Claiming Your Own

There has grown up in the minds of many people the delusion that there is some real merit in taking the mental position that desirable things are "too good for me," and denying that they have any merit whatsoever in them. So prevalent has become this idea that it has developed a race of hypocrites and pharisees, who go about proclaiming their humble goodness, and their meek humility, until one gets tired of hearing their talk—and talk is all there is to it, for these same people slyly manage to reach out for the good things in sight, even while decrying the value of the aforesaid good things, and denying their worthiness to receive anything at all.

I take quite the other position. I believe that there is nothing too good for the men and women who assert their right to live and to partake of the good things of earth. I am reminded of the French soldier who carried a dispatch to Napoleon, and whose horse dropped dead from fatigue as he sprang from it and handed the Emperor the dispatch which he had carried from miles away. Napoleon wrote an answer, and dismounting from his horse handed the bridle to the soldier, saying "Take this horse and ride back, comrade." "Nay," cried the soldier as he gazed at the blooded horse and his trappings, "it is too magnificent and grand for me, a common soldier." "Take it!" cried Napoleon, "there is nothing too grand and magnificent for a soldier of France!" And these words, rapidly repeated through the ranks and columns of his army, gave to his tired troops a new and fresh inspiration and energy. "Nothing too grand and magnificent for a soldier of France," they said, and the thought that they were such worthy individuals inspired them to the almost miraculous deeds that followed.

Napoleon understood human nature, and the laws of psychology. Tell a man that he is a worm of the dust, and deserving of nothing but kicks and punishment, and if he believes you he will sink to the mental level of the worm and will cringe and crawl and eat dirt. But let him know that he has within him the divine spark, and that there is nothing too good for him; nothing that he has not a right to aspire to; no heights which are not his own if he but climb to them—tell him these things, I say, and he will become a transfigured creature, ready and willing to attempt great things, and do mighty deeds, "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he."

And that is why I am trying to tell you that you have a right to all the good things there are—that you are a worthy human being and not a crawling thing of the dust. That is why I tell you to raise up your head and look the world in the eyes, affirming your relationship with the Divine Cause that brought you into being, and asserting your right to partake of your heritage from that Power.

Does not all Nature seem to come to the aid and assistance of the strong individuals who assert their right to live, and prosper? Does not Nature seem to try in every way to build up strong, confident, self-reliant, self-respecting individuals? Does it not seem to reserve the prizes of life for the strong hand that has courage to reach out and take them, instead of to those cringing, shrinking personalities that cower and shiver back in the corner, afraid to call their souls their own?

There is nothing in Nature that gives any encouragement whatsoever to this false teaching of mock humility, and self-abasement of which we hear so much. The very persons who hold up this weak, negative ideal to their followers, are not especially noted for their meekness or humility—they are apt to be arrogant, selfish and grasping all the good things in sight, even while decrying and denying them. They are all words, words, words, with their cant phrases and negative admonitions. Away with such destructive and hurtful teachings. Make way for the new teaching that the good things of earth have been placed here for man's use, and for his development and happiness. There is nothing too good for Men or Women, for they are the rightful inheritors and heirs of their Divine Causer.

Does not Nature seem to strive to produce strong plants, strong animals, strong individuals? Does she not seem to delight in producing an individual, in either of the great kingdoms of life, who has the desire, energy, ambition and power to draw to itself the nourishment and nutriment which will enable it to express its life fully— which will enable it to become a proper, efficient and worthy channel through which may flow the great Stream of Life that has its source in the Divine Cause which is behind and back of all things? Is life but an effort to produce weak, miserable, unhappy beings—or is it an urge that seeks to develop strong, happy, noble individual forms? And how can one be happy, strong, and noble if the source of supply is denied him? What would the plant become if its nourishment were withdrawn?

