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CHAPTER 1 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.
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.