SCIENCE OF
GETTING
RICH
BY
W. D. WATTLES
Author of “New Science of Living
and Healing.”
PRICE, $1.00
PUBLISHED BY
ELIZABETH TOWNE
HOLYOKE, MASS.
1910
COPYRIGHT, APRIL 1, 1910
BY
WALLACE D. WATTLES
CONTENTS
|
| PAGE |
| I. | The Right to be Rich | 9 |
| II. | There is a Science of Getting Rich | 15 |
| III. | Is Opportunity Monopolized | 23 |
| IV. | The First Principle in the Science of Getting Rich | 31 |
| V. | Increasing Life | 42 |
| VI. | How Riches Come to You | 53 |
| VII. | Gratitude | 63 |
| VIII. | Thinking in a Certain Way | 71 |
| IX. | How to Use the Will | 80 |
| X. | Further Use of the Will | 89 |
| XI. | Acting in the Certain Way | 99 |
| XII. | Efficient Action | 110 |
| XIII. | Getting into the Right Business | 119 |
| XIV. | The Impression of Increase | 127 |
| XV. | The Advancing Man | 135 |
| XVI. | Some Cautions, and Concluding Observations | 143 |
| XVII. | Summary of the Science of Getting Rich | 152 |
[5]
FOREWORD BY OLIVIA SALTER.
Unveiling the Keys to Wealth and Abundance
In a world teeming with financial uncertainties and unfulfilled dreams, one timeless philosophy stands tall, beckoning us towards a life of boundless prosperity and achievement. That philosophy is none other than the perennial wisdom contained within the pages of "The Science of Getting Rich" by W. D. Wattles.
Originally published over a century ago, "The Science of Getting Rich" continues to resonate with readers worldwide as its transformative principles transcend the limitations of time and societal shifts. Its profound insights offer a veritable roadmap that illuminates the path to wealth creation, personal growth, and the attainment of our hearts deepest desires.
Wattles, a pragmatic and visionary thinker, believed that the pursuit of wealth was not only a noble endeavor but a natural right for every individual. Through a fusion of spiritual wisdom, practical advice, and principles rooted in universal laws, he unraveled the mysteries of wealth accumulation and shared them generously with the world.
"The Science of Getting Rich" recognizes that wealth creation is not merely a matter of luck or chance, nor is it confined to a select few. Instead, it reveals the fundamental truth that the acquisition of riches is a science—a systematic process governed by principles that, when understood and applied, lead to extraordinary prosperity for all who dare to embrace them.
At the core of this profound work lies the principle of creative thought and its immense power to shape our reality. Wattles emphasizes that true wealth creation begins with a paradigm shift in our mindset—a conscious decision to align our thoughts, beliefs, and actions towards the attainment of our goals. By mastering the art of intentional thinking, we can claim our rightful place as active participants in the creation of our own abundance.
"The Science of Getting Rich" also recognizes the interconnectedness of all individuals, illuminating the truth that the wealth we desire is not at the expense of others but rather a shared journey towards collective prosperity. Wattles urges us to view success not as a zero-sum game but as a collaborative endeavor, encouraging the creation of value that benefits not only ourselves but also the people around us. In embracing this philosophy, we transcend the limiting beliefs that perpetuate scarcity and seize the infinite opportunities for growth and expansion.
As you delve into the pages of this extraordinary book, be prepared to embark on a profound journey of self-discovery that will challenge your assumptions, ignite your imagination, and propel you towards a life of abundance. Through its timeless teachings, "The Science of Getting Rich" empowers us to unleash our untapped potential, guiding us as we overcome obstacles, conquer fears, and unlock the vast reservoirs of creativity within us.
As we stand at the threshold of a new era where the pursuit of wealth and success takes on unparalleled significance, the wisdom contained within this classic work shines even brighter. In an age marked by ever-increasing opportunities and advancements, "The Science of Getting Rich" serves as a guiding light, reminding us of the infinite possibilities that lie before us, awaiting our conscious creation.
