chapter one introduction the man who
thought his way into partnership with
Thomas a Edison truly thoughts are
things and powerful things at that when
they are mixed with definiteness of
purpose persistence and a burning desire
for their translation into riches or
other material objects a little more
than thirty years ago
Edwin C barns discovered how true it is
that men really do think and grow rich
his discovery did not come about at one
sitting
it came little by little beginning with
a burning desire to become a business
associate of the great Edison one of the
chief characteristics of Barnes's desire
was that it was definite he wanted to
work with Edison not for him observe
carefully the description of how he went
about translating his desire into
reality and you will have a better
understanding of the thirteen principles
which lead to riches when this desire or
impulsive thought first flashed into his
mind he was in no position to act upon
it to difficulty stood in his way he did
not know mr. Edison and he did not have
enough money to pay his railroad fare to
Orange New Jersey these difficulties
were sufficient to have discouraged the
majority of men from making any attempt
to carry out the desire but his was no
ordinary desire he was so determined to
find a way to carry out his desire that
he finally decided to travel by blind
baggage rather than be defeated to the
uninitiated this means that he went to
East Orange on a freight train he
presented himself at mr. Edison's
laboratory and announced he had come to
go into business with the inventor in
speaking of the first meeting between
Barnes and Edison years later mr. Edison
said he stood there before me looking
like an ordinary Tramp but there was
something in the expression of his face
which conveyed the impression that he
was determined to get what he had come
after I learned from years of experience
with men that when a man really desires
a thing so deeply that he is willing to
stay
his entire future on a single turn of
the wheel in order to get it he is sure
to win I gave him the opportunity he
asked for because I saw he had made up
his mind to stand by until he succeeded
subsequent events proved that no mistake
was made just what young Barnes said to
mr. Edison on that occasion was far less
important than that which he thought
Edison himself said so it could not have
been the young man's appearance which
got him his start in the Edison office
for that was definitely against him it
was what he thought that counted if the
significance of this statement could be
conveyed to every person who hears it
there would be no need for the remainder
of this book Barnes did not get his
partnership with Edison on his first
interview he did get a chance to work in
the Edison offices at a very nominal
wage doing work that was unimportant to
Edison but most important to Barnes
because it gave him an opportunity to
display his merchandise where his
intended partner could see it months
went by apparently nothing happened to
bring the coveted goal which Barnes had
set up in his mind as his definite major
purpose but something important was
happening in Barnes his mind he was
constantly intensifying his desire to
become the business associate of Edison
psychologists have correctly said that
when one is truly ready for a thing it
puts in its appearance Barnes was ready
for a business association with Edison
moreover he was determined to remain
ready until he got that which he was
seeking he did not say to himself well
what's the use
I guess I'll change my mind and try for
a salesman's job but he did say I came
here to go into business with Edison and
I'll accomplish this end if it takes the
remainder of my life he meant it what a
different story men would have to tell
if only they would adopt a definite
purpose and stand by that purpose until
it had time to become an all-consuming
obsession maybe young Barnes did not
know it at the time but his Bulldog
determination his persistence and
standing back of a single desire
was destined to mow down all opposition
and bring him the opportunity he was
seeking when the opportunity came it
appeared in a different form and from a
different direction than Barnes had
expected that is one of the tricks of
opportunity it has a sly habit of
slipping in by the backdoor and often it
comes disguised in the form of
misfortune or temporary defeat perhaps
this is why so many failed to recognize
opportunity mr. Edison had just
perfected a new office device known at
the time as the Edison dictating machine
now the Edda phone his salesmen were not
enthusiastic over the machine they did
not believe it could be sold without
great effort Barnes saw his opportunity
it had crawled in quietly hidden in a
queer-looking machine which interested
no one but Barnes and the inventor
Barnes knew he could sell the Edison
dictating machine he suggested this to
Edison and promptly got his chance he
did sell the machine in fact he sold it
so successfully that Edison gave him a
contract to distribute and marketed all
over the nation out of that Business
Association grew the slogan made by
Edison and installed by Barnes the
Business Alliance has been in operation
for more than 30 years out of it Barnes
has made himself rich in money but he
