The Science of Getting Rich – Wallace Wattles – The Secret Wisdom Library
The Secret presents The Science of Getting
Rich, written by Wallace Wattles. Narration by Peter Byrne. Introduction by Rhonda
Byrne, author and creator of The Secret. A few years ago at a time in my life when I was
facing challenges from every direction, business, relationships, family you name it, I stumbled
across this book, or to be more accurate it stumbled across me. I can honestly say that since
that night when my daughter handed me a tattered photocopy of this book, my life has never been the
same. When you read it you will understand why. This is the book that started my understanding of
The Secret, without it The Secret would never have been written. Have you ever asked yourself
why there are people who seem to have unlimited wealth, while other people, equally as capable, or
talented, or worthy, suffer from poverty and lack? As you’ll discover when you read this enlightening
book, it has nothing to do with education, status, talent, environment, intellect, physical ability,
or geography. Wallace Wattles explains how anyone regardless of their background or circumstances,
can bring wealth into their lives. This book is the key to prosperity you have longed for. It
will change your life. Remember as you read it that it was written almost 100 years ago. Some
of the language may be a little dated but the transformative power of this book remains. You’re
about to discover an exciting new reality. You are about to learn the fundamental principles
of wealth creation and life success as Wallace himself says, ‘Trust and believe whatever you
want in life is right there waiting for you.’ With this book, it is right in your hands. Preface: This book is
pragmatical, not philosophical; a practical manual, not a treatise upon theories.
It is intended for the men and women whose most pressing need is for money; who wish to get rich
first, and philosophize afterward. It is for those who have, so far, found neither the time, the means,
nor the opportunity to go deeply into the study of metaphysics, but who want results and who
are willing to take the conclusions of science as a basis for action, without going into all
the processes by which those conclusions were reached. It is expected that the reader will
take the fundamental statements upon faith, just as he would take statements concerning a law
of electrical action, if they were presented 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 200 years. It is the
foundation of all the Oriental philosophies and those of Descartes, Spinoza, Leibnitz,
Schopenhauer, Hegel, and Emerson. Readers who would dig to the philosophical foundations of this are advised to read Hegel and
Emerson for themselves. In writing this book I have sacrificed all other considerations to plainness
and simplicity of style, so that all might understand. The plan of action laid down herein
was deduced from the conclusions of philosophy; it has been thoroughly tested, and bears the supreme
test of practical experiment; it works. If you wish to know how the conclusions were arrived at, read
the writings of the authors mentioned above, and if you wish to reap the fruits of their philosophies,
in actual practice, read this book and do exactly as it tells you to do. The author. Chapter 1. The Right To Be Rich. Whatever may be said in praise of poverty the fact remains that it is not
possible to live a really complete or successful life unless one is rich. No person can rise to
their greatest possible height in talent or soul development unless they have plenty of money.
For to unfold the soul and to develop talent they must have many things to use and they cannot have
these things unless they have money to buy them with. A person develops in mind, soul, and body by
making use of things, and society is so organized that a person must have money in order to become
the possessor of things; therefore, the basis of all advancement for humankind must be the science of
getting rich. The object of all life is development, and everything that lives has an inalienable
right to all of the development it is capable of attaining. A person’s right to life means their
right to have the free and unrestricted use of all the things which may be necessary to their
fullest mental, spiritual, and physical unfoldment, or in other words, their right to be rich. In this
book, I shall not speak of riches in a figurative way, for to be really rich does not mean to be
satisfied or contented with a little. No person or 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
person should have all that can contribute to the power, the elegance, beauty, and richness of life; to
be content with less is sinful. The person who owns all they want for the living of all the life they
are capable of living is rich; and no person who has not plenty of money can have all they want.
