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[Illustration: WALLACE D. WATTLES.]
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THE SCIENCE OF GETTING RICH
BY
W. D. WATTLES
Author of “New Science of Living
and Healing.”
PRICE, $1.00
PUBLISHED BY
ELIZABETH TOWNE
HOLYOKE, MASS.
1910
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COPYRIGHT, APRIL 1, 1910
BY
WALLACE D. WATTLES
CONTENTS
PAGE
I. THE RIGHT TO BE RICH 9
II. THERE IS A SCIENCE OF GETTING RICH 15
III. IS OPPORTUNITY MONOPOLIZED 23
IV. THE FIRST PRINCIPLE IN THE SCIENCE OF GETTING RICH 31
V. INCREASING LIFE 42
VI. HOW RICHES COME TO YOU 53
VII. GRATITUDE 63
VIII. THINKING IN A CERTAIN WAY 71
IX. HOW TO USE THE WILL 80
X. FURTHER USE OF THE WILL 89
XI. ACTING IN THE CERTAIN WAY 99
XII. EFFICIENT ACTION 110
XIII. GETTING INTO THE RIGHT BUSINESS 119
XIV. THE IMPRESSION OF INCREASE 127
XV. THE ADVANCING MAN 135
XVI. SOME CAUTIONS, AND CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS 143
XVII. SUMMARY OF THE SCIENCE OF GETTING RICH 152
PREFACE.
This book is pragmatical, not philosophical; a practical manual, not
a treatise upon theories. It is intended for the men and women whose
most pressing need is for money; who wish to get rich first, and
philosophize afterward. It is for those who have, so far, found neither
the time, the means, nor the opportunity to go deeply into the study
of metaphysics, but who want results and who are willing to take the
conclusions of science as a basis for action, without going into all
the processes by which those conclusions were reached.
It is expected that the reader will take the fundamental statements
upon faith, just as he would take statements concerning a law of
electrical action if they were promulgated by a Marconi or an Edison;
and, taking the statements upon faith, that he will prove their truth
by acting upon them without fear or hesitation. Every man or woman who
does this will certainly get rich; for the science herein applied is an
exact science, and failure is impossible. For the benefit, however, of
those who wish to investigate philosophical theories and so secure a
logical basis for faith, I will here cite certain authorities.
The monistic theory of the universe--the theory that One is All, and
that All is One; that one Substance manifests itself as the seeming
many elements of the material world--is of Hindu origin, and has been
gradually winning its way into the thought of the western world for two
hundred years. It is the foundation of all the Oriental philosophies,
and of those of Descartes, Spinoza, Leibnitz, Schopenhauer, Hegel, and
Emerson.
The reader who would dig to the philosophical foundations is advised
to read Hegel and Emerson; and he will do well to read “The Eternal
News,” a very excellent pamphlet published by J. J. Brown, 300 Cathcart
Road, Govanhill, Glasgow, Scotland. He may also find some help in a
series of articles written by the author, which were published in
_Nautilus_ (Holyoke, Mass.) during the spring and summer of 1909, under
the title “What is Truth?”
In writing this book I have sacrificed all other considerations to
plainness and simplicity of style, so that all might understand. The
plan of action laid down herein was deduced from the conclusions of
philosophy; it has been thoroughly tested, and bears the supreme
test of practical experiment; it works. If you wish to know how the
conclusions were arrived at, read the writings of the authors mentioned
above; and if you wish to reap the fruits of their philosophies in
actual practice, read this book and do exactly as it tells you to do.
THE AUTHOR.
CHAPTER I. 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 man can rise to his greatest possible height in talent or soul
development unless he has plenty of money; for to unfold the soul and
to develop talent he must have many things to use, and he cannot have
these things unless he has money to buy them with.
Man develops in mind, soul, and body by making use of things, and
society is so organized that man must have money in order to become the
possessor of things; therefore, the basis of all advancement for man
must be the science of getting rich.
The object of all life is development; and everything that lives has an
inalienable right to all the development it is capable of attaining.
Man’s right to life means his right to have the free and unrestricted
use of all the things which may be necessary to his fullest mental,
spiritual, and physical unfoldment; or, in other words, his right to be
rich.
In this book, I shall not speak of riches in a figurative way; to be
really rich does not mean to be satisfied or contented with a little.
No man ought to be satisfied with a little if he is capable of using
and enjoying more. The purpose of Nature is the advancement and
unfoldment of life; and every man should have all that can contribute
to the power, elegance, beauty, and richness of life; to be content
with less is sinful.
The man who owns all he wants for the living of all the life he is
capable of living is rich; and no man who has not plenty of money can
have all he wants. Life has advanced so far, and become so complex,
that even the most ordinary man or woman requires a great amount of
wealth in order to live in a manner that even approaches completeness.
Every person naturally wants to become all that he is capable of
becoming; this desire to realize innate possibilities is inherent in
human nature; we cannot help wanting to be all that we can be. Success
in life is becoming what you want to be; you can become what you want
to be only by making use of things, and you can have the free use
of things only as you become rich enough to buy them. To understand
the science of getting rich is therefore the most essential of all
knowledge.
There is nothing wrong in wanting to get rich. The desire for riches
is really the desire for a richer, fuller, and more abundant life; and
that desire is praiseworthy. The man who does not desire to live more
abundantly is abnormal, and so the man who does not desire to have
money enough to buy all he wants is abnormal.
There are three motives for which we live; we live for the body, we
live for the mind, and we live for the soul. No one of these is better
or holier than the other; all are alike desirable, and no one of the
three--body, mind, or soul--can live fully if either of the others is
cut short of full life and expression. It is not right or noble to live
only for the soul and deny mind or body; and it is wrong to live for
the intellect and deny body and soul.
We are all acquainted with the loathsome consequences of living for
the body and denying both mind and soul; and we see that real life
means the complete expression of all that man can give forth through
body, mind, and soul. Whatever he may say, no man can be really happy
or satisfied unless his body is living fully in every function,
and unless the same is true of his mind and his soul. Wherever
there is unexpressed possibility, or function not performed, there
is unsatisfied desire. Desire is possibility seeking expression, or
function seeking performance.
Man cannot live fully in body without good food, comfortable clothing,
and warm shelter; and without freedom from excessive toil. Rest and
recreation are also necessary to his physical life.
He cannot live fully in mind without books and time to study them,
without opportunity for travel and observation, or without intellectual
companionship.
To live fully in mind he must have intellectual recreations, and must
surround himself with all the objects of art and beauty he is capable
of using and appreciating.
To live fully in soul, man must have love; and love is denied
expression by poverty.
Man’s highest happiness is found in the bestowal of benefits on those
he loves; love finds its most natural and spontaneous expression in
giving. The man who has nothing to give cannot fill his place as a
husband or father, as a citizen, or as a man. It is in the use of
material things that man finds full life for his body, develops his
mind, and unfolds his soul. It is therefore of supreme importance to
him that he should be rich.
It is perfectly right that you should desire to be rich; if you are a
normal man or woman you cannot help doing so. It is perfectly right
that you should give your best attention to the Science of Getting
Rich, for it is the noblest and most necessary of all studies. If you
neglect this study, you are derelict in your duty to yourself, to God,
and to humanity; for you can render God and humanity no greater service
than to make the most of yourself.