And yet in spite of all these apparent facts of Nature, there are those who would have us refuse the full supply which the Divine Power has placed at our hand and bidden us partake thereof. These people would even deny the supply. Oh, I say to you, friends, the Power that called us into being has placed in this world of ours all that is necessary to our well-being, and has implanted in our breasts the natural hunger for nourishment, physical, mental and spiritual. This very hunger is Nature's promise that there exists that which is intended to satisfy it. And then, what folly to decry the hunger, or to deny the supply. That which you need and for which you are hungry, exists for you. It is yours, and you are not robbing others when you seek for it and draw it to you.

Claim Your Own, friends, Claim Your Own! Deny it not—decry it not—but cry aloud "It is Mine Own—I Demand It—I attract it to Me!" Claim Your Own!

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Be Awake

Our only role in this world is to be awake. Consciously do things to bring yourself into the moment. If you’re with someone and not paying attention, stop and zone in on that person and be with them fully. Start to eliminate background noises and sights until it’s just you and them. If this is difficult, while you’re alone, practise removing other senses so you begin to focus on one thing. Close your eyes for a minute and focus on a single noise or cover your ears and look at a single object.

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Auto-Suggestion

You will have noticed that in the preceding chapters I have begun a serious campaign in the direction of having you "make yourself over" mentally, in order to bring you under the operation of the Law of Financial Success. You will remember that first I tried to get you to regard Money in a new light—as a natural supply akin to the nourishment of the plant, and coming under the same general law of Natural Supply and Demand.

Second—I urged upon you to build up the proper Mental Attitude, showing you how by so doing you would cultivate in yourself the faculties, qualities and powers conducive to success; the qualities likely to attract and influence people with whom you come in contact; and the mental state which would set into operation the beneficent phases of the Law of Attraction.

Third—I proceeded to get Fear and Worry out of your mental system.

Fourth—I went on to cultivate the quality of Faith in you.

Fifth—came the consideration of the Latent Powers and the roles for their unfoldment.

Sixth—came the explanation of the nature of Ambition, and the urge to cultivate and develop it.

Seventh—came the explanation of the wonderful effect and office of Desire, and the advice to cultivate Desire as a means of cultivating Will.

Eighth—I gave you instruction for the development of a powerful Will, the acquirement of which means so much to you.

Now, if you will stop a moment, you will see that the practical application of the instruction given and the precepts laid down for your guidance require a certain "making over" of yourself, on your part.

This being so the question arises: "How may I best accomplish the 'making-over' process?" And to answer this question, I shall now devote several chapters, for in the answering lies much of the essence of this instruction that I am desirous of imparting to you. And so this is the reason that we now take up the subject of "Auto-Suggestion," a subject of the greatest importance to you, and which has engaged the minds of scientific men for the past few years. Let as hasten to a consideration of the subject.

In the first place the term "Suggestion," as used by psychologists means "an impression made upon the mind of another." And an "auto-suggestion" is an impression made upon one's own mind in a manner similar to that used in impressing the mind of another. You will see this a little clearer in a moment. The whole essence of Suggestion lies in the idea of "impression." Think of the mind as a wax substance, and the Suggestion as a die making an impression on the wax, and there you have it.

If you can manage to get in a strong Suggestion on the mind of a person, you really impress your notion or idea upon his mental wax, so to speak. Suggestion it not of matter of argumentative effort, but a process of saying a thing so positively, earnestly and convincingly that the other person takes up the idea without argument. We may be impressed by a man's earnestness, his manner, his attitude, his dress, and in many other ways, but the principle is the same—if we are impressed by something about him, we have taken the Suggestion. Do you see what I mean?

Well, one may turn this Suggestive die upon the wax of his own mind and by repeated impressions may fix certain ideas, qualities, and characteristics upon it so that he will have really made himself over to that extent. It is a case of "sez I to myself, sez I"— often repeated until "I" believes what "I sez." You know how a man may get to actually believe some old lie that he has been telling for some time. A man may act out a certain assumed character, until he actually becomes like the character. There are plenty of old chaps strutting around today with these assumed characters, which not only fool the people with whom they come in contact, but also actually fool the men themselves. Now if this be true about things of this kind, how important does the principle become when applied to the creation of new characteristics and qualities in oneself that are conducive to success. You all know just about the ones you need, and now here it the way to go about getting them.