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 person who does
not desire to live more abundantly, is abnormal, and so the person who does not desire to have
money enough to buy all they want 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 a person can give forth
through body, mind, and soul. Whatever they can say, no person can be really happy or satisfied unless
their body is living fully in every function, and unless the same is true of their mind and their
soul. Wherever there is unexpressed possibility, or function not performed, there is unsatisfied
desire. Desire is possibility seeking expression, or function seeking performance. A person 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 their physical life. They 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, they must have intellectual recreations,
and must surround themselves with all the objects of art and beauty they are capable of using
and appreciating. To live fully in soul, a person must have love; and love is denied expression by
poverty. A person’s highest happiness is found in the bestowal of benefits on those they love; love
finds its most natural and spontaneous expression in giving. The person who has nothing to give
cannot fill their place as a husband or wife, as a parent, as a citizen, or as a man or woman. It
is in the use of material things that a person finds full life for their body, develops their mind,
and unfolds their soul. It is therefore of supreme importance to every person that they 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. 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 person, then that person 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 this 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 people 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 people 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 those 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 people. It is
evident that they do not get rich because they possess talents and abilities that other people
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 miserly people are poor, while free spenders often get rich. Nor
is getting rich due to doing things which others fail to do; for two people 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 as natural ability
is concerned, any man or woman who has sense enough 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 people 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’s about it 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, 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 that you like, and that is congenial to you; and if you have certain talents that are
well developed, you will do best in a business that calls for the exercise of those talents. Also,
you will do best in a business that 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 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 person 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’re in the wrong
business, you can get into the right business; and 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. Is Opportunity Monopolized? No one is kept poor because opportunity has been taken away from them; 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 publishing, or broadcasting empires; that field is pretty
well monopolized. But the digital media business is still in its infancy, and offers plenty of
scope for enterprise; 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 digital
media, instead of competing with Rupert Murdoch and others for a chance in the traditional media
world? It is quite true that if you are a worker in the employee of a big corporation you have very
little chance of becoming the owner of the company 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 employee of the big corporation, you
can lease an office and engage in business as a consultant. There is great opportunity at this time
for people who will provide technical expertise to assist others; such people will certainly get
rich. You may say that it is impossible for you to get the lease and establish a business, but I am
going to prove to you that it is not impossible 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 that has been reached. At present, in America, the
tide of opportunity is against manufacturing and the allied industries and professions. The
tide is against the factory worker in his line, but it is with the business person who supplies
automated equipment to the factory owner or to the technician who services that equipment; there
is abundance of opportunity for the person who will go with the tide, instead of trying to swim
against it. Indeed 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 grounded by
the corporations 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 other countries and establish cutting edge technology centers and
retraining programs; they could elect people of their own class to office, and pass laws favoring
the development of such programs, 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 their class; they can
follow the tired of opportunity to riches, and this book will tell them 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 capital at Washington might be built for every family on earth from the building material
in the United States alone; and under intensive cultivation, this country would produce wool, cotton,
linen, and silk enough to clothe each person in the world finer than Solomon was arrayed in all his
glory; together with food enough to feed them all luxuriously. The visible supply is practically
inexhaustible, and the invisible supply really is inexhaustible. Everything you see on earth is
made from one original substance, out of which all things proceed. New forms are constantly being
made, and older ones are dissolving; but all are shapes assumed by one thing. There is no limit to
the supply of Formless Stuff or Original Substance. The universe is made out of it; but it was not all
used in making the universe. The spaces in, through, and between the forms of the visible Universe are
permeated and filled with the Original Substance; with the formless stuff, with the raw material
of all things. 10,000 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 person, 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 humankind is still in such a stage of social development that he needs gold and
silver, more will be produced from the formless. The formless stuff responds to the needs of people;
