man can form things in his thought, and, by impressing his
thought upon formless substance, can cause the thing he thinks
about to be created.
He continues: “Do not ask why these things are true, nor speculate
as to how they can be true; simply take them on trust. The Science of
Getting Rich begins with the absolute acceptance of this faith.”
So, once more: what is faith and how does one cultivate it? To
some of you this question has a confident and personal answer. And I
honor that. But for myself and others who struggle with faith, I offer this
formula. Whenever you encounter the term “faith” substitute the word
“persistence.” What is applied faith but creative persistence? Work
toward your aims with this in mind, determined to accept Wattles’
formula while you act.
We all believe in something. Even the secular existentialist
believes in logic and cause-and-effect. You are granted the ability to
innerly select what you believe, for good or ill. So, hand in hand with
persistence, I challenge you to elect, for the duration of this program, to
believe in Wattles’ formula. After all, why wouldn’t you wish to
believe in something that is forwarding, affirming, and asserting of your
goals? There is absolutely nothing in this program that will deter you
from doing the work in front of you—quite the opposite—or that will
lure you into spending ruinous sums of money or investing yourself in
distractions. This is a program that requires action and steady work.
Indeed, Wattles wrote:
You must not rely upon thought alone, paying no attention to personal action. That is the
rock upon which many otherwise scientific metaphysical thinkers meet shipwreck—the
failure to connect thought with personal action. We have not yet reached the stage of
development, even supposing such a stage to be possible, in which man can create
directly from Formless Substance without nature’s processes or the work of human
hands; man must not only think, but his personal action must supplement his thought.
Possessed of this principle, you are entirely free to embrace,
accept, and experiment with Wattles’ core points. Let your mood be one
of persistent and exuberant experimentation as you do your work. This
is true and active faith.
—MH
Chapter 7
Gratitude
The illustrations given in the last chapter will have conveyed to the reader
the fact that the first step toward getting rich is to convey the idea of your
wants to the Formless Substance.
This is true, and you will see that in order to do so it becomes necessary
to relate yourself to the Formless Intelligence in a harmonious way.
To secure this harmonious relation is a matter of such primary and vital
importance that I shall give some space to its discussion here, and give you
instructions which, if you will follow them, will be certain to bring you into
perfect unity of mind with God.
The whole process of mental adjustment and atonement can be summed
up in one word, gratitude.
First, you believe that there is one Intelligent Substance, from which all
things proceed; second, you believe that this Substance gives you everything
you desire; and third, you relate yourself to It by a feeling of deep and
profound gratitude.
Many people who order their lives rightly in all other ways are kept in
poverty by their lack of gratitude. Having received one gift from God, they
cut the wires which connect them with Him by failing to make
acknowledgment.
The whole process of mental adjustment and atonement can be
summed up in one word, gratitude.
It is easy to understand that the nearer we live to the source of wealth,
the more wealth we shall receive; and it is easy also to understand that the
soul that is always grateful lives in closer touch with God than the one which
never looks to Him in thankful acknowledgment.
The more gratefully we fix our minds on the Supreme when good things
come to us, the more good things we will receive, and the more rapidly they
will come; and the reason simply is that the mental attitude of gratitude draws
the mind into closer touch with the source from which the blessings come.
If it is a new thought to you that gratitude brings your whole mind into
closer harmony with the creative energies of the universe, consider it well,
and you will see that it is true. The good things you already have have come
to you along the line of obedience to certain laws. Gratitude will lead your
mind out along the ways by which things come; and it will keep you in close
harmony with creative thought and prevent you from falling into competitive
thought.
If it is a new thought to you that gratitude brings your whole
mind into closer harmony with the creative energies of the
universe, consider it well, and you will see that it is true.
Gratitude alone can keep you looking toward the All, and prevent you
from falling into the error of thinking of the supply as limited; and to do that
would be fatal to your hopes.
There is a Law of Gratitude, and it is absolutely necessary that you
should observe the law, if you are to get the results you seek.
The law of gratitude is the natural principle that action and reaction are
always equal, and in opposite directions.
The grateful outreaching of your mind in thankful praise to the Supreme
is a liberation or expenditure of force; it cannot fail to reach that to which
it is addressed, and the reaction is an instantaneous movement toward you.
“Draw nigh unto God, and He will draw nigh unto you.” That is a
statement of psychological truth.
The law of gratitude is the natural principle that action and
reaction are always equal, and in opposite directions.
And if your gratitude is strong and constant, the reaction in Formless
Substance will be strong and continuous; the movement of the things you want
will be always toward you. Notice the grateful attitude that Jesus took; how
He always seems to be saying, “I thank Thee, Father, that Thou hearest me.”
You cannot exercise much power without gratitude; for it is gratitude that
keeps you connected with Power.
But the value of gratitude does not consist solely in getting you more
blessings in the future. Without gratitude you cannot long keep from
dissatisfied thought regarding things as they are.
The moment you permit your mind to dwell with dissatisfaction upon
things as they are, you begin to lose ground. You fix attention upon the
common, the ordinary, the poor, and the squalid and mean; and your mind
takes the form of these things. Then you will transmit these forms or mental
images to the Formless, and the common, the poor, the squalid, and mean will
come to you.
To permit your mind to dwell upon the inferior is to become inferior and
to surround yourself with inferior things.
On the other hand, to fix your attention on the best is to surround yourself
with the best, and to become the best.
The Creative Power within us makes us into the image of that to which
we give our attention.
We are Thinking Substance, and thinking substance always takes the
form of that which it thinks about.
The grateful mind is constantly fixed upon the best; therefore it tends to
become the best; it takes the form or character of the best, and will receive
the best.
To permit your mind to dwell upon the inferior is to become
inferior and to surround yourself with inferior things.
Also, faith is born of gratitude. The grateful mind continually expects
good things, and expectation becomes faith. The reaction of gratitude upon
one’s own mind produces faith; and every outgoing wave of grateful
thanksgiving increases faith. He who has no feeling of gratitude cannot long
retain a living faith; and without a living faith you cannot get rich by the
creative method, as we shall see in the following chapters.
It is necessary, then, to cultivate the habit of being grateful for every
good thing that comes to you; and to give thanks continuously.
And because all things have contributed to your advancement, you
should include all things in your gratitude.
Do not waste time thinking or talking about the shortcomings or wrong
actions of plutocrats or trust magnates. Their organization of the world has
made your opportunity; all you get really comes to you because of them.
Do not rage against corrupt politicians; if it were not for politicians we
should fall into anarchy, and your opportunity would be greatly lessened.
God has worked a long time and very patiently to bring us up to where
we are in industry and government, and He is going right on with His work.
There is not the least doubt that He will do away with plutocrats, trust
magnates, captains of industry, and politicians as soon as they can be spared;
but in the meantime, behold they are all very good. Remember that they are
all helping to arrange the lines of transmission along which your riches will
come to you, and be grateful to them all. This will bring you into harmonious
relations with the good in everything, and the good in everything will move
toward you.
Afternote
It may seem simplistic but Wattles calls gratitude the pivot point of his
program. “The whole process of mental adjustment and atonement can
be summed up in one word, gratitude,” he writes.
Gratitude opens one’s sails to the winds of thought causation. It
guarantees the continuation of your progress.
