Think and Grow Rich!

Napoleon Hill

193 highlights · August 2023 – October 2023

Let us not forget, Columbus dreamed of an Unknown World, staked his life on the existence of such a world, and discovered it! Copernicus, the great astronomer, dreamed of a multiplicity of worlds and revealed them! No one denounced him as “impractical” after he had triumphed.
Marconi’s “friends” had him taken into custody and examined in a mental hospital when he announced he had discovered a principle through which he could send messages through the air, without the aid of wires or other direct physical means of communication. The dreamers of today fare better.
nothing is impossible to the person who backs DESIRE with enduring FAITH.
Fifth. I fully realize that no wealth or position can long endure unless built upon truth and justice; therefore, I will engage in no transaction that does not benefit all whom it affects. I will succeed by attracting to myself the forces I wish to use and the cooperation of other people. I will induce others to serve me because of my willingness to serve others. I will eliminate hatred, envy, jealousy, selfishness, and cynicism by developing love for all humanity—because I know that a negative attitude toward others can never bring me success. I will cause others to believe in me because I will believe in them and in myself.
If you think you are beaten, you are, If you think you dare not, you don’t. If you like to win, but you think you can’t, It is almost certain you won’t. If you think you’ll lose, you’re lost, For out of the world we find, Success begins with a fellow’s will--It’s all in the state of mind. If you think you are outclassed, you are, You’ve got to think high to rise, You’ve got to be sure of yourself before You can ever win a prize. Life’s battles don’t always go To the stronger or faster man, But soon or late the man who wins Is the man WHO THINKS HE CAN!
I BELIEVE THAT CLOSE ASSOCIATION WITH ONE WHO REFUSES TO COMPROMISE WITH CIRCUMSTANCES HE OR SHE DOES NOT LIKE IS AN ASSET THAT CAN NEVER BE MEASURED IN TERMS OF MONEY.
We have in this country the greatest public school system in the world. We have invested fabulous sums for fine buildings. We have provided convenient transportation for children living in rural and other areas. But there is one astounding weakness to this marvelous system—IT IS FREE! One of the strange things about human beings is that they value only that which has a price. The free schools of America and the free public libraries do not impress people because they are free (or appear to be so). This is the major reason why so many people find it necessary to acquire additional training after they quit school and go to work. It is also one of the major reasons why EMPLOYERS GIVE GREATER CONSIDERATION TO EMPLOYEES WHO PARTICIPATE REGULARLY IN SELF-STUDY COURSES AND OTHER FORMS OF PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT. They have learned from experience that any person who has the ambition to give up a part of his or her spare time, or to use slack time at work, for professional development, has those qualities which make for leadership. This recognition is not a charitable gesture. It is sound business judgment upon the part of the employers.
“All the world loves a winner, and has no time for a loser”
Remember, the IDEA is the main thing. Specialized knowledge may be found just around the corner—any corner! But IMAGINATION is the catalyst that unites a good idea with the specialized knowledge required to translate it into SUCCESS.
If you are one of those who believe that hard work and honesty alone will bring riches, perish the thought! It is not true! Riches, when they come in huge quantities, are never the result of HARD work! Riches come, if they come at all, in response to definite demands, based upon the application of definite principles, and not by chance or luck. Generally speaking, an idea is an impulse of thought that impels action by an appeal to the imagination. All master salespeople know that ideas can be sold where merchandise cannot. Ordinary salespeople do not know this—that is why they are ordinary.
The story of practically every great fortune starts with the day when a creator of ideas and a seller of ideas get together and work in harmony. Carnegie surrounded himself with people who could do all that he could not do—people who created ideas and people who put ideas into operation—and by so doing made himself and the others fabulously rich.
The most intelligent individual cannot succeed in accumulating money—or in any other undertaking—without plans which are practical and workable. Just keep this fact in mind and remember, when your plans fail, that temporary defeat is not permanent failure. It may only mean that your plans have not been sound. Build other plans. Start over again.
Temporary defeat should mean only one thing—the certain knowledge that there is something wrong with your plan. Millions of people go through life in misery and poverty because they lack a sound plan through which to accumulate a fortune.
NO FOLLOWER OF THIS PHILOSOPHY CAN REASONABLY EXPECT TO ACCUMULATE A FORTUNE WITHOUT EXPERIENCING TEMPORARY DEFEAT. When defeat comes, accept it as a signal that your plans are not sound, rebuild those plans, and set sail once more toward your coveted goal. If you give up before your goal has been reached, you are a quitter. A QUITTER NEVER WINS—AND A WINNER NEVER QUITS. Lift this sentence out, write it on a piece of paper in letters an inch high, and place it where you will see it every night before you go to sleep and every morning before you go to work.
When you begin to select members for your Master Mind Group, endeavor to select those who do not take defeat seriously. Some people foolishly believe that only MONEY can make money. This is not true! DESIRE, transmuted into its monetary equivalent, through the principles laid down here, is the agency through which money is made. Money, of itself, is nothing but inert matter. It cannot move, think, or talk, but it can “hear” when a person who DESIRES it calls it to come!
Broadly speaking, there are two types of people in the world. One type is known as LEADERS and the other as FOLLOWERS. Decide at the outset whether you intend to become a leader in your chosen calling or remain a follower. The difference in compensation is vast. The follower cannot reasonably expect the compensation to which a leader is entitled, although many followers make the mistake of expecting such pay. It is no disgrace to be a follower. On the other hand, it is no credit to remain a follower.
The 11 Major Factors of Leadership
The following are important attributes of leadership: UNWAVERING COURAGE based upon knowledge of self and of one’s occupation. No follower wishes to be dominated by a leader who lacks self-confidence and courage. No intelligent follower will be dominated by such a leader very long. SELF-CONTROL. The person who lacks self-control can never control others. Self-control sets a mighty example for one’s followers, which the more intelligent will emulate. A KEEN SENSE OF JUSTICE. Without a sense of fairness and justice, no leader can command and retain the respect of his or her followers. DEFINITENESS OF DECISION. Individuals who waver in their decisions show that they are not sure of themselves. They cannot lead others successfully. DEFINITENESS OF PLANS. Successful leaders must plan their work and work their plan. Leaders who move by guesswork, without practical, definite plans, are comparable to a ship without a rudder. Sooner or later they will land on the rocks. THE HABIT OF DOING MORE THAN PAID FOR. One of the penalties of leadership is the necessity of willingness, upon the part of leaders, to do more than they require of their followers. A PLEASING PERSONALITY. No slovenly, careless person can become a successful leader. Leadership calls for respect. Followers will not respect a leader who does not grade high on all of the factors of a “Pleasing Personality.” SYMPATHY AND UNDERSTANDING. Successful leaders must be in sympathy with their followers. Moreover, they must…
“The greatest among ye shall be the servant of all” is a truth which all able leaders observe and respect.
Media through Which Services May Be Marketed
Experience has proved that the following media offer the most direct and effective methods of bringing the buyer and seller of personal services together. EMPLOYMENT AGENCIES. Care must be taken to select only reputable agencies, the management of which can show adequate records of achievement of satisfactory results. There are comparatively few such agencies. ADVERTISING in newspapers, trade journals, and magazines. Classified advertising may usually be relied upon to produce satisfactory results in the case of those who apply for clerical or ordinary salaried positions. Display advertising is more desirable in the case of those who seek executive connections. The copy should be prepared by an expert, who understands how to inject sufficient selling qualities to produce replies. PERSONAL LETTERS OF APPLICATION, directed to particular firms or individuals most apt to need such services as are being offered. Letters should be neatly typed, ALWAYS, and signed by hand with a bold signature. With the letter should be sent a complete brief or outline of the applicant’s qualifications. Both the letter of application and the resume of experience or qualifications should be prepared by an expert—or be of the same quality and appearance as one prepared by an expert. (See instructions as to information to be supplied). APPLICATION THROUGH PERSONAL ACQUAINTANCES. When possible, the applicant should endeavor to approach prospective employers through some mutual acquaintance. This method…
Offer to go to work on probation. In the majority of instances, if you are determined to have the position for which you apply, it will be most effective if you offer to work for a week, or a month, or for a sufficient length of time to enable your prospective employer to judge your value WITHOUT PAY. This may appear to be a radical suggestion, but experience has proved that it seldom fails to win at least a trial. If you are SURE OF YOUR QUALIFICATIONS, a trial is all you need. Incidentally, such an offer indicates that you have confidence in your ability to fill the position you seek. It is most convincing. If your offer is accepted, and you make good, more than likely you will be paid for your probation period. Make clear the fact that your offer is based upon: your confidence in your ability to fill the position your confidence in your prospective employer’s decision to employ you after trial your DETERMINATION to have the position you seek
When your resume has been completed, have it neatly bound and printed by an experienced printer. Its cover should appear similar to the following: RESUME OF Robert K. Smith APPLYING FOR THE POSITION OF Assistant Manager at THE BLANK COMPANY, INC. This personal touch is sure to command attention. Have your resume neatly typed or printed on the finest paper you can obtain and then suitably bound or placed in an appropriate presentation folder. The cover should, of course, be changed and the proper firm name and job title inserted if it is to be shown to more than one company. Your photograph should be pasted or printed on one of the pages of your resume. Follow these instructions to the letter, improving upon them wherever your imagination suggests.