it will not let us be without any good thing. This is true of humankind; 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 person 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 that I shall demonstrate
a little further 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. The First Principle
in The Science of Getting Rich. Thought is the only power that can produce
tangible riches from the formless substance. The stuff from which all things are made is a
substance that 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 ThinkingSstuff 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 those 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. A human being is a thinking center
and can originate thought. All the forms that a person fashions with their hands must first
exist in their thought; they cannot shape a thing until they have thought that thing. And so far
people have confined their efforts wholly to the work of their hands; people have applied manual
labor to the world of forms, seeking to change or modify those already existing. They have
never thought of trying to cause the creation of new forms by impressing their thoughts upon
Formless Substance. When a person has a thought form, they take material from the forms of
nature, and make an image of the form that is in their mind. They have so far made little or
no effort to cooperate with Formless Intelligence; to work “with the father.””They have not dreamed
that they can ‘do what they seeth the father doing.” People reshape and modify existing forms by
manual labor; they have given no attention to the question whether they may not produce things from
Formless Substance by communicating their thoughts to it. We propose to prove that they 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. A person is a thinking center capable of
original thought; if a person can communicate their thought to original thinking substance, they can
cause the creation, or formation, of the things they think 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. A person can form things in their thought, and by impressing their thought upon formless
substance, can cause the thing they think 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 a person’s power to cause the formation
of the thing they think about. And by experiment, I find the reasoning true; and this is my strongest
proof. If one person who reads this book gets rich by doing what it tells them to do, that is evidence
in support of my claim; but if every person who does what it tells them to do gets rich that
is positive proof, until someone goes through the process and fails. The theory is true until
the process fails; and this process will not fail, for every person who does exactly what this book
tells them to do will get rich. I have said that people get rich by doing things in a Certain Way;
and in order to do so, people must become able to think in a certain way. A person’s way of doing
things is the direct result of the way they think 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 person has the natural and inherent power to think what they want 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 a person 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 that 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 own 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 the one who acquires
this power becomes a mastermind. They can conquer fate; they can have whatever they want. This power
can only be acquired by getting hold of the basic fact that 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 a person
can so impress their 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: One – 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. Two – a
thought in this substance produces the thing that is imaged by the thought. Three – a person can form
things in their thought, and, by impressing their thought upon formless substance, can cause the
thing they think 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 thing is taught or preached. Do not read magazines or books that 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. Increasing Life You must get rid of the last vestige of the
old idea that there is a deity whose will it is that you should be poor, or whose purposes may be
served by keeping you in poverty. The Intelligent Substance which is All, and in All, and which
lives in All, and lives in you, is a consciously living substance. Being a consciously living
substance, it must have the same 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 100 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 pleasure, to get knowledge
to gratify ambition, to outshine others, to be famous. All these are a legitimate part of life,
but the person who lives for the pleasures of the intellect alone will only have a partial life, and
they will never be satisfied with their lot. You do not want to get rich solely for the good of others,
to lose yourself for the salvation of humankind, 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 humanity, 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; i 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 someone 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 anyone. 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 person work
for you for less than they earn. You do not have to covet the property of others, or to look at it
with wishful eyes; no one has anything of which you cannot have the like, and that without taking what
they have away from them. 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 everyone else will have more than they have now.
I am aware that there are people 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 and women 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, Carnegi, Morgan, and others in their stead 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
that 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 they 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 people to
be led to the discovery of new gold mines tomorrow. 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 real estate
tycoons and foreign investors, and get anxious for fear they will soon come to own the whole earth.
Never get afraid that you will lose what you want because some other person “beats you to it”.
That cannot possibly happen; you are not seeking anything that is possessed by anybody else; you are
causing what you want to be created from Formless Substance and the supply is without limits.
