editor's say
Editor?s Note:
I've lightly edited the 90-something-year-old manuscript to accommodate modern readers. Unfortunately,
though, there is as yet no graceful way in English to avoid completely the use of the masculine gender to
represent all people, especially in working with such an old book. Luckily for us women, we have vast experience
in reading ourselves back in ? just as we have learned to dance backward!
Where it does not interfere with the gracefulness of the writing, I have changed man to person, men topeople, mankind to
humankind, and have made other similar small changes.
To Mr. Wattles? credit, although writing just after the turn of the 20th century
, he makes it clear thta The Science of Getting Rich applies equally to men
and women alike ? to all people,everywhere.
Rebecca
"Failure is impossible."
'In this book, I shall not speak of riches in a f igurative way.
To be really rich does not mean to be satisf ied or contented with a little.
"We live for the body, we live for the mind, we live for the soul.
. No oneof these is better or holier than the other ..."
"It is perfectly right that you should desire to be rich."
"Studying the people who have gotten rich,
we find that they are an average lot in all respects, having no greater talents and
abilities than other people have."
*You'll soon be quite familiar with the phrase, certain way!
Be sure to note that the word certain has two meanings which both apply here: 1. specif ic or particular,
2. having no doubt, convinced, sure.
"Talented people get rich, and block heads 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."
"You must begin to live in harmony with the laws governing the universe."
"No one is kept in poverty by a shortness in the supply of riches;
there is more than enough for all."
"... the resources of the formless supply are at the command of the
man or woman who will act and think in a certain way."
"We live in a thought world, which is part of a thought universe."
"All the forms that a person fashions with his hands must first exist in
his thought. He cannot shape a thing until he has thought that thing."
"A person' s way of doing things is the direct result of the way he thinks about 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 . "
"Every desire is the effort of an unexpressed possibility to come into action. It is power seeking to manifest which causes desire."
"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."
"You are to become a creator, not a competitor.
You are going to get what you want, but in such a way that when you get it
every other person whom you affect will have more than he has now."
"Never get afraid that you will lose what you want because some Give everyone more in use value than you take from him in cash value. "You need not hesitate about asking largely". "They have the idea that God has f inished his work, and made all that "Following the instructions given in this book , he obtained these "Many people who order their lives rightly in all other ways are kept "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." "... because all things have contributed to your advancement, you "You must know what you want and be specific and definite. "Something more is necessary, however , than merely to see the picture clearly. If that is all you do, you are only a dreamer ..." *Like certain, the word purpose also has more than one meaning. once you have clearly formed your vision, the whole matter turns on receiving." "The science of getting rich does not require you to apply power or "Doubt or unbelief is as certain to start a movement away from "I do not say that you should be hard-hearted or unkind and refuse to hear the cry of need, "Think of the riches the world is growing into instead of the poverty it is growing out of, and bear in mind that the only way you can assist the world in growing rich is by growing rich "The very best thing you can do for the whole world is to make the most of yourself." ... solve your own problem: Get rich. "A person must not only think, but his personal action must supplement his thought." "... By thought, the thing you want is brought to you. By action, you receive it." Do not wait for a change of environment before you act; get a "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." No society could advance if everyone was smaller than his place. "You cannot foresee the results of even the most trivial act. " "You are not to overwork ..." "Remember that successful action is cumulative in its results." "... where there is strong desire to do a thing, it is certain proof that the power to do it is Mistakes come from acting hastily or from acting in fear or doubt or in forgetfulness of the And because it is the deepest instinct of their natures, all men and ... if you can give increase of life to others and make them sensibleof that fact, they will be attracted to you, and you will get rich. " The person who is certain to advance is the one who is too big for his place, who has a clear concept and who is determined to be what he wants to be. There is no such thing possible in this universe as a lack of opportunities for the The more people who get rich on the competitive plane, theworse for others. The more who get rich on the creative plane, the better for others." Guard your speech. Never admit the possibility of failure or speak in a way that infers failure as a possibility. When you make a failure, it is because you have not asked forenough. Keep on, and a larger thing than you were seeking will certainly come to you. Spend most of your leisure time in contemplating your vision, in cultivating gratitude, and in reading this book.
other person "beats you to it." That cannot possibly happen.
Then you are adding to the life of the world by every business transaction.
he can make, and that the majority of people must stay poor because
there is not enough to go around "
things in a few months. And then it dawned upon him that he had not asked enough."
in poverty by their lack of gratitude."
should include all things in your gratitude."
You can never get rich or start the creative power into action by sending
out unformed longings and vague desires.?
Sometimes here it means an intended result, an intention, or
a reason why. And sometimes Mr. Wattles uses it in a manner that
was current in his day, but rarely used today: to mean determination."
force to any other person, in any way what so ever."
you as faith and purpose are to start one toward you."
but you must not try to eradicate poverty in any of the conventional ways."
yourself through the creative method, not the competitive one."
"You must give every person more in use value than he gives you in cash value."
change of environment by action."
"Every act can be made strong and eff icient by holding your vision while
you are doing it and putting the whole power of your FAITH and PURPOSE into it."
strong and only requires to be developed and applied in the right way. "
right motive, which is more life to all, and less to none."
women are attracted to those who can give them more of the means of life."
of what he wants to be, who knows that he can become what he wants to be,
person who is living the advancing life.
Never speak of yourself, your affairs, or of anything else in a discouraged or discouraging way.
Remember this.