>> THIS book is pragmatical, not philosophical;
a practical manual, not a treatise upon theories.
It is intended for the men and women whose
most pressing need is for money; who wish
to get rich first, and philosophize afterward.
It is for those who have, so far, found neither
the time, the means, nor the opportunity to
go deeply into the study of metaphysics, but
who want results and who are willing to take
the conclusions of science as a basis for
action, without going into all the processes
by which those conclusions were reached.
It is expected that the reader will take the
fundamental statements upon faith, just as
he would take statements concerning a law
of electrical action if they were promulgated
by a Marconi or an Edison; and, taking the
statements upon faith, that he will prove
their truth by acting upon them without fear
or hesitation.
Every man or woman who does this will certainly
get rich; for the science herein applied is
an exact science, and failure is impossible.
For the benefit, however, of those who wish
to investigate philosophical theories and
so secure a logical basis for faith, I will
here cite certain authorities.
The monistic theory of the universe the theory
that One is All, and that All is One; That
one Substance manifests itself as the seeming
many elements of the material world -is of
Hindu origin, and has been gradually winning
its way into the thought of the western world
for two hundred years.
It is the foundation of all the Oriental philosophies,
and of those of Descartes, Spinoza, Leibnitz,
Schopenhauer, Hegel, and Emerson.
The reader who would dig to the philosophical
foundations of this is advised to read Hegel
and Emerson for himself.
In writing this book I have sacrificed all
other considerations to plainness and simplicity
of style, so that all might understand.
The plan of action laid down herein was deduced
from the conclusions of philosophy; it has
been thoroughly tested, and bears the supreme
test of practical experiment; it works.
If you wish to know how the conclusions were
arrived at, read the writings of the authors
mentioned above; and if you wish to reap the
fruits of their philosophies in actual practice,
read this book and do exactly as it tells
you to do----
The Author
Chapter 1 -
WHATEVER may be said in praise of poverty,
the fact remains that it is not possible to
live a really complete or successful life
unless one is rich.
No man can rise to his greatest possible height
in talent or soul development unless he has
plenty of money; for to unfold the soul and
to develop talent he must have many things
to use, and he cannot have these things unless
he has money to buy them with.
A man develops in mind, soul, and body by
making use of things, and society is so organized
that man must have money in order to become
the possessor of things; therefore, the basis
of all advancement for man must be the science
of getting rich.
The object of all life is development; and
everything that lives has an inalienable right
to all the development it is capable of attaining.
Man's right to life means his right to have
the free and unrestricted use of all the things
which may be necessary to his fullest mental,
spiritual, and physical unfoldment; or, in
other words, his right to be rich.
In this book, I shall not speak of riches
in a figurative way; to be really rich does
not mean to be satisfied or contented with
a little.
No man ought to be satisfied with a little
if he is capable of using and enjoying more.
The purpose of Nature is the advancement and
unfoldment of life; and every man should have
all that can contribute to the power, elegance,
beauty, and richness of life; to be content
with less is sinful.
The man who owns all he wants for the living
of all the life he is capable of living is
rich; and no man who has not plenty of money
can have all he wants.
Life has advanced so far, and become so complex,
that even the most ordinary man or woman requires
a great amount of wealth in order to live
in a manner that even approaches completeness.
Every person naturally wants to become all
that they are capable of becoming; this desire
to realize innate possibilities is inherent
in human nature; we cannot help wanting to
be all that we can be.
Success in life is becoming what you want
to be; you can become what you want to be
only by making use of things, and you can
have the free use of things only as you become
rich enough to buy them.
To understand the science of getting rich
is therefore the most essential of all knowledge.
There is nothing wrong in wanting to get rich.
The desire for riches is really the desire
for a richer, fuller, and more abundant life;
and that desire is praise worthy.
The man who does not desire to live more abundantly
is abnormal, and so the man who does not desire
to have money enough to buy all he wants is
abnormal.
There are three motives for which we live;
we live for the body, we live for the mind,
we live for the soul.
No one of these is better or holier than the
other; all are alike desirable, and no one
of the three--body, mind, or soul--can live
fully if either of the others is cut short
of full life and expression.
It is not right or noble to live only for
the soul and deny mind or body; and it is
wrong to live for the intellect and deny body
or soul.
We are all acquainted with the loathsome consequences
of living for the body and denying both mind
and soul; and we see that real life means
the complete expression of all that man can
give forth through body, mind, and soul.
Whatever he can say, no man can be really
happy or satisfied unless his body is living
fully in every function, and unless the same
is true of his mind and his soul.
Wherever there is unexpressed possibility,
or function not performed, there is unsatisfied
desire.
Desire is possibility seeking expression,
or function seeking performance.
Man cannot live fully in body without good
food, comfortable clothing, and warm shelter;
and without freedom from excessive toil.
Rest and recreation are also necessary to
his physical life.
He cannot live fully in mind without books
and time to study them, without opportunity
for travel and observation, or without intellectual
companionship.
To live fully in mind he must have intellectual
recreations, and must surround himself with
all the objects of art and beauty he is capable
of using and appreciating.
To live fully in soul, man must have love;
and love is denied expression by poverty.
A man's highest happiness is found in the
bestowal of benefits on those he loves; love
finds its most natural and spontaneous expression
in giving.
The man who has nothing to give cannot fill
his place as a husband or father, as a citizen,
or as a man.
It is in the use of material things that a
man finds full life for his body, develops
his mind, and unfolds his soul.
It is therefore of supreme importance to him
that he should be rich.
It is perfectly right that you should desire
to be rich; if you are a normal man or woman
you cannot help doing so.
It is perfectly right that you should give
your best attention to the Science of Getting
Rich, for it is the noblest and most necessary
of all studies.
If you neglect this study, you are derelict
in your duty to yourself, to God and humanity;
for you can render to God and humanity no
greater service than to make the most of yourself.
Chapter 2 -
THERE is a Science of getting rich, and it
is an exact science, like algebra or arithmetic.
There are certain laws which govern the process
of acquiring riches; once these laws are learned
and obeyed by any man, he will get rich with
mathematical certainty.
The ownership of money and property comes
as a result of doing things in a certain way;
those who do things in this Certain Way, whether
on purpose or accidentally, get rich; while
those who do not do things in this Certain
Way, no matter how hard they work or how able
they are, remain poor.
It is a natural law that like causes always
produce like effects; and, therefore, any
man or woman who learns to do things in this
certain way will infallibly get rich.
That the above statement is true is shown
by the following facts:
Getting rich is not a matter of environment,
for, if it were, all the people in certain
neighborhoods would become wealthy; the people
of one city would all be rich, while those
of other towns would all be poor; or the inhabitants
of one state would roll in wealth, while those
of an adjoining state would be in poverty.
But everywhere we see rich and poor living
side by side, in the same environment, and
often engaged in the same vocations.
When two men are in the same locality, and
in the same business, and one gets rich while
the other remains poor, it shows that getting
rich is not, primarily, a matter of environment.
Some environments may be more favorable than
others, but when two men in the same business
are in the same neighborhood, and one gets
rich while the other fails, it indicates that
getting rich is the result of doing things
in a Certain Way.
And further, the ability to do things in this
certain way is not due solely to the possession
of talent, for many people who have great
talent remain poor, while other who have very
little talent get rich.
Studying the people who have got rich, we
find that they are an average lot in all respects,
having no greater talents and abilities than
other men.
It is evident that they do not get rich because
they possess talents and abilities that other
men have not, but because they happen to do
things in a Certain Way.
Getting rich is not the result of saving,
or "thrift"; many very penurious people are
poor, while free spenders often get rich.
Nor is getting rich due to doing things which
others fail to do; for two men in the same
business often do almost exactly the same
things, and one gets rich while the other
remains poor or becomes bankrupt.
From all these things, we must come to the
conclusion that getting rich is the result
of doing things in a Certain Way.
If getting rich is the result of doing things
in a Certain Way, and if like causes always
produce like effects, then any man or woman
who can do things in that way can become rich,
and the whole matter is brought within the
domain of exact science.
The question arises here, whether this Certain
Way may not be so difficult that only a few
may follow it.
This cannot be true, as we have seen, so far
as natural ability is concerned.
Talented people get rich, and blockheads get
rich; intellectually brilliant people get
rich, and very stupid people get rich; physically
strong people get rich, and weak and sickly
people get rich.
Some degree of ability to think and understand
is, of course, essential; but in so far natural
ability is concerned, any man or woman who
has sense enough to read and understand these
words can certainly get rich.
Also, we have seen that it is not a matter
of environment.
Location counts for something; one would not
go to the heart of the Sahara and expect to
do successful business.
Getting rich involves the necessity of dealing
with men, and of being where there are people
to deal with; and if these people are inclined
to deal in the way you want to deal, so much
the better.
But that is about as far as environment goes.
If anybody else in your town can get rich,
so can you; and if anybody else in your state
can get rich, so can you.
Again, it is not a matter of choosing some
particular business or profession.
People get rich in every business, and in
every profession; while their next door neighbors
in the same vocation remain in poverty.
It is true that you will do best in a business
which you like, and which is congenial to
you; and if you have certain talents which
are well developed, you will do best in a
business which calls for the exercise of those
talents.
Also, you will do best in a business which
is suited to your locality; an ice-cream parlor
would do better in a warm climate than in
Greenland, and a salmon fishery will succeed
better in the Northwest than in Florida, where
there are no salmon.
But, aside from these general limitations,
getting rich is not dependent upon your engaging
in some particular business, but upon your
learning to do things in a Certain Way.
If you are now in business, and anybody else
in your locality is getting rich in the same
business, while you are not getting rich,
it is because you are not doing things in
the same Way that the other person is doing
them.
No one is prevented from getting rich by lack
of capital.
True, as you get capital the increase becomes
more easy and rapid; but one who has capital
is already rich, and does not need to consider
how to become so.
No matter how poor you may be, if you begin
to do things in the Certain Way you will begin
to get rich; and you will begin to have capital.
The getting of capital is a part of the process
of getting rich; and it is a part of the result
which invariably follows the doing of things
in the Certain Way.
You may be the poorest man on the continent,
and be deeply in debt; you may have neither
friends, influence, nor resources; but if
you begin to do things in this way, you must
infallibly begin to get rich, for like causes
must produce like effects.
If you have no capital, you can get capital;
if you are in the wrong business, you can
get into the right business; if you are in
the wrong location, you can go to the right
location; and you can do so by beginning in
your present business and in your present
location to do things in the Certain Way which
causes success.
Chapter 3 -
NO man is kept poor because opportunity has
been taken away from him; because other people
have monopolized the wealth, and have put
a fence around it.
You may be shut off from engaging in business
in certain lines, but there are other channels
open to you.
Probably it would be hard for you to get control
of any of the great railroad systems; that
field is pretty well monopolized.
But the electric railway business is still
in its infancy, and offers plenty of scope
for enterprise; and it will be but a very
few years until traffic and transportation
through the air will become a great industry,
and in all its branches will give employment
to hundreds of thousands, and perhaps to millions,
of people.
Why not turn your attention to the development
of aerial transportation, instead of competing
with J.J. Hill and others for a chance in
the steam railway world?
It is quite true that if you are a workman
in the employ of the steel trust you have
very little chance of becoming the owner of
the plant in which you work; but it is also
true that if you will commence to act in a
Certain Way, you can soon leave the employ
of the steel trust; you can buy a farm of
from ten to forty acres, and engage in business
as a producer of foodstuffs.
There is great opportunity at this time for
men who will live upon small tracts of land
and cultivate the same intensively; such men
will certainly get rich.
You may say that it is impossible for you
to get the land, but I am going to prove to
you that it is not impossible, and that you
can certainly get a farm if you will go to
work in a Certain Way.
At different periods the tide of opportunity
sets in different directions, according to
the needs of the whole, and the particular
stage of social evolution which has been reached.
At present, in America, it is setting toward
agriculture and the allied industries and
professions.
