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