May you immerse yourself fully in the profound teachings of "The Science of Getting Rich" and transcend the limitations that have hindered your progress thus far. May you awaken to the infinite abundance that surrounds you, and may the principles contained within these pages empower you to rise above mediocrity and claim the wealth and success you rightly deserve.
Welcome to a transformative journey towards unlocking the secrets of wealth creation. Prepare to embark on a path that threads together the sciences of the mind and the mysteries of the universe, guiding you towards a life of unlimited abundance.
Now let the exploration begin.
Olivia Salter
O8/16/2023
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[6]
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[7]
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.
[9]
CHAPTER I.
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.
[10]
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.
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[11]
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[12]
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 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[13]
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.
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[14]
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.
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.
[15]
CHAPTER II.
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[16]
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[17]
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[18]
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[19]
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.
[20]
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[21]
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[22]
present business and in your present
location to do things in the Certain Way
which causes success.
[23]
CHAPTER III.
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[24]
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[25]
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[26]
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 the
development of such co-operative 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.
No one is kept in poverty by a shortness[27]
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[28]
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.
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[29]
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,[30]
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.
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.
[31]
CHAPTER IV.
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.
[32]
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,[33]
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.
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.
[34]
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 co-operate
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,[35]
we must lay down three fundamental
propositions.
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[36]
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[37]
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[38]
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.
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.
[39]
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[40]
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[41]
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.
[42]
CHAPTER V.
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;[43]
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[44]
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.
[45]
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.
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[46]
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[47]
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.
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.
[48]
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 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[49]
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[50]
this class will show that they have really
been the most abject and wretched of
the poor.
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[51]
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[52]
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.
[53]
CHAPTER VI.
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[54]
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.
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[55]
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.
[56]
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[57]
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.
[58]
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.
[59]
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.
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[60]
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.
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[61]
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;[62]
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.
[63]
CHAPTER VII.
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[64]
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.
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[65]
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.
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.
[66]
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.
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[67]
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.
[68]
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.
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[69]
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[70]
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.
[71]
CHAPTER VIII.
Turn back to chapter VI., 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[72]
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[73]
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.
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[74]
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[75]
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.
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.
[76]
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.
[77]
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.
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[78]
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[79]
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.
[80]
CHAPTER IX.
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[81]
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 do not have to use your will
power to conquer an unfriendly deity,[82]
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.
[83]
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[84]
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[85]
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.
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[86]
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.
[87]
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-to-do
people who think about poverty, but by
increasing the number of poor people
who propose 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.
The only way in which poverty will
ever be banished from this world is by[88]
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.
[89]
CHAPTER X.
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[90]
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?
[91]
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[92]
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[93]
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[94]
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[95]
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[96]
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.
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[97]
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.
[98]
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.
[99]
CHAPTER XI.
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.
[100]
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.
[101]
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[102]
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[103]
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.
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.
[104]
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[105]
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[106]
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.
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[107]
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[108]
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[109]
when it comes, man must act NOW
upon the people and things in his present
environment.
[110]
CHAPTER XII.
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[111]
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.
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.[112]
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[113]
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[114]
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.
[115]
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.
[116]
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.
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[117]
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[118]
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.
[119]
CHAPTER XIII.
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 well-developed 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[120]
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[121]
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[122]
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.
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.
All things else being equal, it is best
to select the business for which you have
the best developed talent; but if you[123]
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.
[124]
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.
A day or two spent in contemplating
the vision of what you want, and in[125]
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.
[126]
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.
[127]
CHAPTER XIV.
Whether you change your
vocation or not, your actions
for the present must
be those pertaining to the
business in which you are
now engaged.
You can get into the business you
want by making constructive use of the
business you are already established in;
by doing your daily work in a Certain
Way.
And in so far as your business consists
in dealing with other men, whether
personally or by letter, the key-thought
of all your efforts must be to convey to
their minds the impression of increase.
Increase is what all men and all
women are seeking; it is the urge of
the Formless Intelligence within them,
seeking fuller expression.
[128]
The desire for increase is inherent in
all nature; it is the fundamental impulse
of the universe. All human activities
are based on the desire for
increase; people are seeking more food,
more clothes, better shelter, more luxury,
more beauty, more knowledge,
more pleasure—increase in something,
more life.