To-day, opportunity is open before the factory
worker in his line.
It is open before the business man who supplies
the farmer more than before the one who supplies
the factory worker; and before the professional
man who waits upon the farmer more than before
the one who serves the working class.
There is abundance of opportunity for the
man who will go with the tide, instead of
trying to swim against it.
So the factory workers, either as individuals
or as a class, are not deprived of opportunity.
The workers are not being "kept down" by their
masters; they are not being "ground" by the
trusts and combinations of capital.
As a class, they are where they are because
they do not do things in a Certain Way.
If the workers of America chose to do so,
they could follow the example of their brothers
in Belgium and other countries, and establish
great department stores and co-operative industries;
they could elect men of their own class to
office, and pass laws favoring the development
of such co-operative industries; and in a
few years they could take peaceable possession
of the industrial field.
The working class may become the master class
whenever they will begin to do things in a
Certain Way; the law of wealth is the same
for them as it is for all others.
This they must learn; and they will remain
where they are as long as they continue to
do as they do.
The individual worker, however, is not held
down by the ignorance or the mental slothfulness
of his class; he can follow the tide of opportunity
to riches, and this book will tell him how.
No one is kept in poverty by a shortness in
the supply of riches; there is more than enough
for all.
A palace as large as the capitol at Washington
might be built for every family on earth from
the building material in the United States
alone; and under intensive cultivation, this
country would produce wool, cotton, linen,
and silk enough to cloth each person in the
world finer than Solomon was arrayed in all
his glory; together with food enough to feed
them all luxuriously.
The visible supply is practically inexhaustible;
and the invisible supply really is inexhaustible.
Everything you see on earth is made from one
original substance, out of which all things
proceed.
New Forms are constantly being made, and older
ones are dissolving; but all are shapes assumed
by One Thing.
There is no limit to the supply of Formless
Stuff, or Original Substance.
The universe is made out of it; but it was
not all used in making the universe.
The spaces in, through, and between the forms
of the visible universe are permeated and
filled with the Original Substance; with the
formless Stuff; with the raw material of all
things.
Ten thousand times as much as has been made
might still be made, and even then we should
not have exhausted the supply of universal
raw material.
No man, therefore, is poor because nature
is poor, or because there is not enough to
go around.
Nature is an inexhaustible storehouse of riches;
the supply will never run short.
Original Substance is alive with creative
energy, and is constantly producing more forms.
When the supply of building material is exhausted,
more will be produced; when the soil is exhausted
so that food stuffs and materials for clothing
will no longer grow upon it, it will be renewed
or more soil will be made.
When all the gold and silver has been dug
from the earth, if man is still in such a
stage of social development that he needs
gold and silver, more will produced from the
Formless.
The Formless Stuff responds to the needs of
man; it will not let him be without any good
thing.
This is true of man collectively; the race
as a whole is always abundantly rich, and
if individuals are poor, it is because they
do not follow the Certain Way of doing things
which makes the individual man rich.
The Formless Stuff is intelligent; it is stuff
which thinks.
It is alive, and is always impelled toward
more life.
It is the natural and inherent impulse of
life to seek to live more; it is the nature
of intelligence to enlarge itself, and of
consciousness to seek to extend its boundaries
and find fuller expression.
The universe of forms has been made by Formless
Living Substance, throwing itself into form
in order to express itself more fully.
The universe is a great Living Presence, always
moving inherently toward more life and fuller
functioning.
Nature is formed for the advancement of life;
its impelling motive is the increase of life.
For this cause, everything which can possibly
minister to life is bountifully provided;
there can be no lack unless God is to contradict
himself and nullify his own works.
You are not kept poor by lack in the supply
of riches; it is a fact which I shall demonstrate
a little farther on that even the resources
of the Formless Supply are at the command
of the man or woman who will act and think
in a Certain Way.
Chapter 4 -
THOUGHT is the only power which can produce
tangible riches from the Formless Substance.
The stuff from which all things are made is
a substance which thinks, and a thought of
form in this substance produces the form.
Original Substance moves according to its
thoughts; every form and process you see in
nature is the visible expression of a thought
in Original Substance.
As the Formless Stuff thinks of a form, it
takes that form; as it thinks of a motion,
it makes that motion.
That is the way all things were created.
We live in a thought world, which is part
of a thought universe.
The thought of a moving universe extended
throughout Formless Substance, and the Thinking
Stuff moving according to that thought, took
the form of systems of planets, and maintains
that form.
Thinking Substance takes the form of its thought,
and moves according to the thought.
Holding the idea of a circling system of suns
and worlds, it takes the form of these bodies,
and moves them as it thinks.
Thinking the form of a slow-growing oak tree,
it moves accordingly, and produces the tree,
though centuries may be required to do the
work.
In creating, the Formless seems to move according
to the lines of motion it has established;
the thought of an oak tree does not cause
the instant formation of a full-grown tree,
but it does start in motion the forces which
will produce the tree, along established lines
of growth.
Every thought of form, held in thinking Substance,
causes the creation of the form, but always,
or at least generally, along lines of growth
and action already established.
The thought of a house of a certain construction,
if it were impressed upon Formless Substance,
might not cause the instant formation, of
the house; but it would cause the turning
of creative energies already working in trade
and commerce into such channels as to result
in the speedy building of the house.
And if there were no existing channels through
which the creative energy could work, then
the house would be formed directly from primal
substance, without waiting for the slow processes
of the organic and inorganic world.
No thought of form can be impressed upon Original
Substance without causing the creation of
the form.
Man is a thinking center, and can originate
thought.
All the forms that man fashions with his hands
must first exist in his thought; he cannot
shape a thing until he has thought that thing.
And so far man has confined his efforts wholly
to the work of his hands; he has applied manual
labor to the world of forms, seeking to change
or modify those already existing.
He has never thought of trying to cause the
creation of new forms by impressing his thoughts
upon Formless Substance.
When man has a thought-form, he takes material
from the forms of nature, and makes an image
of the form which is in his mind.
He has, so far, made little or no effort to
co-operate with Formless Intelligence; to
work "with the Father."
He has not dreamed that he can "do what he
seeth the Father doing."
Man reshapes and modifies existing forms by
manual labor; he has given no attention to
the question whether he may not produce things
from Formless Substance by communicating his
thoughts to it.
We propose to prove that he may do so; to
prove that any man or woman may do so, and
to show how.
As our first step, we must lay down three
fundamental propositions.
First, we assert that there is one original
formless stuff, or substance, from which all
things are made.
All the seemingly many elements are but different
presentations of one element; all the many
forms found in organic and inorganic nature
are but different shapes, made from the same
stuff.
And this stuff is thinking stuff; a thought
held in it produces the form of the thought.
Thought, in thinking substance, produces shapes.
Man is a thinking center, capable of original
thought; if man can communicate his thought
to original thinking substance, he can cause
the creation, or formation, of the thing he
thinks about.
To summarize this:-
There is a thinking stuff from which all things
are made, and which, in its original state,
permeates, penetrates, and fills the interspaces
of the universe.
A thought, in this substance, Produces the
thing that is imaged by the thought.
Man can form things in his thought, and, by
impressing his thought upon formless substance,
can cause the thing he thinks about to be
created.
It may be asked if I can prove these statements;
and without going into details, I answer that
I can do so, both by logic and experience.
Reasoning back from the phenomena of form
and thought, I come to one original thinking
substance; and reasoning forward from this
thinking substance, I come to man's power
to cause the formation of the thing he thinks
about.
And by experiment, I find the reasoning true;
and this is my strongest proof.
If one man who reads this book gets rich by
doing what it tells him to do, that is evidence
in support of my claim; but if every man who
does what it tells him to do gets rich, that
is positive proof until some one goes through
the process and fails.
The theory is true until the process fails;
and this process will not fail, for every
man who does exactly what this book tells
him to do will get rich.
I have said that men get rich by doing things
in a Certain Way; and in order to do so, men
must become able to think in a certain way.
A man's way of doing things is the direct
result of the way he thinks about things.
To do things in a way you want to do them,
you will have to acquire the ability to think
the way you want to think; this is the first
step toward getting rich.
To think what you want to think is to think
TRUTH, regardless of appearances.
Every man has the natural and inherent power
to think what he wants to think, but it requires
far more effort to do so than it does to think
the thoughts which are suggested by appearances.
To think according to appearance is easy;
to think truth regardless of appearances is
laborious, and requires the expenditure of
more power than any other work man is called
upon to perform.
There is no labor from which most people shrink
as they do from that of sustained and consecutive
thought; it is the hardest work in the world.
This is especially true when truth is contrary
to appearances.
Every appearance in the visible world tends
to produce a corresponding form in the mind
which observes it; and this can only be prevented
by holding the thought of the TRUTH.
To look upon the appearance of disease will
produce the form of disease in your own mind,
and ultimately in your body, unless you hold
the thought of the truth, which is that there
is no disease; it is only an appearance, and
the reality is health.
To look upon the appearances of poverty will
produce corresponding forms in your own mind,
unless you hold to the truth that there is
no poverty; there is only abundance.
To think health when surrounded by the appearances
of disease, or to think riches when in the
midst of appearances of poverty, requires
power; but he who acquires this power becomes
a MASTER MIND.
He can conquer fate; he can have what he wants.
This power can only be acquired by getting
hold of the basic fact which is behind all
appearances; and that fact is that there is
one Thinking Substance, from which and by
which all things are made.
Then we must grasp the truth that every thought
held in this substance becomes a form, and
that man can so impress his thoughts upon
it as to cause them to take form and become
visible things.
When we realize this, we lose all doubt and
fear, for we know that we can create what
we want to create; we can get what we want
to have, and can become what we want to be.
As a first step toward getting rich, you must
believe the three fundamental statements given
previously in this chapter; and in order to
emphasize them.
I repeat them here:-
There is a thinking stuff from which all things
are made, and which, in its original state,
permeates, penetrates, and fills the interspaces
of the universe.
A thought, in this substance, Produces the
thing that is imaged by the thought.
Man can form things in his thought, and, by
impressing his thought upon formless substance,
can cause the thing he thinks about to be
created.
You must lay aside all other concepts of the
universe than this monistic one; and you must
dwell upon this until it is fixed in your
mind, and has become your habitual thought.
Read these creed statements over and over
again; fix every word upon your memory, and
meditate upon them until you firmly believe
what they say.
If a doubt comes to you, cast it aside as
a sin.
Do not listen to arguments against this idea;
do not go to churches or lectures where a
contrary concept of things is taught or preached.
Do not read magazines or books which teach
a different idea; if you get mixed up in your
faith, all your efforts will be in vain.
Do not ask why these things are true, nor
speculate as to how they can be true; simply
take them on trust.
The science of getting rich begins with the
absolute acceptance of this faith.
Chapter 5 -
YOU must get rid of the last vestige of the
old idea that there is a Deity whose will
it is that you should be poor, or whose purposes
may be served by keeping you in poverty.
The Intelligent Substance which is All, and
in All, and which lives in All and lives in
you, is a consciously Living Substance.
Being a consciously living substance, It must
have the nature and inherent desire of every
living intelligence for increase of life.
Every living thing must continually seek for
the enlargement of its life, because life,
in the mere act of living, must increase itself.
A seed, dropped into the ground, springs into
activity, and in the act of living produces
a hundred more seeds; life, by living, multiplies
itself.
It is forever Becoming More; it must do so,
if it continues to be at all.
Intelligence is under this same necessity
for continuous increase.
Every thought we think makes it necessary
for us to think another thought; consciousness
is continually expanding.
Every fact we learn leads us to the learning
of another fact; knowledge is continually
increasing.
Every talent we cultivate brings to the mind
the desire to cultivate another talent; we
are subject to the urge of life, seeking expression,
which ever drives us on to know more, to do
more, and to be more.
In order to know more, do more, and be more
we must have more; we must have things to
use, for we learn, and do, and become, only
by using things.
