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.
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