How to Get the Exact Position You Desire
Here are seven actions to take to guarantee yourself the exact position you wish: First. Decide—and DEFINE briefly in writing—EXACTLY what kind of job you desire. If the job does not already exist, perhaps you can create it. Second. Choose the specific company, or the specific individual, for whom you wish to work. Third. Study your prospective employer as to policies, personnel, and chances of advancement. Fourth. By analysis of yourself, your talents and capabilities, figure WHAT YOU CAN OFFER and plan ways and means of giving advantages, services, developments, and ideas that you believe you can successfully deliver. Fifth. Forget about “a job.” Forget whether or not there is an opening. Forget the usual routine of “have you got a job for me?” Concentrate on what you can give. Sixth. Once you have your plan in mind, arrange with an experienced writer to put it on paper, in neat form and in full detail. Seventh. Present it to the proper person with authority and he or she will do the rest. Every company is looking for people who can give something of value, whether it be ideas, services, or “connections.” Every company has room for the individual who has a definite plan of action which is to the advantage of that company. This line of procedure may take a few days or weeks of extra time, but the difference in income, in advancement, and in gaining recognition will save years of hard work at small pay. It has many advantages, the main one being that it will often save from…
THE NEW WAY TO MARKET SERVICES “Jobs” Are Now “Partnerships”
The real employer of the future will be the public. This should be kept uppermost in mind by every person seeking to market personal services effectively.8
What Is Your QQS Rating?
The QUALITY and the QUANTITY of service rendered, and the SPIRIT in which it is rendered, determine to a large extent the price and the duration of employment. To market personal services effectively (which means a permanent market, at a satisfactory price, under pleasant conditions), one must adopt and follow the “QQS Formula”—QUALITY, plus QUANTITY, plus the proper SPIRIT of cooperation equals perfect salesmanship of service. Remember the QQS Formula, but do more—APPLY IT AS A HABIT!
QUALITY of service shall be construed to mean the performance of every detail in connection with your position in the most efficient manner possible, with the object of greater efficiency always in mind.
QUANTITY of service shall be understood to mean the HABIT of rendering all the service of which you are capable, at all times, with the purpose of increasing the amount of service rendered as greater skill is developed through practice and experience. Emphasis is again placed on the word HABIT.
SPIRIT of service shall be construed to mean the HABIT of agreeable, harmonious conduct which will induce cooperation from associates and fellow employees. Adequacy of QUALITY and QUANTITY of service is not sufficient to maintain a permanent market for your services. The conduct, or the SPIRIT in which you deliver service, is a strong determining factor in connection with both the price you receive and the duration of your employment. Andrew Carnegie stressed this point more than others in connection with his description of the factors which lead to success in the marketing of personal services. He emphasized again and again the necessity for HARMONIOUS CONDUCT. He stressed the fact that he would not retain any person, no matter how great a QUANTITY or how efficient the QUALITY of that person’s work, unless the individual worked in a spirit of HARMONY. Mr. Carnegie insisted upon people being AGREEABLE. To prove that he placed a high value upon this quality, he permitted many individuals who conformed to his standards to become very wealthy. Those who did not conform had to make room for others.
The Capital Value of Your Services
The day of the “go-getter” has passed. The go-getter has been supplanted by the “go-giver.” High-pressure methods in business finally blew the lid off. There will never be the need to put the lid back on because in the future business will be conducted by methods that will require no pressure. The actual capital value of your brains may be determined by the amount of income you can produce (by marketing your services). A fair estimate of the capital value of your services may be made by multiplying your annual income by 162/3 (or 16.667), as it is reasonable to estimate that your annual income represents approximately six percent of your capital value. (Money is worth no more than brains. It is often worth much less.)
THE 30 MAJOR CAUSES OF FAILURE How Many of These Are Holding You Back?
LACK OF A WELL-DEFINED PURPOSE IN LIFE. There is no hope of success for the person who does not have a central purpose, or definite goal, at which to aim. At least 98 out of every 100 of those people whom I have analyzed had no such aim. Perhaps this was the MAJOR CAUSE OF THEIR FAILURE.
LACK OF SELF-DISCIPLINE. Discipline comes through self-control. This means that one must control all negative qualities. Before you can control conditions, you must first control yourself. Self-mastery is the hardest job you will ever tackle. If you do not conquer self, you will be conquered by self. You may see at one and the same time both your best friend and your greatest enemy by stepping in front of a mirror.
PROCRASTINATION. This is one of the most common causes of failure. “Old Man Procrastination” stands within the shadow of every human being, awaiting his opportunity to spoil one’s chances of success. Most people go through life as failures because they habitually wait for the “time to be right” to start doing something worthwhile. Do not wait. The time will never be “just right.” Start where you stand and work with whatever tools you may have at your command, and better tools will be found as you go along.
LACK OF PERSISTENCE. Most of us are good starters, but poor finishers of everything we begin. Moreover, people are prone to give up at the first signs of defeat. There is no substitute for PERSISTENCE. The person who makes PERSISTENCE a personal watchword discovers that “Old Man Failure” finally becomes tired and makes his departure. Failure cannot cope with PERSISTENCE.
LACK OF CONTROLLED SEXUAL URGE. Because of the way human beings are “wired,” biologically and genetically, sex energy is the most powerful of all the stimuli which move people into ACTION. Because it is the most powerful of the emotions, it must be controlled--through a process of transmutation—and converted into other channels. (More about this in Chapter 10.)
WRONG SELECTION OF A VOCATION. No one can succeed in a line of endeavor which he or she does not like. The most essential step in the marketing of personal services is that of selecting an occupation into which you can throw yourself wholeheartedly.
LACK OF CONCENTRATION OF EFFORT. The jack-of-all-trades is seldom good at any. Concentrate all of your efforts on one DEFINITE CHIEF AIM.
LACK OF CAPITAL. This is a common cause of failure among those who start out in business for the first time without sufficient reserve of capital to absorb the shock of their mistakes, and to carry them over until they have established a REPUTATION.
TAKE INVENTORY OF YOURSELF 28 Questions You Should Answer
Annual self-analysis is an essential in the effective marketing of personal services, as is annual inventory in merchandising. Moreover, the yearly analysis should disclose a DECREASE IN FAULTS and an increase in VIRTUES.
Your annual self-analysis should be made at the end of each year so that you can include in your New Year’s Resolutions any improvements which the analysis indicates should be made. Take this inventory by asking yourself the following questions and by checking your answers with the aid of someone who will not permit you to deceive yourself as to their accuracy.
Self-Analysis Questionnaire for Personal Inventory
Have I attained the goal which I established as my objective for this year? (You should work with a definite yearly objective to be attained as a part of your major life objective). Have I delivered service of the best possible QUALITY of which I was capable, or could I have improved any part of this service? Have I delivered service in the greatest possible QUANTITY of which I was capable? Has the spirit of my conduct been harmonious and cooperative at all times? Have I permitted the habit of PROCRASTINATION to decrease my efficiency, and if so, to what extent? Have I improved my PERSONALITY, and if so, in what ways? Have I been PERSISTENT in following my plans through to completion? Have I reached DECISIONS PROMPTLY AND DEFINITELY on all occasions? Have I permitted any one or more of the Six Basic Fears to decrease my efficiency? Have I been either over-cautious or under-cautious? Has my relationship with my associates in work been pleasant or unpleasant? If it has been unpleasant, has the fault been partly or wholly mine? Have I dissipated any of my energy through lack of CONCENTRATION of effort? Have I been open-minded and tolerant in connection with all subjects? In what way have I improved my ability to render service? Have I been intemperate in any of my habits? Have I expressed either openly or secretly any form of EGOTISM? Has my conduct toward my associates been such that it has induced them to RESPECT me? Have my opinions and DECISIONS been based upon guesswork or…
The name of this mysterious benefactor of humankind is CAPITAL! CAPITAL consists not alone of money, but more particularly of highly organized, intelligent groups of individuals who plan ways and means of using money efficiently for the good of the public and profitably to themselves.
Stated briefly, the capitalists are the brains of civilization because they supply the entire fabric of which all education, enlightenment and human progress consists. Money, without brains, always is dangerous. Properly used, it is the most important essential of civilization. The simple breakfast described earlier could not have been delivered to that family of four at 69 cents each or at any other price if organized capital had not provided the machinery, the ships, the railroads, the trucks, and the huge armies of trained workers to operate them.
Ships, railroads, airlines, and trucking networks do not spring up from the earth and function automatically. They come in response to the call of civilization, through the labor and ingenuity and organizing ability of people who have IMAGINATION, FAITH, ENTHUSIASM, DECISION, PERSISTENCE! These individuals are known as capitalists. They are motivated by the desire to build, construct, achieve, render useful service, earn profits and accumulate riches. And because they RENDER SERVICE WITHOUT WHICH THERE WOULD BE NO CIVILIZATION, they put themselves in the way of great riches. Just to keep the record simple and understandable, I will add that these capitalists are the self-same people of whom most of us have heard soapbox orators speak. They are the same people to whom radicals, racketeers, dishonest politicians and grafting labor leaders have referred to as the “predatory interests,” or “Wall Street,” or “big business.” I am not attempting to present an argument for or against any group or any system of economics. I am not attempting to condemn collective bargaining when I refer to “grafting labor leaders,” nor do I aim to give a clean bill of health to all individuals known as capitalists or entrepreneurs. The purpose of this book—a purpose to which I have faithfully devoted over a quarter of a century—is to present to all who want the knowledge, the most dependable philosophy through which individuals may accumulate riches in whatever amounts they desire.