Simple as it sounds, however, gratitude can be difficult to practice.
The stresses of life weigh on us, and when they do gratitude is usually
the first thing to go. Yet it is always possible to find things to be truly
grateful about. This point came home to me through a comment that
actor Christopher Reeve made to NPR after he was left paralyzed from
the neck down in an equestrian accident in 1995.
“I don’t want to sound so noble,” the actor and activist said.
“There’s times when I just get so jealous, I have to admit. You know, I
see somebody just get up out of a chair and stretch and I go, ‘No, you’re
not even thinking about what you’re doing and how lucky you are to do
that.’” Reeve’s comments made me realize how we overlook
remarkable privileges every day. Hence, it is always possible to be
grateful—and it is a real act of obliviousness not to be.
It is a simple fact that many people in this world cannot turn on a
tap and expect clean water to come out. Many of the world’s citizens
stagger under daily violence and corruption. Civil wars tear apart
nations. Natural disasters claim countless lives. The very fact of being
capable of living in relative security with decent food and water, having
shelter and protection, are a gift that people daily lose their lives
seeking.
To routinely complain or eschew gratitude is a crime against
awareness of those elements of life that most of us consider
commonplace but are, in fact, the fruit of great personal fortune, and
often of suffering that others have endured. Gratitude is simply realism.
—MH
Chapter 8
Thinking in a Certain Way
Turn back to chapter 6, and read again the story of the man who formed a
mental image of his house, and you will get a fair idea of the initial step
toward getting rich. You must form a clear and definite mental picture of
what you want; you cannot transmit an idea unless you have it yourself.
You must have it before you can give it; and many people fail to impress
Thinking Substance because they have themselves only a vague and misty
concept of the things they want to do, to have, or to become.
It is not enough that you should have a general desire for wealth “to do
good with”; everybody has that desire.
It is not enough that you should have a wish to travel, see things, live
more, etc. Everybody has those desires also. If you were going to send a
wireless message to a friend, you would not send the letters of the alphabet
in their order, and let him construct the message for himself; nor would you
take words at random from the dictionary. You would send a coherent
sentence; one which meant something. When you try to impress your wants
upon Substance, remember that it must be done by a coherent statement; you
must know what you want, and be definite.
You can never get rich, or start the creative power into action, by
sending out unformed longings and vague desires.
Go over your desires just as the man I have described went over his
house; see just what you want, and get a clear mental picture of it as you wish
it to look when you get it.
That clear mental picture you must have continually in mind, as the
sailor has in mind the port toward which he is sailing the ship; you must keep
your face toward it all the time. You must no more lose sight of it than the
steersman loses sight of the compass.
You can never get rich, or start the creative power into action,
by sending out unformed longings and vague desires.
It is not necessary to take exercises in concentration, nor to set apart
special times for prayer and affirmation, nor to “go into the silence,” nor to
do occult stunts of any kind. These things are well enough, but all you need is
to know what you want, and to want it badly enough so that it will stay in
your thoughts.
Spend as much of your leisure time as you can in contemplating your
picture, but no one needs to take exercises to concentrate his mind on a thing
which he really wants; it is the things you do not really care about which
require effort to fix your attention upon them.
And unless you really want to get rich, so that the desire is strong enough
to hold your thoughts directed to the purpose as the magnetic pole holds the
needle of the compass, it will hardly be worth while for you to try to carry
out the instructions given in this book.
The methods herein set forth are for people whose desire for riches is
strong enough to overcome mental laziness and the love of ease, and make
them work.
The more clear and definite you make your picture, then, and the more
you dwell upon it, bringing out all its delightful details, the stronger your
desire will be; and the stronger your desire, the easier it will be to hold your
mind fixed upon the picture of what you want.
Something more is necessary, however, than merely to see the picture
clearly. If that is all you do, you are only a dreamer, and will have little or no
power for accomplishment.
Behind your clear vision must be the purpose to realize it; to bring it out
in tangible expression.
And behind this purpose must be an invincible and unwavering FAITH
that the thing is already yours; that it is “at hand” and you have only to take
possession of it.
Live in the new house, mentally, until it takes form around you
physically. In the mental realm, enter at once into full enjoyment of the things
you want.
“Whatsoever things ye ask for when ye pray, believe that ye receive
them, and ye shall have them,” said Jesus.
And behind this purpose must be an invincible and unwavering
FAITH that the thing is already yours.
See the things you want as if they were actually around you all the time;
see yourself as owning and using them. Make use of them in imagination just
as you will use them when they are your tangible possessions. Dwell upon
your mental picture until it is clear and distinct, and then take the Mental
Attitude of Ownership toward everything in that picture. Take possession of
it, in mind, in the full faith that it is actually yours. Hold to this mental
ownership; do not waver for an instant in the faith that it is real.
And remember what was said in a preceding chapter about gratitude; be
as thankful for it all the time as you expect to be when it has taken form. The
man who can sincerely thank God for the things which as yet he owns only in
imagination, has real faith. He will get rich; he will cause the creation of
whatsoever he wants.
You do not need to pray repeatedly for the things you want; it is not
necessary to tell God about it every day.
“Use not vain repetitions as the heathen do,” said Jesus to His pupils,
“for your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things before ye ask
Him.”
Your part is to intelligently formulate your desire for the things which
make for a larger life, and to get these desires arranged into a coherent
whole; and then to impress this Whole Desire upon the Formless Substance,
which has the power and the will to bring you what you want.
You do not make this impression by repeating strings of words; you
make it by holding the vision with unshakable PURPOSE to attain it, and
with steadfast FAITH that you do attain it.
The answer to prayer is not according to your faith while you are
talking, but according to your faith while you are working.
You cannot impress the mind of God by having a special Sabbath day set
apart to tell Him what you want, and then forgetting Him during the rest of the
week. You cannot impress Him by having special hours to go into your closet
and pray, if you then dismiss the matter from your mind until the hour of
prayer comes again.
The answer to prayer is not according to your faith while you
are talking, but according to your faith while you are working.
Oral prayer is well enough, and has its effect, especially upon yourself,
in clarifying your vision and strengthening your faith; but it is not your oral
petitions which get you what you want. In order to get rich you do not need a
“sweet hour of prayer”; you need to “pray without ceasing.” And by prayer I
mean holding steadily to your vision, with the purpose to cause its creation
into solid form, and the faith that you are doing so.
“Believe that ye receive them.”
The whole matter turns on receiving, once you have clearly formed your
vision. When you have formed it, it is well to make an oral statement,
addressing the Supreme in reverent prayer; and from that moment you must,
in mind, receive what you ask for. Live in the new house; wear the fine
clothes; ride in the automobile; go on the journey, and confidently plan for
greater journeys. Think and speak of all the things you have asked for in
terms of actual present ownership. Imagine an environment, and a financial
condition exactly as you want them, and live all the time in that imaginary
environment and financial condition. Mind, however, that you do not do this
as a mere dreamer and castle builder; hold to the FAITH that the imaginary is
being realized, and to the PURPOSE to realize it. Remember that it is faith
and purpose in the use of the imagination which make the difference between
the scientist and the dreamer. And having learned this fact, it is here that you
must learn the proper use of the Will.