We must get rich, so that we can live more.
The desire for riches is simply the capacity
for larger life seeking fulfillment; every
desire is the effort of an unexpressed possibility
to come into action.
It is power seeking to manifest which causes
desire.
That which makes you want more money is the
same as that which makes the plant grow; it
is Life, seeking fuller expression.
The One Living Substance must be subject to
this inherent law of all life; it is permeated
with the desire to live more; that is why
it is under the necessity of creating things.
The One Substance desires to live more in
you; hence it wants you to have all the things
you can use.
It is the desire of God that you should get
rich.
He wants you to get rich because he can express
himself better through you if you have plenty
of things to use in giving him expression.
He can live more in you if you have unlimited
command of the means of life.
The universe desires you to have everything
you want to have.
Nature is friendly to your plans.
Everything is naturally for you.
Make up your mind that this is true.
It is essential, however that your purpose
should harmonize with the purpose that is
in All.
You must want real life, not mere pleasure
of sensual gratification.
Life is the performance of function; and the
individual really lives only when he performs
every function, physical, mental, and spiritual,
of which he is capable, without excess in
any.
You do not want to get rich in order to live
swinishly, for the gratification of animal
desires; that is not life.
But the performance of every physical function
is a part of life, and no one lives completely
who denies the impulses of the body a normal
and healthful expression.
You do not want to get rich solely to enjoy
mental pleasures, to get knowledge, to gratify
ambition, to outshine others, to be famous.
All these are a legitimate part of life, but
the man who lives for the pleasures of the
intellect alone will only have a partial life,
and he will never be satisfied with his lot.
You do not want to get rich solely for the
good of others, to lose yourself for the salvation
of mankind, to experience the joys of philanthropy
and sacrifice.
The joys of the soul are only a part of life;
and they are no better or nobler than any
other part.
You want to get rich in order that you may
eat, drink, and be merry when it is time to
do these things; in order that you may surround
yourself with beautiful things, see distant
lands, feed your mind, and develop your intellect;
in order that you may love men and do kind
things, and be able to play a good part in
helping the world to find truth.
But remember that extreme altruism is no better
and no nobler than extreme selfishness; both
are mistakes.
Get rid of the idea that God wants you to
sacrifice yourself for others, and that you
can secure his favor by doing so; God requires
nothing of the kind.
What he wants is that you should make the
most of yourself, for yourself, and for others;
and you can help others more by making the
most of yourself than in any other way.
You can make the most of yourself only by
getting rich; so it is right and praiseworthy
that you should give your first and best thought
to the work of acquiring wealth.
Remember, however, that the desire of Substance
is for all, and its movements must be for
more life to all; it cannot be made to work
for less life to any, because it is equally
in all, seeking riches and life.
Intelligent Substance will make things for
you, but it will not take things away from
some one else and give them to you.
You must get rid of the thought of competition.
You are to create, not to compete for what
is already created.
You do not have to take anything away from
any one.
You do not have to drive sharp bargains.
You do not have to cheat, or to take advantage.
You do not need to let any man work for you
for less than he earns.
You do not have to covet the property of others,
or to look at it with wishful eyes; no man
has anything of which you cannot have the
like, and that without taking what he has
away from him.
You are to become a creator, not a competitor;
you are going to get what you want, but in
such a way that when you get it every other
man will have more than he has now.
I am aware that there are men who get a vast
amount of money by proceeding in direct opposition
to the statements in the paragraph above,
and may add a word of explanation here.
Men of the plutocratic type, who become very
rich, do so sometimes purely by their extraordinary
ability on the plane of competition; and sometimes
they unconsciously relate themselves to Substance
in its great purposes and movements for the
general racial upbuilding through industrial
evolution.
Rockefeller, Carnegie, Morgan, et al., have
been the unconscious agents of the Supreme
in the necessary work of systematizing and
organizing productive industry; and in the
end, their work will contribute immensely
toward increased life for all.
Their day is nearly over; they have organized
production, and will soon be succeeded by
the agents of the multitude, who will organize
the machinery of distribution.
The multi-millionaires are like the monster
reptiles of the prehistoric eras; they play
a necessary part in the evolutionary process,
but the same Power which produced them will
dispose of them.
And it is well to bear in mind that they have
never been really rich; a record of the private
lives of most of this class will show that
they have really been the most abject and
wretched of the poor.
Riches secured on the competitive plane are
never satisfactory and permanent; they are
yours to-day, and another's tomorrow.
Remember, if you are to become rich in a scientific
and certain way, you must rise entirely out
of the competitive thought.
You must never think for a moment that the
supply is limited.
Just as soon as you begin to think that all
the money is being "cornered" and controlled
by bankers and others, and that you must exert
yourself to get laws passed to stop this process,
and so on; in that moment you drop into the
competitive mind, and your power to cause
creation is gone for the time being; and what
is worse, you will probably arrest the creative
movements you have already instituted.
KNOW that there are countless millions of
dollars' worth of gold in the mountains of
the earth, not yet brought to light; and know
that if there were not, more would be created
from Thinking Substance to supply your needs.
KNOW that the money you need will come, even
if it is necessary for a thousand men to be
led to the discovery of new gold mines to-morrow.
Never look at the visible supply; look always
at the limitless riches in Formless Substance,
and KNOW that they are coming to you as fast
as you can receive and use them.
Nobody, by cornering the visible supply, can
prevent you from getting what is yours.
So never allow yourself to think for an instant
that all the best building spots will be taken
before you get ready to build your house,
unless you hurry.
Never worry about the trusts and combines,
and get anxious for fear they will soon come
to own the whole earth.
Never get afraid that you will lose what you
want because some other person "beats you
to it."
That cannot possibly happen; you are not seeking
any thing that is possessed by anybody else;
you are causing what you want to be created
from formless Substance, and the supply is
without limits.
Stick to the formulated statement:--
There is a thinking stuff from which all things
are made, and which, in its original state,
permeates, penetrates, and fills the interspaces
of the universe.
A thought, in this substance, produces the
thing that is imaged by the thought.
Man can form things in his thought, and, by
impressing his thought upon formless substance,
can cause the thing he thinks about to be
created.
Chapter 6 -
WHEN I say that you do not have to drive sharp
bargains, I do not mean that you do not have
to drive any bargains at all, or that you
are above the necessity for having any dealings
with your fellow men.
I mean that you will not need to deal with
them unfairly; you do not have to get something
for nothing, but can give to every man more
than you take from him.
You cannot give every man more in cash market
value than you take from him, but you can
give him more in use value than the cash value
of the thing you take from him.
The paper, ink, and other material in this
book may not be worth the money you pay for
it; but if the ideas suggested by it bring
you thousands of dollars, you have not been
wronged by those who sold it to you; they
have given you a great use value for a small
cash value.
Let us suppose that I own a picture by one
of the great artists, which, in any civilized
community, is worth thousands of dollars.
I take it to Baffin Bay, and by "salesmanship"
induce an Eskimo to give a bundle of furs
worth $500 for it.
I have really wronged him, for he has no use
for the picture; it has no use value to him;
it will not add to his life.
But suppose I give him a gun worth $50 for
his furs; then he has made a good bargain.
He has use for the gun; it will get him many
more furs and much food; it will add to his
life in every way; it will make him rich.
When you rise from the competitive to the
creative plane, you can scan your business
transactions very strictly, and if you are
selling any man anything which does not add
more to his life than the thing he give you
in exchange, you can afford to stop it.
You do not have to beat anybody in business.
And if you are in a business which does beat
people, get out of it at once.
Give every man more in use value than you
take from him in cash value; then you are
adding to the life of the world by every business
transaction.
If you have people working for you, you must
take from them more in cash value than you
pay them in wages; but you can so organize
your business that it will be filled with
the principle of advancement, and so that
each employee who wishes to do so may advance
a little every day.
You can make your business do for your employees
what this book is doing for you.
You can so conduct your business that it will
be a sort of ladder, by which every employee
who will take the trouble may climb to riches
himself; and given the opportunity, if he
will not do so it is not your fault.
And finally, because you are to cause the
creation of your riches from Formless Substance
which permeates all your environment, it does
not follow that they are to take shape from
the atmosphere and come into being before
your eyes.
If you want a sewing machine, for instance,
I do not mean to tell you that you are to
impress the thought of a sewing machine on
Thinking Substance until the machine is formed
without hands, in the room where you sit,
or elsewhere.
But if you want a sewing machine, hold the
mental image of it with the most positive
certainty that it is being made, or is on
its way to you.
After once forming the thought, have the most
absolute and unquestioning faith that the
sewing machine is coming; never think of it,
or speak, of it, in any other way than as
being sure to arrive.
Claim it as already yours.
It will be brought to you by the power of
the Supreme Intelligence, acting upon the
minds of men.
If you live in Maine, it may be that a man
will be brought from Texas or Japan to engage
in some transaction which will result in your
getting what you want.
If so, the whole matter will be as much to
that man's advantage as it is to yours.
Do not forget for a moment that the Thinking
Substance is through all, in all, communicating
with all, and can influence all.
The desire of Thinking Substance for fuller
life and better living has caused the creation
of all the sewing machines already made; and
it can cause the creation of millions more,
and will, whenever men set it in motion by
desire and faith, and by acting in a Certain
Way.
You can certainly have a sewing machine in
your house; and it is just as certain that
you can have any other thing or things which
you want, and which you will use for the advancement
of your own life and the lives of others.
You need not hesitate about asking largely;
"it is your Father's pleasure to give you
the kingdom," said Jesus.
Original Substance wants to live all that
is possible in you, and wants you to have
all that you can or will use for the living
of the most abundant life.
If you fix upon your consciousness the fact
that the desire you feel for the possession
of riches is one with the desire of Omnipotence
for more complete expression, your faith becomes
invincible.
Once I saw a little boy sitting at a piano,
and vainly trying to bring harmony out of
the keys; and I saw that he was grieved and
provoked by his inability to play real music.
I asked him the cause of his vexation, and
he answered, "I can feel the music in me,
but I can't make my hands go right."
The music in him was the URGE of Original
Substance, containing all the possibilities
of all life; all that there is of music was
seeking expression through the child.
God, the One Substance, is trying to live
and do and enjoy things through humanity.
He is saying "I want hands to build wonderful
structures, to play divine harmonies, to paint
glorious pictures; I want feet to run my errands,
eyes to see my beauties, tongues to tell mighty
truths and to sing marvelous songs," and so
on.
All that there is of possibility is seeking
expression through men.
God wants those who can play music to have
pianos and every other instrument, and to
have the means to cultivate their talents
to the fullest extent; He wants those who
can appreciate beauty to be able to surround
themselves with beautiful things; He wants
those who can discern truth to have every
opportunity to travel and observe; He wants
those who can appreciate dress to be beautifully
clothed, and those who can appreciate good
food to be luxuriously fed.
He wants all these things because it is Himself
that enjoys and appreciates them; it is God
who wants to play, and sing, and enjoy beauty,
and proclaim truth and wear fine clothes,
and eat good foods.
"it is God that worketh in you to will and
to do," said Paul.
The desire you feel for riches is the infinite,
seeking to express Himself in you as He sought
to find expression in the little boy at the
piano.
So you need not hesitate to ask largely.
Your part is to focalize and express the desire
to God.
This is a difficult point with most people;
they retain something of the old idea that
poverty and self-sacrifice are pleasing to
God.
They look upon poverty as a part of the plan,
a necessity of nature.
They have the idea that God has finished His
work, and made all that He can make, and that
the majority of men must stay poor because
there is not enough to go around.
They hold to so much of this erroneous thought
that they feel ashamed to ask for wealth;
they try not to want more than a very modest
competence, just enough to make them fairly
comfortable.
I recall now the case of one student who was
told that he must get in mind a clear picture
of the things he desired, so that the creative
thought of them might be impressed on Formless
Substance.
