The Science of Getting Rich

by Wallace D. Wattles

Overview

Everyone has the right to be rich! The author of this rediscovered classic asserts that life's direction is a self-fulfilling prophecy, and his advice is practical, rather than philosophical. This approach advocates the purposeful application of creative thought and willpower as the sure-fire way to achieve goals.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780486147291
Publisher:	Dover Publications
Publication date:	05/31/2012
Series:	Dover Empower Your Life
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	96
File size:	478 KB

About the Author

Wallace Delois Wattles was an American author. A New Thought writer, he remains personally somewhat obscure, but his writing has been widely quoted and remains in print in the New Thought and self-help movements. Wattles' best known work is a 1910 book called The Science of Getting Rich in which he explained how to become wealthy.





He studied the writings of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel and Ralph Waldo Emerson and recommended the study of their books to his readers who wished to understand what he characterized as "the monistic theory of the cosmos".




Through his personal study and experimentation Wattles claimed to have discovered the truth of New Thought principles and put them into practice in his own life. He wrote books outlining these principles and practices, giving them titles that described their content, such as Health Through New Thought and Fasting and The Science of Being Great. His daughter Florence recalled that "he lived every page" of his books.




A practical author, Wattles encouraged his readers to test his theories on themselves rather than take his word as an authority, and he claimed to have tested his methods on himself and others before publishing them.




Wattles practiced the technique of creative visualization. In his daughter Florence's words, he "formed a mental picture" or visual image, and then "worked toward the realization of this vision".




Rhonda Byrne told a Newsweek interviewer that her inspiration for creating the 2006 hit film The Secret and the subsequent book by the same name, was her exposure to Wattles's The Science of Getting Rich. Byrne's daughter, Hayley, had given her mother a copy of the Wattles book to help her recover from her breakdown.

Read an Excerpt

The Science of Getting Rich

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By Wallace D. Wattles Top of the Mountain Publishing

Copyright © 1996 Wallace D. Wattles
All right reserved.
ISBN: 9781560871385

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from 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 person can rise to his greatest possible height in talent or soul development unless he has plenty of money. In order 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.

People develop in mind, soul, and body by making use of things, and society is so organized that people must have money in order to become the possessor of things. Therefore, the basis of all human advancement must be the science of getting rich.

The object of all life is development. Everything that lives has an inalienable right to all the development it is capable of attaining.

A person’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 unfolding—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 person ought to be satisfied with a littleif he is capable of using and enjoying more. The purpose of nature is the advancement and development of life. Every individual should have all that can contribute to the power, elegance, beauty, and richness of life.

The person who owns all he wants for the living of all the life he is capable of living is rich. Nobody can have all he wants without plenty of money. 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. 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. Therefore, an understanding of the science of getting rich is 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 person who does not desire to live more abundantly is uncommon. And the individual who does not desire to have money enough to buy all he wants may not be living to his full potential.

There are three motives for which we live: we live for the body, the mind, and the soul. No one of these is better or holier than the other. Each is desirable, and neither body, mind, or soul can live fully if one 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. 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. We see that real life means the complete expression of all that a person can give forth through body, mind, and soul. No person 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 an unexpressed possibility or an unperformed function, there is an unsatisfied desire. Desire is possibility seeking expression or function seeking performance.

A person cannot live fully in body without good food, comfortable clothing, warm shelter, and 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, an individual must have love. And the expression of love is often frustrated by poverty.= An individual’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 person who has nothing to give cannot fill his place as a husband or father, as a citizen, or as a human being. It is in the use of material things, that a person finds full life for his body, develops his mind, and unfolds his soul. It is therefore of supreme importance to 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 because 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. You can render God and humanity no greater service than to make the most of yourself.





Continues...

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Excerpted from The Science of Getting Rich by Wallace D. Wattles Copyright © 1996 by Wallace D. Wattles. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Table of Contents

The Right to Be RichThere Is a Science of Getting RichIs Opportunity Monopolized?The First Principle in the Science of Getting RichIncreasing LifeHow Riches Come to YouGratitudeThinking in the Certain WayHow to Use the WillFurther Use of the WillActing in the Certain WayEfficient ActionGetting into the Right BusinessTheh Impression of IncreaseThe Advancing ManSome Cautions and Concluding ObservationsSummary of the Science of Getting Rich

What People are Saying About This

Rahasya Poe

"If you watched The Secret and wondered what the little book was that changed author Rhonda Byrne's life, this is it. Originally published in 1910, its time has come.

Anna Jedrziewski

"Perhaps the most important thing that separates Wattles' success strategy from many other systems is his emphasis on spiritual philosophy rather than self interest.

Editorial Reviews

". . . Wattles identified financial success as the critical element, and first priority, in creating an environment in which one could grow in wealth, wisdom, and happiness. . . . the foundation of today's widespread success and prosperity movements."

Joint Forces Journal

"Perhaps the most important thing that separates Wattles' success strategy from many other systems is his emphasis on spiritual philosophy rather than self interest."

Anna Jedrziewski

"If you watched The Secret and wondered what the little book was that changed author Rhonda Byrne's life, this is it. Originally published in 1910, its time has come."

Rahasya Poe

Wattles offers techniques for getting in tune with one’s deeper self and thus creating a channel of communication between oneself and universal energy. His is a gentle philosophy that excludes competition, cheating, and lording it over one’s fellows when one has made it, and encourages cooperation.”

"If you watched The Secret and wondered what the little book was that changed author Rhonda Byrne's life, this is it. Originally published in 1910, its time has come."

"Perhaps the most important thing that separates Wattles' success strategy from many other systems is his emphasis on spiritual philosophy rather than self interest."

". . . Wattles identified financial success as the critical element, and first priority, in creating an environment in which one could grow in wealth, wisdom, and happiness. . . . the foundation of today's widespread success and prosperity movements."

From the Publisher