Afternote
What does it really mean to “think in a Certain Way,” as Wattles
advises? In essence, Wattles is talking about adopting and holding to a
mindset of seeing your success fulfilled—while also working toward
its establishment.
Follow these four steps:
First, Wattles prescribes fixing a definite image of your aim: “See
just what you want, and get a clear mental picture of it as you wish it to
look when you get it.”
Second, you must think, live, and feel from your vision fulfilled.
Here he counsels: “That clear mental picture you must have continually
in mind, as the sailor has in mind the port toward which he is sailing the
ship; you must keep your face toward it all the time.”
Have you ever met a person who knew exactly where he or she
wanted to head in life? My sister is such a person. As kids, we
experienced financial hardship and the fear that comes with economic
insecurity. I watched as she ascended from public schools to state
colleges to, finally, an Ivy League law degree, largely self-financed
through work and loans. My sister knew precisely what she wanted, and
she determinedly measured every step in her life by whether it added to
or detracted from her aims. She made time only for that which directed
her forward on her course. That, combined with a mental image of your
aim, is the force that impresses the over-mind or “thinking stuff” to
collude with you in concretizing your aims. Wattles calls this the
creative force of life, upon which we act through the medium of our
minds.
Third, you must be consistent. “Spend as much of your leisure time
as you can,” Wattles wrote, “contemplating your picture.” This is why it
is vitally important to be sure that you know what you really want. If
you feel passion for your aim, you will experience little difficulty in
keeping it always in sight.
Fourth, you must finally work with a sense of practicality and
personal progress. This is not a passive program or one of visualization
alone. You are trying to work out a “tangible expression.” Action is a
vital complement to thought and brings actualization to what thought
envisions and coproduces. Even in the most idealistic mental program,
we still act to place ourselves in the flow of our aims. I return later to
this point.
I must cite an area in which I depart from Wattles. He wrote: “You do
not need to pray repeatedly for things you want; it is not necessary to
tell God about it every day.” I take a different approach. Although it is
true that Scripture cautions against “vain repetitions,” other passages
also counsel persistence in prayer. This is not contradictory. As noted
earlier, faith can be seen as a kind of persistence or perseverance.
Prayer is very mysterious: it works, of that much, I am sure; but the
questions of when, how, and in what ways it works are enduringly and
necessarily inscrutable. Sometimes after reciting the same prayer again
and again something just happens. It is not clear why or by what agency
or logic. It is clear that prayer of various kinds grants us what might be
considered an escape hatch from the anxieties of our psyche and the
limitations of our mentality.
Hence, I believe there is never a right or wrong way to pray. My
counsel is: pray however you wish, so long as you are sincere.
Constantly picture, work, and petition a Greater Force for what you
need. Be intelligently persistent. Your moment may arrive unannounced.
—MH
Chapter 9
How to Use the Will
To set about getting rich in a scientific way, you do not try to apply your will
power to anything outside of yourself.
You have no right to do so, anyway.
It is wrong to apply your will to other men and women, in order to get
them to do what you wish done.
It is as flagrantly wrong to coerce people by mental power as it is to
coerce them by physical power. If compelling people by physical force to do
things for you reduces them to slavery, compelling them by mental means
accomplishes exactly the same thing; the only difference is in methods. If
taking things from people by physical force is robbery, then taking things by
mental force is robbery also; there is no difference in principle.
You have no right to use your will power upon another person, even “for
his own good”; for you do not know what is for his good.
The science of getting rich does not require you to apply power or force
to any other person, in any way whatsoever. There is not the slightest
necessity for doing so; indeed, any attempt to use your will upon others will
only tend to defeat your purpose.
You do not need to apply your will to things, in order to compel them to
come to you.
That would simply be trying to coerce God, and would be foolish and
useless, as well as irreverent.
You do not have to compel God to give you good things, any more than
you have to use your will power to make the sun rise.
You have no right to use your will power upon another person,
even “for his own good”; for you do not know what is for his
good.
You do not have to use your will power to conquer an unfriendly deity,
or to make stubborn and rebellious forces do your bidding.
Substance is friendly to you, and is more anxious to give you what you
want than you are to get it.
To get rich, you need only to use your will power upon yourself.
When you know what to think and do, then you must use your will to
compel yourself to think and do the right things. That is the legitimate use of
the will in getting what you want—to use it in holding yourself to the right
course.
Use your will to keep yourself thinking and acting in the Certain Way.
Do not try to project your will, or your thoughts, or your mind out into
space, to “act” on things or people.
Keep your mind at home; it can accomplish more there than elsewhere.
Use your mind to form a mental image of what you want, and to hold that
vision with faith and purpose; and use your will to keep your mind working
in the Right Way.
Use your will to keep yourself thinking and acting in the
Certain Way.
The more steady and continuous your faith and purpose, the more rapidly
you will get rich, because you will make only POSITIVE impressions upon
Substance; and you will not neutralize or offset them by negative
impressions.
The picture of your desires, held with faith and purpose, is taken up by
the Formless, and permeates it to great distances,—throughout the universe,
for all I know.
As this impression spreads, all things are set moving toward its
realization; every living thing, every inanimate thing, and the things yet
uncreated, are stirred toward bringing into being that which you want. All
force begins to be exerted in that direction; all things begin to move toward
you. The minds of people, everywhere, are influenced toward doing the
things necessary to the fulfilling of your desires; and they work for you,
unconsciously.
But you can check all this by starting a negative impression in the
Formless Substance. Doubt or unbelief is as certain to start a movement
away from you as faith and purpose are to start one toward you. It is by not
understanding this that most people who try to make use of “mental science”
in getting rich make their failure. Every hour and moment you spend in giving
heed to doubts and fears, every hour you spend in worry, every hour in which
your soul is possessed by unbelief, sets a current away from you in the whole
domain of intelligent Substance. All the promises are unto them that believe,
and unto them only. Notice how insistent Jesus was upon this point of belief;
and now you know the reason why.
Since belief is all important, it behooves you to guard your thoughts; and
as your beliefs will be shaped to a very great extent by the things you
observe and think about, it is important that you should command your
attention.
And here the will comes into use; for it is by your will that you
determine upon what things your attention shall be fixed.
If you want to become rich, you must not make a study of poverty.
It behooves you to guard your thoughts.
Things are not brought into being by thinking about their opposites.
Health is never to be attained by studying disease and thinking about disease;
righteousness is not to be promoted by studying sin and thinking about sin;
and no one ever got rich by studying poverty and thinking about poverty.
Medicine as a science of disease has increased disease; religion as a
science of sin has promoted sin, and economics as a study of poverty will fill
the world with wretchedness and want.
Do not talk about poverty; do not investigate it, or concern yourself with
it. Never mind what its causes are; you have nothing to do with them
What concerns you is the cure.
Do not spend your time in charitable work, or charity movements; all
charity only tends to perpetuate the wretchedness it aims to eradicate.
I do not say that you should be hard-hearted or unkind, and refuse to hear
the cry of need; but you must not try to eradicate poverty in any of the
conventional ways. Put poverty behind you, and put all that pertains to it
behind you, and “make good.”
Get rich; that is the best way you can help the poor.