He was a very poor man, living in a rented
house, and having only what he earned from
day to day; and he could not grasp the fact
that all wealth was his.
So, after thinking the matter over, he decided
that he might reasonably ask for a new rug
for the floor of his best room, and an anthracite
coal stove to heat the house during the cold
weather.
Following the instructions given in this book,
he obtained these things in a few months;
and then it dawned upon him that he had not
asked enough.
He went through the house in which he lived,
and planned all the improvements he would
like to make in it; he mentally added a bay
window here and a room there, until it was
complete in his mind as his ideal home; and
then he planned its furnishings.
Holding the whole picture in his mind, he
began living in the Certain Way, and moving
toward what he wanted; and he owns the house
now, and is rebuilding it after the form of
his mental image.
And now, with still larger faith, he is going
on to get greater things.
It has been unto him according to his faith,
and it is so with you and with all of us.
Chapter 7 -
THE illustrations given in the last chapter
will have conveyed to the reader the fact
that the first step toward getting rich is
to convey the idea of your wants to the Formless
Substance.
This is true, and you will see that in order
to do so it becomes necessary to relate yourself
to the Formless Intelligence in a harmonious
way.
To secure this harmonious relation is a matter
of such primary and vital importance that
I shall give some space to its discussion
here, and give you instructions which, if
you will follow them, will be certain to bring
you into perfect unity of mind with God.
The whole process of mental adjustment and
atonement can be summed up in one word, gratitude.
First, you believe that there is one Intelligent
Substance, from which all things proceed;
second, you believe that this Substance gives
you everything you desire; and third, you
relate yourself to it by a feeling of deep
and profound gratitude.
Many people who order their lives rightly
in all other ways are kept in poverty by their
lack of gratitude.
Having received one gift from God, they cut
the wires which connect them with Him by failing
to make acknowledgment.
It is easy to understand that the nearer we
live to the source of wealth, the more wealth
we shall receive; and it is easy also to understand
that the soul that is always grateful lives
in closer touch with God than the one which
never looks to Him in thankful acknowledgment.
The more gratefully we fix our minds on the
Supreme when good things come to us, the more
good things we will receive, and the more
rapidly they will come; and the reason simply
is that the mental attitude of gratitude draws
the mind into closer touch with the source
from which the blessings come.
If it is a new thought to you that gratitude
brings your whole mind into closer harmony
with the creative energies of the universe,
consider it well, and you will see that it
is true.
The good things you already have have come
to you along the line of obedience to certain
laws.
Gratitude will lead your mind out along the
ways by which things come; and it will keep
you in close harmony with creative thought
and prevent you from falling into competitive
thought.
Gratitude alone can keep you looking toward
the All, and prevent you from falling into
the error of thinking of the supply as limited;
and to do that would be fatal to your hopes.
There is a Law of Gratitude, and it is absolutely
necessary that you should observe the law,
if you are to get the results you seek.
The law of gratitude is the natural principle
that action and reaction are always equal,
and in opposite directions.
The grateful outreaching of your mind in thankful
praise to the Supreme is a liberation or expenditure
of force; it cannot fail to reach that to
which it addressed, and the reaction is an
instantaneous movement towards you.
"Draw nigh unto God, and He will draw nigh
unto you."
That is a statement of psychological truth.
And if your gratitude is strong and constant,
the reaction in Formless Substance will be
strong and continuous; the movement of the
things you want will be always toward you.
Notice the grateful attitude that Jesus took;
how He always seems to be saying, "I thank
Thee, Father, that Thou hearest me."
You cannot exercise much power without gratitude;
for it is gratitude that keeps you connected
with Power.
But the value of gratitude does not consist
solely in getting you more blessings in the
future.
Without gratitude you cannot long keep from
dissatisfied thought regarding things as they
are.
The moment you permit your mind to dwell with
dissatisfaction upon things as they are, you
begin to lose ground.
You fix attention upon the common, the ordinary,
the poor, and the squalid and mean; and your
mind takes the form of these things.
Then you will transmit these forms or mental
images to the Formless, and the common, the
poor, the squalid, and mean will come to you.
To permit your mind to dwell upon the inferior
is to become inferior and to surround yourself
with inferior things.
On the other hand, to fix your attention on
the best is to surround yourself with the
best, and to become the best.
The Creative Power within us makes us into
the image of that to which we give our attention.
We are Thinking Substance, and thinking substance
always takes the form of that which it thinks
about.
The grateful mind is constantly fixed upon
the best; therefore it tends to become the
best; it takes the form or character of the
best, and will receive the best.
Also, faith is born of gratitude.
The grateful mind continually expects good
things, and expectation becomes faith.
The reaction of gratitude upon one's own mind
produces faith; and every outgoing wave of
grateful thanksgiving increases faith.
He who has no feeling of gratitude cannot
long retain a living faith; and without a
living faith you cannot get rich by the creative
method, as we shall see in the following chapters.
It is necessary, then, to cultivate the habit
of being grateful for every good thing that
comes to you; and to give thanks continuously.
And because all things have contributed to
your advancement, you should include all things
in your gratitude.
Do not waste time thinking or talking about
the shortcomings or wrong actions of plutocrats
or trust magnates.
Their organization of the world has made your
opportunity; all you get really comes to you
because of them.
Do not rage against corrupt politicians; if
it were not for politicians we should fall
into anarchy, and your opportunity would be
greatly lessened.
God has worked a long time and very patiently
to bring us up to where we are in industry
and government, and He is going right on with
His work.
There is not the least doubt that He will
do away with plutocrats, trust magnates, captains
of industry, and politicians as soon as they
can be spared; but in the meantime, behold
they are all very good.
Remember that they are all helping to arrange
the lines of transmission along which your
riches will come to you, and be grateful to
them all.
This will bring you into harmonious relations
with the good in everything, and the good
in everything will move toward you.
Chapter 8 -
TURN back to 
chapter 6 and read again the story of the
man who formed a mental image of his house,
and you will get a fair idea of the initial
step toward getting rich.
You must form a clear and definite mental
picture of what you want; you cannot transmit
an idea unless you have it yourself.
You must have it before you can give it; and
many people fail to impress Thinking Substance
because they have themselves only a vague
and misty concept of the things they want
to do, to have, or to become.
It is not enough that you should have a general
desire for wealth "to do good with"; everybody
has that desire.
It is not enough that you should have a wish
to travel, see things, live more, etc.
Everybody has those desires also.
If you were going to send a wireless message
to a friend, you would not send the letters
of the alphabet in their order, and let him
construct the message for himself; nor would
you take words at random from the dictionary.
You would send a coherent sentence; one which
meant something.
When you try to impress your wants upon Substance,
remember that it must be done by a coherent
statement; you must know what you want, and
be definite.
You can never get rich, or start the creative
power into action, by sending out unformed
longings and vague desires.
Go over your desires just as the man I have
described went over his house; see just what
you want, and get a clear mental picture of
it as you wish it to look when you get it.
That clear mental picture you must have continually
in mind, as the sailor has in mind the port
toward which he is sailing the ship; you must
keep your face toward it all the time.
You must no more lose sight of it than the
steersman loses sight of the compass.
It is not necessary to take exercises in concentration,
nor to set apart special times for prayer
and affirmation, nor to "go into the silence,"
nor to do occult stunts of any kind.
There things are well enough, but all you
need is to know what you want, and to want
it badly enough so that it will stay in your
thoughts.
Spend as much of your leisure time as you
can in contemplating your picture, but no
one needs to take exercises to concentrate
his mind on a thing which he really wants;
it is the things you do not really care about
which require effort to fix your attention
upon them.
And unless you really want to get rich, so
that the desire is strong enough to hold your
thoughts directed to the purpose as the magnetic
pole holds the needle of the compass, it will
hardly be worth while for you to try to carry
out the instructions given in this book.
The methods herein set forth are for people
whose desire for riches is strong enough to
overcome mental laziness and the love of ease,
and make them work.
The more clear and definite you make your
picture then, and the more you dwell upon
it, bringing out all its delightful details,
the stronger your desire will be; and the
stronger your desire, the easier it will be
to hold your mind fixed upon the picture of
what you want.
Something more is necessary, however, than
merely to see the picture clearly.
If that is all you do, you are only a dreamer,
and will have little or no power for accomplishment.
Behind your clear vision must be the purpose
to realize it; to bring it out in tangible
expression.
And behind this purpose must be an invincible
and unwavering FAITH that the thing is already
yours; that it is "at hand" and you have only
to take possession of it.
Live in the new house, mentally, until it
takes form around you physically.
In the mental realm, enter at once into full
enjoyment of the things you want.
"Whatsoever things ye ask for when ye pray,
believe that ye receive them, and ye shall
have them," said Jesus.
See the things you want as if they were actually
around you all the time; see yourself as owning
and using them.
Make use of them in imagination just as you
will use them when they are your tangible
possessions.
Dwell upon your mental picture until it is
clear and distinct, and then take the Mental
Attitude of Ownership toward everything in
that picture.
Take possession of it, in mind, in the full
faith that it is actually yours.
Hold to this mental ownership; do not waiver
for an instant in the faith that it is real.
And remember what was said in a proceeding
chapter about gratitude; be as thankful for
it all the time as you expect to be when it
has taken form.
The man who can sincerely thank God for the
things which as yet he owns only in imagination,
has real faith.
He will get rich; he will cause the creation
of whatsoever he wants.
You do not need to pray repeatedly for things
you want; it is not necessary to tell God
about it every day.
"Use not vain repetitions as the heathen do,"
said Jesus said to his pupils, "for your Father
knoweth the ye have need of these things before
ye ask Him."
Your part is to intelligently formulate your
desire for the things which make for a larger
life, and to get these desire arranged into
a coherent whole; and then to impress this
Whole Desire upon the Formless Substance,
which has the power and the will to bring
you what you want.
You do not make this impression by repeating
strings of words; you make it by holding the
vision with unshakable PURPOSE to attain it,
and with steadfast FAITH that you do attain
it.
The answer to prayer is not according to your
faith while you are talking, but according
to your faith while you are working.
You cannot impress the mind of God by having
a special Sabbath day set apart to tell Him
what you want, and the forgetting Him during
the rest of the week.
You cannot impress Him by having special hours
to go into your closet and pray, if you then
dismiss the matter from your mind until the
hour of prayer comes again.
Oral prayer is well enough, and has its effect,
especially upon yourself, in clarifying your
vision and strengthening your faith; but it
is not your oral petitions which get you what
you want.
In order to get rich you do not need a "sweet
hour of prayer"; you need to "pray without
ceasing."
And by prayer I mean holding steadily to your
vision, with the purpose to cause its creation
into solid form, and the faith that you are
doing so.
"Believe that ye receive them."
The whole matter turns on receiving, once
you have clearly formed your vision.
When you have formed it, it is well to make
an oral statement, addressing the Supreme
in reverent prayer; and from that moment you
must, in mind, receive what you ask for.
Live in the new house; wear the fine clothes;
ride in the automobile; go on the journey,
and confidently plan for greater journeys.
Think and speak of all the things you have
asked for in terms of actual present ownership.
Imagine an environment, and a financial condition
exactly as you want them, and live all the
time in that imaginary environment and financial
condition.
Mind, however, that you do not do this as
a mere dreamer and castle builder; hold to
the FAITH that the imaginary is being realized,
and to the PURPOSE to realize it.
Remember that it is faith and purpose in the
use of the imagination which make the difference
between the scientist and the dreamer.
And having learned this fact, it is here that
you must learn the proper use of 
the Will.
Chapter 9 -
TO set about getting rich in a scientific
way, you do not try to apply your will power
to anything outside of yourself.
You have no right to do so, anyway.
It is wrong to apply your will to other men
and women, in order to get them to do what
you wish done.
It is as flagrantly wrong to coerce people
by mental power as it is to coerce them by
physical power.
If compelling people by physical force to
do things for you reduces them to slavery,
compelling them by mental means accomplishes
exactly the same thing; the only difference
is in methods.