For decades, it has been a somewhat popular and growing pastime for radicals, self-seeking politicians, racketeers, crooked labor leaders, and on occasion religious leaders, to take potshots at “WALL STREET” and “BIG BUSINESS.”14 The practice became so general that we witnessed for a time during the Depression the unbelievable sight of high government officials lining up with cheap politicians and labor leaders for the openly avowed purpose of throttling the system which has made Industrial America the richest country on earth. The lineup was so general and so well organized that it prolonged the worst depression America had ever known. It cost millions of people their jobs because those jobs were inseparably a part of the industrial and capitalistic system which form the very backbone of the nation. During this unusual alliance of government officials and self-seeking individuals who were endeavoring to profit by declaring “open season” on the American system of industry, a certain type of labor leader joined forces with the politicians and offered to deliver voters in return for legislation designed to permit people to TAKE RICHES AWAY FROM INDUSTRY BY ORGANIZED FORCE OF NUMBERS, INSTEAD OF THE BETTER METHOD OF GIVING A FAIR DAY’S WORK FOR A FAIR DAY’S PAY. Millions of men and women throughout the nation are still engaged in this popular pastime of trying to GET without GIVING. Some of them are lined up with labor unions, where they demand SHORTER HOURS AND MORE PAY!…
If it is riches you seek, do not overlook the possibilities of a country whose citizens are so rich that they spend more than $29 billion17 a year for hair, nail and skin care. Think twice, you who seek riches, before trying to destroy the Capitalistic System of a country whose citizens spend more than $25 billion a year for newspapers, $31 billion on books, almost $14 billion on sound recordings, and almost $54 billion on motion pictures, all of which express the FREEDOM of expression!
Do not be in too big a hurry to get away from a country whose people willingly, even eagerly, hand over $34 billion annually to buy toys, $38 billion to take care of their lawns and gardens, and $74 billion to purchase sporting goods. And, by all means, STICK by a country whose inhabitants spend more than $91 billion a year for furniture and home furnishings, $167 billion on clothing and accessories, $22 billion for laundry and dry cleaning, $87 billion in appliance and electronics stores, and almost $14 billion to bury their dead.
So—there you are! OPPORTUNITY has spread its wares before you. Step up to the front, select what you want, create your plan, put the plan into action, and follow through with PERSISTENCE. “Capitalistic” America will do the rest. You can depend upon this much—CAPITALISTIC AMERICA ENSURES EVERY PERSON THE OPPORTUNITY TO RENDER USEFUL SERVICE AND TO COLLECT RICHES IN PROPORTION TO THE VALUE OF THE SERVICE RENDERED. The “system” denies no one this right, but it does not, and cannot, promise SOMETHING FOR NOTHING because the system itself is irrevocably controlled by the LAW OF ECONOMICS, which neither recognizes nor tolerates for long, GETTING WITHOUT GIVING.
The practice by government officials of extending to men and women the privilege of raiding the public treasury in return for votes sometimes results in election, but as night follows day, the final payoff will always come when every penny wrongfully used must be repaid with compound interest upon compound interest. If those who “make the grab” are not forced to repay, the burden falls on their children, and their children’s children, “even unto the third and fourth generations.” There is no way to avoid the debt.19
God seems to throw Himself on the side of the individual who knows exactly what he wants, if he is determined to get JUST THAT!
One of Henry Ford’s most outstanding qualities was his habit of reaching decisions quickly and definitely, and changing them slowly. This quality was so pronounced in Mr. Ford that it gave him the reputation of being obstinate. It was this quality which prompted Mr. Ford to continue to manufacture his famous Model T (the world’s ugliest car), when all of his advisors and many of the purchasers of the car were urging him to change it. Perhaps Mr. Ford delayed too long in making the change, but the other side of the story is that Mr. Ford’s firmness of decision yielded a huge fortune before the change in model became necessary. There is but little doubt that Mr. Ford’s habit of definiteness of decision assumed the proportion of obstinacy, but this quality is preferable to slowness in reaching decisions and quickness in changing them.
The majority of people who fail to accumulate money sufficient for their needs are, in general, easily influenced by the opinions of others. They permit the newspapers and the “gossiping” neighbors to do their thinking for them. Opinions are the cheapest commodities on earth. Everyone has a flock of opinions ready to be wished upon anyone who will accept them. If you are influenced by others’ opinions when you reach DECISIONS, you will not succeed in any undertaking, much less in that of transmuting YOUR OWN DESIRE into money. If you are too easily influenced by the opinions of others, you will have no DESIRE of your own. Keep your own counsel when you begin to put into practice the principles described in this book by reaching your own decisions and following them. Take no one into your confidence EXCEPT the members of your Master Mind Group, and be very sure in your selection of this group that you choose ONLY those who will be in COMPLETE SYMPATHY AND HARMONY WITH YOUR PURPOSE. Close friends and relatives, while not meaning to do so, often handicap one through opinions and sometimes through ridicule, which is meant to be humorous. Thousands of men and women carry inferiority complexes with them all through life because some well-meaning, but ignorant person destroyed their confidence through opinions or ridicule. You have a brain and a mind of your own. USE THEM and reach your own decisions. If you need facts or information from other people to enable you to reach…
As a reminder to yourself to follow this advice, it will be helpful if you copy the following epigram in large letters and place it where you will see it daily: “TELL THE WORLD WHAT YOU INTEND TO DO, BUT FIRST SHOW IT.” This is the equivalent of saying that “deeds, and not words, are what count most.”
The value of decisions depends upon the courage required to render them. The great decisions, which have served as the foundation of civilization, were reached by assuming great risks, which often meant the possibility of death. Lincoln’s decision to issue his famous “Proclamation of Emancipation,” which gave freedom to the slaves of America, was rendered with full understanding that his act would turn thousands of friends and political supporters against him. He knew, too, that the carrying out of that proclamation would mean death to thousands of men on the battlefield. In the end, it cost Lincoln his life. That required courage. Socrates’ decision to drink the cup of poison, rather than compromise in his personal belief, was a decision of courage. It turned time ahead a thousand years and gave to people then unborn the right to freedom of thought and of speech. The decision of Gen. Robert E. Lee, when he came to the parting of the way with the Union and took up the cause of the South, was a decision of courage, for he well knew that it might cost him his own life and that it would surely cost the lives of others. But the greatest decision of all time, as far as any American citizen is concerned, was reached in Philadelphia on July 4, 1776, when 56 individuals signed their names to a document which they well knew would bring freedom to all Americans or leave every one of the 56 hanging from a gallows!
It is nothing short of a tragedy that the writers of history have missed entirely even the slightest reference to the irresistible POWER which gave birth and freedom to the nation destined to set up new standards of independence for all the peoples of the earth. I say it is a tragedy because it is the self-same POWER which must be used by every individual who surmounts the difficulties of life and forces life to pay the price asked. Let us briefly review the events which gave birth to this POWER. The story begins with an incident in Boston on March 5, 1770. British soldiers were patrolling the streets, by their presence openly threatening the citizens. The colonists resented armed soldiers marching in their midst. They began to express their resentment openly, hurling stones as well as epithets at the marching soldiers until the commanding officer gave orders, “Fix bayonets—Charge!” The battle was on. It resulted in the death and injury of many. The incident aroused such resentment that the Provincial Assembly (made up of prominent colonists) called a meeting for the purpose of taking definite action. Two of the members of that Assembly were John Hancock and Samuel Adams—LONG LIVE THEIR NAMES! They spoke up courageously and declared that a move must be made to eject all British soldiers from Boston. Remember this—a DECISION, in the minds of two individuals, might properly be called the beginning of the freedom which we of the United States now enjoy. Remember, too, that the…
The Crown appointed Brig. General Thomas Gage to supplant Hutchinson as Governor of Massachusetts. One of the new Governor’s first acts was to send a messenger to call on Samuel Adams for the purpose of endeavoring to stop his opposition—FEAR. We can best understand the spirit of what happened by quoting the conversation between a Col. Fenton (the messenger sent by Gage) and Adams. Col. Fenton: “I have been authorized by Governor Gage to assure you, Mr. Adams, that the Governor has been empowered to confer upon you such benefits as would be satisfactory, upon the condition that you engage to cease in your opposition to the measures of the government. It is the Governor’s advice to you, Sir, not to incur the further displeasure of his majesty. Your conduct has been such as makes you liable to penalties of an Act of Henry VIII, by which persons can be sent to England for trial for treason, or misprison* of treason, at the discretion of a governor of a province. But, BY CHANGING YOUR POLITICAL COURSE, you will not only receive great personal advantages but you will make your peace with the King.” * “Misprison” is any violation of an official duty, or any failure by an individual who is not actively involved in committing a crime, to prevent its commission or report it to the authorities. Samuel Adams had the choice of two DECISIONS. He could cease his opposition and receive personal bribes, or he could CONTINUE AND RUN THE RISK OF BEING HANGED! Clearly, the time had come when…
Before his motion was finally voted upon, Lee was called back to Virginia because of serious family illness, but before leaving, he placed his cause in the hands of his friend Thomas Jefferson, who promised to fight until favorable action was taken. Shortly thereafter the President of the Congress (Hancock) appointed Jefferson as chairman of a committee to draw up a Declaration of Independence. Long and hard the Committee labored on a document which would mean, when accepted by the Congress, that EVERYONE WHO SIGNED IT WOULD BE SIGNING HIS OWN DEATH WARRANT should the colonies lose in the fight with Great Britain that was sure to follow. The document was drawn, and on June 28 the original draft was read before the Congress. For several days it was discussed, altered, and made ready. On July 4, 1776, Thomas Jefferson stood before the Assembly and fearlessly read the most momentous DECISION ever placed upon paper. “When in the course of human events it is necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume, among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of Nature, and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation....” When Jefferson finished, the document was voted upon, accepted, and signed by the 56 representatives, every one staking his own life upon his DECISION to write his…
Analyze the events which led to the Declaration of Independence and be convinced that this nation, which now holds a position of commanding respect and power among all nations of the world, was born of a DECISION created by a Master Mind consisting of 56 persons. Note well the fact that it was their DECISION which ensured the success of Washington’s armies because the spirit of that decision was in the heart of every soldier who fought with him. It served as a spiritual power which recognizes no such thing as FAILURE.
This POWER is made up of the 13 principles described in this book. It will not be difficult to detect in the story of the Declaration of Independence at least six of these principles: DESIRE, DECISION, FAITH, PERSISTENCE, THE MASTER MIND, and ORGANIZED PLANNING.