Stick to the formulated statement – One – there is a thinking stuff from which all things are made, and
which, in its original state, permeates, penetrates, and fills the inter-spaces of the universe. Two – a
thought, in the substance, produces the thing that is imaged by the thought. Three – a person can form
things in their thought, and, by impressing their thought upon formless substance can cause
the thing they think about, to be created. Chapter 6. How Riches Come to You. When I say that you do not have
to drive sharp bargains, I do not mean that you do not have to drive any bargains at
all, or that you are above the necessity for having any dealings with your fellow men and women. 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 person more than you take from them. You cannot give every person more in cash
market value than you take from them, but you can give them more in use value than the cash value
of the thing you take from them. 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 in Greenland and by “salesmanship” induce a local
Inuit 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 person anything that does not add more to their life than the things
they 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 that does beat people, get out of it at once. Give every person more in use
value than you take from them 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 a ladder, by which every employee who will take the
trouble may climb to riches themself; and given the opportunity, if they 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 that 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 and women. If you live in Maine it may be that
a person 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 person’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 people 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 a certain that you can have any other thing or things that you want, and that you will
use it for the advancement of your life and the lives of others. You need not hesitate about asking
largely, said Jesus, “It is your father’s pleasure to give you the kingdom”. 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 frustration, 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 humanity. 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. Said Paul, “It is God that worketh in you
to will and to do.” 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 people must
stay poor because there’s 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, 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. Gratitude. The illustrations given in the last
chapter will have conveyed to the reader the fact that the first step toward getting rich
is to convey the idea of your wants to the Formless Substance. This is true, and you will see
that in order to do so it becomes necessary to relate yourself to the Formless Intelligence
in a harmonious way. To secure this harmonious relation is a matter of such primary and vital
importance that I shall give some space to its discussion here, and give you instructions which,
if you will follow them, will be certain to bring you into perfect Unity of mind with God. The whole
process of mental adjustment and atonement can be summed up in one word, gratitude. First, you believe
that there is one Intelligent Substance from which all things proceed; second, you believe that this
Substance gives you everything you desire; and third, you relate yourself to it by a feeling of
deep and profound gratitude. Many people who order their lives rightly in all other ways are kept in
poverty by their lack of gratitude. Having received one gift from God, they cut the wires that connect
them with Him by failing to make acknowledgement. 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 that never looks to Him in
thankful acknowledgement. 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 era of thinking of the
supply as limited; and to do that would be fatal to your hopes. There is a Law of Gratitude, and it
is absolutely necessary that you should observe the law, if you are to get the results you seek
the law of gratitude is the natural principle that action and reaction are always equal, and in
opposite directions. The grateful outreaching of your mind in thankful praise to the Supreme is
a liberation or expenditure of force; it cannot fail to reach that to which it is addressed, and
the reaction is an instantaneous movement 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 images 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 business 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, business 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. Thinking In The Certain Way. Turn back to Chapter 6 and listen again to 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 themselves have 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 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
his ship; you must keep your face toward it all the time. You must no more lose sight of it than
the steersman loses sight of the compass. It is not necessary to take exercises in concentration,
nor to set apart special times for prayer and affirmation, nor to “go into the silence”‘ nor to do
occult stunts of any kind. These things are well enough, but all you need is to know what you want,
and to want it badly enough so that it will stay in your thoughts. Spend as much of your leisure
time as you can in contemplating your picture, but no one needs to take exercises to concentrate
their mind on a thing which they really want; 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 worthwhile 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’re 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 only have 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 the full enjoyment of the things you want. “Whatsoever things ye ask
for when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them,” said Jesus. See the things
you want as if they were actually around you all the time; see yourself as owning and using them.
Make use of them in imagination just as you will use them when they are your tangible possessions.
Dwell upon your mental picture until it is clear and distinct, and then take the Mental Attitude
of Ownership toward everything in that picture. Take possession of it, in mind, in the full faith
that it is actually yours. Hold to this mental ownership; do not waver for an instant in the faith
that it is real. And remember what was said in a preceeding chapter about gratitude; be as thankful
for it all the time as you expect to be when it has taken form. The person who can sincerely thank
God for the things which as yet they own only in imagination, has real faith. That person will get
rich; they will cause the creation of whatsoever they want. 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 to his pupils, “for your father knoweth that ye have need of these things
before ye ask him.” Your part is to intelligently formulate your desire for the things which make