If taking things from people by physical force
is robbery, then taking things by mental force
is robbery also; there is no difference in
principle.
You have no right to use your will power upon
another person, even "for his own good"; for
you do not know what is for his good.
The science of getting rich does not require
you to apply power or force to any other person,
in any way whatsoever.
There is not the slightest necessity for doing
so; indeed, any attempt to use your will upon
others will only tend to defeat your purpose.
You do not need to apply your will to things,
in order to compel them to come to you.
That would simply be trying to coerce God,
and would be foolish and useless, as well
as irreverent.
You do not have to compel God to give you
good things, any more than you have to use
your will power to make the sun rise.
You do not have to use your will power to
conquer an unfriendly deity, or to make stubborn
and rebellious forces do your bidding.
Substance is friendly to you, and is more
anxious to give you what you want than you
are to get it.
To get rich, you need only to use your will
power upon yourself.
When you know what to think and do, then you
must use your will to compel yourself to think
and do the right things.
That is the legitimate use of the will in
getting what you want--to use it in holding
yourself to the right course.
Use your will to keep yourself thinking and
acting in the Certain Way.
Do not try to project your will, or your thoughts,
or your mind out into space, to "act" on things
or people.
Keep your mind at home; it can accomplish
more there than elsewhere.
Use your mind to form a mental image of what
you want, and to hold that vision with faith
and purpose; and use your will to keep your
mind working in the Right Way.
The more steady and continuous your faith
and purpose, the more rapidly you will get
rich, because you will make only POSITIVE
impressions upon Substance; and you will not
neutralize or offset them by negative impressions.
The picture of your desires, held with faith
and purpose, is taken up by the Formless,
and permeates it to great distances-throughout
the universe, for all I know.
As this impression spreads, all things are
set moving toward its realization; every living
thing, every inanimate thing, and the things
yet uncreated, are stirred toward bringing
into being that which you want.
All force begins to be exerted in that direction;
all things begin to move toward you.
The minds of people, everywhere, are influenced
toward doing the things necessary to the fulfilling
of your desires; and they work for you, unconsciously.
But you can check all this by starting a negative
impression in the Formless Substance.
Doubt or unbelief is as certain to start a
movement away from you as faith and purpose
are to start one toward you.
It is by not understanding this that most
people who try to make use of "mental science"
in getting rich make their failure.
Every hour and moment you spend in giving
heed to doubts and fears, every hour you spend
in worry, every hour in which your soul is
possessed by unbelief, sets a current away
from you in the whole domain of intelligent
Substance.
All the promises are unto them that believe,
and unto them only.
Notice how insistent Jesus was upon this point
of belief; and now you know the reason why.
Since belief is all important, it behooves
you to guard your thoughts; and as your beliefs
will be shaped to a very great extent by the
things you observe and think about, it is
important that you should command your attention.
And here the will comes into use; for it is
by your will that you determine upon what
things your attention shall be fixed.
If you want to become rich, you must not make
a study of poverty.
Things are not brought into being by thinking
about their opposites.
Health is never to be attained by studying
disease and thinking about disease; righteousness
is not to be promoted by studying sin and
thinking about sin; and no one ever got rich
by studying poverty and thinking about poverty.
Medicine as a science of disease has increased
disease; religion as a science of sin has
promoted sin, and economics as a study of
poverty will fill the world with wretchedness
and want.
Do not talk about poverty; do not investigate
it, or concern yourself with it.
Never mind what its causes are; you have nothing
to do with them.
What concerns you is the cure.
Do not spend your time in charitable work,
or charity movements; all charity only tends
to perpetuate the wretchedness it aims to
eradicate.
I do not say that you should be hard hearted
or unkind, and refuse to hear the cry of need;
but you must not try to eradicate poverty
in any of the conventional ways.
Put poverty behind you, and put all that pertains
to it behind you, and "make good."
Get rich; that is the best way you can help
the poor.
And you cannot hold the mental image which
is to make you rich if you fill your mind
with pictures of poverty.
Do not read books or papers which give circumstantial
accounts of the wretchedness of the tenement
dwellers, of the horrors of child labor, and
so on.
Do not read anything which fills your mind
with gloomy images of want and suffering.
You cannot help the poor in the least by knowing
about these things; and the wide-spread knowledge
of them does not tend at all to do away with
poverty.
What tends to do away with poverty is not
the getting of pictures of poverty into your
mind, but getting pictures of wealth into
the minds of the poor.
You are not deserting the poor in their misery
when you refuse to allow your mind to be filled
with pictures of that misery.
Poverty can be done away with, not by increasing
the number of well to do people who think
about poverty, but by increasing the number
of poor people who purpose with faith to get
rich.
The poor do not need charity; they need inspiration.
Charity only sends them a loaf of bread to
keep them alive in their wretchedness, or
gives them an entertainment to make them forget
for an hour or two; but inspiration will cause
them to rise out of their misery.
If you want to help the poor, demonstrate
to them that they can become rich; prove it
by getting rich yourself.
The only way in which poverty will ever be
banished from this world is by getting a large
and constantly increasing number of people
to practice the teachings of this book.
People must be taught to become rich by creation,
not by competition.
Every man who becomes rich by competition
throws down behind him the ladder by which
he rises, and keeps others down; but every
man who gets rich by creation opens a way
for thousands to follow him, and inspires
them to do so.
You are not showing hardness of heart or an
unfeeling disposition when you refuse to pity
poverty, see poverty, read about poverty,
or think or talk about it, or to listen to
those who do talk about it.
Use your will power to keep your mind OFF
the subject of poverty, and to keep it fixed
with faith and purpose ON the vision of what
you want.
Chapter 10 -
YOU cannot retain a true and clear vision
of wealth if you are constantly turning your
attention to opposing pictures, whether they
be external or imaginary.
Do not tell of your past troubles of a financial
nature, if you have had them, do not think
of them at all.
Do not tell of the poverty of your parents,
or the hardships of your early life; to do
any of these things is to mentally class yourself
with the poor for the time being, and it will
certainly check the movement of things in
your direction.
"Let the dead bury their dead," as Jesus said.
Put poverty and all things that pertain to
poverty completely behind you.
You have accepted a certain theory of the
universe as being correct, and are resting
all your hopes of happiness on its being correct;
and what can you gain by giving heed to conflicting
theories?
Do not read religious books which tell you
that the world is soon coming to an end; and
do not read the writing of muck-rakers and
pessimistic philosophers who tell you that
it is going to the devil.
The world is not going to the devil; it is
going to God.
It is wonderful Becoming.
True, there may be a good many things in existing
conditions which are disagreeable; but what
is the use of studying them when they are
certainly passing away, and when the study
of them only tends to check their passing
and keep them with us?
Why give time and attention to things which
are being removed by evolutionary growth,
when you can hasten their removal only by
promoting the evolutionary growth as far as
your part of it goes?
No matter how horrible in seeming may be the
conditions in certain countries, sections,
or places, you waste your time and destroy
your own chances by considering them.
You should interest yourself in the world's
becoming rich.
Think of the riches the world is coming into,
instead of the poverty it is growing out of;
and bear in mind that the only way in which
you can assist the world in growing rich is
by growing rich yourself through the creative
method--not the competitive one.
Give your attention wholly to riches; ignore
poverty.
Whenever you think or speak of those who are
poor, think and speak of them as those who
are becoming rich;as those who are to be congratulated
rather than pitied.
Then they and others will catch the inspiration,
and begin to search for the way out.
Because I say that you are to give your whole
time and mind and thought to riches, it does
not follow that you are to be sordid or mean.
To become really rich is the noblest aim you
can have in life, for it includes everything
else.
On the competitive plane, the struggle to
get rich is a Godless scramble for power over
other men; but when we come into the creative
mind, all this is changed.
All that is possible in the way of greatness
and soul unfoldment, of service and lofty
endeavor, comes by way of getting rich; all
is made possible by the use of things.
If you lack for physical health, you will
find that the attainment of it is conditional
on your getting rich.
Only those who are emancipated from financial
worry, and who have the means to live a care-free
existence and follow hygienic practices, can
have and retain health.
Moral and spiritual greatness is possible
only to those who are above the competitive
battle for existence; and only those who are
becoming rich on the plane of creative thought
are free from the degrading influences of
competition.
If your heart is set on domestic happiness,
remember that love flourishes best where there
is refinement, a high level of thought, and
freedom from corrupting influences; and these
are to be found only where riches are attained
by the exercise of creative thought, without
strife or rivalry.
You can aim at nothing so great or noble,
I repeat, as to become rich; and you must
fix your attention upon your mental picture
of riches, to the exclusion of all that may
tend to dim or obscure the vision.
You must learn to see the underlying TRUTH
in all things; you must see beneath all seemingly
wrong conditions the Great One Life ever moving
forward toward fuller expression and more
complete happiness.
It is the truth that there is no such thing
as poverty; that there is only wealth.
Some people remain in poverty because they
are ignorant of the fact that there is wealth
for them; and these can best be taught by
showing them the way to affluence in your
own person and practice.
Others are poor because, while they feel that
there is a way out, they are too intellectually
indolent to put forth the mental effort necessary
to find that way and by travel it; and for
these the very best thing you can do is to
arouse their desire by showing them the happiness
that comes from being rightly rich.
Others still are poor because, while they
have some notion of science, they have become
so swamped and lost in the maze of metaphysical
and occult theories that they do not know
which road to take.
They try a mixture of many systems and fail
in all.
For these, again, the very best thing, to
do is to show the right way in your own person
and practice; an ounce of doing things is
worth a pound of theorizing.
The very best thing you can do for the whole
world is to make the most of yourself.
You can serve God and man in no more effective
way than by getting rich; that is, if you
get rich by the creative method and not by
the competitive one.
Another thing.
We assert that this book gives in detail the
principles of the science of getting rich;
and if that is true, you do not need to read
any other book upon the subject.
This may sound narrow and egotistical, but
consider: there is no more scientific method
of computation in mathematics than by addition,
subtraction, multiplication, and division;
no other method is possible.
There can be but one shortest distance between
two points.
There is only one way to think scientifically,
and that is to think in the way that leads
by the most direct and simple route to the
goal.
No man has yet formulated a briefer or less
complex "system" than the one set forth herein;
it has been stripped of all non-essentials.
When you commence on this, lay all others
aside; put them out of your mind altogether.
Read this book every day; keep it with you;
commit it to memory, and do not think about
other "systems" and theories.
If you do, you will begin to have doubts,
and to be uncertain and wavering in your thought;
and then you will begin to make failures.
After you have made good and become rich,
you may study other systems as much as you
please; but until you are quite sure that
you have gained what you want, do not read
anything on this line but this book, unless
it be the authors mentioned in the Preface.
And read only the most optimistic comments
on the world's news; those in harmony with
your picture.
Also, postpone your investigations into the
occult.
Do not dabble in theosophy, Spiritualism,
or kindred studies.
It is very likely that the dead still live,
and are near; but if they are, let them alone;
mind your own business.
Wherever the spirits of the dead may be, they
have their own work to do, and their own problems
to solve; and we have no right to interfere
with them.
We cannot help them, and it is very doubtful
whether they can help us, or whether we have
any right to trespass upon their time if they
can.
Let the dead and the hereafter alone, and
solve your own problem; get rich.
If you begin to mix with the occult, you will
start mental cross-currents which will surely
bring your hopes to shipwreck.
Now, this and the preceding chapters have
brought us to the following statement of basic
facts:--
There is a thinking stuff from which all things
are made, and which, in its original state,
permeates, penetrates, and fills the interspaces
of the universe.
A thought, in this substance, Produces the
thing that is imaged by the thought.
Man can form things in his thought, and, by
impressing his thought upon formless substance,
can cause the thing he thinks about to be
created.