And you cannot hold the mental image which is to make you rich if you
fill your mind with pictures of poverty. Do not read books or papers which
give circumstantial accounts of the wretchedness of the tenement dwellers, of
the horrors of child labor, and so on. Do not read anything which fills your
mind with gloomy images of want and suffering.
You cannot help the poor in the least by knowing about these things; and
the wide-spread knowledge of them does not tend at all to do away with
poverty.
What tends to do away with poverty is not the getting of pictures of
poverty into your mind, but getting pictures of wealth into the minds of the
poor.
You are not deserting the poor in their misery when you refuse to allow
your mind to be filled with pictures of that misery.
Poverty can be done away with, not by increasing the number of well-todo people who think about poverty, but by increasing the number of poor
people who purpose with faith to get rich.
The poor do not need charity; they need inspiration. Charity only sends
them a loaf of bread to keep them alive in their wretchedness, or gives them
an entertainment to make them forget for an hour or two; but inspiration will
cause them to rise out of their misery. If you want to help the poor,
demonstrate to them that they can become rich; prove it by getting rich
yourself.
Poverty can be done away with, not by increasing the number of
well-to-do people who think about poverty, but by increasing
the number of poor people who purpose with faith to get rich.
The only way in which poverty will ever be banished from this world is
by getting a large and constantly increasing number of people to practice the
teachings of this book.
People must be taught to become rich by creation, not by competition.
Every man who becomes rich by competition throws down behind him
the ladder by which he rises, and keeps others down; but every man who gets
rich by creation opens a way for thousands to follow him, and inspires them
to do so.
You are not showing hardness of heart or an unfeeling disposition when
you refuse to pity poverty, see poverty, read about poverty, or think or talk
about it, or to listen to those who do talk about it. Use your will power to
keep your mind OFF the subject of poverty, and to keep it fixed with faith and
purpose ON the vision of what you want.
People must be taught to become rich by creation, not by
competition.
Afternote
In this chapter, Wattles can seem contradictory. In one stroke he tells
readers, “Do not talk about poverty; do not investigate it, or concern
yourself with it,” and at other times in his life as a political reformer
and candidate he spoke passionately before audiences of the squalor of
Chicago tenements and the hopelessness of immigrant children living
there. He admiringly quoted from the social-reform journalism of Elbert
Hubbard, who had exposed child-labor abuses in turn-of-the-century
cotton mills. In the introduction, I detailed Wattles’ political efforts.
I think the solution appears in his follow up to this book, The
Science of Being Great, published in 1911. There Wattles wrote:
To rid yourself of the old false ideas you will have to think a great deal about the value
of men—the greatness and worth of a human soul. You must cease from looking at
human mistakes and look at successes; cease from seeing faults and see virtues. You
can no longer look upon men and women as lost and ruined beings that are descending
into hell; you must come to regard them as shining souls who are ascending toward
heaven. It will require some exercise of will power to do this, but this is the legitimate
use of the will—to decide what you will think about and how you will think. The
function of the will is to direct thought. Think about the good side of men; the lovely,
attractive part, and exert your will in refusing to think of anything else in connection
with them.
I know of no one who has attained to so much on this one point as Eugene V.
Debs, twice the Socialist candidate for president of the United States. Mr. Debs
reverences humanity. No appeal for help is ever made to him in vain. No one receives
from him an unkind or censorious word. You cannot come into his presence without
being made sensible of his deep and kindly personal interest in you. Every person, be
he millionaire, grimy workingman, or toil worn woman, receives the radiant warmth of
a brotherly affection that is sincere and true. No ragged child speaks to him on the
street without receiving instant and tender recognition. Debs loves men. This has made
him the leading figure in a great movement, the beloved hero of a million hearts, and
will give him a deathless name. It is a great thing to love men so and it is only achieved
by thought. Nothing can make you great but thought.
—MH
Chapter 10
Further Use of the Will
You cannot retain a true and clear vision of wealth if you are constantly
turning your attention to opposing pictures, whether they be external or
imaginary.
Do not tell of your past troubles of a financial nature, if you have had
them; do not think of them at all. Do not tell of the poverty of your parents, or
the hardships of your early life; to do any of these things is to mentally class
yourself with the poor for the time being, and it will certainly check the
movement of things in your direction.
“Let the dead bury their dead,” as Jesus said.
Put poverty and all things that pertain to poverty completely behind you.
You have accepted a certain theory of the universe as being correct, and
are resting all your hopes of happiness on its being correct; and what can you
gain by giving heed to conflicting theories?
Do not read religious books which tell you that the world is soon coming
to an end; and do not read the writings of muck-rakers and pessimistic
philosophers who tell you that it is going to the devil.
The world is not going to the devil; it is going to God.
It is a wonderful Becoming.
True, there may be a good many things in existing conditions which are
disagreeable; but what is the use of studying them when they are certainly
passing away, and when the study of them only tends to check their passing
and keep them with us? Why give time and attention to things which are being
removed by evolutionary growth, when you can hasten their removal only by
promoting the evolutionary growth as far as your part of it goes?
No matter how horrible in seeming may be the conditions in certain
countries, sections, or places, you waste your time and destroy your own
chances by considering them.
You should interest yourself in the world’s becoming rich.
Think of the riches the world is coming into, instead of the poverty it is
growing out of; and bear in mind that the only way in which you can assist the
world in growing rich is by growing rich yourself through the creative
method—not the competitive one.
Give your attention wholly to riches; ignore poverty.
Whenever you think or speak of those who are poor, think and speak of
them as those who are becoming rich; as those who are to be congratulated
rather than pitied. Then they and others will catch the inspiration, and begin
to search for the way out.
Because I say that you are to give your whole time and mind and thought
to riches, it does not follow that you are to be sordid or mean.
To become really rich is the noblest aim you can have in life, for it
includes everything else.
On the competitive plane, the struggle to get rich is a Godless scramble
for power over other men; but when we come into the creative mind, all this
is changed.
All that is possible in the way of greatness and soul unfoldment, of
service and lofty endeavor, comes by way of getting rich; all is made
possible by the use of things.
If you lack for physical health, you will find that the attainment of it is
conditional on your getting rich.
Only those who are emancipated from financial worry, and who have the
means to live a care-free existence and follow hygienic practices, can have
and retain health.
Moral and spiritual greatness is possible only to those who are above
the competitive battle for existence; and only those who are becoming rich on
the plane of creative thought are free from the degrading influences of
competition. If your heart is set on domestic happiness, remember that love
flourishes best where there is refinement, a high level of thought, and
freedom from corrupting influences; and these are to be found only where
riches are attained by the exercise of creative thought, without strife or
rivalry.
You can aim at nothing so great or noble, I repeat, as to become rich; and
you must fix your attention upon your mental picture of riches, to the
exclusion of all that may tend to dim or obscure the vision.
You must learn to see the underlying TRUTH in all things; you must see
beneath all seemingly wrong conditions the Great One Life ever moving
forward toward fuller expression and more complete happiness.
It is the truth that there is no such thing as poverty; that there is only
wealth.
Some people remain in poverty because they are ignorant of the fact that
there is wealth for them; and these can best be taught by showing them the
way to affluence in your own person and practice.