for a larger life, and to get this 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 then forgetting him during the rest of the week. You cannot impress
Him by having special hours to go into your closet and pray, if you then dismiss the matter from
your mind until the hour of prayer comes again. Oral prayer is well enough, and has its effect,
especially upon yourself, in clarifying your vision and strengthening your faith; but it is not
your oral petitions that 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 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
that 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. How to Use the Will. To set about getting rich in a scientific way,
you do not try to apply your will power to anything outside of yourself. You have no right to do so,
anyway. It is wrong to apply your will to other men and women, in order to get them to do what you wish
done. It is as flagrantly wrong to coerce people by mental power as it is to coerce them by physical
power. If compelling people by physical force to do things for you reduces them to slavery, compelling
them by mental means accomplishes exactly the same thing; the only difference is in methods. If
taking things from people by physical force is robbery, then taking things by mental force is
robbery also; there is no difference in principle. You have no right to use your will power upon
another person, even “for their own good”; for you do not know what is for their 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 POSTIVE 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 towards its realization;
every living thing every inanimate thing, and 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 diseases and thinking about diseases; 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 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 that is to
make you rich if you fill your mind with pictures of poverty. Do not read books or papers that give
circumstantial accounts of the wretchedness of the tenement dwellers, of the horrors of child labor,
and so on. Do not read anything that 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 widespread 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 person who becomes rich by
competition throws down behind them the ladder by which they rise, and keeps others down; but every
person who gets rich by creation opens a way for thousands to follow them, 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. Further Use of the Will You cannot retain a true and
clear vision of wealth if you are constantly turning your attention to opposing
pictures, whether they be external or imaginary. Do not tell of your past troubles of a financial
nature, if you’ve 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 muckrakers 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 that are disagreeable; but
what is the use of studying them when they are certainly passing away, and when the study of the
only tends to check their passing and keep them with us? Why give time and attention to things that
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 the conditions may
seem 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 people; but when we come into
the creative mind, all this is changed. All that is possible in the way of greatness and soul
unfoldment, of service and lofty endeavor, comes by way of getting rich; all is made possible
by the use of things. If you lack for physical health, you will find that the attainment of it is
conditional on your getting rich. Only those who are emancipated from financial worry, and who have
the means to live a care-free existence and follow hygienic practices, can have and retain health.
Moral and spiritual greatness is possible only to those who are above the competitive battle for
existence; and only those who are becoming rich on the plane of creative thought are free from
the degrading influences of competition. If your heart is set on domestic happiness, remember that
love flourishes best where there is refinement, a high level of thought, and freedom from corrupting
influences; and these are to be found only where riches are attained by the exercise of creative
thought, without strife or rivalry. You can aim at nothing so great or noble, I repeat, as to become
rich; and you must fix your attention upon your mental picture of riches, to the exclusion of all
that may tend to dim or obscure the vision. You must learn to see the underlying TRUTH in all
things; you must see beneath all seemingly wrong conditions, the Great One Life ever moving
forward toward fuller expression and more complete happiness. It is the truth that there is
no such thing as poverty; that there is only wealth. Some people remain in poverty because they are
ignorant of the fact that there is wealth for them; and these can best be taught by showing them the
way to affluence in your own person and practice. Others are poor because, while they feel that there
is a way out, they are too intellectually indolent to put forth the mental effort necessary to find
that way and travel by 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 humanity 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 one 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’ve 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
crosscurrents that 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. A person
can form things in their thought, and, by impressing their thought upon formless substance, can cause
the thing they think about to be created. In order to do this, a person must pass from the competitive
to the creative mind; they must form a clear mental picture of the things they want, and hold this
picture in their thoughts with the fixed PURPOSE to get what they want, and the unwavering FAITH
that they do get what they want, closing their mind against all that may tend to shake their
purpose, dim their vision, or quench their faith. And in addition to all this, we shall now see
that a person must live and act in a Certain Way. Chapter 11. Acting in the Certain Way. Thought is the creative power, or the
impelling force which causes the creative power to act; thinking in a Certain Way will bring
riches to you, but you must not rely upon thought alone, paying no attention to personal action. That
is the rock upon which many otherwise scientific metaphysical thinkers made 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 people can create directly from Formless
Substance without nature’s processes or the work of human hands; a person must not only think,
but their personal action must supplement their 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, people’s affairs will be so ordered that someone will
be led to mine the gold for you; other people’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 person more in use value than they give 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 people, who will ask an equivalent for them.