Henry Ford was generally misunderstood to be ruthless and cold-blooded. This misconception grew out of Ford’s habit of following through in all of his plans with PERSISTENCE. The majority of people are ready to throw their aims and purposes overboard and give up at the first sign of opposition or misfortune. A few carry on DESPITE all opposition until they attain their goal. These few are the Fords, Carnegies, Rockefellers, Edisons, and other outstanding achievers of the world. There may be no heroic connotation to the word “persistence,” but the quality is to a person’s character what carbon is to steel. The building of a fortune generally involves the application of the entire 13 principles of The Think and Grow Rich Philosophy. These principles must be understood, and they must be applied with PERSISTENCE by all who would accumulate money.
If you are following this book with the intention of applying the knowledge it conveys, your first test as to your PERSISTENCE will come when you begin to take the six actions described in Chapter 1. Unless you are one of the two out of every hundred persons who already have a DEFINITE GOAL at which you are aiming and a DEFINITE PLAN for its attainment, you may read those instructions, then pass on with your daily routine, and never comply with those instructions.
The starting point of all achievement is DESIRE. Keep this constantly in mind. Weak desires bring weak results, just as a small amount of fire makes a small amount of heat. If you find yourself lacking in persistence, this weakness may be remedied by building a stronger fire under your desires.
If you find you are weak in PERSISTENCE, center your attention upon the instructions contained in the chapter on POWER OF THE MASTER MIND (Chapter 9). Surround yourself with a MASTER MIND GROUP, and through the cooperative efforts of the members of this group you can develop persistence. You will find additional instructions for the development of persistence in the chapters on autosuggestion and the subconscious mind (Chapter 3 and Chapter 11). Follow the instructions outlined in these chapters until your “habit nature” hands over a clear picture of the object of your DESIRE to your subconscious mind, which works continuously while you are awake and while you are asleep. From that point on you will not be handicapped by lack of persistence. Spasmodic or occasional effort to apply the rules will be of no value to you. To get RESULTS, you must apply all of the rules until their application becomes a fixed habit with you. In no other way can you develop the necessary money-consciousness.
You may find it necessary to snap out of your mental inertia through a similar procedure, moving slowly at first, then increasing your speed until you gain complete control over your will. Be PERSISTENT no matter how slowly you may at first have to move. WITH PERSISTENCE WILL COME SUCCESS.1 If you select your Master Mind Group with care, you will have in it at least one person who will aid you in the development of PERSISTENCE. Some individuals who have accumulated great fortunes did so because of NECESSITY. They developed the habit of PERSISTENCE because they were so closely driven by circumstances that they had to become persistent. THERE IS NO SUBSTITUTE FOR PERSISTENCE! It cannot be supplanted by any other quality! Remember this and it will hearten you in the beginning, when the going may seem difficult and slow. Those who have cultivated the HABIT of persistence seem to enjoy insurance against failure. No matter how many times they are defeated, they finally arrive at the top of the ladder. Sometimes it appears that they have a hidden Guide whose duty is to test them through all sorts of discouraging experiences. Those who pick themselves up after defeat and keep on trying, arrive—and the world cries, “Bravo! I knew you could do it! “ The hidden Guide lets no one enjoy great achievement without passing the PERSISTENCE TEST. Those who can’t take it simply do not make the grade. Those who can take it are bountifully rewarded for their PERSISTENCE. They receive as their…
The Eight Factors of Persistence DEFINITENESS OF PURPOSE. Knowing what one wants is the first and, perhaps, the most important step toward the development of persistence. A strong motive forces one to surmount many difficulties. DESIRE. It is comparatively easy to acquire and to maintain persistence in pursuing the object of intense desire. SELF-RELIANCE. Belief in one’s ability to carry out a plan encourages one to follow the plan through with persistence. (Self-reliance can be developed through the principle described in Chapter 3 on Autosuggestion.) DEFINITENESS OF PLANS. Organized plans, even though they may be weak and entirely impractical, encourage persistence. ACCURATE KNOWLEDGE. Knowing that one’s plans are sound, based upon experience or observation, encourages persistence. Guessing, instead of knowing, destroys persistence. COOPERATION. Sympathy, understanding, and harmonious cooperation with others tend to develop persistence. WILL POWER. The habit of concentrating one’s thoughts upon the building of plans for the attainment of a definite purpose leads to persistence. HABIT. Persistence is the direct result of habit. The mind absorbs and becomes a part of the daily experiences upon which it feeds. Fear, the worst of all enemies, can be effectively cured by forced repetition of acts of courage. Everyone who has seen active service in war knows this.
The 16 Symptoms of Lack of Persistence
Here you will find not only the 16 symptoms that indicate weakness of PERSISTENCE, but also the deeply seated subconscious causes of this weakness. Study the list carefully and face yourself squarely IF YOU REALLY WISH TO KNOW WHO YOU ARE AND WHAT YOU ARE CAPABLE OF DOING.
These are the 16 weaknesses which must be mastered by all who accumulate riches. Failure to recognize and to clearly define exactly what one wants. Procrastination, with or without cause. (Usually backed up with a formidable array of alibis and excuses.) Lack of interest in acquiring specialized knowledge. Indecision, the habit of passing the buck on all occasions instead of facing issues squarely. (Also backed by alibis.) The habit of relying upon alibis instead of creating definite plans for the solution of problems. Self-satisfaction. There is but little remedy for this affliction and no hope for those who suffer from it. Indifference, usually reflected in one’s readiness to compromise on all occasions, rather than meet opposition and fight it. The habit of blaming others for one’s mistakes, and accepting unfavorable circumstances as being unavoidable. WEAKNESS OF DESIRE, resulting from neglect in the choice of MOTIVES that impel action. Willingness, even eagerness, to quit at the first sign of defeat. (Based upon one or more of the Six Basic Fears.) Lack of ORGANIZED PLANS, placed in writing where they may be analyzed. The habit of neglecting to move on ideas or to grasp opportunity when it presents itself. WISHING instead of WILLING. The habit of compromising with POVERTY instead of aiming at riches. General absence of ambition to be, to do, and to own. Searching for all the shortcuts to riches, trying to GET without GIVING a fair equivalent, usually reflected in the…
Let us examine some of the symptoms of No. 16, the fear of criticism. The majority of people permit relatives, friends, and the public at large to so influence them that they cannot live their own lives because they fear criticism. Huge numbers of people make mistakes in marriage, stand by the bargain, and go through life miserable and unhappy because they fear criticism which may follow if they correct the mistake. (Anyone who has submitted to this form of fear knows the irreparable damage it does by destroying ambition, self-reliance, and the desire to achieve.) Millions of people neglect to acquire belated educations, after having left school, because they fear criticism. Countless numbers of men and women, both young and old, permit relatives to wreck their lives in the name of DUTY because they fear criticism. (Duty does not require anyone to submit to the destruction of one’s personal ambitions and the right to live one’s own life in one’s own way). People refuse to take chances in business because they fear the criticism which may follow if they fail. The fear of criticism in such cases is stronger than the DESIRE for success. Too many people refuse to set high goals for themselves, or even neglect selecting a career, because they fear the criticism of relatives and friends who may say, “Don’t aim so high, people will think you are crazy.”
Something inside me said, “You can’t do it—the job is too big and requires too much time—what will your relatives think of you?—how will you earn a living?—no one has ever organized a philosophy of success, what right have you to believe you can do it?—who are you, anyway, to aim so high?—remember your humble birth—what do you know about philosophy?—people will think you are crazy—(and they did)—why hasn’t some other person done this before now?” These and many other questions flashed into my mind and demanded attention. It seemed as if the whole world had suddenly turned its attention to me with the purpose of ridiculing me into giving up all desire to carry out Mr. Carnegie’s suggestion.
Later in life, after having analyzed thousands of people, I discovered that MOST IDEAS ARE STILLBORN AND NEED THE BREATH OF LIFE INJECTED INTO THEM THROUGH DEFINITE PLANS OF IMMEDIATE ACTION. The time to nurse an idea is at the time of its birth. Every minute it lives gives it a better chance of surviving. The FEAR OF CRITICISM is at the bottom of the destruction of most ideas which never reach the PLANNING and ACTION stage.
Examine the first 100 people you meet, ask them what they want most in life, and 98 of them will not be able to tell you. If you press them for an answer, some will say SECURITY; many will say MONEY; a few will say HAPPINESS; others will say FAME AND POWER; and still others will say SOCIAL RECOGNITION, EASE IN LIVING, ABILITY TO SING, DANCE, or WRITE—but none of them will be able to define these terms or give the slightest indication of a PLAN by which they hope to attain these vaguely expressed wishes. Riches do not respond to wishes. They respond only to definite plans, backed by definite desires, through constant PERSISTENCE.
How To Develop Persistence
There are four simple steps which lead to the habit of PERSISTENCE. They call for no great amount of intelligence, no particular amount of education, and but little time or effort. The necessary steps are: A DEFINITE PURPOSE BACKED BY BURNING DESIRE FOR ITS FULFILLMENT. A DEFINITE PLAN, EXPRESSED IN CONTINUOUS ACTION. A MIND CLOSED TIGHTLY AGAINST ALL NEGATIVE AND DISCOURAGING INFLUENCES, including negative suggestions of relatives, friends and acquaintances. A FRIENDLY ALLIANCE WITH ONE OR MORE PERSONS WHO WILL ENCOURAGE ONE TO FOLLOW THROUGH WITH BOTH PLAN AND PURPOSE.
What mystical power gives to people of PERSISTENCE the capacity to master difficulties? Does the quality of PERSISTENCE set up in one’s mind some form of spiritual, mental, or chemical activity which gives one access to supernatural forces? Does Infinite Intelligence throw itself on the side of the person who still fights on after the battle has been lost, with the whole world on the opposing side?