In order to do this, man must pass from the
competitive to the creative mind; he must
form a clear mental picture of the things
he wants, and hold this picture in his thoughts
with the fixed PURPOSE to get what he wants,
and the unwavering FAITH that he does get
what he wants, closing his mind against all
that may tend to shake his purpose, dim his
vision, or quench his faith.
And in addition to all this, we shall now
see that he must live and act in a Certain
Way.
Chapter 11 -
THOUGHT is the creative power, or the impelling
force which causes the creative power to act;
thinking in a Certain Way will bring riches
to you, but you must not rely upon thought
alone, paying no attention to personal action.
That is the rock upon which many otherwise
scientific metaphysical thinkers meet shipwreck--the
failure to connect thought with personal action.
We have not yet reached the stage of development,
even supposing such a stage to be possible,
in which man can create directly from Formless
Substance without nature's processes or the
work of human hands; man must not only think,
but his personal action must supplement his
thought.
By thought you can cause the gold in the hearts
of the mountains to be impelled toward you;
but it will not mine itself, refine itself,
coin itself into double eagles, and come rolling
along the roads seeking its way into your
pocket.
Under the impelling power of the Supreme Spirit,
men's affairs will be so ordered that some
one will be led to mine the gold for you;
other men's business transactions will be
so directed that the gold will be brought
toward you, and you must so arrange your own
business affairs that you may be able to receive
it when it comes to you.
Your thought makes all things, animate and
inanimate, work to bring you what you want;
but your personal activity must be such that
you can rightly receive what you want when
it reaches you.
You are not to take it as charity, nor to
steal it; you must give every man more in
use value than he gives you in cash value.
The scientific use of thought consists in
forming a clear and distinct mental image
of what you want; in holding fast to the purpose
to get what you want; and in realizing with
grateful faith that you do get what you want.
Do not try to 'project' your thought in any
mysterious or occult way, with the idea of
having it go out and do things for you; that
is wasted effort, and will weaken your power
to think with sanity.
The action of thought in getting rich is fully
explained in the preceding chapters; your
faith and purpose positively impress your
vision upon Formless Substance, which has
THE SAME DESIRE FOR MORE LIFE THAT YOU HAVE;
and this vision, received from you, sets all
the creative forces at work IN AND THROUGH
THEIR REGULAR CHANNELS OF ACTION, but directed
toward you.
It is not your part to guide or supervise
the creative process; all you have to do with
that is to retain your vision, stick to your
purpose, and maintain your faith and gratitude.
But you must act in a Certain Way, so that
you can appropriate what is yours when it
comes to you; so that you can meet the things
you have in your picture, and put them in
their proper places as they arrive.
You can really see the truth of this.
When things reach you, they will be in the
hands of other men, who will ask an equivalent
for them.
And you can only get what is yours by giving
the other man what is his.
Your pocketbook is not going to be transformed
into a Fortunata's purse, which shall be always
full of money without effort on your part.
This is the crucial point in the science of
getting rich; right here, where thought and
personal action must be combined.
There are very many people who, consciously
or unconsciously, set the creative forces
in action by the strength and persistence
of their desires, but who remain poor because
they do not provide for the reception of the
thing they want when it comes.
By thought, the thing you want is brought
to you; by action you receive it.
Whatever your action is to be, it is evident
that you must act NOW.
You cannot act in the past, and it is essential
to the clearness of your mental vision that
you dismiss the past from your mind.
You cannot act in the future, for the future
is not here yet.
And you cannot tell how you will want to act
in any future contingency until that contingency
has arrived.
Because you are not in the right business,
or the right environment now, do not think
that you must postpone action until you get
into the right business or environment.
And do not spend time in the present taking
thought as to the best course in possible
future emergencies; have faith in your ability
to meet any emergency when it arrives.
If you act in the present with your mind on
the future, your present action will be with
a divided mind, and will not be effective.
Put your whole mind into present action.
Do not give your creative impulse to Original
Substance, and then sit down and wait for
results; if you do, you will never get them.
Act now.
There is never any time but now, and there
never will be any time but now.
If you are ever to begin to make ready for
the reception of what you want, you must begin
now.
And your action, whatever it is, must most
likely be in your present business or employment,
and must be upon the persons and things in
your present environment.
You cannot act where you are not; you cannot
act where you have been, and you cannot act
where you are going to be; you can act only
where you are.
Do not bother as to whether yesterday's work
was well done or ill done; do to-day's work
well.
Do not try to do tomorrow's work now; there
will be plenty of time to do that when you
get to it.
Do not try, by occult or mystical means, to
act on people or things that are out of your
reach.
Do not wait for a change of environment, before
you act; get a change of environment by action.
You can so act upon the environment in which
you are now, as to cause yourself to be transferred
to a better environment.
Hold with faith and purpose the vision of
yourself in the better environment, but act
upon your present environment with all your
heart, and with all your strength, and with
all your mind.
Do not spend any time in day dreaming or castle
building; hold to the one vision of what you
want, and act NOW.
Do not cast about seeking some new thing to
do, or some strange, unusual, or remarkable
action to perform as a first step toward getting
rich.
It is probable that your actions, at least
for some time to come, will be those you have
been performing for some time past; but you
are to begin now to perform these actions
in the Certain Way, which will surely make
you rich.
If you are engaged in some business, and feel
that it is not the right one for you, do not
wait until you get into the right business
before you begin to act.
Do not feel discouraged, or sit down and lament
because you are misplaced.
No man was ever so misplaced but that he could
not find the right place, and no man ever
became so involved in the wrong business but
that he could get into the right business.
Hold the vision of yourself in the right business,
with the purpose to get into it, and the faith
that you will get into it, and are getting
into it; but ACT in your present business.
Use your present business as the means of
getting a better one, and use your present
enviornment as the means of getting into a
better one.
Your vision of the right business, if held
with faith and purpose, will cause the Supreme
to move the right business toward you; and
your action, if performed in the Certain Way,
will cause you to move toward the business.
If you are an employee, or wage earner, and
feel that you must change places in order
to get what you want, do not 'project" your
thought into space and rely upon it to get
you another job.
It will probably fail to do so.
Hold the vision of yourself in the job you
want, while you ACT with faith and purpose
on the job you have, and you will certainly
get the job you want.
Your vision and faith will set the creative
force in motion to bring it toward you, and
your action will cause the forces in your
own environment to move you toward the place
you want.
In closing this chapter, we will add another
statement to our syllabus:--
There is a thinking stuff from which all things
are made, and which, in its original state,
permeates, penetrates, and fills the interspaces
of the universe.
A thought, in this substance, Produces the
thing that is imaged by the thought.
Man can form things in his thought, and, by
impressing his thought upon formless substance,
can cause the thing he thinks about to be
created.
In order to do this, man must pass from the
competitive to the creative mind; he must
form a clear mental picture of the things
he wants, and hold this picture in his thoughts
with the fixed PURPOSE to get what he wants,
and the unwavering FAITH that he does get
what he wants, closing his mind to all that
may tend to shake his purpose, dim his vision,
or quench his faith.
That he may receive what he wants when it
comes, man must act NOW upon the people and
things in his present environment.
Chapter 12 -
YOU must use your thought as directed in previous
chapters, and begin to do what you can do
where you are; and you must do ALL that you
can do where you are.
You can advance only by being larger than
your present place; and no man is larger than
his present place who leaves undone any of
the work pertaining to that place.
The world is advanced only by those who more
than fill their present places.
If no man quite filled his present place,
you can see that there must be a going backward
in everything.
Those who do not quite fill their present
places are dead weight upon society, government,
commerce, and industry; they must be carried
along by others at a great expense.
The progress of the world is retarded only
by those who do not fill the places they are
holding; they belong to a former age and a
lower stage or plane of life, and their tendency
is toward degeneration.
No society could advance if every man was
smaller than his place; social evolution is
guided by the law of physical and mental evolution.
In the animal world, evolution is caused by
excess of life.
When an organism has more life than can be
expressed in the functions of its own plane,
it develops the organs of a higher plane,
and a new species is originated.
There never would have been new species had
there not been organisms which more than filled
their places.
The law is exactly the same for you; your
getting rich depends upon your applying this
principle to your own affairs.
Every day is either a successful day or a
day of failure; and it is the successful days
which get you what you want.
If everyday is a failure, you can never get
rich; while if every day is a success, you
cannot fail to get rich.
If there is something that may be done today,
and you do not do it, you have failed in so
far as that thing is concerned; and the consequences
may be more disastrous than you imagine.
You cannot foresee the results of even the
most trivial act; you do not know the workings
of all the forces that have been set moving
in your behalf.
Much may be depending on your doing some simple
act; it may be the very thing which is to
open the door of opportunity to very great
possibilities.
You can never know all the combinations which
Supreme Intelligence is making for you in
the world of things and of things and of human
affairs; your neglect or failure to do some
small thing may cause a long delay in getting
what you want.
Do, every day, ALL that can be done that day.
There is, however, a limitation or qualification
of the above that you must take into account.
You are not to overwork, nor to rush blindly
into your business in the effort to do the
greatest possible number of things in the
shortest possible time.
You are not to try to do tomorrow's work today,
nor to do a week's work in a day.
It is really not the number of things you
do, but the EFFICIENCY of each separate action
that counts.
Every act is, in itself, either a success
or a failure.
Every act is, in itself, either effective
or inefficient.
Every inefficient act is a failure, and if
you spend your life in doing inefficient acts,
your whole life will be a failure.
The more things you do, the worse for you,
if all your acts are inefficient ones.
On the other hand, every efficient act is
a success in itself, and if every act of your
life is an efficient one, your whole life
MUST be a success.
The cause of failure is doing too many things
in an inefficient manner, and not doing enough
things in an efficient manner.
You will see that it is a self-evident proposition
that if you do not do any inefficient acts,
and if you do a sufficient number of efficient
acts, you will become rich.
If, now, it is possible for you to make each
act an efficient one, you see again that the
getting of riches is reduced to an exact science,
like mathematics.
The matter turns, then, on the questions whether
you can make each separate act a success in
itself.
And this you can certainly do.
You can make each act a success, because ALL
Power is working with you; and ALL Power cannot
fail.
Power is at your service; and to make each
act efficient you have only to put power into
it.
Every action is either strong or weak; and
when every one is strong, you are acting in
the Certain Way which will make you rich.
Every act can be made strong and efficient
by holding your vision while you are doing
it, and putting the whole power of your FAITH
and PURPOSE into it.
It is at this point that the people fail who
separate mental power from personal action.
They use the power of mind in one place and
at one time, and they act in another place
and at another time.
So their acts are not successful in themselves;
too many of them are inefficient.
But if ALL Power goes into every act, no matter
how commonplace, every act will be a success
in itself; and as in the nature of things
every success opens the way to other successes,
your progress toward what you want, and the
progress of what you want toward you, will
become increasingly rapid.
Remember that successful action is cumulative
in its results.
Since the desire for more life is inherent
in all things, when a man begins to move toward
larger life more things attach themselves
to him, and the influence of his desire is
multiplied.
Do, every day, all that you can do that day,
and do each act in an efficient manner.
In saying that you must hold your vision while
you are doing each act, however trivial or
commonplace, I do not mean to say that it
is necessary at all times to see the vision
distinctly to its smallest details.
It should be the work of your leisure hours
to use your imagination on the details of
your vision, and to contemplate them until
they are firmly fixed upon memory.
If you wish speedy results, spend practically
all your spare time in this practice.
By continuous contemplation you will get the
picture of what you want, even to the smallest
details, so firmly fixed upon your mind, and
so completely transferred to the mind of Formless
Substance, that in your working hours you
need only to mentally refer to the picture
to stimulate your faith and purpose, and cause
your best effort to be put forth.
Contemplate your picture in your leisure hours
until your consciousness is so full of it
that you can grasp it instantly.
You will become so enthused with its bright
promises that the mere thought of it will
call forth the strongest energies of your
whole being.
Let us again repeat our syllabus, and by slightly
changing the closing statements bring it to
the point we have now reached.