Others are poor because, while they feel that there is a way out, they are
too intellectually indolent to put forth the mental effort necessary to find that
way and travel it; and for these the very best thing you can do is to arouse
their desire by showing them the happiness that comes from being rightly
rich.
Others still are poor because, while they have some notion of science,
they have become so swamped and lost in the maze of metaphysical and
occult theories that they do not know which road to take. They try a mixture
of many systems and fail in all. For these, again, the very best thing to do is
to show the right way in your own person and practice; an ounce of doing
things is worth a pound of theorizing.
The very best thing you can do for the whole world is to make the most
of yourself.
You can serve God and man in no more effective way than by getting
rich; that is, if you get rich by the creative method, and not by the competitive
one.
Another thing. We assert that this book gives in detail the principles of
the science of getting rich; and if that is true, you do not need to read any
other book upon the subject. This may sound narrow and egotistical, but
consider: there is no more scientific method of computation in mathematics
than by addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division; no other method is
possible. There can be but one shortest distance between two points. There
is only one way to think scientifically, and that is to think in the way that
leads by the most direct and simple route to the goal. No man has yet
formulated a briefer or less complex “system” than the one set forth herein; it
has been stripped of all non-essentials. When you commence on this, lay all
others aside; put them out of your mind altogether.
The very best thing you can do for the whole world is to make
the most of yourself.
Read this book every day; keep it with you; commit it to memory, and do
not think about other “systems” and theories. If you do, you will begin to
have doubts, and to be uncertain and wavering in your thought; and then you
will begin to make failures.
After you have made good and become rich, you may study other systems
as much as you please; but until you are quite sure that you have gained what
you want, do not read anything on this line but this book, unless it be the
authors mentioned in the Preface.
And read only the most optimistic comments on the world’s news; those
in harmony with your picture.
Also, postpone your investigations into the occult. Do not dabble in
Theosophy, Spiritualism, or kindred studies. It is very likely that the dead
still live, and are near; but if they are, let them alone; mind your own
business.
Wherever the spirits of the dead may be, they have their own work to do,
and their own problems to solve; and we have no right to interfere with them.
We cannot help them, and it is very doubtful whether they can help us, or
whether we have any right to trespass upon their time if they can. Let the
dead and the hereafter alone, and solve your own problem; get rich. If you
begin to mix with the occult, you will start mental cross-currents which will
surely bring your hopes to shipwreck. Now, this and the preceding chapters
have brought us to the following statement of basic facts:—
There is a thinking stuff from which all things are made, and which, in its original state,
permeates, penetrates, and fills the interspaces of the universe.
A thought, in this substance, produces the thing that is imaged by the thought.
Man can form things in his thought, and, by impressing his thought upon formless
substance, can cause the thing he thinks about to be created.
In order to do this, man must pass from the competitive to the creative mind; he must
form a clear mental picture of the things he wants, and hold this picture in his thoughts
with the fixed PURPOSE to get what he wants, and the unwavering FAITH that he does
get what he wants, closing his mind against all that may tend to shake his purpose, dim
his vision, or quench his faith.
And in addition to all this, we shall now see that he must live and act in
a Certain Way.
Afternote
Consistency of mindset can be the most challenging aspect of Wattles’
program. In that vein, I want to offer a simple exercise. I have benefited
numerous times from it myself and heard from many readers who
experienced the same. It is called The 30-Day Mental Challenge.
The exercise is based on a passage from a 1931 book, Body, Mind,
and Spirit by Elwood Worcester and Samuel McComb, in which a
prominent scientist described radically improving his life through a
one-month thought experiment. I have condensed his testimony:
Up to my fiftieth year I was unhappy, ineffective, and obscure. I
had read some New Thought literature and some statements of
William James on directing one’s attention to what is good and useful
and ignoring the rest. Such ideas seemed like bunk—but feeling that
life was intolerable I determined to subject them to a month-long test.
During this time, I resolved to impose definite restrictions on my
thoughts. In thinking of the past, I would dwell only on its pleasing
incidents. In thinking of the present, I would direct attention to its
desirable elements. In thinking of the future, I would regard every
worthy and possible ambition as within reach.
I threw myself into this experiment. I was soon surprised to feel
happy and contented. But the outward changes astonished me more. I
deeply craved the recognition of certain eminent men. The foremost of
these wrote me, out of the blue, inviting me to become his assistant.
All my books were published. My colleagues grew helpful and
cooperative.
It seems that I stumbled upon a path of life and set forces
working for me which were previously working against me.
Attempt this experiment: 1) Choose your start date, 2) write out the
quoted, italicized testimony above by hand (never underestimate the
value of that), and 3) add: “I dedicate myself on this day of
___________ to focus on all that is nourishing, advancing, and
promising for thirty days.”
(signed)_________________________
That’s it. If you slip, there is no need to start over. Just rededicate
yourself and continue on.
This exercise holds more than may first appear. Recent to this writing, I
heard from a professional Muay Thai fighter, Spencer Hanley, who
asked for my help in his training for an upcoming match near Houston,
Texas.
I suggested the 30-Day Mental Challenge. Spencer had only nine
days until the fight, he explained; is this right for his timing? I believe so
on many levels, I told him, including the prospect of “retrocausality.”
In brief, there exists an entirely real prospect that what you do in
the future, i.e., following a given event, may improve your cognition and
performance during the event itself. Following a decade of study,
Cornell University research psychologist Daryl J. Bem published a
2011 paper reporting the results of his series of experiments into
precognition.* In short, Bem found that test subjects who memorized a
word list scored higher in recall by repeating their study of the list
following the test. Bem’s data supported a retrocausal effect in matters
of performance. I review his results and their replications in my 2022
book Daydream Believer and in an article “Is Precognition Real?” at
Medium. I lack space to fully consider the matter here, but I want to note
that concepts of time are just that: concepts. Tendrils of connection are
not necessarily linear and your efforts during this experiment may
evince results that surpass standard notions of past, present, and future.
What about the fight? Spencer won. His entry song was Heaven Is
a Place on Earth. One of the announcers said: “The fact that he’s
coming out to Belinda Carlisle makes me so happy.” It was no accident.
—MH
*
“Feeling the Future: Experimental Evidence for Anomalous Retroactive Influences on Cognition and
Affect” by Daryl J. Bem, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2011, Vol. 100, No. 3.
Chapter 11
Acting in the Certain Way
Thought is the creative power, or the impelling force which causes the
creative power to act; thinking in a Certain Way will bring riches to you, but
you must not rely upon thought alone, paying no attention to personal action.
That is the rock upon which many otherwise scientific metaphysical thinkers
meet shipwreck—the failure to connect thought with personal action.
We have not yet reached the stage of development, even supposing such
a stage to be possible, in which man can create directly from Formless
Substance without nature’s processes or the work of human hands; man must
not only think, but his personal action must supplement his thought.
Man must not only think, but his personal action must
supplement his thought.
By thought you can cause the gold in the hearts of the mountains to be
impelled toward you; but it will not mine itself, refine itself, coin itself into
double eagles, and come rolling along the roads seeking its way into your
pocket.
