Millions of success-oriented people fom all over the world
have turned to the no-nonsense, time-tested motivational techniques
described in The Magic of Believing
to achieve all their long and short-term goals: a better job, a happier
marriage, or simply a good night's sleep. Now it's your turn to put
Claude M. Bristol's special "magic" into your life and into action.
Bristol's tough-minded, hard-hitting messages speaks directly to you.
You will learn:
• How you become what you contemplate
• Why hard work alone will not bring success
• How to turn your thoughts into achievements
• How belief makes things happen
Harness the unlimited energies of your subconscious mind. Make yourself
more competent in your affairs, more influential in your dealings, and
more successful in life.
Now it's your turn to put Claude M. Bristol's special "magic"
into your life and into action!
His tough-minded, hard-hitting message speaks directly to You.
It
has
yielded proven results for forty years and remains as fresh and focused
as ever. Learn how to:
* Harness the unlimited power of the subconscious mind and
make your
dreams come true * Protect your thoughts and turn them into
achievements
* Use "the law of suggestion" to step up your effectiveness in
everything you do * Apply the power of your imagination to overcome
obstacles
* And much more!
If you seek to become more assertive in business, more
fulfilled at
home, more influential in your dealings with others -- you can believe
in MAGIC!
Chapter
1
How I Came to Tap the Power of
Belief
Is there some force, or factor, or power, or science—call it what you
will—which a few people understand and use to overcome their
difficulties and achieve outstanding success? I firmly believe that
there is, and it is my purpose in this book to try to explain it so
that you can use it if you desire.
Around 1933 the financial editor of a great Los Angeles newspaper
attended lectures I gave to financial men in that city and read my
brochure T.N.T.—It Rocks the Earth.
Afterwards, he wrote,
"You have caught from the ether something that has a mystical quality—a
something that explains the magic of coincidence, the mystery of what
makes men lucky."
I realized that I had run across something that was practical and
workable. But I didn't consider it then (neither do I now) as anything
mystical, except in the sense that it is unknown to the majority of
people. This "something" has always been known to a fortunate few down
the centuries, but for some unknown reason it is still barely
understood by the average person.
Years ago, when I started to teach this science by means of lectures
and my brochure, I wasn't certain that the concepts could be grasped by
the ordinary individual. But since then, I have seen those who have
used it to double and triple their incomes, build their own successful
businesses, acquire homes of their dreams, and create sizable fortunes.
I am now convinced that any intelligent person who is sincere with
themselves can reach any heights they desire. I had no intention of
writing
a second book, although many urged me to do so. But a few months ago, a
woman in the book business who had sold many copies of my first little
book literally read me the riot act:
"You have a duty to give to the men and women who seek places for
themselves in the world, in easily understood form, the new material
that you have given in your lectures. Everyone of ambition wants to get
ahead, and you have amply demonstrated that you have something that
will help anyone. It's up to you to pass it along."
It took time to sell myself on the idea. But having served as a soldier
in World War I, mostly in France and Germany, and having been active
for many years in ex-service men's organizations as well as a state
commission for the rehabilitation of ex-service men and women, I
realized that it would be hard for many individuals to make outstanding
places for themselves in a world from which they had long been
separated. It is with a sincere desire to help them, as well as all
ambitious men and women, that I write this more full and detailed
exposition of the Power of Belief. Thus this work is written also to
help develop individual thinking and doing.
Since this book may fall into the hands of some who may call me a
crackpot or screwball, let me say that I am past the half-century mark
and have had many years of hard practical business experience—as well
as a goodly number of years as a newspaper man. I started as a police
reporter. Police reporters are trained to get facts and take nothing
for granted. For a two year period I was church editor of a large
metropolitan newspaper, during which I came in close contact with
clergymen and leaders of all sects and denominations, mind-healers,
divine healers, Spiritualists, Christian Scientists, New Thought-ers,
Unity leaders, sun and idol worshipers—and, yes, even a few infidels
and pagans.
The well-known English evangelist Gypsy Smith was making a tour of
America at that time. Night after night as I sat on his platform,
watching people stumble down the aisles, some sobbing, others
shouting hysterically, I wondered. . . .