Every living thing is under this necessity
for continuous advancement;
where increase of life ceases, dissolution
and death set in at once.
Man instinctively knows this, and
hence he is forever seeking more. This
law of perpetual increase is set forth by
Jesus in the parable of the talents; only
those who gain more retain any; from
him who hath not shall be taken away
even that which he hath.
The normal desire for increased
wealth is not an evil or a reprehensible
thing; it is simply the desire for more
abundant life; it is aspiration.
And because it is the deepest instinct[129]
of their natures, all men and women
are attracted to him who can give them
more of the means of life.
In following the Certain Way as
described in the foregoing pages, you
are getting continuous increase for
yourself, and you are giving it to all
with whom you deal.
You are a creative center, from
which increase is given off to all.
Be sure of this, and convey assurance
of the fact to every man, woman, and
child with whom you come in contact.
No matter how small the transaction,
even if it be only the selling of a stick
of candy to a little child, put into it the
thought of increase, and make sure that
the customer is impressed with the
thought.
Convey the impression of advancement
with everything you do, so that all
people shall receive the impression that
you are an Advancing Man, and that
you advance all who deal with you.
Even to the people whom you meet in[130]
a social way, without any thought of
business, and to whom you do not try
to sell anything, give the thought of
increase.
You can convey this impression by
holding the unshakable faith that you,
yourself, are in the Way of Increase;
and by letting this faith inspire, fill, and
permeate every action.
Do everything that you do in the firm
conviction that you are an advancing
personality, and that you are giving
advancement to everybody.
Feel that you are getting rich, and
that in so doing you are making others
rich, and conferring benefits on all.
Do not boast or brag of your success,
or talk about it unnecessarily; true
faith is never boastful.
Wherever you find a boastful person,
you find one who is secretly doubtful
and afraid. Simply feel the faith, and
let it work out in every transaction; let
every act and tone and look express the
quiet assurance that you are getting[131]
rich; that you are already rich. Words
will not be necessary to communicate
this feeling to others; they will feel the
sense of increase when in your presence,
and will be attracted to you
again.
You must so impress others that they
will feel that in associating with you
they will get increase for themselves.
See that you give them a use value
greater than the cash value you are
taking from them.
Take an honest pride in doing this,
and let everybody know it; and you will
have no lack of customers. People will
go where they are given increase; and
the Supreme, which desires increase in
all, and which knows all, will move
toward you men and women who have
never heard of you. Your business will
increase rapidly, and you will be surprised
at the unexpected benefits which
will come to you. You will be able from
day to day to make larger combinations,
secure greater advantages, and to go on[132]
into a more congenial vocation if you
desire to do so.
But in doing all this, you must never
lose sight of your vision of what you
want, or your faith and purpose to get
what you want.
Let me here give you another word
of caution in regard to motives.
Beware of the insidious temptation
to seek for power over other men.
Nothing is so pleasant to the unformed
or partially developed mind as
the exercise of power or dominion over
others. The desire to rule for selfish
gratification has been the curse of the
world. For countless ages kings and
lords have drenched the earth with
blood in their battles to extend their
dominions; this not to seek more life
for all, but to get more power for themselves.
To-day, the main motive in the business
and industrial world is the same;
men marshal their armies of dollars,
and lay waste the lives and hearts of[133]
millions in the same mad scramble for
power over others. Commercial kings,
like political kings, are inspired by the
lust for power.
Jesus saw in this desire for mastery
the moving impulse of that evil world
He sought to overthrow. Read the
twenty-third chapter of Matthew, and
see how He pictures the lust of the
Pharisees to be called “Master,” to sit
in the high places, to domineer over
others, and to lay burdens on the backs
of the less fortunate; and note how He
compares this lust for dominion with
the brotherly seeking for the Common
Good to which He calls His disciples.
Look out for the temptation to seek
for authority, to become a “master,” to
be considered as one who is above the
common herd, to impress others by
lavish display, and so on.