To many people Auto-Suggestion means simply the repeating of certain words to themselves, like "I am Energetic—I am Ambitions," etc. etc. Now this plan is all very well, for a constant impression of this kind will undoubtedly tend to develop the suggested qualities in one. But there is a far more scientific plan known to psychologists, and that is the one I am going to urge upon your consideration. It is that not only should one "say" things to himself, but that he should also create Mental Images of the desired thing, and should also act out the part he wishes to play, in a sort of extended preliminary rehearsal.

All this may seem odd to you unless you have studied the psychological principles underlying it, which I have not time to go into here. The thing to remember is that constant thinking of a desired quality of mind, accompanied with the indulgence in the Mental Picture of yourself as actually possessed of the quality itself, and also accompanied by an "acting out" of the part you would like to play, will in due time so impress and mold your mind that you will actually possess the quality itself. Here is a great psychological law I have expressed. Read it again, study it, and make it your own.

For instance let us suppose that you lack Ambition. Well, the first thing is to rouse the Desire to become Ambitious. Then start in the plan of "sez I to myself, sez I," and make constant affirmation of the fact that: "I am Ambitious—very Ambitious—my Ambition grows every day," and so on. Then picture yourself in your imagination as being Ambitious—see yourself as moving around in the world possessed of an insatiable Ambition which is leading you to strenuous action and wonderful accomplishments. Then begin to act out the part of the Ambitious man—study some Ambitious man until you catch his feelings and then begin to look Ambitious; talk in the tones of a man possessing Ambition; walk like an Ambitious man—in short act out the part to the smallest details. Now remember I do not mean to copy the mannerisms of the man you have taken for your model—this is not the thing at all. Simply study him until you can get his feelings—until you can recognize the Ambitious emotion and Mental Attitude animating him, and then go to work to feel the same inward feeling yourself, and to act out the feeling. If you can once get the feeling, then all you've got to do is to act it out right.

You will find that this plan of mental discipline and exercise may be used for the acquirement of any and every one of the positive qualities you may desire to acquire and possess. This is no mere theory, but is a scientific fact known to and taught by some of the leading authorities on the subject in the world. It has been the basis of the making over of thousands of people, some of whom have paid enormous fees to teachers for just this plain advice, elaborated and padded out into long series of personal lectures and lessons. I offer you something here that is well "worth while." Now it is for you to take it and use it.

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Ambition

"AMBITION"—what a glorious word! How the very sound of it stirs one's energies, and makes one feel the inspiration to be up and at work doing things, succeeding, creating, accomplishing!

And what does Ambition really, mean, pray? It means more than a mere eagerness for things. It means the deep-seated desire to materialize certain ideals which exist in the mind as mental pictures. Before one can accomplish things he must be possessed of Ambition. And before he can feel Ambition he must have the preceding hunger which causes him to manifest Ambition with which to satisfy it. And so it follows, anything that will stimulate that mental hunger, will arouse Ambition, and thus create that eagerness for action and attainment. And how may that mental hunger be produced?

There is a psychological law underlying this mental hunger that manifests as Ambition. And that law is:—that in order for that mental hunger to be manifested it must have ideals presented to the mind's eye. Just as the gastric juices of the stomach may be stimulated and caused to flow by the sight, smell, or thought of food, so is this mental hunger produced by the sight, thought or idea of the things needed for its satisfaction. If you are contented with your present life, and want nothing better, it is chiefly because you know nothing better—have seen nothing better—have heard of nothing better, or else you are mentally and physically lazy. The ignorant savage seeking to till his land by means of a sharpened stick, cannot desire a steel plow or other agricultural implement if he does not know of them. He simply keeps right at work in his old way—the way of his forefathers—and feels no desire for a better implement. But by-and-by some man comes along with a steel plow, and our savage opens his eyes in wide surprise at the wonderful thing. If he be a savage of discernment be begins to get up an interest in the new thing. He watches it at work, and sees how much better it accomplishes the task than does his crude pointed stick. If he be a progressive savage, he begins to wish he had one of the strange new implements, and if he wants it hard enough he begins to experience a new, strange feeling of mental hunger for the thing, which if sufficiently strong, causes his Ambition to bud.