As one makes an impartial study of the prophets, philosophers, miracle workers, and religious leaders of the past, one is drawn to the inevitable conclusion that PERSISTENCE, concentration of effort, and DEFINITENESS OF PURPOSE were the major sources of their achievements. Consider, for example, the strange and fascinating story of Mohammed. Analyze his life, compare him with individuals of achievement in this modern age of industry and finance, and observe how they all have one outstanding trait in common—PERSISTENCE!
If you are keenly interested in studying the strange power which gives potency to PERSISTENCE, read a biography of Mohammed, especially the one by Essad Bey. This brief review of that book, by Thomas Sugrue in the New York Herald-Tribune, will provide a preview of the rare treat in store for those who take the time to read the entire story of one of the most astounding examples of the power of PERSISTENCE known to civilization.
The Last Great Prophet Reviewed by Thomas Sugrue
The Koran, the revealed word of God, was the closest thing to a miracle in Mohammed’s life. He had not been a poet; he had no gift of words. Yet the verses of the Koran, as he received them and recited them to the faithful, were better than any verses which the professional poets of the tribes could produce. This, to the Arabs, was a miracle. To them the gift of words was the greatest gift, the poet was all-powerful. In addition the Koran said that all men were equal before God, that the world should be a democratic state—Islam. It was this political heresy, plus Mohammed’s desire to destroy all the 360 idols in the courtyard of the Caaba, which brought about his banishment. The idols brought the desert tribes to Mecca, and that meant trade. So the businessmen of Mecca, the capitalists, of which he had been one, set upon Mohammed. Then he retreated to the desert and demanded sovereignty over the world.
The rise of Islam began. Out of the desert came a flame which would not be extinguished—a democratic army fighting as a unit and prepared to die without wincing. Mohammed had invited the Jews and Christians to join him, for he was not building a new religion. He was calling all who believed in one God to join in a single faith. If the Jews and Christians had accepted his invitation, Islam would have conquered the world. They didn’t. They would not even accept Mohammed’s innovation of humane warfare. When the armies of the prophet entered Jerusalem, not a single person was killed because of his faith. When the crusaders entered the city, centuries later, not a Moslem man, woman, or child was spared. But the Christians did accept one Moslem idea—the place of learning, the university.
PERSISTENCE creates FAITH. And FAITH is the only known antidote for failure, it is the starting point of all accumulation of riches, and it is the only agency through which one can tap the force of Infinite Intelligence.
Chapter 9 POWER OF THE MASTER MIND The Driving Force The Ninth Step to Riches
POWER may be defined as “organized and intelligently directed KNOWLEDGE.” Power, as the term is here used, refers to ORGANIZED effort, sufficient to enable an individual to transmute DESIRE into its monetary equivalent. ORGANIZED effort is produced through the coordination of effort of two or more people who work toward a DEFINITE end, in a spirit of harmony.
The Three Major Sources of Knowledge
INFINITE INTELLIGENCE. This source of knowledge may be contacted, with the aid of Creative Imagination, through the procedure described in Chapter 5.
ACCUMULATED EXPERIENCE. The accumulated experience of civilization (or that portion of it which has been organized and recorded) may be found in any well-equipped public library. An important part of this accumulated experience is taught in public schools and colleges, where it has been classified and organized.
EXPERIMENT AND RESEARCH. In the field of science and in practically every other walk of life, people are gathering, classifying, and organizing new facts daily. This is the source to which one must turn when knowledge is not available through “accumulated experience.” Here, too, the Creative Imagination must often be used.
Examination of the Three Major Sources of Knowledge will readily disclose the difficulty you would have if you depended upon your own efforts alone in assembling knowledge and expressing it through definite plans in terms of ACTION. If your plans are comprehensive and if they require vast sums of information, you must generally induce others to cooperate with you before you can inject into them the necessary element of POWER.
Gaining Power through the Master Mind
The Master Mind may be defined as: “Coordination of knowledge and effort, in a spirit of harmony between two or more people, for the attainment of a definite purpose.”1
The Master Mind Principle—or rather, the “economic” feature of it—was first called to my attention by Andrew Carnegie back during the earliest years of my research. Discovery of this part of the principle was responsible for the choice of my life’s work. Mr. Carnegie’s Master Mind Group consisted of a staff of approximately 50 individuals with whom he surrounded himself for the DEFINITE PURPOSE of manufacturing and marketing steel. He attributed his entire fortune to the POWER he accumulated through this Master Mind.
ENERGY is Nature’s universal set of building blocks, out of which she constructs every material thing in the universe, including human beings and every form of animal and vegetable life. Through a process which only Nature completely understands, she translates energy into matter. Nature’s building blocks are available to humanity in the energy involved in THINKING! The human brain may be compared to an electric battery. It absorbs energy from what may be called “The Mysterious Unifying Force of the Universe,” which permeates every atom of matter—including the atoms that compose the human brain—and fills the entire universe.2 It is a well-known fact that a group of electric batteries will provide more energy than a single battery. It is also a well-known fact that an individual battery will provide energy in proportion to the number and capacity of the cells it contains. The brain functions in a similar fashion. This accounts for the fact that some brains are more efficient than others, and leads to this significant statement: A group of brains coordinated (or connected) in a spirit of harmony will provide more thought-energy than a single brain, just as a group of electric batteries will provide more energy than a single battery.
Henry Ford whipped poverty, illiteracy, and ignorance by allying himself with great minds, whose “vibrations of thought” he absorbed into his own mind. Through his association with Edison, Burbank, Burroughs, and Firestone, Mr. Ford added to his own brain power the sum and substance of the intelligence, experience, knowledge, and spiritual forces of these four individuals. Moreover, he appropriated and made use of the Master Mind Principle through the methods of procedure described in this book.
This book is confined, primarily, to instructing the reader how to transmute the DEFINITE PURPOSE OF DESIRE FOR MONEY into its monetary equivalent. Read, THINK, and meditate as you read. Soon the entire subject will unfold, and you will see it in perspective. For now, you are seeing the detail of the individual chapters.
When money comes in quantities known as “the big money,” it flows to the one who accumulates it as easily as water flows downhill. There exists in life a great unseen STREAM OF POWER which may be compared to a river—except that one side flows in one direction, carrying all who get into that side of the stream onward and upward to WEALTH, while the other side flows in the opposite direction, carrying all who are unfortunate enough to get into it (and not able to extricate themselves from it), downstream to misery and POVERTY. Every person who has accumulated a great fortune has recognized the existence of this stream of life. It consists of one’s THINKING PROCESS. The positive emotions of thought form the side of the stream which carries one to fortune. The negative emotions form the side which carries one down to poverty. Understanding that you yourself can control where you will be in this stream of life is of stupendous importance to the person who is following this book with the object of accumulating a fortune, for such understanding leads to the recognition that ANYBODY can WISH for riches, and most people do, but only a few know that a definite plan, plus a BURNING DESIRE for wealth, are the only dependable means of accumulating wealth.
Poverty and riches often change places. Rapidly changing economic conditions have taught the world this truth, although many people may not long remember the lesson. Poverty may, and generally does, voluntarily take the place of riches. When riches take the place of poverty, the change is usually brought about through well-conceived and carefully executed PLANS. Poverty needs no plan. It needs no one to aid it because it is bold and ruthless. Riches are shy and timid. They have to be attracted. But they will rarely be attracted, and retained, until one learns, first, to tap the POWER OF THE MASTER MIND, and then proceed to understand The Tenth Step to Riches, which involves the “Mystery of Sex Transmutation.”
Because of ignorance on the subject, this state of mind is generally associated only with the physical side of human nature. And because of the improper influences to which most people have been subjected in acquiring their knowledge about sex, this emphasis on the purely physical aspects of sex has created strong, and often destructive, biases in most people’s minds. The emotion of sex has back of it the possibility of three constructive potentialities. They are: the perpetuation of the human race the maintenance of sound physical and emotional health the transformation of mediocrity into genius through transmutation
A river may be dammed, and its water controlled for a time, but eventually it will force an outlet. The same is true of the emotion of sex. It may be submerged and controlled for a time, but its very nature causes it ever to be seeking a means of expression. If it is not transmuted into some creative effort, it will find a less positive, less productive outlet. Fortunate, indeed, are those individuals who have discovered how to give their sexual emotion an outlet through some form of creative effort, for they have, by that discovery, lifted themselves to the level of “genius performance.” Research has disclosed these two significant facts: The individuals of greatest achievement tend to be those who have highly developed sexual natures and who have learned the art of sex transmutation. Generally speaking, those who have accumulated great fortunes and achieved outstanding recognition in literature, art, industry, architecture, and the professions, were motivated by the influence of romantic love for another person.
The emotion of sex contains the secret of creative ability. Destroy the sex glands, whether in a human being or a beast, and you have removed a major source of action. For proof of this, observe what happens to any animal after it has been neutered. A bull or a bulldog becomes thoroughly docile after it has been altered sexually. Sex alteration takes out of any male animal all the FIGHT that was in him. Sex alteration of the female has the same quieting effect.2
The 10 Mind Stimuli
The ten stimuli to which the mind responds most freely are: the desire for sexual expression love a burning desire for fame, power, or financial gain—MONEY music close friendship between either those of the same sex or those of the opposite sex a Master Mind Alliance based upon the harmony of two or more people who ally themselves for spiritual or temporal advancement mutual suffering, such as that experienced by people who are persecuted autosuggestion fear narcotics and alcohol
Genius Is Developed Through the Sixth Sense
The faculty of Creative Imagination is one which the majority of people never use during an entire lifetime, and if used at all, it usually happens by mere accident. A relatively small number of people use WITH DELIBERATION, PURPOSE, AND FORETHOUGHT the faculty of Creative Imagination. Those who use this faculty voluntarily and with understanding of its functions are, by definition, geniuses.