The mind that seeks for mastery over
others is the competitive mind; and the
competitive mind is not the creative
one. In order to master your environment[134]
and your destiny, it is not at all
necessary that you should rule over
your fellow men; and indeed, when you
fall into the world’s struggle for the
high places, you begin to be conquered
by fate and environment, and your getting
rich becomes a matter of chance
and speculation.
Beware of the competitive mind!
No better statement of the principle of
creative action can be formulated than
the favorite declaration of the late
“Golden Rule” Jones of Toledo: “What
I want for myself, I want for everybody.”
[135]
CHAPTER XV.
What I have said in the last
chapter applies as well to
the professional man and
the wage-earner as to the
man who is engaged in
mercantile business.
No matter whether you are a physician,
a teacher, or a clergyman, if you
can give increase of life to others and
make them sensible of the fact, they will
be attracted to you, and you will get
rich. The physician who holds the
vision of himself as a great and successful
healer, and who works toward the
complete realization of that vision with
faith and purpose, as described in
former chapters, will come into such
close touch with the Source of Life that
he will be phenomenally successful;
patients will come to him in throngs.
[136]
No one has a greater opportunity to
carry into effect the teachings of this
book than the practitioner of medicine;
it does not matter to which of the various
schools he may belong, for the principle
of healing is common to all of
them, and may be reached by all alike.
The Advancing Man in medicine, who
holds to a clear mental image of himself
as successful, and who obeys the
laws of faith, purpose, and gratitude,
will cure every curable case he undertakes,
no matter what remedies he may
use.
In the field of religion, the world
cries out for the clergyman who can
teach his hearers the true science of
abundant life. He who masters the
details of the science of getting rich,
together with the allied sciences of
being well, of being great, and of winning
love, and who teaches these details
from the pulpit, will never lack for a
congregation. This is the gospel that
the world needs; it will give increase of[137]
life, and men will hear it gladly, and
will give liberal support to the man who
brings it to them.
What is now needed is a demonstration
of the science of life from the
pulpit. We want preachers who can
not only tell us how, but who in their
own persons will show us how. We
need the preacher who will himself be
rich, healthy, great, and beloved, to
teach us how to attain to these things;
and when he comes he will find a numerous
and loyal following.
The same is true of the teacher who
can inspire the children with the faith
and purpose of the advancing life. He
will never be “out of a job.” And any
teacher who has this faith and purpose
can give it to his pupils; he cannot help
giving it to them if it is part of his own
life and practice.
What is true of the teacher, preacher,
and physician is true of the lawyer,
dentist, real estate man, insurance
agent—of everybody.
[138]
The combined mental and personal
action I have described is infallible; it
cannot fail. Every man and woman
who follows these instructions steadily,
perseveringly, and to the letter, will get
rich. The law of the Increase of Life
is as mathematically certain in its
operation as the law of gravitation;
getting rich is an exact science.
The wage-earner will find this as true
of his case as of any of the others mentioned.
Do not feel that you have no
chance to get rich because you are working
where there is no visible opportunity
for advancement, where wages
are small and the cost of living high.
Form your clear mental vision of what
you want, and begin to act with faith
and purpose.
Do all the work you can do, every
day, and do each piece of work in a
perfectly successful manner; put the
power of success, and the purpose to get
rich, into everything that you do.
But do not do this merely with the[139]
idea of currying favor with your employer,
in the hope that he, or those
above you, will see your good work and
advance you; it is not likely that they
will do so.
The man who is merely a “good”
workman, filling his place to the very
best of his ability, and satisfied with
that, is valuable to his employer; and
it is not to the employer’s interest to
promote him; he is worth more where
he is.
To secure advancement, something
more is necessary than to be too large
for your place.
The man who is certain to advance
is the one who is too big for his place,
and who has a clear concept of what he
wants to be; who knows that he can
become what he wants to be, and who
is determined to BE what he wants to
be.
