WHATEVER may be said in praise of poverty, the
fact remains that it is not possible to live a really complete or successful
life unless one is rich. No man can rise to his greatest
possible height in talent or soul development
unless he has plenty of money; for to unfold the soul and to develop talent he must
have many things to use, and he cannot have these things unless he has money to
buy them with.
A man develops in mind, soul, and body by making
use of things, and society is so organized that man must have money in order to
become the possessor of things; therefore, the basis of all advancement for man
must be the science of getting rich. The object of all life is development; and
everything that lives has an inalienable right to all the development it is
capable of attaining .Man's right to life means his right to have the free and
unrestricted use of all the things which may be necessary to his
fullest mental, spiritual, and physical unfoldment;
or, in other words, his right to be rich.
I shall
not speak of riches in a figurative way; to be really rich does not mean to be
satisfied or contented with a little. No man ought to be satisfied with a
little if he is capable of using and enjoying more. The purpose of Nature is
the advancement and unfoldment of life; and every man should have all that can
contribute to the power, elegance, beauty, and richness of life; to be content
with less is sinful. The man who owns all he wants
for the living of all the life he is capable
of living is rich; and no man who has not plenty of money can have all he wants. Life has advanced so far, and
become so complex, that even the most
ordinary man or woman requires a great amount of wealth in order to live in a
manner that even approaches completeness. Every person naturally wants to
become all that they are capable of becoming; this desire to realize innate
possibilities is inherent in human nature; we cannot help wanting to be all
that we can be. Success in life is becoming what you want to be; you can become
what you want to be only by making use of things, and you can have the free use
of
things only as you become rich enough
to buy them. To understand the science of getting rich is therefore the most essential
of all knowledge.
There is nothing wrong in wanting to
get rich. The desire for riches is really the desire for a richer, fuller, and
more abundant life; and that desire is praise worthy. The man who does not
desire to live more abundantly is abnormal, and so the man who does
not desire to have money enough to
buy all he wants is abnormal. There are three motives for which we live; we
live for the body, we live for the mind, we live for the soul. No one of these
is better or holier than the other; all are alike desirable, and no one
of the three--body, mind, or
soul--can live fully if either of the others is cut short of full life and
expression. It is not right or noble to live only for the soul and deny mind or
body; and it is wrong to live for the intellect and deny body or soul.
We are all acquainted with the
loathsome consequences of living for the body and denying both mind and soul;
and we see that real life means the complete expression of all that man can give
forth through body, mind, and soul. Whatever he can say, no
man can be really happy or satisfied
unless his body is living fully in every function, and unless the same is true
of his mind and his soul. Wherever there is unexpressed possibility, or
function not performed, there is unsatisfied desire. Desire is possibility
seeking expression, or function
seeking performance. Man cannot live fully in body without good food, comfortable
clothing, and warm shelter; and without freedom
from excessive toil. Rest and
recreation are also necessary to his physical life.
He cannot live fully in mind without
books and time to study them, without opportunity for travel and observation,
or without intellectual companionship. To live fully in mind he must have
intellectual recreations, and must surround himself with all the objects of art
and beauty he is capable of using and appreciating.
To live fully in soul, man must have
love; and love is denied expression by poverty.
A man's highest happiness is found in
the bestowal of benefits on those he loves; love finds its most natural and spontaneous
expression in giving. The man who has nothing to give cannot fill his place as
a husband or father, as a citizen, or as a man. It is in the use of material
things that a man finds full life for his body, develops his mind, and unfolds
his soul. It is therefore of supreme importance to him that he should be rich.
It is perfectly right that you should
desire to be rich; if you are a normal man or woman you cannot help doing so.
It is perfectly right that you should give your best attention to the Science
of Getting Rich, for it is the noblest and most necessary of all studies. If
you neglect this study, you are derelict in your duty to yourself, to God and
humanity; for you can render to God and humanity no greater service than to
make the most of
yourself.