When ideas or concepts flash into one’s mind through what is popularly called a hunch, they come from one or more of the following four sources: Infinite Intelligence one’s subconscious mind, wherein is stored every sense impression and thought impulse which ever reached the brain through any of the five regular senses the mind of some other person who has just “released” the thought, or “picture” of the idea or concept, through conscious thought the other person’s subconscious storehouse
The first, third, and fourth sources above are tapped through some mysterious process or processes, perhaps extra-sensory in nature and manifestation, which we cannot yet explain and which we do not even dimly comprehend. What we do comprehend is that these sources are tapped, every day around the globe, and that there are no other KNOWN sources from which “inspired” ideas or hunches may be received.
When brain action has been stimulated through one or more of the ten mind stimulants, it has the effect of lifting a person far above the horizon of ordinary thought and permitting that individual to envision distance, scope, quality, and character of THOUGHTS that are not available on lower planes, such as the one where a person is engaged in the solution of the everyday problems of business and professional routine. When lifted to this “higher level of thought” through any form of mind stimulation, an individual occupies, relatively speaking, the same position as one who has ascended in an airplane to a height from which may be seen objects beyond the horizon line that limits one’s vision while on the ground. Moreover, while on this higher level of thought, the individual is not hampered or bound by any of the stimuli which circumscribe and limit one’s vision while wrestling with the problems of gaining the three basic necessities of food, clothing, and shelter. The individual is in a world of thought in which ORDINARY, workaday thoughts have been as effectively removed as are the hills and valleys and other limitations of physical vision when that person rises in the airplane. While on this exalted plane of THOUGHT, the creative faculty of the mind is given freedom for action. The way has been cleared for the Sixth Sense to function. It becomes receptive to ideas which could not reach the individual under any other circumstances. The Sixth Sense is the defining faculty…
The normal faculty of reason is often faulty because it is largely guided by one’s accumulated experience. But not all knowledge which one accumulates through experience is accurate. Ideas received through the creative faculty are much more reliable because they come from sources more reliable than any which are available to the reasoning faculty of the mind.
For the purpose of refreshing the memory, in connection with the facts available from the biographies of certain individuals, we here present the names of a few outstanding achievers, each of whom was known to have had a highly sexual nature. The genius which was theirs undoubtedly found its source of power in transmuted sex energy: GEORGE WASHINGTON NAPOLEON BONAPARTE WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE ABRAHAM LINCOLN RALPH WALDO EMERSON ROBERT BURNS THOMAS JEFFERSON ELBERT HUBBARD5 ELBERT H. GARY6 OSCAR WILDE WOODROW WILSON JOHN H. PATTERSON7 ANDREW JACKSON ENRICO CARUSO8 Your own knowledge of biography will enable you to add to this list. Find, if you can, a single individual in all the history of civilization who achieved outstanding success in any calling who was not driven by a well-developed sexual nature. If
The mere possession of this energy itself is not sufficient to produce a genius. The energy must be transmuted from desire for merely physical contact, into some other form of desire and action before it will lift one to the status of a genius.
This study disclosed the fact that one major reason why the majority of people who succeed do not begin to do so before the age of 40 to 50 is their tendency to DISSIPATE their energies through overindulgence in the physical expression of the emotion of sex. Most people never learn that the sexual urge has other possibilities which far transcend in importance that of mere physical expression. The majority of those who do make this discovery, do so after having wasted many years at a period when sexual energy is at its height, prior to the age of 45 to 50. This usually is followed by noteworthy achievement.
Whitcomb Riley10 did some amazing writing while under the influence of alcohol. Perhaps it was thus he saw “the ordered intermingling of the real and the dream, the mill above the river, and the mist above the stream.” Robert Burns wrote under the influence of intoxicants the immortal words, “For Auld Lang Syne, my dear, we’ll take a cup of kindness yet, for Auld Lang Syne.” But let it be remembered that many such individuals have destroyed themselves in the end.11 Nature has prepared her own potions—for example, deep love, sexual drive, and the power of autosuggestion—with which people may safely stimulate their minds so they function on a higher plane that enables them to tune in to fine and rare thoughts which come from—no one knows where! No satisfactory substitute for Nature’s natural stimulants has ever been found. The world is ruled and the destiny of civilization is established by the human emotions. People are influenced in their actions not by reason so much as by feelings. The creative faculty of the mind is set into action entirely by emotions and not by cold reason. The most powerful of all human emotions is that of sex. There are other mind stimulants, some of which have been listed, but no one of them, nor all of them combined, can equal the driving power of sex.
A teacher, who has trained and directed the efforts of more than 30,000 people involved in sales, made the astounding discovery that individuals with high sex drives generally make the most efficient salespeople. The explanation is that the factor of personality known as personal magnetism is nothing more nor less than sex energy. Individuals with high sex drives always have a plentiful supply of personal magnetism. Through cultivation and understanding, this vital force may be drawn upon and used to great advantage in relationships with other people. This powerful energy may be communicated to others through the following: The handshake. The touch of the hand indicates instantly the presence of magnetism or the lack of it. The tone of voice. Magnetism, or sex energy, is the factor with which the voice may be colored or made musical and charming. Posture and carriage of the body. People with high sexual energy move briskly and with grace and ease. The vibrations of thought. Highly sexual people, perhaps unconsciously, mix the emotion of sex with their thoughts, or may do so at will, and in that way may influence those around them. Body adornment. People with high sex drives are usually very careful about their personal appearance. They usually select clothing of a style becoming to their personality, physique, complexion, etc. When employing salespeople, the more capable sales manager looks for the quality of personal magnetism as the first requirement of a sales…
It seemed quite significant when I discovered that practically every great leader whom I had the privilege of analyzing was a person whose achievements were largely inspired by someone that individual loved deeply. In many instances, the beloved was a modest, self-denying spouse of whom the public had heard little or nothing, although in a few instances the source of inspiration turned out to be a lover. Perhaps such cases may not be entirely unknown to you.
Intemperance in sex habits is just as detrimental as intemperance in habits of drinking and eating. In the age we live in, sexual intemperance is common. This orgy of indulgence may help account for the relative shortage of great leaders today. No individual can avail himself or herself of the forces of Creative Imagination while dissipating them. Human beings are the only creatures on earth which violate Nature’s purpose in this connection. Every other animal indulges its sexual nature in moderation and with purpose which harmonizes with the laws of nature. Every other animal responds to the call of sex only “in season.” Human beings are inclined to declare “open season.”
Every intelligent person knows that stimulation in excess through alcoholic drink and narcotics is a form of intemperance which destroys the vital organs of the body, including the brain. Not every person knows, however, that over indulgence in sexual expression may become a habit as destructive and as detrimental to creative effort as narcotics or liquor.
Between the ages of 30 and 40, people begin to learn (if they ever learn), the art of sex transmutation. This discovery is generally accidental, and, more often than otherwise, individuals who make it are totally unconscious of their discovery. They may observe that their powers of achievement have increased around the age of 35 to 40, but in most cases they are not familiar with the cause of this change—the fact that Nature begins to harmonize the emotions of love and sex in the individual between the ages of 30 and 40 so that they may draw upon these great forces and apply them jointly as stimuli to action.
Sex alone is a mighty urge to action, but its forces are like a cyclone—they are often uncontrollable. When the emotion of love begins to mix itself with the emotion of sex, the result is calmness of purpose, poise, accuracy of judgment, and balance. What person who has attained the age of 40 is so unfortunate as to be unable to analyze these statements and to corroborate them by his or her own experience? When driven by the desire to please a member of the opposite sex, based solely upon the emotion of sex, individuals may be and usually are capable of great achievement, but their actions may be disorganized, distorted, and totally destructive. When driven by their desire to please someone they love, based upon the motive of sex alone, an individual may steal, cheat—even, in an extreme case, commit murder. But when the emotion of LOVE is mixed with the emotion of sex, these same individuals will guide their actions with sanity, balance, and reason.
Criminologists have discovered that some of the most hardened criminals can be reformed through the influence of a strong love. There is no record of a criminal’s having been reformed solely through the influence of sex. These facts are well known, but their cause is not.
The road to genius consists of the development, control, and proper use of sex, love, and romance. The process involves encouraging the presence of these emotions as the dominating thoughts in one’s mind, and discouraging the presence of all the destructive emotions. The mind is a creature of habit. It thrives upon the dominating thoughts that are fed to it. Through the faculty of willpower, one may discourage the presence of any emotion and encourage the presence of any other. Control of the mind, through the power of will, is not difficult. Control comes from persistence and habit. The secret of control lies in understanding the process of transmutation. When any negative emotion presents itself in one’s mind, it can be transmuted into a positive, or constructive emotion, by the simple procedure of changing one’s thoughts.14
If you believe yourself unfortunate because you have loved and lost, perish the thought. One who has loved truly can never lose entirely. Love is whimsical and temperamental. Its nature is ephemeral and transitory. It comes when it pleases and goes away without warning. Accept and enjoy it while it remains, but spend no time worrying about its departure. Worry will never bring it back. Dismiss also the thought that love never comes but once. Love may come and go, times without number, but there are no two love experiences which affect one in just the same way. There may be, and there usually is, one love experience which leaves a deeper imprint on the heart than all the others, but all love experiences are beneficial except to the person who becomes resentful and cynical when love makes its departure.
Positive and negative emotions cannot occupy the mind at the same time. ONE OR THE OTHER MUST DOMINATE.
After you have accepted as a reality the existence of the subconscious mind and understand its possibilities as a medium for transmuting your DESIRES into their physical or monetary equivalent, you will comprehend the full significance of the instructions given in Chapter 1 on DESIRE. You will also understand why you have been repeatedly admonished to MAKE YOUR DESIRES CLEAR AND TO REDUCE THEM TO WRITING. You will also understand the necessity of PERSISTENCE in carrying out instructions.