Do not try to more than fill your present
place with a view to pleasing your
employer; do it with the idea of advancing[140]
yourself. Hold the faith and
purpose of increase during work hours,
after work hours, and before work
hours. Hold it in such a way that
every person who comes in contact with
you, whether foreman, fellow workman,
or social acquaintance, will feel the
power of purpose radiating from you;
so that every one will get the sense of
advancement and increase from you.
Men will be attracted to you, and if
there is no possibility for advancement
in your present job, you will very soon
see an opportunity to take another job.
There is a Power which never fails to
present opportunity to the Advancing
Man who is moving in obedience to law.
God cannot help helping you, if you
act in a Certain Way; He must do so in
order to help Himself.
There is nothing in your circumstances
or in the industrial situation
that can keep you down. If you cannot
get rich working for the steel trust, you
can get rich on a ten-acre farm; and if[141]
you begin to move in the Certain Way,
you will certainly escape from the
“clutches” of the steel trust and get on
to the farm or wherever else you wish
to be.
If a few thousands of its employees
would enter upon the Certain Way, the
steel trust would soon be in a bad
plight; it would have to give its workingmen
more opportunity, or go out of
business. Nobody has to work for a
trust; the trusts can keep men in so-called
hopeless conditions only so long
as there are men who are too ignorant
to know of the science of getting rich,
or too intellectually slothful to practice
it.
Begin this way of thinking and acting,
and your faith and purpose will
make you quick to see any opportunity
to better your condition.
Such opportunities will speedily
come, for the Supreme, working in All,
and working for you, will bring them
before you.
[142]
Do not wait for an opportunity to be
all that you want to be; when an opportunity
to be more than you are now is
presented and you feel impelled toward
it, take it. It will be the first step
toward a greater opportunity.
There is no such thing possible in this
universe as a lack of opportunities for
the man who is living the advancing
life.
It is inherent in the constitution of
the cosmos that all things shall be for
him and work together for his good;
and he must certainly get rich if he acts
and thinks in the Certain Way. So let
wage-earning men and women study
this book with great care, and enter
with confidence upon the course of action
it prescribes; it will not fail.
[143]
CHAPTER XVI.
Many people will scoff at the
idea that there is an exact
science of getting rich;
holding the impression that
the supply of wealth is
limited, they will insist that social
and governmental institutions must be
changed before even any considerable
number of people can acquire a competence.
But this is not true.
It is true that existing governments
keep the masses in poverty, but this is
because the masses do not think and
act in the Certain Way.
If the masses begin to move forward
as suggested in this book, neither governments
nor industrial systems can
check them; all systems must be modified[144]
to accommodate the forward movement.
If the people have the Advancing
Mind, have the Faith that they can
become rich, and move forward with
the fixed purpose to become rich, nothing
can possibly keep them in poverty.
Individuals may enter upon the Certain
Way at any time, and under any
government, and make themselves rich;
and when any considerable number of
individuals do so under any government,
they will cause the system to be
so modified as to open the way for
others.
The more men who get rich on the
competitive plane, the worse for others;
the more who get rich on the creative
plane, the better for others.
The economic salvation of the masses
can only be accomplished by getting a
large number of people to practice the
scientific method set down in this book,
and become rich. These will show
others the way, and inspire them with[145]
a desire for real life, with the faith that
it can be attained, and with the purpose
to attain it.
For the present, however, it is enough
to know that neither the government
under which you live nor the capitalistic
or competitive system of industry can
keep you from getting rich. When you
enter upon the creative plane of thought
you will rise above all these things and
become a citizen of another kingdom.
But remember that your thought
must be held upon the creative plane;
you are never for an instant to be
betrayed into regarding the supply as
limited, or into acting on the moral level
of competition.
Whenever you do fall into old ways
of thought, correct yourself instantly;
for when you are in the competitive
mind, you have lost the co-operation of
the Mind of the Whole.
Do not spend any time in planning
as to how you will meet possible emergencies
in the future, except as the[146]
necessary policies may affect your
actions to-day. You are concerned
with doing to-day’s work in a perfectly
successful manner, and not with emergencies
which may arise to-morrow;
you can attend to them as they come.