And this is the critical point. Up to this time he has felt the strong Desire preceding Ambition. But now with the dawn of Ambition comes the arousing of the Will. And this is what Ambition is, A Strong Will Aroused by a Strong Desire.

Without these two elements there can be no Ambition. Desire without Will is not Ambition. One may want a thing very hard, but if he does not arouse his Will strongly enough to actively co-operate with the Desire, his Ambition will "die a-borning." And though one's Will be as strong as steel, yet if there be not strong Desire animating and inspiring it, it will not manifest as Ambition.

To manifest Ambition fully, one must first eagerly desire the thing—not a mere "wanting" or "wishing" for it, but a fierce, eager, consuming hunger which demands satisfaction. And then one must have a Will aroused sufficiently strong to go out and get that which Desire is demanding. These two elements constitute the activity of Ambition.

Look around you at the successful men of the world in any line of human effort and endeavor, and you will see that they all have Ambition strongly developed. They have the fierce craving of Desire for things, and the firm Will which will brook no interference with the satisfaction of the Desire. Study the lives of Caesar, Napoleon, and their modern counterparts, the Twentieth Century Captains of Industry, and you will see the glare of this fierce Ambition burning brightly and hotly within them.

The trouble with the majority of the people if that they have been taught that one should take what was given him and be content. But this is not Nature's way. Nature implants in each living being a strong desire for that which is necessary for its wellbeing and nourishment, and a strong will to gratify that natural desire. On all sides in Nature, you may see this law in effect. The plant and the animal obey it, and are not afraid. But Man, as he ascended the scale of evolution, while seeing the necessity and advantage of curbing and restraining certain tendencies and desires, which if freely gratified would work harm on himself and upon society, has swung to the other extreme. In cutting off the dead branches of Desire, he has lopped off some live ones at the same time—that is, the majority of men have—the few who haven't reach out and gather to themselves the good things of life, throwing the "cores" and leavings to the rest.

There is no earthly reason why a man should not earnestly desire the good things of life—no reason why he should not stimulate that fierce hunger for attainment by painting mental pictures of what he needs—by looking upon the good things in the world in the possession of others, so that he can see what he wants. "But does this not arouse covetousness?" you may ask. Not at all—you are not coveting the things the others have, but are merely desiring other things like them. You are willing that these other people should retain their things, but are demanding similar good things for yourself. This is not covetousness, but laudable Ambition.

And laudable Ambition is all right There is enough of the good things of live in this world for all of us, if we demand them, and reach out for them. Demand causes supply, in and under the LAW, so be not afraid. Arouse your Ambition—it is a good thing and not something of which to be ashamed. Urge it on—feed it—stimulate its growth. It is not a foul weed, but a strong, vigorous, healthy plant in the garden of life, bearing more fruit than any other growing thing there.

Do not let the argument that men have used Ambition to accomplish evil ends disconcert you. Every natural law is capable of being used for good or evil. Because any law has been used for evil, it is no reason why those who desire to do good should avoid it, and refrain from using it for right purposes. To do so would be like the Angels of Light running away and leaving the powers of darkness in possession of all the good things of the world. The best way is to grasp the weapon and turn it against the enemy.