The instructions involved in The 13 Steps to Riches are the stimuli with which you acquire the ability to reach and to influence your subconscious mind. Do not become discouraged if you cannot do this upon the first attempt. Remember that the subconscious mind may be voluntarily directed only through habit, using the directions given in Chapter 2 on FAITH. You have not yet had time to master faith. Be patient. Be persistent.
The subconscious mind will not remain idle! If you fail to plant DESIRES in your subconscious mind, it will feed upon the thoughts which reach it as the result of your neglect. It has already been explained that thought impulses, both negative and positive, reach the subconscious mind continuously from the four sources mentioned in Chapter 10.
Everything which human beings create BEGINS in the form of a thought impulse. No one can create anything which he or she does not first conceive in THOUGHT. Through the aid of the imagination, thought impulses may be assembled into plans. The imagination, when under control, may be used for the creation of plans or purposes that lead to success in one’s chosen occupation. All thought impulses which are intended for transmutation into their physical equivalent and which are voluntarily planted in the subconscious mind must pass through the imagination and be mixed with faith. The mixing of faith with a plan, or purpose, intended for submission to the subconscious mind may be done ONLY through the imagination.
There are seven major positive emotions and seven major negative emotions. The negatives automatically inject themselves into the thought impulses, which ensures their passage into the subconscious mind. The positives must be injected, through the principle of autosuggestion, into the thought impulses which an individual wishes to pass on to his or her subconscious mind. (Instructions for accomplishing this are given in Chapter 3 on Autosuggestion.)
The Seven Major Positive Emotions
The emotion of DESIRE The emotion of FAITH The emotion of LOVE The emotion of SEX The emotion of ENTHUSIASM The emotion of ROMANCE The emotion of HOPE
The Seven Major Negative Emotions (To be avoided)
The emotion of FEAR The emotion of JEALOUSY The emotion of HATRED The emotion of REVENGE The emotion of GREED The emotion of SUPERSTITION The emotion of ANGER
prayer ONLY AFTER everything else has FAILED! Or else they pray by a ritual of meaningless words. And because it is a fact that most people who pray do so ONLY AFTER EVERYTHING ELSE HAS FAILED, they go to prayer with their minds filled with FEAR and DOUBT, which are the emotions the subconscious mind acts upon and passes on to Infinite Intelligence. Likewise, those are the emotions which Infinite Intelligence receives and ACTS UPON. If you pray for a thing, but have fear as you pray that you may not receive it or that your prayer will not be acted upon by Infinite Intelligence, your prayer will have been in vain. Prayer does sometimes result in the realization of that for which one prays. If you have ever had the experience of receiving that for which you prayed, go back in your memory and recall your actual STATE OF MIND while you were praying, and you will know for sure that the theory here described is more than a theory.
In view of Dr. Rhine’s announcement in connection with the conditions under which the mind responds to what he terms “extra-sensory modes of perception,” I now feel privileged to add to his testimony by stating that my associates and I have discovered what we believe to be the ideal conditions under which the mind can be stimulated so that the Sixth Sense described in the next chapter can be made to function in a practical way. The conditions to which I refer consist of a close working alliance between myself and two members of my staff. Through experimentation and practice, we discovered how to stimulate our minds (by applying the principle used in connection with the “Invisible Counselors” described in the next chapter) so that we can, by a process of “blending” our three minds into one, find the solution to a great variety of problems. The procedure is simple. We sit down at a conference table, clearly state the nature of the problem we have under consideration, then begin discussing it. Each contributes whatever thoughts that may occur. The strange thing about this method of mind stimulation is that it places each participant in communication with unknown sources of knowledge definitely outside his own experience. If you understand the principle described in Chapter 9 on the Master Mind, you of course recognize the round-table procedure here described as being a practical application of the Master Mind.2 This method of mind stimulation, through harmonious discussion of…
Chapter 13 THE SIXTH SENSE The Door to the Temple of Wisdom The Thirteenth Step to Riches
Long before I had ever written a line for publication or endeavored to deliver a speech in public, I followed the habit of reshaping my own character by trying to imitate the nine individuals whose lives and life’s work had been most impressive to me. These nine were Ralph Waldo Emerson, Thomas Paine, Thomas A. Edison, Charles Darwin, Abraham Lincoln, Luther Burbank, Napoleon Bonaparte, Henry Ford, and Andrew Carnegie. Every night over a long period of years, I held an imaginary Council meeting with this group whom I called my Invisible Counselors. The procedure was this. Just before going to sleep at night, I would shut my eyes and see in my imagination this group of men seated with me around my Council Table. Here I had not only an opportunity to sit among those whom I considered to be great, but I actually dominated the group by serving as the chairman. Before eyebrows are raised, let me assure you that I had a very DEFINITE PURPOSE in indulging my imagination through these nightly meetings. My purpose was to rebuild my own character so it would represent a composite of the characters of my imaginary counselors. Realizing as I did early in life that I had to overcome the handicap of being born into an environment of ignorance and superstition, I deliberately assigned myself the task of voluntary rebirth through the method here described.2
Building Character through Autosuggestion
With this knowledge of the principles of mind operation, I was fairly well armed with the equipment needed to rebuild my character. In these imaginary Council meetings, I called on my Cabinet members for the knowledge I wished each to contribute, addressing myself to each member in audible words such as follows: “Mr. Emerson, I desire to acquire from you the marvelous understanding of Nature which distinguished your life. I ask that you make an impression upon my subconscious mind of whatever qualities you possessed which enabled you to understand and adapt yourself to the laws of Nature. I ask that you assist me in reaching and drawing upon whatever sources of knowledge are available to this end. “Mr. Burbank, I request that you pass on to me the knowledge which enabled you to so harmonize the laws of Nature that you caused the cactus to shed its thorns and become an edible food. Give me access to the knowledge which enabled you to make two blades of grass grow where but one grew before, and helped you to blend the coloring of the flowers with more splendor and harmony, for you alone have successfully ‘gilded the lily.’ “Napoleon, I desire to acquire from you, by emulation, the marvelous ability you possessed to inspire men and to arouse them to greater and more determined spirit of action. Also to acquire the spirit of enduring FAITH, which enabled you to turn defeat into victory and to surmount staggering obstacles. Emperor of Fate, King of Chance, Man of Destiny, I…
But remember, when difficulties overtake you, the common people have common sense. Adversity will develop it.”
At our next meeting the members of my Cabinet all filed into the room together and stood at their accustomed places at the Council Table, while Lincoln raised a glass and said, “Gentlemen, let us drink a toast to a friend who has returned to the fold.” After that, I began to add new members to my Cabinet, until soon it grew to more than 50, among them Christ, St. Paul, Galileo, Copernicus, Aristotle, Plato, Socrates, Homer, Voltaire, Spinoza, Kant, Schopenhauer, Newton, Confucius, Elbert Hubbard, Woodrow Wilson, and William James.
Lest I be misunderstood, I wish here to state most emphatically that I still regard my Cabinet meetings as being purely imaginary, but I feel entitled to suggest that while the members of my Cabinet may be purely fictional and the meetings existent only in my own imagination, they have led me into glorious paths of adventure, rekindled an appreciation of true greatness, encouraged creative endeavor, and emboldened the expression of honest thought. Somewhere in the cell structure of the human brain is an area which receives vibrations of thought ordinarily called hunches. So far, science has not discovered where this site of the Sixth Sense is located, but this is not important. The fact remains that human beings do receive accurate knowledge through sources other than the five physical senses. Such knowledge generally is received when the mind is under the influence of extraordinary stimulation. Any emergency which arouses the emotions and causes the heart to beat more rapidly than normal may, and often does, bring the Sixth Sense into action. Anyone who has experienced a near accident while driving knows that on such occasions the Sixth Sense often comes to one’s rescue and aids, by split seconds, in avoiding the accident. These facts are mentioned preliminary to a statement of fact which I shall now make, namely, that during my meetings with the Invisible Counselors I found my mind most receptive to ideas, thoughts, and knowledge which reach me through the Sixth Sense. I…
Previous chapters have described how to develop FAITH through autosuggestion, desire, and the subconscious mind. The final pages of this book will present detailed instructions for the mastery of FEAR. Here will be found a full description of the six fears which are the cause of all discouragement, timidity, procrastination, indifference, indecision, and the lack of ambition, self-reliance, initiative, self-control, and enthusiasm. Search yourself carefully as you study these six enemies, as they may exist only in your subconscious mind, where their presence will be hard to detect.
Epilogue HOW TO OUTWIT THE 6 GHOSTS OF FEAR Take Inventory of Yourself As You Read This and Find Out How Many of the Ghosts Stand in Your Way
The Six Basic Fears
Named in the order of their most common appearance, they are: The fear of POVERTY (at the heart of most people’s worries) The fear of CRITICISM The fear of ILL HEALTH The fear of LOSS OF LOVE OF SOMEONE The fear of OLD AGE The fear of DEATH All other fears are of minor importance. They can be grouped under these six headings.
Fears are nothing more than states of mind. As has been demonstrated repeatedly in the chapters of this book, one’s state of mind is subject to control and direction.3
An individual can create nothing which he or she does not first conceive in the form of an impulse of thought. Following this statement comes another of still greater importance, namely, that THOUGHT IMPULSES BEGIN IMMEDIATELY TO TRANSLATE THEMSELVES INTO THEIR PHYSICAL EQUIVALENT, WHETHER THOSE THOUGHTS ARE VOLUNTARY OR INVOLUNTARY. Thought impulses which are picked up by mere chance from sources outside one’s own mind (thoughts created in other minds) may determine one’s financial, business, professional, or social destiny just as surely as do the thought impulses which one creates by intent and design.