And you can only get what is yours by giving the other person what is theirs. Your pocketbook is not
going to be transformed into a fortunata’s purse, which shall always be 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 only act where you are. Do not bother as to whether yesterday’s
work was well done or ill done; do today’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 daydreaming 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 sometime 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 one was ever so misplaced but that
they could not find the right place, and no one ever became so involved in the wrong business but
that they could not get into the right business. Hold the vision of yourself in the right business,
with the purpose to get into it, and the faith that you will get into it, and are getting into it;
but ACT in your present business. Use your present business as the means of getting a better one,
and use your present environment as the means of getting into a better one. Your vision of the right
business, if held with faith and purpose, will cause the Supreme to move the right business toward you;
and your action, if performed in the Certain Way, will cause you to move toward the business. If you
are an employee, or wage earner, and feel that you must change places in order to get what you want,
do not “project” your thought into space and rely upon it to get you another job. It will probably
fail to do so. Hold the vision of yourself in the job you want, while you ACT with faith and purpose
on the job you have, and you will certainly get the job you want. Your vision and faith will set the
creative force in motion to bring it toward you, and your action will cause the forces in your own
environment to move you toward the place you want. In closing this chapter we will add another
statement to our syllabus:- There is a thinking stuff from which all things are made, and which, in
its original state, permeates, penetrates, and fills the interspaces of the universe. A thought,
in this substance, produces the thing that is imaged by the thought. A person can form things in
their thought, and, by impressing their thought upon formless substance, can cause the thing they think
about to be created. In order to do this, a person must pass from the competitive to the creative
mind; they must form a clear mental picture of the thing they want, and hold this picture in their
thoughts with the fixed purpose to get what they want, and the unwavering faith that they do get
what they want, closing their mind to all that may tend to shake their purpose, dim their vision,
or quench their faith. That they may receive what they want when it comes, a person must act
NOW upon the people and things in their present environment. Chapter 12. Efficient Action. You must use your thought as directed in
previous chapters, and begin to do what you can where you are; and you must do ALL that you can
do where you are. You can only advance by being larger than your present place; and nobody
is larger than their 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 one quite filled
their 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 everyone was smaller
than their 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 would never have been new species had there not been organisms
that 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; it is these successful days that get you what you want.
If every day is a failure, you can never get rich; while if every day is a success, you cannot
fail to get rich. If there is something that may be done 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 that is to open the door of opportunity
to very great possibilities. You can never know all the combinations that Supreme Intelligence is
making for you in the world of things and of human affairs; your neglect or failure to do some small
thing may cause a long delay in getting what you want. Do every day, ALL that can be done that day.
There is, however a limitation or qualification of the above that you must take into account. You
are not to overwork, nor to rush blindly into your business in the effort to do the greatest possible
number of things in the shortest possible time. You are not to try to do tomorrow’s work today, or
to do a week’s work in a day. It is really not the number of things you do, but the efficiency of
each separate action that counts. Every act is, in itself, either a success or a failure. Every act is,
in itself, either effective or inefficient. Every inefficient act is a failure, and if you spend
your life in doing inefficient acts, your whole life will be a failure. The more things you do, the
worse for you, if all your acts are inefficient ones. On the other hand, every efficient act is a
success in itself, and if every act of your life is an efficient one, your whole life MUST be a success.
The cause of failure is doing too many things in an inefficient manner, and not doing enough things
in an efficient manner. You will see that it is a self-evident proposition that if you do not do any
inefficient acts, and if you do a sufficient number of efficient acts, you will become rich. If, now, it
is possible for you to make each act an efficient one, you see again that the getting of riches is
reduced to an exact science, like mathematics. The matter turns, then on the question as to 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 only have 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 that will make you
rich. Every act can be made strong and efficient by holding your vision while you’re 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 person begins to move toward
larger life, more things attach themselves to them, and the influence of their 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’re 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. A person can form things in their thought, and, by impressing
their thought upon formless substance, can cause the thing they think about to be created. In order
to do this, a person must pass from the competitive to the creative mind; they must form a clear mental
picture of the things they want, and do, with faith and purpose, all that can be done each day, doing
each separate thing in an efficient manner. Chapter 13. Getting into the Right Business. SUCCESS, in any particular business,
depends for one thing upon your possessing in a well-developed state the faculties required
in that business. Without good musical faculty no one can succeed as a teacher of music;
without well-developed technical faculties no one can achieve great success in any of the
technical trades; without tact and the commercial faculties no one can succeed in retail trade.
