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 praiseworthy. 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. |