Again I wondered when I accompanied the police in answering a riot
call: some Holy Rollers in a moment of hysteria had knocked over a
stove and set fire to their meeting hall. When I attended my first (and
only) meeting of Shakers, I wondered— as I did while attending various
spiritualistic meetings. I wondered as I heard the testimonials at the
Christian Scientists' Wednesday night meetings. I wondered when I
watched a group of people immersed in the icy waters of a mountain
stream and coming up shouting "Hallelujah!" even though their teeth
were chattering. I wondered at the Indians' ceremonial dances and their
rain-dance rituals. Billy Sunday also caused me to wonder as, in later
years, did Aimee Semple McPherson.
In France during the First World War, I marveled at the simple faith of
the peasants and the powers of their village curees. I heard stories of
miracles at Lourdes, and of somewhat similar miracles at other shrines.
When in a famous old Roman church, I saw elderly men and women climb
literally on their knees up a long flight of stairs to gaze upon a holy
urn—a climb that is no simple task for an athletically trained young
person—I wondered again.
Business brought me into contact with the Mormons, and when I heard the
story of Joseph Smith and the revelations on the plates of gold, I was
again given to wonder. The Dukhobors of western Canada, who would doff
their clothes when provoked, likewise made me wonder. While in Hawaii I
heard much about the powers of the kahunas who could, it was claimed,
cause people to die or live by praying. The great powers attributed to
these kahunas profoundly impressed me.
In my early days as a newspaper man, I saw a famous medium try to make
"spirits" respond before a crowded courtroom of antagonistic scoffers.
The judge had promised to release the medium if he could get the
"spirits" to speak in the courtroom. Yet they failed to materialize,
and I wondered why—because the medium's followers had testified to
remarkable seances.
Many years later, I was commissioned to write a series of articles on
what the police call the "fortune-telling racket." I visited everyone
from gypsy phrenologists to crystal-ball gazers, from astrologers to
spiritualistic mediums. I heard what purported to be the voices of old
Indian "guides" tell me the past, the present, and the future, and I
heard from relatives I never knew existed.
Several times I have been in a hospital room in which people around me
died, while others with seemingly worse ailments were up
and—apparently—fully recovered within a short time. I have known of
partially paralyzed people who got over their condition in a matter of
days. I have known people who claim to have cured their rheumatism or
arthritis by wearing a copper band around their wrists—others by mental
healing. From relatives and close friends I have heard stories of how
warts on hands suddenly disappeared. I am familiar with the stories of
those who permit rattlesnakes to bite them and still live; and with
hundreds of other tales of mysterious happenings and healings.
Moreover, I have made myself familiar with the lives of great men and
women of history and have met and interviewed many outstanding men and
women in all lines of human endeavor. Often I have wondered just what
it was that took them to the top. I have seen coaches take seemingly
inferior baseball and football teams and infuse them with something
that caused them to win. In the Depression days, I saw badly whipped
sales organizations do an abrupt about-face and bring in more business
man ever before.
Apparently I was born with a huge bump of curiosity, for I have always
had an insatiable yearning to seek answers and explanations. This quest
has taken me to many strange places, brought to light many peculiar
cases, and caused me to read every book I could get my hands on dealing
with religions, cults, and physical and mental sciences. I have read
literally thousands of books on modern psychology, metaphysics, ancient
magic, Voodoo, Yoga, Theosophy, Christian Science, Unity, Truth, New
Thought, Couéism,
and many others dealing with what I call "Mind
Stuff," as well as the philosophies and teachings of great masters of
the past.
Many were nonsensical, others strange, and many very profound.
Gradually I discovered that a golden thread runs through all the
teachings and makes them work for those who sincerely accept and apply
them, and that thread can be named in the single word belief. It is this same element or
factor—belief—that causes people to
be cured through mental healing, enables others to climb high the
ladder of success, and gets phenomenal results for all who accept it.
Why belief works miracles is something that cannot be satisfactorily
explained; but have no doubt that there's genuine magic in believing.
"The magic of believing" became a phrase around which my thoughts
steadily revolved.
I am convinced that the so-called secret fraternal organizations guard
a real "royal secret" which very few members ever grasp. The conclusion
must be that "no mind ever receives the truth until it is prepared to
receive it." One order provides candidates with a very profound book
(to be studied in connection with the degree work), which itself would
be practically an open-sesame to life if the candidates could
understand and follow its tenets. But few read it, complaining that "it
is too deep" for them. I am convinced, too, that some of these
organizations, like many secret orders which possess a knowledge and
understanding of life, use parables and misinterpretations to mislead.