But to possess in a well-developed state the faculties required in your particular vocation
does not ensure getting rich. There are musicians who have remarkable talent, and who yet remain
poor; there are brick layers, carpenters, and so on who have excellent technical ability, but who
do not get rich; and there are retail traders with good faculties for dealing with people 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 person can take a sharp saw, a
square, a good plane, and so on, and build a handsome article of furniture; another person 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 the good tools in a successful way. The various faculties of your mind are the
tools with which you must do the work that 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 one should regard
their vocation as being irrevocably fixed by the tendencies with which he was born. You can get
rich in ANY business, for if you do not have the right talent, 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 fact, 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
that 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 that can do
it. Desire is a manifestation of power. The desire to play music is the power that 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 vocation that 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 things 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 if 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 open for you a little
further 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 that 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. The Impression of Increase. 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 and women, 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.
Human beings instinctively know this, and hence are 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 the person 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 Person, and that you advance all who deal with you.
Even to the people whom you meet in 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 that 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
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 people. 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 is not to
seek more life for all, but to get more power for themselves. To-day, the main motive in the business
and industrial world is the same; leaders marshall 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 23rd 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 women 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. The Advancing Man. What I have said in the last chapter applies
as well to the professional and the wage earner as to the person who is engaged in retail trade.
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.
A physician who holds the self-image of 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 they will be phenomenally successful; patients
will come to them 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 practitioner of medicine, who holds to a clear mental image of success, and who
obeys the laws of faith, purpose, and gratitude, will cure every curable case undertaken, no matter what
remedies they may use. In the field of religion, the world cries out for clergymen who can teach their
hearers the true science of abundant life. The one 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 people will hear it gladly, and will give liberal
support to the person 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 preachers who will themselves be rich, healthy, great, and beloved,
to teach us how to attain to these things; and when they come they will find a numerous and
loyal following. The same is true of teachers who can inspire children with the faith and purpose of
the advancing life. They will never be “out of a job.” And any teacher who has this faith and purpose
can give it to their pupils; they cannot help giving it to them if it is part of their own life
and practice. What is true of the teacher, preacher, and physician is true of the lawyer, dentist, real
estate agent, 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 as 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 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 carrying favor with your employer,
in the hope that your employer, or those above you, will see your good work, and advance you; it is not
likely that they will do so. The man or woman who is merely a “good” worker, filling their place to the
very best of their ability, and satisfied with that , is valuable to their employer; and it is not to
the employer’s interest to promote them; they are worth more where they are. To secure advancement,
something more is necessary than to be too large for your place. The person who is certain to
advance is the one who is too big for their place, and who has a clear concept of what they want to
be; who knows that they can become what they want to be and who is determined to BE what they want
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 worker, or social acquaintance, will feel the power of purpose
radiating from you; so that everyone will get the sense of advancement and increase from you.
People 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 that never fails to
present opportunity to the Advancing Person 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 big corporation, you can get rich in your own small business, and if you begin to move in
the Certain Way, you will certainly escape from the “clutches” of the big corporation and get into a
small business or wherever else you wish to be. If a few thousand of its employees would enter
upon the Certain Way, the big company would soon be in a bad plight; it would have to give its workers
more opportunity, or go out of business. Nobody has to work for a corporation; the corporations can
keep people in so-called hopeless conditions only so long as there are people 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 person who is living the advancing life.
It is inherent in the constitution of the cosmos that all things shall be for them and work
together for their good; and they must certainly get rich if they act and think 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. Some Cautions,
and Concluding Observations. 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 people who
get rich on the competitive plane, the worse for others; the more people 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 methods 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 on 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 that may arise tomorrow; you can attend to them as they come. Do not concern yourself with
questions as to how you shall surmount obstacles that 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 wherewith all 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 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 that 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 than you were seeking will certainly come to you.
Remember this. You will not fail because you lack the necessary talent to do what you wish to do.