Under the impelling power of the Supreme Spirit, men’s affairs will be
so ordered that some one will be led to mine the gold for you; other men’s
business transactions will be so directed that the gold will be brought toward
you, and you must so arrange your own business affairs that you may be able
to receive it when it comes to you. Your thought makes all things, animate and
inanimate, work to bring you what you want; but your personal activity must
be such that you can rightly receive what you want when it reaches you. You
are not to take it as charity, nor to steal it; you must give every man more in
use value than he gives you in cash value.
The scientific use of thought consists in forming a clear and distinct
mental image of what you want; in holding fast to the purpose to get what you
want; and in realizing with grateful faith that you do get what you want.
Do not try to “project” your thought in any mysterious or occult way,
with the idea of having it go out and do things for you; that is wasted effort,
and will weaken your power to think with sanity.
The action of thought in getting rich is fully explained in the preceding
chapters; your faith and purpose positively impress your vision upon
Formless Substance, which has THE SAME DESIRE FOR MORE LIFE
THAT YOU HAVE; and this vision, received from you, sets all the creative
forces at work IN AND THROUGH THEIR REGULAR CHANNELS OF
ACTION, but directed toward you.
It is not your part to guide or supervise the creative process; all you
have to do with that is to retain your vision, stick to your purpose, and
maintain your faith and gratitude.
But you must act in a Certain Way, so that you can appropriate what is
yours when it comes to you; so that you can meet the things you have in your
picture, and put them in their proper places as they arrive.
You can readily see the truth of this. When things reach you, they will be
in the hands of other men, who will ask an equivalent for them.
And you can only get what is yours by giving the other man what is his.
Your pocketbook is not going to be transformed into a Fortunatus’s
purse, which shall be always full of money without effort on your part.
This is the crucial point in the science of getting rich; right here, where
thought and personal action must be combined. There are very many people
who, consciously or unconsciously, set the creative forces in action by the
strength and persistence of their desires, but who remain poor because they
do not provide for the reception of the thing they want when it comes.
By thought, the thing you want is brought to you; by action you receive it.
Whatever your action is to be, it is evident that you must act NOW. You
cannot act in the past, and it is essential to the clearness of your mental vision
that you dismiss the past from your mind. You cannot act in the future, for the
future is not here yet. And you cannot tell how you will want to act in any
future contingency until that contingency has arrived.
By thought, the thing you want is brought to you; by action you
receive it.
Because you are not in the right business, or the right environment now,
do not think that you must postpone action until you get into the right business
or environment. And do not spend time in the present taking thought as to the
best course in possible future emergencies; have faith in your ability to meet
any emergency when it arrives.
If you act in the present with your mind on the future, your present action
will be with a divided mind, and will not be effective.
Put your whole mind into present action.
Do not give your creative impulse to Original Substance, and then sit
down and wait for results; if you do, you will never get them. Act now. There
is never any time but now, and there never will be any time but now. If you
are ever to begin to make ready for the reception of what you want, you must
begin now.
And your action, whatever it is, must most likely be in your present
business or employment, and must be upon the persons and things in your
present environment.
You cannot act where you are not; you cannot act where you have been,
and you cannot act where you are going to be; you can act only where you
are.
Do not bother as to whether yesterday’s work was well done or ill done;
do to-day’s work well.
Do not try to do to-morrow’s work now; there will be plenty of time to
do that when you get to it.
Do not try, by occult or mystical means, to act on people or things that
are out of your reach.
Do not wait for a change of environment before you act; get a change of
environment by action.
You can so act upon the environment in which you are now, as to cause
yourself to be transferred to a better environment.
Hold with faith and purpose the vision of yourself in the better
environment, but act upon your present environment with all your heart, and
with all your strength, and with all your mind.
Do not spend any time in day dreaming or castle building; hold to the
one vision of what you want, and act NOW.
Do not cast about seeking some new thing to do, or some strange,
unusual, or remarkable action to perform as a first step toward getting rich. It
is probable that your actions, at least for some time to come, will be those
you have been performing for some time past; but you are to begin now to
perform these actions in the Certain Way, which will surely make you rich.
Hold to the one vision of what you want, and act NOW.
If you are engaged in some business, and feel that it is not the right one
for you, do not wait until you get into the right business before you begin to
act.
Do not feel discouraged, or sit down and lament because you are
misplaced. No man was ever so misplaced but that he could find the right
place, and no man ever became so involved in the wrong business but that he
could get into the right business.
Hold the vision of yourself in the right business, with the purpose to get
into it, and the faith that you will get into it, and are getting into it; but ACT in
your present business. Use your present business as the means of getting a
better one, and use your present environment as the means of getting into a
better one. Your vision of the right business, if held with faith and purpose,
will cause the Supreme to move the right business toward you; and your
action, if performed in the Certain Way, will cause you to move toward the
business.
If you are an employee, or wage earner, and feel that you must change
places in order to get what you want, do not “project” your thought into space
and rely upon it to get you another job. It will probably fail to do so.
Hold the vision of yourself in the job you want, while you ACT with
faith and purpose on the job you have, and you will certainly get the job you
want.
Your vision and faith will set the creative force in motion to bring it
toward you, and your action will cause the forces in your own environment to
move you toward the place you want. In closing this chapter, we will add
another statement to our syllabus:—
There is a thinking stuff from which all things are made, and which, in its original state,
permeates, penetrates, and fills the interspaces of the universe.
A thought, in this substance, produces the thing that is imaged by the thought.
Man can form things in his thought, and, by impressing his thoughts upon formless
substance, can cause the thing he thinks about to be created.
In order to do this, man must pass from the competitive to the creative mind; he must
form a clear mental picture of the things he wants, and hold this picture in his thoughts
with the fixed PURPOSE to get what he wants, and the unwavering FAITH that he does
get what he wants, closing his mind to all that may tend to shake his purpose, dim his
vision, or quench his faith.
That he may receive what he wants when it comes, man must act NOW upon the
people and things in his present environment.
Afternote
“By thought, the thing you want is brought to you; by action you receive
it.” This is one of the most important lines in The Science of Getting
Rich. Write it down. Repeat it to yourself. Return to it. Again: “By
thought, the thing you want is brought to you; by action you receive it.”
People often ask about the role of personal action in mind-power
programs. Some critics say—usually wrongly and usually about books
they haven’t read—that mind power is about passivity and idle “happy
thoughts” absent personal toil and action. In Wattles’ program there is
no such approach and no ambiguity. He writes with refreshing
bluntness:
THOUGHT is the creative power, or the impelling force which causes the creative
power to act; thinking in a Certain Way will bring riches to you, but you must not rely
upon thought alone, paying no attention to personal action. That is the rock upon which
many otherwise scientific metaphysical thinkers meet shipwreck—the failure to connect
thought with personal action. We have not yet reached the stage of development, even
supposing such a stage to be possible, in which man can create directly from Formless
Substance without nature’s processes or the work of human hands; man must not only
think, but his personal action must supplement his thought.
And further:
This is the crucial point in the science of getting rich; right here, where thought and
personal action must be combined. There are very many people who, consciously or
unconsciously, set the creative forces in action by the strength and persistence of their
desires, but who remain poor because they do not provide for the reception of the thing
they want when it comes.
This also means that your wish must be actionable. For a wish to
be authentic, rather than just fantasy or escapism, it must be connected
with something that you can do, however small, in the here and now. A
real wish is attainable, even if the means are not immediately apparent.