The LAW is there awaiting man's use. If you prefer to leave it for the evil disposed persons, very well, that is your own loss. But the wise, the sane, the strong men of the day are now reaching out for the use of the LAW and are accomplishing great things by reason of it. When the Many use the LAW, the Few will cease to be the sole possessors of the good things of life, which alas! so many of them have misused. When the secret is generally known, the evil will be eradicated and good will supersede it.

Therefore, be not afraid to stand boldly out, crying: "I want this, and I am going to have it! It is my rightful heritage, and I demand it of the LAW!" Be ambitious to attain financial Success because that is the goal for which you are striving.

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Quotes About Wisdom

A short saying oft contains much wisdom.

— Sophocles

Nowadays most people die of a sort of creeping common sense, and discover when it is too late that the only things one never regrets are one’s mistakes.

— Oscar Wilde

The fool doth think he is wise, but the wise man knows himself a fool.

— William Shakespeare

Caution is the eldest child of wisdom.

— Victor Hugo

Wisdom comes by disillusionment.

— George Santayana

It is a characteristic of wisdom not to do desperate things.

— Henry David Thoreau

Wisdom is not wisdom when it is derived from books alone.

— Horace

Wisdom at times is found in folly.

— Horace

The beginning of wisdom is the definition of terms.

— Socrates

In order to act wisely it is not enough to be wise.

— Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Good people are good because they’ve come to wisdom through failure.  We get very little wisdom from success, you know.

— William Saroyan

We do not receive wisdom, we must discover it for ourselves, after a journey through the wilderness which no one else can make for us, which no one can spare us, for our wisdom is the point of view from which we come at last to regard the world.

— Marcel Proust

Self-reflection is the school of wisdom.

— Baltasar Gracian

Reason is a weak antagonist against love.

— Madeleine de Scudery

Who is wise?  He that learns from everyone. Who is powerful?  He that governs his passions.  Who is rich?  He that is content.  Who is that?  Nobody.

— Benjamin Franklin

If one is too lazy to think, too vain to do a thing badly, too cowardly to admit it, one will never attain wisdom.

— Cyril Connolly

We should be careful to get out of an experience only the wisdom that is in it—and stop there, lest we be like the cat that sits down on a hot stove lid.  She will never sit down on a hot stove lid again—and that is well; but also she will never dit down on a cold one anymore.

— Mark Twain

Nine-tenths of wisdom consists in being wise in time.

— Theodore Roosevelt

The art of being wise is the art of knowing what to overlook.

— William James

It is better to be wise than to seem wise.

— Origen

Wisdom is greater than knowledge, for wisdom includes knowledge and the due use of it.

— Joseph Burritt Sevelli Capponi

Everyone complains of his memory, but no one complains of his judgment.

— Francois de La Rochefoucauld

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Quotes About Vision

I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.

— Wayne Gretzky

Fooling around with alternating current is just a waste of time.  Nobody will use it, ever.  It’s too dangerous.  Direct current is safe.

— Thomas Edison

What, sir, would you make a ship sail against the wind and currents by lighting a bonfire under her deck?  I pray you excuse me.  I have no time to listen to such nonsense.

— Napoleon to Robert Fulton

Necessity can set me helpless on my back, but she cannot keep me there; nor can four walls limit my vision.

— Margaret Fairless Barber

I have such poor vision I can date anyone.

— Gary Shandling

The man who radiates good cheer, who makes life happier wherever he meets it, is always a man of vision and faith.

— Ella Wheeler Wilcox

If you keep your eyes so fixed on heaven that you never look at the earth, you will stumble into hell.

— Austin O’Malley

He was so narrow-minded he could see through a keyhole with two eyes.

— Esther Forbes

Where there is no vision, the people perish.

— Proverbs 29:18

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Be Aware of Your Connection to the Universe.

Live with the awareness that everything you are end everything you do directly or indirectly affects everything and everyone around you. Small or big, what you choose to do can alter the course or destiny of living or non-living things that come your way. As you realize this, you will take more responsibility for your actions and influence, and will never take spiritual things lightly.

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