If you go on as I have directed, you will develop all the talent that is necessary to the doing of
your work. It is not within the scope of this book to deal with the science of cultivating talent,
but it is as certain and simple as the process of getting rich. However, do not hesitate or waver
for fear that when you come to any certain place you will fail for lack of ability; keep right on,
and when you come to that place, the ability will be furnished to you. The same source of Ability
which enabled the untaught Lincoln to do the greatest work in government ever accomplished
by a single person 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. Summary
of The Science of Getting Rich. 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. A person
can form things in their thought, and by impressing their thought upon formless substance can cause
the thing they think about to be created. In order to do this, a person must pass from the competitive
to the creative mind; otherwise they cannot be in harmony with the Formless Intelligence, which
is always creative and never competitive in spirit. A person may come into full harmony with
the Formless Substance by entertaining a lively and sincere gratitude for the blessings it bestows
upon them. Gratitude unifies the mind of a person with the intelligence of Substance, so that the
person’s thoughts are received by the Formless. A person can remain upon the creative plane only by
uniting themselves with the Formless Intelligence through a deep and continuous feeling of gratitude.
A person must form a clear and definite mental image of the things they wish to have, to do, or
to become; and they must hold this mental image in their thoughts, while being deeply grateful to
the Supreme that all their desires are granted to them. The person who wishes to get rich must spend
their leisure hours in contemplating their vision, and in earnest thanksgiving that the reality is
being given to them. 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 motion. The creative energy works
through the established channels of natural growth, and of the industrial and social order. All that
is included in their mental image will surely be brought to the person who follows the instructions
given above, and whose faith does not waver. What they want will come to them through the ways
of established trade and commerce. In order to receive their own when it shall come to them,
they must be active; and this activity can only consist in more than filling their present place.
They must keep in mind the Purpose to get rich through the realization of their mental image. And
they must do, every day, all that can be done that day, taking care to do each act in a successful
manner. They must give to every other person a use value in excess of the cash value they receive,
so that each transaction makes for more life, and they must hold the Advancing Thought that the
impression of increase will be communicated to all with whom they come 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. The Science of Getting Rich was written by Wallace
Wattles the original text is in public domain. However, the text for this version was abridged
and edited for a contemporary audience and along with the audio recording is copyright 2018 Making
Good LLC. Featuring the voice of Peter Byrne with a special introduction by Rhonda Byrne. Recorded
at Big Tree Studios, and Rose Lane Studio. The recording Engineers were Peter Byrne and David
Jones. Music licensed through Audio Network. Music tracks selected mixed and mastered by Damian
Corboy. This has been a production of Prime Time Productions Australia for
Making Good LLC, and The Secret.
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Why The Science of Getting Rich?
Nearly 20 years ago, when Rhonda was facing challenges from every direction – business, relationships, family, you name it – she stumbled across this book. Or, to be more accurate, the book stumbled across her and sent her on her life changing journey of discovering The Secret!
As you make your way through this wonderful little book, you will come to understand that getting rich has nothing to do with education, status, talent, environment, intellectual ability, physical prowess, or geography. Wallace Wattles explains, in simple, straightforward language, how ANYONE, regardless of their background or circumstances, can attract wealth into their lives.
The opening sentence of this timeless little masterpiece says it all:
“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.”
We hope this book brings continued joy to your life.
The original text is in public domain, however, the text for this version was edited for a contemporary audience, and is copyright 2018 Making Good, LLC.
This has been a production of Prime Time Productions Australia for Making Good, LLC and The Secret.
All music licensed with Audio Network
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Rhonda Byrne is the creator behind The Secret, a documentary film that swept the world in 2006, changing millions of lives and igniting a global movement around the power of manifestation. Later that year Rhonda’s book of The Secret was released, which was translated into 50 languages and remains one of the longest-running bestsellers of this century. Rhonda has written five more bestselling books since, which together form The Secret Book Series: The Power in 2009, The Magic in 2010, Hero in 2013, How The Secret Changed My Life in 2016, The Greatest Secret in 2020, and her latest book, The Secret to Love, Health, and Money: A Masterclass in 2022.
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