When T.N.T.—It Rocks the Earth
was first published, I imagined that it
would be easily understood since I had written it simply. But as the
years went by, some readers protested that it was too much in digest
form. Others said they couldn't understand it. I had assumed that most
people knew something about the power of thought. Now I realize that I
was mistaken, and those who had an understanding of the subject were
comparatively few. Later, over many years of lecturing before clubs,
business and sales organizations, I discovered that most people were
vitally interested in the subject, but that it had to be fully
explained. Finally, I undertook to write this book in words that anyone
can understand—and with the hope that it will help many to reach their
goals in life.
The science of thought is as old as man himself. The wise men of all
ages have known it and used it. The only thing I have done is to put
the subject in modern language and bring to the reader's attention what
some of today's outstanding minds are doing to substantiate the great
truths that have come down through the centuries.
Fortunately for the world, people are coming to the realization that
there is something to this "mind-stuff" after all. I believe that
millions of people would like to get a better understanding of it—and
prove that it does work.
Therefore, let me start by relating a few experiences from my own life,
with the hope that they will give you a better understanding of the
entire science.
Early in 1918, I landed in France as a "casual" soldier, unattached to
a
regular company. As a result, it was several weeks before my service
record (necessary for my pay) caught up with me. During that period I
had no money to buy gum, candy, cigarettes, and the like, since the few
dollars I had before sailing had been spent at the transport ship's
canteen to relieve the monotony of the regular menu. Every time I saw a
man light a cigarette or chew a stick of gum, it reminded me that I was
without money to spend on myself. Certainly, I was eating, and the army
clothed me and provided me with a place on the ground to sleep, but I
grew bitter at having no spending money and no way of getting any. One
night en-route to the forward area on a crowded troop train when sleep
was out of the question, I made up my mind that on my return to
civilian life, I would have a lot of
money. The whole pattern of my
life was altered at that moment.
True, I had been something of a reader in my youth; the Bible had been
a must in our family. As a boy I was interested in wireless telegraphy.
X-rays, high-frequency apparatus, and similar manifestations of
electricity, and I had read every book on these subjects I could find.
But while I was familiar with such terms as radiation frequencies,
vibrations, oscillations, magnetic influences, etc., in those days they
meant nothing to me outside of the strictly electrical field. Perhaps
my first inkling of a connection between the mind and electrical or
vibratory influences came when upon my completing law school, an
instructor gave me an old book, Thomson Jay Hudson's Law of Psychic
Phenomena. I read it, but only superficially. Either I did not
understand it, or my mind was not ready to receive its profound truths.
On that fateful night in the spring of 1918, when I told myself that
some day I would have a lot of money, I did not realize that I was
laying the groundwork for a series of causes which would unleash forces
that would bring accomplishment. As a matter of fact, the idea never
entered my mind that I could develop a fortune
with my thinking and believing.
My Army classification card listed me as a newspaper man. I had been
attending an Army Training School to qualify for a commission, but the
whole training-school program was discontinued just as we finished the
course; thus most of us landed in France as enlisted men. However, I
considered myself a qualified journalist and felt that there was a
better place for me in the American Expeditionary Force. Yet like many
others, I found myself pushing wheelbarrows and lugging heavy shells
and other ammunition.
Then one night at an ammunition depot near Toul, things began to
happen. I was ordered to appear before the Commanding Officer, who
asked me whom I knew at First Army Headquarters. I didn't know a soul
there and didn't even know where it was located, and I told him so.
Then he showed me orders directing me to report there immediately. A
car and driver were provided, and the next morning found me at First
Army Headquarters in charge of a daily progress bulletin. I was
answerable only to a colonel.
During the months that followed, I frequently thought about the
commission to which I was entitled. Then the links began to form into a
chain. One day, entirely out of a clear sky, came orders transferring
me to the Stars and Stripes,
the Army newspaper; I had long had an
ambition to be on its staff, but had done nothing about it. The next
day, as I was preparing to leave for Paris, I was called before the
colonel who showed me a telegram signed by the Adjutant General's
office at GHQ, asking if I was available for commission. The colonel
asked whether I would rather have a commission than report to the Army
newspaper. Foreseeing that the war would soon end and I would be
happier among other newspaper men, I said I would prefer the transfer
to the Stars and Stripes. I
never learned who was responsible for the
telegram, but obviously something was working in my behalf.
