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"The Science of Getting Rich"
by Wallace D. Wattles
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 one 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 person 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 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.
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; 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 one ought to be
satisfied with a little if he is capable of using and enjoying
more. The purpose of nature is the advancement and unfolding of
life, and everyone should have all that can contribute to the
power, elegance, beauty, and richness of life. To be content
with less is sinful. The person who owns all he wants for the
living of all the life he is capable of living is rich, and no
person 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 praiseworthy. The person who does not
desire to live more abundantly is abnormal, and so the person
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, and 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.
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