There is a thinking stuff from which all things
are made, and which, in its original state,
permeates, penetrates, and fills the interspaces
of the universe.
A thought, in this substance, Produces the
thing that is imaged by the thought.
Man can form things in his thought, and, by
impressing his thought upon formless substance,
can cause the thing he thinks about to be
created.
In order to do this, man must pass from the
competitive to the creative mind; he must
form a clear mental picture of the things
he wants, and do, with faith and purpose,
all that can be done each day, doing each
separate thing 
in an efficient manner.
Chapter 13 -
SUCCESS, in any particular business, depends
for one thing upon your possessing in a well-developed
state the faculties required in that business.
Without good musical faculty no one can succeed
as a teacher of music; without well-developed
mechanical faculties no one can achieve great
success in any of the mechanical trades; without
tact and the commercial faculties no one can
succeed in mercantile pursuits.
But to possess in a well-developed state the
faculties required in your particular vocation
does not insure getting rich.
There are musicians who have remarkable talent,
and who yet remain poor; there are blacksmiths,
carpenters, and so on who have excellent mechanical
ability, but who do not get rich; and there
are merchants with good faculties for dealing
with men who nevertheless fail.
The different faculties are tools; it is essential
to have good tools, but it is also essential
that the tools should be used in the Right
Way.
One man can take a sharp saw, a square, a
good plane, and so on, and build a handsome
article of furniture; another man can take
the same tools and set to work to duplicate
the article, but his production will be a
botch.
He does not know how to use good tools in
a successful way.
The various faculties of your mind are the
tools with which you must do the work which
is to make you rich; it will be easier for
you to succeed if you get into a business
for which you are well equipped with mental
tools.
Generally speaking, you will do best in that
business which will use your strongest faculties;
the one for which you are naturally "best
fitted."
But there are limitations to this statement,
also.
No man should regard his vocation as being
irrevocably fixed by the tendencies with which
he was born.
You can get rich in ANY business, for if you
have not the right talent for you can develop
that talent; it merely means that you will
have to make your tools as you go along, instead
of confining yourself to the use of those
with which you were born.
It will be EASIER for you to succeed in a
vocation for which you already have the talents
in a well-developed state; but you CAN succeed
in any vocation, for you can develop any rudimentary
talent, and there is no talent of which you
have not at least the rudiment.
You will get rich most easily in point of
effort, if you do that for which you are best
fitted; but you will get rich most satisfactorily
if you do that which you WANT to do.
Doing what you want to do is life; and there
is no real satisfaction in living if we are
compelled to be forever doing something which
we do not like to do, and can never do what
we want to do.
And it is certain that you can do what you
want to do; the desire to do it is proof that
you have within you the power which can do
it.
Desire is a manifestation of power.
The desire to play music is the power which
can play music seeking expression and development;
the desire to invent mechanical devices is
the mechanical talent seeking expression and
development.
Where there is no power, either developed
or undeveloped, to do a thing, there is never
any desire to do that thing; and where there
is strong desire to do a thing, it is certain
proof that the power to do it is strong, and
only requires to be developed and applied
in the Right Way.
All things else being equal, it is best to
select the business for which you have the
best developed talent; but if you have a strong
desire to engage in any particular line of
work, you should select that work as the ultimate
end at which you aim.
You can do what you want to do, and it is
your right and privilege to follow the business
or avocation which will be most congenial
and pleasant.
You are not obliged to do what you do not
like to do, and should not do it except as
a means to bring you to the doing of the thing
you want to do.
If there are past mistakes whose consequences
have placed you in an undesirable business
or environment, you may be obliged for some
time to do what you do not like to do; but
you can make the doing of it pleasant by knowing
that it is making it possible for you to come
to the doing of what you want to do.
If you feel that you are not in the right
vocation, do not act too hastily in trying
to get into another one.
The best way, generally, to change business
or environment is by growth.
Do not be afraid to make a sudden and radical
change if the opportunity is presented, and
you feel after careful consideration that
it is the right opportunity; but never take
sudden or radical action when you are in doubt
as to the wisdom of doing so.
There is never any hurry on the creative plane;
and there is no lack of opportunity.
When you get out of the competitive mind you
will understand that you never need to act
hastily.
No one else is going to beat you to the thing
you want to do; there is enough for all.
If one space is taken, another and a better
one will be opened for you a little farther
on; there is plenty of time.
When you are in doubt, wait.
Fall back on the contemplation of your vision,
and increase your faith and purpose; and by
all means, in times of doubt and indecision,
cultivate gratitude.
A day or two spent in contemplating the vision
of what you want, and in earnest thanksgiving
that you are getting it, will bring your mind
into such close relationship with the Supreme
that you will make no mistake when you do
act.
There is a mind which knows all there is to
know; and you can come into close unity with
this mind by faith and the purpose to advance
in life, if you have deep gratitude.
Mistakes come from acting hastily, or from
acting in fear or doubt, or in forgetfulness
of the Right Motive, which is more life to
all, and less to none.
As you go on in the Certain Way, opportunities
will come to you in increasing number; and
you will need to be very steady in your faith
and purpose, and to keep in close touch with
the All Mind by reverent gratitude.
Do all that you can do in a perfect manner
every day, but do it without haste, worry,
or fear.
Go as fast as you can, but never hurry.
Remember that in the moment you begin to hurry
you cease to be a creator and become a competitor;
you drop back upon the old plane again.
Whenever you find yourself hurrying, call
a halt; fix your attention on the mental image
of the thing you want, and begin to give thanks
that you are getting it.
The exercise of GRATITUDE will never fail
to strengthen your faith and renew your purpose.
Chapter 14 -
WHETHER you change your vocation or not, your
actions for the present must be those pertaining
to the business in which you are now engaged.
You can get into the business you want by
making constructive use of the business you
are already established in; by doing your
daily work in a Certain Way.
And in so far as your business consists in
dealing with other men, whether personally
or by letter, the key-thought of all your
efforts must be to convey to their minds the
impression of increase.
Increase is what all men and all women are
seeking; it is the urge of the Formless Intelligence
within them, seeking fuller expression.
The desire for increase is inherent in all
nature; it is the fundamental impulse of the
universe.
All human activities are based on the desire
for increase; people are seeking more food,
more clothes, better shelter, more luxury,
more beauty, more knowledge, more pleasure--
increase in something, more life.
Every living thing is under this necessity
for continuous advancement; where increase
of life ceases, dissolution and death set
in at once.
Man instinctively knows this, and hence he
is forever seeking more.
This law of perpetual increase is set forth
by Jesus in the parable of the talents; only
those who gain more retain any; from him who
hath not shall be taken away even that which
he hath.
The normal desire for increased wealth is
not an evil or a reprehensible thing; it is
simply the desire for more abundant life;
it is aspiration.
And because it is the deepest instinct of
their natures, all men and women are attracted
to him who can give them more of the means
of life.
In following the Certain Way as described
in the foregoing pages, you are getting continuous
increase for yourself, and you are giving
it to all with whom you deal.
You are a creative center, from which increase
is given off to all.
Be sure of this, and convey assurance of the
fact to every man, woman, and child with whom
you come in contact.
No matter how small the transaction, even
if it be only the selling of a stick of candy
to a little child, put into it the thought
of increase, and make sure that the customer
is impressed with the thought.
Convey the impression of advancement with
everything you do, so that all people shall
receive the impression that you are an Advancing
Man, and that you advance all who deal with
you.
Even to the people whom you meet in a social
way, without any thought of business, and
to whom you do not try to sell anything, give
the thought of increase.
You can convey this impression by holding
the unshakable faith that you, yourself, are
in the Way of Increase; and by letting this
faith inspire, fill, and permeate every action.
Do everything that you do in the firm conviction
that you are an advancing personality, and
that you are giving advancement to everybody.
Feel that you are getting rich, and that in
so doing you are making others rich, and conferring
benefits on all.
Do not boast or brag of your success, or talk
about it unnecessarily; true faith is never
boastful.
Wherever you find a boastful person, you find
one who is secretly doubtful and afraid.
Simply feel the faith, and let it work out
in every transaction; let every act and tone
and look express the quiet assurance that
you are getting rich; that you are already
rich.
Words will not be necessary to communicate
this feeling to others; they will feel the
sense of increase when in your presence, and
will be attracted to you again.
You must so impress others that they will
feel that in associating with you they will
get increase for themselves.
See that you give them a use value greater
than the cash value you are taking from them.
Take an honest pride in doing this, and let
everybody know it; and you will have no lack
of customers.
People will go where they are given increase;
and the Supreme, which desires increase in
all, and which knows all, will move toward
you men and women who have never heard of
you.
Your business will increase rapidly, and you
will be surprised at the unexpected benefits
which will come to you.
You will be able from day to day to make larger
combinations, secure greater advantages, and
to go on into a more congenial vocation if
you desire to do so.
But in doing all this, you must never lose
sight of your vision of what you want, or
your faith and purpose to get what you want.
Let me here give you another word of caution
in regard to motives.
Beware of the insidious temptation to seek
for power over other men.
Nothing is so pleasant to the unformed or
partially developed mind as the exercise of
power or dominion over others.
The desire to rule for selfish gratification
has been the curse of the world.
For countless ages kings and lords have drenched
the earth with blood in their battles to extend
their dominions; this not to seek more life
for all, but to get more power for themselves.
Today, the main motive in the business and
industrial world is the same; men marshal
their armies of dollars, and lay waste the
lives and hearts of millions in the same mad
scramble for power over others.
Commercial kings, like political kings, are
inspired by the lust for power.
Jesus saw in this desire for mastery the moving
impulse of that evil world He sought to overthrow.
Read the twenty-third chapter of Matthew,
and see how He pictures the lust of the Pharisees
to be called "Master," to sit in the high
places, to domineer over others, and to lay
burdens on the backs of the less fortunate;
and note how He compares this lust for dominion
with the brotherly seeking for the Common
Good to which He calls His disciples.
Look out for the temptation to seek for authority,
to become a "master," to be considered as
one who is above the common herd, to impress
others by lavish display, and so on.
The mind that seeks for mastery over others
is the competitive mind; and the competitive
mind is not the creative one.
In order to master your environment and your
destiny, it is not at all necessary that you
should rule over your fellow men and indeed,
when you fall into the world's struggle for
the high places, you begin to be conquered
by fate and environment, and your getting
rich becomes a matter of chance and speculation.
Beware of the competitive mind!!
No better statement of the principle of creative
action can be formulated than the favorite
declaration of the late "Golden Rule" Jones
of Toledo: "What I want for myself, I want
for everybody."
Chapter 15 -
WHAT I have said in the last chapter applies
as well to the professional man and the wage-earner
as to the man who is engaged in mercantile
business.
No matter whether you are a physician, a teacher,
or a clergyman, if you can give increase of
life to others and make them sensible of the
fact, they will be attracted to you, and you
will get rich.
The physician who holds the vision of himself
as a great and successful healer, and who
works toward the complete realization of that
vision with faith and purpose, as described
in former chapters, will come into such close
touch with the Source of Life that he will
be phenomenally successful; patients will
come to him in throngs.
No one has a greater opportunity to carry
into effect the teaching of this book than
the practitioner of medicine; it does not
matter to which of the various schools he
may belong, for the principle of healing is
common to all of them, and may be reached
by all alike.
The Advancing Man in medicine, who holds to
a clear mental image of himself as successful,
and who obeys the laws of faith, purpose,
and gratitude, will cure every curable case
he undertakes, no matter what remedies he
may use.
In the field of religion, the world cries
out for the clergyman who can teach his hearers
the true science of abundant life.
He who masters the details of the science
of getting rich, together with the allied
sciences of being well, of being great, and
of winning love, and who teaches these details
from the pulpit, will never lack for a congregation.
This is the gospel that the world needs; it
will give increase of life, and men will hear
it gladly, and will give liberal support to
the man who brings it to them.