Following the armistice, my desire to get out of the Army became
insistent. I wanted to begin building that fortune. But the Stars and
Stripes did not suspend publication until the summer of 1919,
and it
was August before I got home. However, the forces I had unconsciously
set in motion were already setting the stage for me.
About nine-thirty the next morning after my arrival home, I received a
telephone call from the president of a club in which I had been active.
He told me to call a prominent man in the investment banking business
who had read about my return and had expressed a wish to see me before
I resumed newspaper work. I called the man and, two days later,
embarked upon a long career as an investment banker, which later led me
to the vice-presidency of a well-known Pacific Coast firm.
While my salary was smart at the start, I realized that I was in a
business where there were many opportunities to make money. Just how I
was to make it was then not revealed, but I just knew that I would have
that fortune I had in mind. In less than ten years, I did have it, and
not only was it sizable, but I was a substantial stockholder in the
company and had several outside profitable interests. During those
years I had constantly before me a mental picture of wealth.
Many people in moments of abstraction or while talking on the telephone
engage in doodling—drawing or sketching odd designs and patterns upon
paper. My doodling was in the form of dollar signs like
these—$$$$$—$$$—$$—$$$$—on
every paper that came across my desk. The
cardboard covers of all the files placed before me daily were scrawled
with these markings, as were the covers of telephone directories,
scratch-pads, and even the face of important correspondence. I want my
readers to remember this detail, because it suggests the mechanics to
be used in applying this magic which I'll explain in detail later.
During the past years, I have found that by far the greatest problems
bothering most people are financial ones.
With today's intense competition, millions are facing the same kinds of
problems. However, it matters little to what ends this science is used.
It will be effective in achieving the object of your desire—and in this
connection, let me tell another experience.
Shortly after the idea of T.N. T.—It
Rocks the Earth came to me but
before I put it on paper, I took a trip to the Orient and sailed on the
Empress of Japan, noted
for
its excellent cuisine. In my travels
through Canada and in Europe I had developed a fondness for Trappist
cheese made by the Trappist monks of Quebec. When I couldn't find it on
the ship's menu, I laughingly complained to the chief steward that I
had sailed on his ship only to get some of the
famous 'Trappist" cheese. He replied that he was sorry, but there was
none aboard.
The more I thought about it, the more I hungered for some of that
cheese. One night a ship's party was held. Upon returning to my cabin
quarters after midnight, I found a big table had been set up in one of
the rooms. On it was the largest cheese I had ever seen. It was
"Trappist" cheese.
Later I asked the chief steward where he found it. "I was certain we
had none aboard when you first mentioned it," he answered, "but you
seemed so set on having some, I made up my mind to search through all
the ship's stores. We found it in the emergency storeroom in the bottom
of the hold." Something was working for me on that trip, too, for I had
no claim to anything but ordinary service. However, I sat at the
executive officer's table and was frequently his personal guest in his
quarters, as well as on inspection trips through the ship.
Naturally the treatment I received made a great impression on me, and
in Honolulu, I often thought how nice it would be to receive comparable
attention on my journey home on another ship. One afternoon I got the
sudden impulse to leave for the mainland. It was about closing time
when I appeared at the ticket agency to ask what reservations I could
get. A ship was leaving the next day at noon, and I purchased the only
remaining cabin ticket.
The next day, just a few minutes before noon, as I started up the
gangplank, I said to myself in an offhand manner, "They treated you as
a king on the Empress of Japan.
The least you can do here is to sit at
the captain's table. Sure, you'll sit at the captain's table."
The ship got under way. As we steamed out of the harbor, the
dining-room steward asked passengers to appear in the dining room for
assignment to tables. When I came before him, about half the
assignments had been made. He asked for my ticket, glanced at it and
then at me, saying, "Oh yes, table A, seat No. 5." It was the captain's
table, and I was seated directly across from him. Aboard that ship,
many things happened which pertain to the subject of this book, the
most prominent being a party supposed to be in honor of my
birthday—just an idea of the captain's, because my birthday was
actually months away.