Nature has endowed human beings with absolute control over only one thing—and that is THOUGHT. This fact—coupled with the additional fact that everything that human beings create begins in the form of a thought, an IDEA—leads one very near to the principle by which FEAR may be mastered. If it is true that ALL THOUGHT HAS A TENDENCY TO CLOTHE ITSELF IN ITS PHYSICAL EQUIVALENT (and this is true beyond any doubt), it is equally true that thought impulses of fear and poverty cannot be translated into terms of courage and financial gain.
The Fear of Poverty
If, after reading what follows, you are willing to accept poverty, you may as well make up your mind to receive poverty. This is one decision you cannot avoid. If you demand riches, determine what form of riches and how much will be required to satisfy you. You should now know the road that leads to riches. You have been given a road map which, if followed, will keep you on that road. If you neglect to make the start, or stop before you arrive, no one will be to blame but YOU. The responsibility is yours. No alibi will save you from accepting this responsibility. If you now fail or refuse to demand riches of life, it will be because of one thing—the only thing you can truly control—a STATE OF MIND. And a state of mind is something that one assumes. It cannot be purchased. It must be created. Fear of poverty is a state of mind, nothing else! But it is sufficient to destroy one’s chances of achievement in any undertaking, a truth which becomes painfully evident during any time of economic difficulty and uncertainty. Fear of poverty paralyzes the faculty of reason, destroys the faculty of imagination, kills self-reliance, undermines enthusiasm, discourages initiative, leads to uncertainty of purpose, encourages procrastination, wipes out enthusiasm, and makes self-control impossible. It takes the charm from one’s personality, destroys the possibility of accurate thinking, diverts concentration of effort, kills persistence, turns willpower into nothingness, destroys ambition,…
The majority of people, if asked what they fear most, would reply, “I fear nothing.” The reply would be inaccurate because few people realize that they are bound, handicapped, and whipped spiritually and physically by some form of fear. So subtle and deeply seated is the emotion of fear that one may go through life burdened with it, never recognizing its presence. Only a courageous analysis will disclose the presence of this universal enemy.
When you begin such an analysis, search deeply into your character. Here is a list of the symptoms for which you should look:
Symptoms of the Fear of Poverty
DOUBT. Generally expressed through alibis and excuses designed to cover up, explain away, or apologize for one’s failures, sometimes expressed in the form of envy of those who are successful or by criticism of them.
WORRY. Usually expressed by finding fault with others, a tendency to spend beyond one’s income, neglect of personal appearance, scowling and frowning; intemperance in the use of alcoholic, sometimes through the use of narcotics; nervousness, lack of poise, self-consciousness and lack of self-reliance.
PROCRASTINATION. The habit of putting off until tomorrow that which should have been done last year. Spending enough time in creating alibis and excuses to have done the job. This symptom is closely related to over-caution, doubt, and worry. Refusal to accept responsibility when it can be avoided. Willingness to compromise rather than put up a stiff fight. Compromising with difficulties instead of harnessing and using them as steppingstones to advancement. Bargaining with life for a penny, instead of demanding prosperity, opulence, riches, contentment, and happiness. Planning what to do IF AND WHEN OVERTAKEN BY FAILURE, INSTEAD OF BURNING ALL BRIDGES AND MAKING RETREAT IMPOSSIBLE.
EXPECTING POVERTY INSTEAD OF DEMANDING RICHES. Association with those who accept poverty instead of seeking the company of those who demand and receive riches.
When a man is down and out and on the street, unable to get any job at all, something happens to his spirit which can be observed in the droop of his shoulders, the set of his hat, his walk and his gaze. He cannot escape a feeling of inferiority among people with regular employment, even though he knows they are definitely not his equals in character, intelligence or ability. These people—even his friends—feel, on the other hand, a sense of superiority and regard him, perhaps unconsciously, as a casualty.
The Fear of Criticism
Symptoms of the Fear of Criticism
The Fear of Ill Health
Symptoms of the Fear of Ill Health
The Fear of Loss of Love
This fear is the most painful of all the Six Basic Fears. It plays more havoc with the body and mind than any of the other basic fears, and it can lead to severe mental problems.
Symptoms of the Fear of Loss of Love
The Fear of Old Age
The Fear of Death
Master the Fear of Loss of Love by reaching a decision to get along without love if that is necessary.
Kill the habit of worry in all its forms by reaching a general, blanket decision that nothing which life has to offer is worth the price of worry.
Negative thought impulses are not only damaging to others, but they also EMBED THEMSELVES IN THE SUBCONSCIOUS MIND OF THE PERSON RELEASING THEM and there become a part of his or her character. One is never through with a thought, merely by releasing it. When a thought is released, it spreads in every direction, but it also plants itself permanently in the subconscious mind of the person releasing it.
You may control your own mind. You have the power to feed it whatever thought impulses you choose. With this privilege goes also the responsibility of using it constructively. You are the master of your own earthly destiny just as surely as you have the power to control your own thoughts. You may influence, direct, and eventually control your own environment, making your life what you want it to be—or you may neglect to exercise the privilege which is yours to make your life to order, thus casting yourself upon the broad “Sea of Circumstance,” where you will be tossed hither and yon like a chip on the waves of the ocean.
THE DEVIL’S WORKSHOP The Seventh Basic Evil
Make the analysis searching. After you read the questions prepared for this self-analysis, hold yourself to a strict accounting in your answers. Go at the task as carefully as you would search for any other enemy you knew to be awaiting you in ambush and deal with your own faults as you would with a more tangible enemy.
How to Protect Yourself Against Negative Influences
Self-Analysis Test Questions
Do you complain often of feeling bad, and if so, what is the cause? Do you find fault with other people at the slightest provocation? Do you frequently make mistakes in your work, and if so, why? Are you sarcastic and offensive in your conversation? Do you deliberately avoid the association of anyone, and if so, why? Do you suffer frequently with indigestion? If so, what is the cause? Does life seem futile and the future hopeless to you? If so, why? Do you like your occupation? If not, why? Do you often feel self-pity, and if so, why? Are you envious of those who excel you? To which do you devote most time, thinking of SUCCESS or of FAILURE? Are you gaining or losing self-confidence as you grow older? Do you learn something of value from all mistakes? Are you permitting some relative or acquaintance to worry you? If so, why? Are you sometimes “in the clouds” and at other times “in the depths” of despondency? Who has the most inspiring influence upon you? What is the cause? Do you tolerate negative or discouraging influences which you can avoid? Are you careless of your personal appearance? If so, when and why? Have you learned how to drown your troubles by being too busy to be annoyed by them? Would you call yourself a “spineless weakling” if you permitted others to do your thinking for you? Do you neglect internal bathing until autointoxication makes you ill-tempered and irritable?14 How many preventable disturbances annoy you, and why do you tolerate them? Do you resort to…
If you have answered all these questions truthfully, you know more about yourself than the majority of people. Study the questions carefully, come back to them once each week for several months, and be astounded at the amount of additional knowledge of great value to yourself you will have gained by the simple method of answering the questions truthfully.
Doubting Thomases scoffed when Henry Ford tried out his first crudely built automobile on the streets of Detroit. Some said the thing never would become practical. Others said no one would pay money for such a contraption. FORD SAID, “I’LL BELT THE EARTH WITH DEPENDABLE MOTOR CARS,” AND HE DID! His decision to trust his own judgment piled up a fortune far greater than generations of his descendants could squander. For the benefit of those seeking vast riches, let it be remembered that practically the sole difference between Henry Ford and a majority of the more than 100,000 people who worked for him is this—FORD HAD A MIND AND CONTROLLED IT, WHILE MOST OF THE OTHERS HAD MINDS WHICH THEY DID NOT TRY TO CONTROL.
Mind control is the result of self-discipline and habit. You either control your mind or it controls you. There is no halfway compromise. The most practical of all methods for controlling the mind is the habit of keeping it busy with a definite purpose, backed by a definite plan. Study the records of any individuals who achieve noteworthy success, and you will observe that they have control over their own mind, moreover, that they exercise that control and direct it toward the attainment of definite objectives. Without this control, success is not possible.
57 Famous Alibis By Old Man IF
IF my family understood me ...
IF I could just get started ...
IF I could just get a break ...
IF people weren’t so dumb ...
Building alibis with which to explain away failure is a national pastime. The habit is as old as the human race and is fatal to success! Why do people cling to their pet alibis? The answer is obvious. They defend their alibis because THEY CREATE them! An alibi is the child of one’s own imagination. It is human nature to defend one’s own brain-child.
Building alibis is a deeply rooted habit. Habits are difficult to break, especially when they provide justification for something we do. Plato had this truth in mind when he said, “The first and best victory is to conquer self. To be conquered by self is, of all things, the most shameful and vile.” Another philosopher had the same thought in mind when he said, “It was a great surprise to me when I discovered that most of the ugliness I saw in others was but a reflection of my own nature.”
In parting, I would remind you that “Life is a game, and the player opposite you is TIME. If you hesitate before moving, or neglect to move thoughtfully and decisively, your pieces will be wiped off the board by TIME. You are playing against a partner who will not tolerate INDECISION!”
The Master Key is intangible, but it is powerful! It is the privilege of creating, in your own mind, a BURNING DESIRE for a definite form of riches. There is no penalty for the use of the Key, but there is a price you must pay if you do not use it. The price is FAILURE. There is a reward of stupendous proportions if you put the Key to use. It is the satisfaction that comes to all who conquer self and force life to pay whatever is asked. The reward is worthy of your effort. Will you make the start and be convinced? “If we are related,” said the immortal Emerson, “we shall meet.” In closing, may I borrow his thought and say, “If we are related, we have, through these pages, met.”

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