What must be apparent is that you can train, learn, reach out to people,
and labor in concrete ways that facilitate progress toward your aim.
Wattles additionally notes—and this is vital—that wishes come to
people who more than fill their current position, job, or responsibilities.
This means that whatever your present job, you must not neglect it but
rather you must excel at it.
The person who outgrows his or her current occupation is the one
who expands to the next. This is a law of life. You cannot proceed
through the next phase of your existence until you have satisfied your
obligations to present conditions. Greatness often appears in the person
who does his or her work so well that, like a sunflower no longer fitted
to a pot, the pot itself bursts and he finds himself in fresh soil beyond it.
—MH
Chapter 12
Efficient Action
You must use your thought as directed in previous chapters, and begin to do
what you can do where you are; and you must do ALL that you can do where
you are.
You can advance only by being larger than your present place; and no
man is larger than his present place who leaves undone any of the work
pertaining to that place.
The world is advanced only by those who more than fill their present
places.
If no man quite filled his present place, you can see that there must be a
going backward in everything. Those who do not quite fill their present
places are a dead weight upon society, government, commerce, and industry;
they must be carried along by others at a great expense. The progress of the
world is retarded only by those who do not fill the places they are holding;
they belong to a former age and a lower stage or plane of life, and their
tendency is toward degeneration. No society could advance if every man was
smaller than his place; social evolution is guided by the law of physical and
mental evolution. In the animal world, evolution is caused by excess of life.
The world is advanced only by those who more than fill their
present places.
When an organism has more life than can be expressed in the functions
of its own plane, it develops the organs of a higher plane, and a new species
is originated.
There never would have been new species had there not been organisms
which more than filled their places. The law is exactly the same for you; your
getting rich depends upon your applying this principle to your own affairs.
Every day is either a successful day or a day of failure; and it is the
successful days which get you what you want. If every day is a failure, you
can never get rich; while if every day is a success, you cannot fail to get rich.
If there is something that may be done to-day, and you do not do it, you
have failed in so far as that thing is concerned; and the consequences may be
more disastrous than you imagine.
You cannot foresee the results of even the most trivial act; you do not
know the workings of all the forces that have been set moving in your behalf.
Much may be depending on your doing some simple act; it may be the very
thing which is to open the door of opportunity to very great possibilities. You
can never know all the combinations which Supreme
Intelligence is making for you in the world of things and of human
affairs; your neglect or failure to do some small thing may cause a long delay
in getting what you want.
Do, every day, ALL that can be done that day.
There is, however, a limitation or qualification of the above that you
must take into account.
You are not to overwork, nor to rush blindly into your business in the
effort to do the greatest possible number of things in the shortest possible
time.
You are not to try to do to-morrow’s work to-day, nor to do a week’s
work in a day.
It is really not the number of things you do, but the EFFICIENCY of
each separate action that counts.
Every act is, in itself, either a success or a failure.
Every act is, in itself, either effective or inefficient.
Every inefficient act is a failure, and if you spend your life in doing
inefficient acts, your whole life will be a failure.
The more things you do, the worse for you, if all your acts are inefficient
ones.
On the other hand, every efficient act is a success in itself, and if every
act of your life is an efficient one, your whole life MUST be a success.
The cause of failure is doing too many things in an inefficient manner,
and not doing enough things in an efficient manner.
You will see that it is a self-evident proposition that if you do not do any
inefficient acts, and if you do a sufficient number of efficient acts, you will
become rich. If, now, it is possible for you to make each act an efficient one,
you see again that the getting of riches is reduced to an exact science, like
mathematics.
The matter turns, then, on the question whether you can make each
separate act a success in itself. And this you can certainly do.
You can make each act a success, because All Power is working with
you; and All Power cannot fail.
Power is at your service; and to make each act efficient you have only to
put power into it.
Every action is either strong or weak; and when every one is strong, you
are acting in the Certain Way which will make you rich.
Every act can be made strong and efficient by holding your vision while
you are doing it, and putting the whole power of your FAITH and PURPOSE
into it.
It is at this point that the people fail who separate mental power from
personal action. They use the power of mind in one place and at one time,
and they act in another place and at another time. So their acts are not
successful in themselves; too many of them are inefficient. But if All Power
goes into every act, no matter how commonplace, every act will be a success
in itself; and as in the nature of things every success opens the way to other
successes, your progress toward what you want, and the progress of what
you want toward you, will become increasingly rapid.
Remember that successful action is cumulative in its results. Since the
desire for more life is inherent in all things, when a man begins to move
toward larger life more things attach themselves to him, and the influence of
his desire is multiplied.
Do, every day, all that you can do that day, and do each act in an efficient
manner.
Do, every day, all that you can do that day, and do each act in an
efficient manner.
In saying that you must hold your vision while you are doing each act,
however trivial or commonplace, I do not mean to say that it is necessary at
all times to see the vision distinctly to its smallest details. It should be the
work of your leisure hours to use your imagination on the details of your
vision, and to contemplate them until they are firmly fixed upon your memory.
If you wish speedy results, spend practically all your spare time in this
practice.
By continuous contemplation you will get the picture of what you want,
even to the smallest details, so firmly fixed upon your mind, and so
completely transferred to the mind of Formless Substance, that in your
working hours you need only to mentally refer to the picture to stimulate your
faith and purpose, and cause your best effort to be put forth. Contemplate
your picture in your leisure hours until your consciousness is so full of it that
you can grasp it instantly. You will become so enthused with its bright
promises that the mere thought of it will call forth the strongest energies of
your whole being.
Let us again repeat our syllabus, and by slightly changing the closing
statements bring it to the point we have now reached.
There is a thinking stuff from which all things are made, and which, in its original state,
permeates, penetrates, and fills the interspaces of the universe.
A thought, in this substance, produces the thing that is imaged by the thought.
Man can form things in his thought, and, by impressing his thought upon formless
substance, can cause the thing he thinks about to be created.
In order to do this, man must pass from the competitive to the creative mind; he must
form a clear mental picture of the things he wants, and do, with faith and purpose, all
that can be done each day, doing each separate thing in an efficient manner.
Afternote
To succeed with this program you must, as noted, select a bold but
realistic aim; labor toward your aim; persistently and passionately hold
a mental picture of your aim; persevere; and watch for the arrival of
your aim through established channels.
There is now one final, vital ingredient I want to highlight, and it
comes not from The Science of Getting Rich but from another of
Wattles’ writings, an essay called “How to Get What You Want.”
In “How to Get What You Want,” Wattles talks about the
importance of what he called Power-Consciousness. “This is what you
feel,” he wrote, “when you know that you can do a thing, and you know
HOW to do the thing.”
Now, some say that positive-mind metaphysics feeds delusion.
They are wrong. In fact, most people face the problem of
underestimating what they are capable of. That is where cultivation of
Power-Consciousness comes in.
Wattles prescribes a useful exercise to build your sense of PowerConsciousness:
Practice the following mental exercise several times a day, and especially just before
going to sleep. Think quietly about the subconscious mentality, which permeates your
whole body as water permeates a sponge; as you think of this mind, try to feel it; you
will soon be able to become conscious of it. Hold this consciousness, and say with deep,
earnest feeling: “I CAN succeed! All that is possible to anyone is possible to me. I AM
successful. I do succeed, for I am full of the Power of Success.”