What is now needed is a demonstration of the
science of life from the pulpit.
We want preachers who can not only tell us
how, but who in their own persons will show
us how.
We need the preacher who will himself be rich,
healthy, great, and beloved, to teach us how
to attain to these things; and when he comes
he will find a numerous and loyal following.
The same is true of the teacher who can inspire
the children with the faith and purpose of
the advancing life.
He will never be "out of a job."
And any teacher who has this faith and purpose
can give it to his pupils; he cannot help
giving it to them if it is part of his own
life and practice.
What is true of the teacher, preacher, and
physician is true of the lawyer, dentist,
real estate man, insurance agent--of everybody.
The combined mental and personal action I
have described is infallible; it cannot fail.
Every man and woman who follows these instructions
steadily, perseveringly, and to the letter,
will get rich.
The law of the Increase of Life is as mathematically
certain in its operation as the law of gravitation;
getting rich is an exact science.
The wage-earner will find this as true of
his case as of any of the others mentioned.
Do not feel that you have no chance to get
rich because you are working where there is
no visible opportunity for advancement, where
wages are small and the cost of living high.
Form your clear mental vision of what you
want, and begin to act with faith and purpose.
Do all the work you can do, every day, and
do each piece of work in a perfectly successful
manner; put the power of success, and the
purpose to get rich, into everything that
you do.
But do not do this merely with the idea of
currying favor with your employer, in the
hope that he, or those above you, will see
your good work and advance you; it is not
likely that they will do so.
The man who is merely a "good" workman, filling
his place to the very best of his ability,
and satisfied with that, is valuable to his
employer; and it is not to the employer's
interest to promote him; he is worth more
where he is.
To secure advancement, something more is necessary
than to be too large for your place.
The man who is certain to advance is the one
who is too big for his place, and who has
a clear concept of what he wants to be; who
knows that he can become what he wants to
be and who is determined to BE what he wants
to be.
Do not try to more than fill your present
place with a view to pleasing your employer;
do it with the idea of advancing yourself.
Hold the faith and purpose of increase during
work hours, after work hours, and before work
hours.
Hold it in such a way that every person who
comes in contact with you, whether foreman,
fellow workman, or social acquaintance, will
feel the power of purpose radiating from you;
so that every one will get the sense of advancement
and increase from you.
Men will be attracted to you, and if there
is no possibility for advancement in your
present job, you will very soon see an opportunity
to take another job.
There is a Power which never fails to present
opportunity to the Advancing Man who is moving
in obedience to law.
God cannot help helping you, if you act in
a Certain Way; He must do so in order to help
Himself.
There is nothing in your circumstances or
in the industrial situation that can keep
you down.
If you cannot get rich working for the steel
trust, you can get rich on a ten-acre farm;
and if you begin to move in the Certain Way,
you will certainly escape from the "clutches"
of the steel trust and get on to the farm
or wherever else you wish to be.
If a few thousands of its employees would
enter upon the Certain Way, the steel trust
would soon be in a bad plight; it would have
to give its workingmen more opportunity, or
go out of business.
Nobody has to work for a trust; the trusts
can keep men in so called hopeless conditions
only so long as there are men who are too
ignorant to know of the science of getting
rich, or too intellectually slothful to practice
it.
Begin this way of thinking and acting, and
your faith and purpose will make you quick
to see any opportunity to better your condition.
Such opportunities will speedily come, for
the Supreme, working in All, and working for
you, will bring them before you.
Do not wait for an opportunity to be all that
you want to be; when an opportunity to be
more than you are now is presented and you
feel impelled toward it, take it.
It will be the first step toward a greater
opportunity.
There is no such thing possible in this universe
as a lack of opportunities for the man who
is living the advancing life.
It is inherent in the constitution of the
cosmos that all things shall be for him and
work together for his good; and he must certainly
get rich if he acts and thinks in the Certain
Way.
So let wage-earning men and women study this
book with great care, and enter with confidence
upon the course of action it prescribes; it
will not fail.
Chapter 16 -
MANY people will scoff at the idea that there
is an exact science of getting rich; holding
the impression that the supply of wealth is
limited, they will insist that social and
governmental institutions must be changed
before even any considerable number of people
can acquire a competence.
But this is not true.
It is true that existing governments keep
the masses in poverty, but this is because
the masses do not think and act in the Certain
Way.
If the masses begin to move forward as suggested
in this book, neither governments nor industrial
systems can check them; all systems must be
modified to accommodate the forward movement.
If the people have the Advancing Mind, have
the Faith that they can become rich, and move
forward with the fixed purpose to become rich,
nothing can possibly keep them in poverty.
Individuals may enter upon the Certain Way
at any time, and under any government, and
make themselves rich; and when any considerable
number of individuals do so under any government,
they will cause the system to be so modified
as to open the way for others.
The more men who get rich on the competitive
plane, the worse for others; the more who
get rich on the creative plane, the better
for others.
The economic salvation of the masses can only
be accomplished by getting a large number
of people to practice the scientific method
set down in this book, and become rich.
These will show others the way, and inspire
them with a desire for real life, with the
faith that it can be attained, and with the
purpose to attain it.
For the present, however, it is enough to
know that neither the government under which
you live nor the capitalistic or competitive
system of industry can keep you from getting
rich.
When you enter upon the creative plane of
thought you will rise above all these things
and become a citizen of another kingdom.
But remember that your thought must be held
upon the creative plane; you are never for
an instant to be betrayed into regarding the
supply as limited, or into acting on the moral
level of competition.
Whenever you do fall into old ways of thought,
correct yourself instantly; for when you are
in the competitive mind, you have lost the
cooperation of the Mind of the Whole.
Do not spend any time in planning as to how
you will meet possible emergencies in the
future, except as the necessary policies may
affect your actions today.
You are concerned with doing today's work
in a perfectly successful manner, and not
with emergencies which may arise tomorrow;
you can attend to them as they come.
Do not concern yourself with questions as
to how you shall surmount obstacles which
may loom upon your business horizon, unless
you can see plainly that your course must
be altered today in order to avoid them.
No matter how tremendous an obstruction may
appear at a distance, you will find that if
you go on in the Certain Way it will disappear
as you approach it, or that a way over, through,
or around it will appear.
No possible combination of circumstances can
defeat a man or woman who is proceeding to
get rich along strictly scientific lines.
No man or woman who obeys the law can fail
to get rich, any more than one can multiply
two by two and fail to get four.
Give no anxious thought to possible disasters,
obstacles, panics, or unfavorable combinations
of circumstances; it is time enough to meet
such things when they present themselves before
you in the immediate present, and you will
find that every difficulty carries with it
the wherewithal for its overcoming.
Guard your speech.
Never speak of yourself, your affairs, or
of anything else in a discouraged or discouraging
way.
Never admit the possibility of failure, or
speak in a way that infers failure as a possibility.
Never speak of the times as being hard, or
of business conditions as being doubtful.
Times may be hard and business doubtful for
those who are on the competitive plane, but
they can never be so for you; you can create
what you want, and you are above fear.
When others are having hard times and poor
business, you will find your greatest opportunities.
Train yourself to think of and to look upon
the world as a something which is Becoming,
which is growing; and to regard seeming evil
as being only that which is undeveloped.
Always speak in terms of advancement; to do
otherwise is to deny your faith, and to deny
your faith is to lose it.
Never allow yourself to feel disappointed.
You may expect to have a certain thing at
a certain time, and not get it at that time;
and this will appear to you like failure.
But if you hold to your faith you will find
that the failure is only apparent.
Go on in the certain way, and if you do not
receive that thing, you will receive something
so much better that you will see that the
seeming failure was really a great success.
A student of this science had set his mind
on making a certain business combination which
seemed to him at the time to be very desirable,
and he worked for some weeks to bring it about.
When the crucial time came, the thing failed
in a perfectly inexplicable way; it was as
if some unseen influence had been working
secretly against him.
He was not disappointed; on the contrary,
he thanked God that his desire had been overruled,
and went steadily on with a grateful mind.
In a few weeks an opportunity so much better
came his way that he would not have made the
first deal on any account; and he saw that
a Mind which knew more than he knew had prevented
him from losing the greater good by entangling
himself with the lesser.
That is the way every seeming failure will
work out for you, if you keep your faith,
hold to your purpose, have gratitude, and
do, every day, all that can be done that day,
doing each separate act in a successful manner.
When you make a failure, it is because you
have not asked for enough; keep on, and a
larger thing then you were seeking will certainly
come to you.
Remember this.
You will not fail because you lack the necessary
talent to do what you wish to do.
If you go on as I have directed, you will
develop all the talent that is necessary to
the doing of your work.
It is not within the scope of this book to
deal with the science of cultivating talent;
but it is as certain and simple as the process
of getting rich.
However, do not hesitate or waver for fear
that when you come to any certain place you
will fail for lack of ability; keep right
on, and when you come to that place, the ability
will be furnished to you.
The same source of Ability which enabled the
untaught Lincoln to do the greatest work in
government ever accomplished by a single man
is open to you; you may draw upon all the
mind there is for wisdom to use in meeting
the responsibilities which are laid upon you.
Go on in full faith.
Study this book.
Make it your constant companion until you
have mastered all the ideas contained in it.
While you are getting firmly established in
this faith, you will do well to give up most
recreations and pleasure; and to stay away
from places where ideas conflicting with these
are advanced in lectures or sermons.
Do not read pessimistic or conflicting literature,
or get into arguments upon the matter.
Do very little reading, outside of the writers
mentioned in the Preface.
Spend most of your leisure time in contemplating
your vision, and in cultivating gratitude,
and in reading this book.
It contains all you need to know of the science
of getting rich; and you will find all the
essentials summed up in the following chapter.
Chapter 17 -
THERE is a thinking stuff from which all things
are made, and which, in its original state,
permeates, penetrates, and fills the interspaces
of the universe.
A thought in this substance produces the thing
that is imaged by the thought.
Man can form things in his thought, and by
impressing his thought upon formless substance
can cause the thing he thinks about to be
created.
In order to do this, man must pass from the
competitive to the creative mind; otherwise
he cannot be in harmony with the Formless
Intelligence, which is always creative and
never competitive in spirit.
Man may come into full harmony with the Formless
Substance by entertaining a lively and sincere
gratitude for the blessings it bestows upon
him.
Gratitude unifies the mind of man with the
intelligence of Substance, so that man's thoughts
are received by the Formless.
Man can remain upon the creative plane only
by uniting himself with the Formless Intelligence
through a deep and continuous feeling of gratitude.
Man must form a clear and definite mental
image of the things he wishes to have, to
do, or to become; and he must hold this mental
image in his thoughts, while being deeply
grateful to the Supreme that all his desires
are granted to him.
The man who wishes to get rich must spend
his leisure hours in contemplating his Vision,
and in earnest thanksgiving that the reality
is being given to him.
Too much stress cannot be laid on the importance
of frequent contemplation of the mental image,
coupled with unwavering faith and devout gratitude.
This is the process by which the impression
is given to the Formless, and the creative
forces set in motion.
The creative energy works through the established
channels of natural growth, and of the industrial
and social order.
All that is included in his mental image will
surely be brought to the man who follows the
instructions given above, and whose faith
does not waver.
What he wants will come to him through the
ways of established trade and commerce.
In order to receive his own when it shall
come to him, man must be active; and this
activity can only consist in more than filling
his present place.
He must keep in mind the Purpose to get rich
through the realization of his mental image.
And he must do, every day, all that can be
done that day, taking care to do each act
in a successful manner.
He must give to every man a use value in excess
of the cash value he receives, so that each
transaction makes for more life; and he must
so hold the Advancing Thought that the impression
of increase will be communicated to all with
whom he comes in contact.
The men and women who practice the foregoing
instructions will certainly get rich; and
the riches they receive will be in exact proportion
to the definiteness of their vision, the fixity
of their purpose, the steadiness of their
faith, and the depth of their gratitude.
The End