Later, when I found myself lecturing, I thought it would be wise to get
a letter from the captain substantiating the story and I wrote him. He
replied, "Sometimes as we go through life, instinctively we get the
idea to do this or that. That noon I was sitting in the doorway of my
cabin watching the passengers come up the gangplank, and as you came
aboard, something told me to seat you at my table. Beyond that I cannot
explain, any more than I can explain how I can frequently stop my ship
at the right spot at the pier at the first try."
People who have heard the story—and who know nothing about the magic of
believing—have declared that it was mere coincidence that the captain
selected me. I am positive it wasn't, and I'm also certain that this
captain (who knows quite a bit about this science) will agree with me.
Aboard that ship were dozens of people far more important than I could
ever be. I carried nothing to set me apart, being one of those who can
pass in a crowd. So obviously it wasn't the clothes I wore or the way I
looked that prompted the captain to pick me out of several hundred
passengers to receive personal attention.
In presenting to you this very workable science, I am aware that the
subject has been handled before from many angles, but also realize that
many people shy away from any approach that smacks of religion, the
occult, or the metaphysical. Accordingly, I am using the language of a
businessman who believes that sincere thinking, clear writing, and
simple language will get any message across.
You have often heard it said that you can if you believe you can. An
old Latin proverb says, "Believe that you have it, and you have it."
Belief is the motivating force that enables you to achieve your goal.
If you are ill and imbedded deeply within you is the thought or belief
that you will recover, the odds are that you will. It's the belief or
the basic confidence within you that brings outward material results. I
speak of normal and mentally healthy people. I wouldn't tell a
handicapped person that he could excel in baseball or football. Nor
would I tell a woman who was quite plain-looking that she could make
herself into a great beauty overnight, since the odds are against it.
Yet these things could happen,
for there have been many remarkable
cures. And when more is learned about the powers of the mind, I firmly
believe that we shall witness many cures that today's medical
profession deems impossible. Finally, I would
never discourage anyone; for in this life, anything can happen—and what
can help bring it to pass is Hope.
Dr. Alexander Cannon was a distinguished British scientist and
physician whose books on the general subject of thought stirred up
controversy here and abroad. He declared that while today a man cannot
grow a new leg (as a crab can grow a new claw), he could if the mind of
man hadn't rejected the possibility. The eminent scientist claimed that
if the thought is changed in the innermost depths of the unconscious
mind, then man will grow a new leg as easily as the crab grows a new
claw. I know, such a statement may sound incredible, but how do we know
that it will not be done some day?
Frequently I lunch with a group of medical men, all specialists in
various branches of medicine and surgery. I know that if I voiced such
an idea, they would suggest that I have my head examined. However, I
find that some of these doctors, especially those more recently
graduated from our better schools, are no longer closing their minds to
the role that thought plays in causing and curing functional
disturbances in the body.
A few weeks before I wrote this chapter, a neighbor came to me to
explain how his warts happened to disappear. During a stay at the
hospital, he had wandered out on the porch where another convalescent
patient was conversing with a friend. Said the visitor to the other
patient, "So you would like to get rid of the warts on your hand? Well,
just let me count them, and they'll disappear."
My neighbor said he looked at the stranger for a moment, then said:
"While you're about it, will you count mine, too?" He did, and my
neighbor thought no more about it until after he had gone home and he
happened to look at his hands one day. "The mess of warts had entirely
disappeared!" he told me.
I told this story to a group of doctors one day. A well-known
specialist—and personal friend—grunted, saying, "Preposterous!" Across
the table, another doctor who had recently been teaching in a medical
school came to my aid, declaring that there were many authenticated
cases of suggestion having been used to cure warts.
I was tempted to remind them that several years before, newspapers and
medical journals had reported how Heim, a Swiss geologist, had removed
warts by suggestion, and had also cited the procedure of Professor
Block, another Swiss specialist, in his use of psychology and
suggestion for the same purpose. Back in January, 1945, Columbia
University's College of Physicians and Surgeons set up the first
psychoanalytic and psychosomatic clinic in this country for the purpose
of studying the relationship between the unconscious mind and the body.
I kept silent, feeling that I was too outnumbered for an argument.