An important adjunct to this exercise is mentioned earlier: to more
than fulfill the responsibilities that are presently yours.
Doing things greatly means doing small things greatly. I have found
that many people avoid or short-shrift the basics, which are, in
themselves, a path to power and excellence. As you raise your eyes to
where you wish to be, use every opportunity to express your dedication
and agency by handling the things that are currently under your purview,
no matter how seemingly modest.
“You can advance,” Wattles wrote, “only by being larger than your
present place.” That is true power.
—MH
Chapter 13
Getting into the Right Business
Success, in any particular business, depends for one thing upon your
possessing in a well-developed state the faculties required in that business.
Without good musical faculty no one can succeed as a teacher of music;
without well-developed mechanical faculties no one can achieve great
success in any of the mechanical trades; without tact and the commercial
faculties no one can succeed in mercantile pursuits. But to possess in a welldeveloped state the faculties required in your particular vocation does not
insure getting rich. There are musicians who have remarkable talent, and who
yet remain poor; there are blacksmiths, carpenters, and so on who have
excellent mechanical ability, but who do not get rich; and there are merchants
with good faculties for dealing with men who nevertheless fail.
The different faculties are tools; it is essential to have good tools, but it
is also essential that the tools should be used in the Right Way. One man can
take a sharp saw, a square, a good plane, and so on, and build a handsome
article of furniture; another man can take the same tools and set to work to
duplicate the article, but his production will be a botch. He does not know
how to use good tools in a successful way.
The various faculties of your mind are the tools with which you must do
the work which is to make you rich; it will be easier for you to succeed if
you get into a business for which you are well equipped with mental tools.
Generally speaking, you will do best in that business which will use
your strongest faculties; the one for which you are naturally “best fitted.” But
there are limitations to this statement, also. No man should regard his
vocation as being irrevocably fixed by the tendencies with which he was
born.
You can get rich in ANY business, for if you have not the right talent for
it you can develop that talent; it merely means that you will have to make
your tools as you go along, instead of confining yourself to the use of those
with which you were born. It will be EASIER for you to succeed in a
vocation for which you already have the talents in a well-developed state;
but you CAN succeed in any vocation, for you can develop any rudimentary
talent, and there is no talent of which you have not at least the rudiment.
You will get rich most easily in point of effort, if you do that for which
you are best fitted; but you will get rich most satisfactorily if you do that
which you WANT to do.
Doing what you want to do is life; and there is no real satisfaction in
living if we are compelled to be forever doing something which we do not
like to do, and can never do what we want to do. And it is certain that you
can do what you want to do; the desire to do it is proof that you have within
you the power which can do it.
Doing what you want to do is life.
Desire is a manifestation of power.
The desire to play music is the power which can play music seeking
expression and development; the desire to invent mechanical devices is the
mechanical talent seeking expression and development.
Where there is no power, either developed or undeveloped, to do a
thing, there is never any desire to do that thing; and where there is strong
desire to do a thing, it is certain proof that the power to do it is strong, and
only requires to be developed and applied in the Right Way.
Desire is a manifestation of power.
All things else being equal, it is best to select the business for which you
have the best developed talent; but if you have a strong desire to engage in
any particular line of work, you should select that work as the ultimate end at
which you aim.
You can do what you want to do, and it is your right and privilege to
follow the business or avocation which will be most congenial and pleasant.
You are not obliged to do what you do not like to do, and should not do
it except as a means to bring you to the doing of the thing you want to do.
If there are past mistakes whose consequences have placed you in an
undesirable business or environment, you may be obliged for some time to do
what you do not like to do; but you can make the doing of it pleasant by
knowing that it is making it possible for you to come to the doing of what you
want to do.
If you feel that you are not in the right vocation, do not act too hastily in
trying to get into another one. The best way, generally, to change business or
environment is by growth.
Do not be afraid to make a sudden and radical change if the opportunity
is presented, and you feel after careful consideration that it is the right
opportunity; but never take sudden or radical action when you are in doubt as
to the wisdom of doing so.
There is never any hurry on the creative plane; and there is no lack of
opportunity.
When you get out of the competitive mind you will understand that you
never need to act hastily. No one else is going to beat you to the thing you
want to do; there is enough for all. If one place is taken, another and a better
one will be opened for you a little farther on; there is plenty of time. When
you are in doubt, wait. Fall back on the contemplation of your vision, and
increase your faith and purpose; and by all means, in times of doubt and
indecision, cultivate gratitude.
There is never any hurry on the creative plane; and there is no
lack of opportunity.
A day or two spent in contemplating the vision of what you want, and in
earnest thanksgiving that you are getting it, will bring your mind into such
close relationship with the Supreme that you will make no mistake when you
do act.
There is a mind which knows all there is to know; and you can come into
close unity with this mind by faith and the purpose to advance in life, if you
have deep gratitude.
Mistakes come from acting hastily, or from acting in fear or doubt, or in
forgetfulness of the Right Motive, which is more life to all, and less to none.
As you go on in the Certain Way, opportunities will come to you in
increasing number; and you will need to be very steady in your faith and
purpose, and to keep in close touch with the All Mind by reverent gratitude.
Do all that you can do in a perfect manner every day, but do it without
haste, worry, or fear. Go as fast as you can, but never hurry.
Remember that in the moment you begin to hurry you cease to be a
creator and become a competitor; you drop back upon the old plane again.
Whenever you find yourself hurrying, call a halt; fix your attention on the
mental image of the thing you want, and begin to give thanks that you are
getting it. The exercise of GRATITUDE will never fail to strengthen your
faith and renew your purpose.
Afternote
You alone know the right kind of business or vocation to pursue. But I
want to add two notes about pursuing your chosen path wisely.
Recent to this writing, I was struck by an article by software
engineer Alexander Nguyen that appeared at Medium on February 12,
2023, “Why Google Didn’t Lay Me Off as 1 of 12,000.”
When the tech giant laid off 12,000 employees the previous month,
the author was spared. It was not due to seniority—he had been there
only six months. Nor was it due to performance—his employee ratings
during that time were “average” or “meets expectations.” He doesn’t
exclude performance as a criteria for avoiding layoffs, but that wasn’t a
factor in his case.
“What is interesting,” he wrote, “is that no one on my team was
impacted by this round of layoffs. The product I work on is titled
‘Private Offers’ and that has been a large investment by Google Cloud
to compete with other cloud providers. Being part of 26 billion revenue
for Google, it’d be hard to justify affecting a profitable team in that
area.”
He continued, “Working harder did not protect those affected,
working on profitable teams did. This wasn’t a factor I considered
joining Google, it was chance. And those chances bailed me out in
2023.”
It is not always possible, as it was for Nguyen, to land within a
profitable team or arena. But his ardently unsentimental lesson should
be kept in mind. Whenever possible, seek the profit center of wherever
you find yourself.
I wrote earlier of being fired from a job. When I arrived at a new
publisher, the first thing I noticed was that the most profitable side of its
program was the backlist: stalwart oldies that are reprinted again and
again. More than 60 percent of profits came from its back catalogue.
That’s where I focused my energies: not only r