The Science Of Getting Rich
By
Wallace D. Wattles
#2 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.