Do not concern yourself with questions
as to how you shall surmount
obstacles which may loom upon your
business horizon, unless you can see
plainly that your course must be altered
to-day in order to avoid them.
No matter how tremendous an obstruction
may appear at a distance, you
will find that if you go on in the Certain
Way it will disappear as you approach
it, or that a way over, through, or
around it will appear.
No possible combination of circumstances
can defeat a man or woman
who is proceeding to get rich along
strictly scientific lines. No man or
woman who obeys the law can fail to
get rich, any more than one can multiply
two by two and fail to get four.
[147]
Give no anxious thought to possible
disasters, obstacles, panics, or unfavorable
combinations of circumstances; it
is time enough to meet such things
when they present themselves before
you in the immediate present, and you
will find that every difficulty carries
with it the wherewithal for its overcoming.
Guard your speech. Never speak of
yourself, your affairs, or of anything
else in a discouraged or discouraging
way.
Never admit the possibility of failure,
or speak in a way that infers failure
as a possibility.
Never speak of the times as being
hard, or of business conditions as being
doubtful. Times may be hard and
business doubtful for those who are on
the competitive plane, but they can
never be so for you; you can create
what you want, and you are above
fear.
When others are having hard times[148]
and poor business, you will find your
greatest opportunities.
Train yourself to think of and to
look upon the world as a something
which is Becoming, which is growing;
and to regard seeming evil as being only
that which is undeveloped. Always
speak in terms of advancement; to do
otherwise is to deny your faith, and to
deny your faith is to lose it.
Never allow yourself to feel disappointed.
You may expect to have a
certain thing at a certain time, and not
get it at that time; and this will appear
to you like failure.
But if you hold to your faith you will
find that the failure is only apparent.
Go on in the certain way, and if you
do not receive that thing, you will receive
something so much better that you
will see that the seeming failure was
really a great success.
A student of this science had set his
mind on making a certain business
combination which seemed to him at the[149]
time to be very desirable, and he worked
for some weeks to bring it about. When
the crucial time came, the thing failed
in a perfectly inexplicable way; it was
as if some unseen influence had been
working secretly against him. He was
not disappointed; on the contrary, he
thanked God that his desire had been
overruled, and went steadily on with a
grateful mind. In a few weeks an
opportunity so much better came his
way that he would not have made the
first deal on any account; and he saw
that a Mind which knew more than he
knew had prevented him from losing
the greater good by entangling himself
with the lesser.
That is the way every seeming failure
will work out for you, if you keep
your faith, hold to your purpose, have
gratitude, and do, every day, all that
can be done that day, doing each separate
act in a successful manner.
When you make a failure, it is because
you have not asked for enough;[150]
keep on, and a larger thing than you
were seeking will certainly come to you.
Remember this.
You will not fail because you lack the
necessary talent to do what you wish
to do. If you go on as I have directed,
you will develop all the talent that is
necessary to the doing of your work.
It is not within the scope of this book
to deal with the science of cultivating
talent; but it is as certain and simple
as the process of getting rich.
However, do not hesitate or waver
for fear that when you come to any
certain place you will fail for lack of
ability; keep right on, and when you
come to that place, the ability will be
furnished to you. The same source of
Ability which enabled the untaught
Lincoln to do the greatest work in government
ever accomplished by a single
man is open to you; you may draw upon
all the mind there is for wisdom to use
in meeting the responsibilities which
are laid upon you. Go on in full faith.
[151]
Study this book. Make it your constant
companion until you have mastered
all the ideas contained in it.
While you are getting firmly established
in this faith, you will do well to give up
most recreations and pleasures; and to
stay away from places where ideas
conflicting with these are advanced in
lectures or sermons. Do not read pessimistic
or conflicting literature, or get
into arguments upon the matter. Do
very little reading, outside of the writers
mentioned in the Preface. Spend
most of your leisure time in contemplating
your vision, and in cultivating
gratitude, and in reading this book. It
contains all you need to know of the
science of getting rich; and you will
find all the essentials summed up in the
following chapter.
[152]
CHAPTER XVII.