Since this conversation, considerable publicity was given to the
findings of Dr. Frederick Kalz, a noted Canadian authority who flatly
stated that suggestion works in many cases, even to curing warts that
are infectious and caused by a virus. In a 1945 article in the Canadian
Medical Association Journal, Dr.
Kalz declared that, "In every country
in the world some magic procedures to cure warts are known . . .
It may
be anything from covering the wart with spider-webs to burying toad
eggs on a crossroad at new moon; all these magic procedures are
effective, if the patient believes
in them." In describing the
treatment of patients with skin trouble, he says, "I have often
prescribed the very same ointment, accompanied by some promising words,
which has been tried unsuccessfully by some other medical man, and got
credit for a quick cure." He also points out that X-ray therapy is
especially suggestive; it works even when the technician fails to
switch on the high power! Experiments with systematic fake irradiation
bear out this observation. Here in Dr. Kalz's work we see actual
examples of the magic of believing at
work in the curing of warts and
the treatment of skin trouble.
Another time my medical friends and I were discussing telepathy. I
remarked that some of our greatest students and scholars believed in
it. Dr. Alexis Carrel, of the Rockefeller Institute for Medical
Research, was not only a thorough believer in the phenomenon but
declared that there was definite scientific proof that man could
project his thought even at great distances into other minds.
"Oh, he was just a senile old man," remarked another specialist at the
table, a nationally known member of the American Medical Association.
I looked at him with astonishment, for Dr. Carrel won the Nobel Prize
for his medical research. When he put forth his ideas in that
remarkable book, Man the Unknown,
published in 1935, he was regarded as one of the world's foremost
medical scientists and
investigators.
I have no quarrel with the medical fraternity. Quite the contrary, for
its members are generally sincere, able, and open-minded men, and a
number are among my closest friends. However, some medical specialists,
especially those inclined to restrict their studies to their respective
fields, refuse to accept anything that may upset their early teachings
and dogmatic beliefs. This resistance is not confined to the medical
profession: countless specialists in other lines, including business,
know very little outside of their chosen fields, and their minds are
closed to any idea beyond their limited imaginations. Frequently, I
have offered to lend books to these various specialists—only to be
told, after informing them of the contents, that they were not
interested.
Paradoxically, many apparently well-educated men and women, successful
in their respective fields, will, in their broad ignorance, condemn the
idea of thought power and make no endeavor to learn more about it—yet
every one of them has unconsciously made use of it! Again, many people
will believe only what they like to believe or what fits into their own
scheme of things, summarily rejecting anything to the contrary.
Countless men whose ideas developed the very civilization we live in
have been hooted at, slandered, even crucified by the ignoramuses of
their times. I think of the words of Marie Corelli, the English
novelist who became world famous in the 19th century:
The very idea that any one
creature
(human) should be fortunate enough to secure some particular advantage
which others, through their own indolence or indifference, have missed
is sufficient to excite the envy of the weak or the anger of the
ignorant. . . It is impossible that an outsider should enter into a
clear understanding of the mystical spiritual-nature world around him,
and it follows that the teachings and tenets of that spiritual-nature
world must be more or less a closed book to such a one—a book,
moreover, which he seldom cares or dares to try and open. For this
reason, the sages concealed much of their profound knowledge from the
multitude, because they rightly recognized the limitations of narrow
minds and prejudiced opinions. . . What the fool cannot learn, he
laughs at, thinking that by his laughter he shows superiority instead
of
latent idiocy.*
•From The Life Everlasting by
Marie Corelli
Great investigators and thinkers of the world, including many famous
scientists, are in the open today, freely discussing the subject and
giving the results of their experiments. Shortly before his death,
Charles P. Steinmetz, famous engineer of the General Electric Company,
declared, "The most important advance in the next fifty years will be
in the realm of the spiritual—dealing with the spirit—thought." Dr.
Robert Gault, while professor of Psychology at Northwestern University,
was credited with the statement: "We are at the threshold of our
knowledge of the latent psychic powers of man."
Much has been written and said about mystical powers, unknown forces,
the occult, metaphysics (beyond science), mental physics, psychology
(the science of mind), black and white magic, and many kindred
subjects, causing most people to believe that they are in the field of
the supernatural. Perhaps they are for some. But to me, the only
inexplicable thing about these powers is that belief makes them work.
