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CHAPTER 1 - Your True
Right To Be Rich
WHATEVER may be said about 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
development unless he has plenty of money; for to unfurl
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 have 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 enfoldment; 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 enfoldment 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 humanity; for you can render no greater service than to
make
the most of yourself.
* Extract
from Wallace D
Wattles1911
Power Points
- WHATEVER may be said about
poverty, the fact remains that it is not possible to live a really
complete or successful life unless one is rich
- A man develops in mind,
body, and
soul by making use of things, and society is so organized that man must
have
money in order to become the possessor of things
- The purpose of Nature is the
advancement and enfoldment of life
- 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.
- 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
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