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; otherwise he cannot be in harmony
with the Formless Intelligence,
which is always creative and never
competitive in spirit.
Man may come into full harmony[153]
with the Formless Substance by entertaining
a lively and sincere gratitude
for the blessings it bestows upon him.
Gratitude unifies the mind of man with
the intelligence of Substance, so that
man’s thoughts are received by the
Formless. Man can remain upon the
creative plane only by uniting himself
with the Formless Intelligence through
a deep and continuous feeling of gratitude.
Man must form a clear and definite
mental image of the things he wishes
to have, to do, or to become; and he
must hold this mental image in his
thoughts, while being deeply grateful
to the Supreme that all his desires are
granted to him. The man who wishes
to get rich must spend his leisure hours
in contemplating his Vision, and in
earnest thanksgiving that the reality is
being given to him. Too much stress
cannot be laid on the importance of
frequent contemplation of the mental
image, coupled with unwavering faith[154]
and devout gratitude. This is the process
by which the impression is given to
the Formless, and the creative forces
set in motion.
The creative energy works through
the established channels of natural
growth, and of the industrial and
social order. All that is included in his
mental image will surely be brought
to the man who follows the instructions
given above, and whose faith does not
waver. What he wants will come to
him through the ways of established
trade and commerce.
In order to receive his own when it
shall come to him, man must be active;
and this activity can only consist in
more than filling his present place. He
must keep in mind the Purpose to get
rich through the realization of his mental
image. And he must do, every day,
all that can be done that day, taking
care to do each act in a successful manner.
He must give to every man a
use value in excess of the cash value[155]
he receives, so that each transaction
makes for more life; and he must so
hold the Advancing Thought that the
impression of Increase will be communicated
to all with whom he comes in
contact.
The men and women who practice the
foregoing instructions will certainly get
rich; and the riches they receive will be
in exact proportion to the definiteness
of their vision, the fixity of their purpose,
the steadiness of their faith, and
the depth of their gratitude.
FURTHER AIDS TOWARD
GETTING RICH RIGHT
THE NAUTILUS is published monthly for the
express purpose of making Men and Women Who Can
Do What They Will To Do. It abounds in practical
ideas and in the bright inspiration that impels you to
USE the ideas. Use it as first aid!
Wallace D. Wattles, who wrote this book, teaches
“Constructive Science” in every number of the magazine.
How to think so as to PROMOTE YOURSELF
is what you want to know. He teaches it!
Elizabeth and William E. Towne teach it, too. They
are the editors and owners of THE NAUTILUS, and
their success is worth knowing about and learning
from.
And Thomas Dreier, of the Sheldon School of Salesmanship,
writes for NAUTILUS on business growing.
So does Frank Andrews Fall, of the University of New
York. And several others. These folks know how.
GET IN TOUCH with success and successful people
through NAUTILUS.
Then there is our Success Department, where everybody
is invited to say his say, and prizes are given for
best letters.
THE NAUTILUS teaches and inspires health,
wealth, and happiness in ALL departments of life.
Don’t miss Wallace D. Wattles’ great new serial
story, “As a Grain of Mustard Seed,” which will begin
in an early number of the magazine.
Send $1.00 for a year’s subscription to THE NAUTILUS,
with a copy of “Making The Man Who Can,”
and “Marital Unrest: a New Remedy,” both by
Wallace D. Wattles. Or, send 10 cents for a three
months’ trial and a copy of “Marital Unrest.”
Do you want more books on how to succeed? Read Bruce
McClelland’s “Prosperity Through Thought Force,” price, $1.00, to
which Ells Wheeler Wilcox gave nearly a page of space in the New
York Journal; and read “How to Grow Success,” by Elizabeth
Towne, 50c. And don’t you want to read Wallace D. Wattles’ “New
Science of Living and Healing,” price, 50c.? Address
ELIZABETH TOWNE, Dept. TS, HOLYOKE, MASS.
Transcriber’s Notes:
Punctuation has been made consistent.
Variations in spelling and hyphenation were retained as they appear in
the original publication.
The following change has been made:
p. 87: purpose changed to propose (who propose with)
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