During the years that I have appeared before luncheon clubs, business
concerns, and sales organizations, as well as talking over the radio to
thousands of people about this science, I have seen results that can be
termed phenomenal.
As I said before, many have used it in their business to double,
treble, even quadruple their incomes. My files are filled with letters
from people in all walks of life, testifying what they have
accomplished by using the science. As an instance, I think of Ashley C.
Dixon, whose name was once known to thousands of radio listeners in the
Pacific Northwest. A number of years ago, he wrote me voluntarily to
say that he had studied this subject in an academic way, but had never
fully believed it until he was forty-three, when he had only $65 to his
name, no employment, and no jobs available. He set out to prove to
himself that the science would work. I quote the following excerpts
from Mr. Dixon's letter:
"Your book T.N.T. put forth
in workable form all that I had known
before. It was like seeing Niagara Falls for the first time. One knew
there was such a place; but confirmation was the actual personal
contact with it. And so, T. N. T.
gave me in print the facts I had
known and used, but in a clear form. Here was something I could read
and
use day by day, holding the thoughts till they were fully demonstrated.
"What has all this been worth to me in dollars and cents? That, of
course, is the question of the average man. He wants to see something .
. . in the profit column; something material in the way of dollars and
cents. Here's the answer. I have made a hundred thousand dollars, most
of it in paid-up insurance and annuities. I have sold my business which
costs me $5,000 (originally borrowed) for $30,000, and am now working
on a contract to run for the next ten years which will net me $50,000
if I loaf; and more if I care to work. This is not a boast. It is a
factual statement of what has actually happened in the past ten years.
. . It cannot be done in a moment, or a day or a month, but it can be
done."
In 1934, during the lowest point of the Depression, the head of the
Better Business Bureau in a large Pacific Coast city heard of what was
happening to firms and individuals who were following my teachings. He
decided to investigate my work. Later he congratulated me publicly and
subsequently wrote me as follows:
"My statement—that the teachings have done more to stimulate business
here during the past year than any other single factor or agency—is
based upon statements by numerous executives who have been using the
theme successfully in their businesses. . . When I first heard of the
phenomenal results you were obtaining, I was inclined to question the
facts. They seemed too preposterous to be true. But upon investigation,
talking with heads of firms using the theme and with salesmen who have
doubled and trebled their incomes, as well as hearing many of your
lectures and getting into the subject for myself, the terrific and
dynamic force embraced by it all becomes apparent. It isn't going to be
understood by everyone in a minute, but firms and individuals that
accept what you have to give and follow through can expect some
startling and extraordinary results. You have fully demonstrated that,
and therefore are to be congratulated."
This man has since risen to great heights in the business world and has
written me of having seen other practical demonstrations of the
workings of this science.
When I started this book, I decided to check with some of the
individuals and firms who had written me to certify the phenomenal
results they had achieved by using this science. Without exception,
every one testified to the continuing progress he had made. One of the
most outstanding accounts was related by Mr. Dorr Quayle, once
well-known to the Disabled American War Veterans, who was long active
in veterans' affairs in the Northwest. In 1937, he wrote me:
"It was no easy matter, at first, to completely accept your ideas. But
my
circumstances and physical condition forced me to keep at it
continuously until understanding came. . . .You see, in February, 1924,
I was stricken with partial paralysis of my lower limbs. I needed
crutches to even get about at all, and at best, for only short
distances, and at a snail's pace. For a bank executive who had been
active in the business world this forced inactivity was not easy to get
used to. It was bearable only because I received government
compensation—my disability being considered due to service during the
World War. However, in 1933, the Government dropped me from the
compensation rolls, and I was forced to make a living. My home and
other properties were about to be repossessed. It was not a pleasant
picture, nor a hopeful future.
"Necessity forced me to put into practice the principles you explained
so well. Sticking to it proves them. Possibly I was favored because I
couldn't quit the insurance and public accounting business—due to my
inability to enter any other kind of work. But persistence gives
confidence, and continued right mental attitude followed by consistent
action will bring success. I haven't reached the degree of success I
desire, but that does not bother me at all, for now I am making a good
living, have saved my properties, and know the formula that leads to
the fullest success. When you have that knowing inside you, fear
vanishes, as do the obstructions to a continued life of all good."
I first met Mr. Quayle just after he had started his business with one
desk in the front of a plumbing shop. In the following years, it was a
pleasure to see him move from place to place, his business growing by
leaps and bounds, until he occupied the entire ground floor of a
building on one of the main thoroughfares of a great western city.
Realizing that his story of achievement was a remarkable one, I asked
permission to quote his earlier letter.
"By all means, do so," he replied, "if you think it will help others.
You might add that I now have the whole quarters at 20th and Sandy and
I employ twenty-two people. I have just brought the business lot
between 28th and 29th on Sandy where I shall build my own
office building. I sincerely wish that all people would accept your
teachings."
At the time I grasped this science, I had no idea that I was later to
put it into book form. My primary thought was to use it to save my own
organization from bankruptcy. I was then vice-president of an
investment banking firm, and we had been caught in the economic crisis
and were headed for disaster.
I don't know whether I was inspired, but I dictated the first draft of
my brochure in its entirety in less than five hours, without notes or
references of any kind before me. At the same time the idea for the
brochure came to me, the words, "cosmic consciousness," floated before
my mind. They meant nothing then.
But after T.N. T.—It Rocks the Earth
was published, it reached a woman
author living in New York, who wrote me as follows:
"Seriously, I've been eating and sleeping [your] philosophy for the
last ten years. It brought me to New York on no carfare; it sold my
stuff to publishers when I had a lousy little job earning $30 a week. .
. It took me to Europe a couple of times, and bought me silver foxes."
In the same letter, she urged me to read Dr. Richard Maurice Bucke's Cosmic Consciousness, declaring
that it contained brilliant accounts of
the actual experience of illumination. When I did, I was astounded to
discover that my experience actually paralleled the illuminations
listed and explained by Dr. Bucke. In the original draft of my
brochure, I had described in detail my experience with "brilliant white
light." But subsequently, when I showed the manuscript to a close
friend, he urged me to tone down the wording: "People won't know what
you are talking about in referring to that 'white light'—some may think
you've gone off the deep end." Consequently, I changed it. But those of
you that know something about "cosmic illumination" and have read my
earlier
small book will catch my reference to the "light." However, the memory
of that singular experience will always remain with me: in those few
seconds, I received more knowledge and understanding than I had ever
received in years of reading and studying.
In the same period, it came to me in a flash why my firm was going on
the rocks—not because of the threatening outside happenings and
events, but because of the mental attitude of our employees. We were
all succumbing to mass fear-thoughts: we feared that the Depression was
weakening our spirit and sweeping everything
downhill to financial
disaster. With our own thoughts of ruin, we were attracting the
disaster to ourselves.
It occurred to me that to save the firm and to begin fighting the
Depression itself, all I needed to do was reverse the thinking of every
person connected with our organization. I set about doing that very
thing. As Frank W. Camp, who wrote the introduction to my brochure
declared, it was followed "by the most remarkable transformation of
individuals and organization as well."
I admit that some of my statements may be ridiculed by classroom
psychologists. But every day, thousands of people demonstrate for
themselves that the science works. As for you, the reader, the main
point to consider is whether it will work for you. The only way you can
find out is to try it yourself.
I give you this science, in the confident knowledge that no matter how
you use it, you will get results. But I do wish to repeat a warning
given in my brochure: Never use it
for harmful or evil purposes. Since
the beginning, there have been two great subtle forces in the
world—good and evil. Both are terrifically powerful in their respective
scopes and cycles. The basic principle operating both is mind
power—massed mind power. Sometimes evil appears to have the upper hand,
and at other times good is at the controls. It is mind power that has
built empires, and we have seen how it can be used to destroy
them—history has recorded the facts.
If you read this book reflectively, you will understand how the science
can be used with terribly destructive force, as well as for good and
constructive results. It is like many natural forces, such as water and
fire, which are among men's greatest benefactors. Yet both can be
hideously catastrophic, depending upon whether they are used for
constructive or destructive purposes.
Therefore, take great care that you do not misuse the science of "Mind
Stuff." I cannot emphasize this too strongly, for if you employ it for
harmful or evil purposes, it will boomerang and destroy you just as it
has others down through the centuries. These are not idle words, but
solemn words of warning.
The Magic of Believing
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