has done something infinitely greater he
has proved that one really may think and
grow rich how much actual cash that
original desire of Barnes's has been
worth to him I have no way of knowing
perhaps it has brought him two or three
million dollars but the amount whatever
it is becomes insignificant when
compared with the greater asset he
acquired in the form of definite
knowledge that an intangible impulse of
thought can be transmuted into its
physical counterpart by the application
of known principles Barnes literally
thought himself into a partnership with
the great Edison he thought himself into
a fortune he had nothing to start with
except the capacity to know what he
wanted and the determination to stand by
that desire
until he realized it he had no money to
begin with he had but little education
he had no influence but he did have
initiative faith and the will to win
with these intangible forces he made
himself number one man with the greatest
inventor who ever lived now let us look
at a different situation and study a man
who had plenty of tangible evidence of
riches but lost it because he stopped
three feet short of the goal he was
seeking three feet from gold one of the
most common causes of failure is the
habit of quitting when one is overtaken
by temporary defeat every person is
guilty of this mistake at one time or
another an uncle of ru Darby was caught
by the Gold Fever in the gold rush days
and went west to dig and Grow Rich he
had never heard that more gold has been
mined from the brains of men than has
ever been taken from the earth he staked
a claim and went to work with pick and
shovel the going was hard but his lust
for gold was definite after weeks of
labor he was rewarded by the discovery
of the shining or he needed machinery to
bring the ore to the surface quietly he
covered up the mine retraced his
footsteps to his home in Williamsburg
Maryland told his relatives and a few
neighbors of the strike they got to
gather money for the needed machinery
had it shipped the uncle and darby went
back to work the mine the first car of
ore was mined and shipped to a smelter
the returns proved they had one of the
richest mines in Colorado a few more
cars of that or would clear the debts
then would come the big killing and
profits down went the drills up went the
hopes of Darby and uncle then something
happened the vein of gold ore
disappeared they had come to the end of
the rainbow and the pot of gold was no
longer there they drilled on desperately
trying to pick up the vein again all to
no avail finally they decided to quit
they sold the machinery to a junkman for
a few
one hundred dollars and took the train
back home some junk men are dumb but not
this one he called in a mining engineer
to look at the mine and do a little
calculating the engineer advised that
the project had failed because the
owners were not familiar with fault
lines his calculations showed that the
vein would be found just three feet from
where the Darby's had stopped drilling
that is exactly where it was found the
junkman took millions of dollars in ore
from the mine because he knew enough to
seek expert counsel before giving up
most of the money which went into the
machinery was procured through the
efforts of ru Darby who was then a very
young man the money came from his
relatives and neighbors because of their
faith in Him he paid back every dollar
of it although he was years in doing so
long afterward mr. Darby recouped his
loss many times over when he made the
discovery that desire can be transmuted
into gold the discovery came after he
went into the business of selling life
insurance remembering that he lost a
huge fortune because he stopped three
feet from gold Darby profited by the
experience in his chosen work by the
simple method of saying to himself I
stopped three feet from gold but I will
never stop because men say no when I
asked him to buy insurance Darby is one
of a small group of fewer than 50 men
who sell more than a million dollars in
life insurance annually he owes his
stickability to the lesson he learned
from his quit ability in the gold mining
business before success comes in any
man's life he is sure to meet with much
temporary defeat and perhaps some
failure when defeat overtakes a man the
easiest and most logical thing to do is
to quit that is exactly what the
majority of men do more than 500 of the
most successful men this country has
ever known
told the author their greatest success
came just one step beyond the point at
which defeat had overtaken them failure
is a trickster with a keen sense of
irony and cunning it takes great delight
in tripping one
when success is almost Within Reach a
$0.50 lesson in persistence shortly
after mr. Darby received his degree from
the University of hard knocks and had
decided to profit by his experience in
the gold mining business he had the good
fortune to be present on an occasion
that proved to him that no does not
necessarily mean no one afternoon he was
helping his uncle grind wheat in an old
fashioned mill the uncle operated a
large farm on which a number of colored
share crop farmers lived quietly the
door was opened and a small colored
child the daughter of a tenant walked in
and took her place near the door the
uncle looked up saw the child and barked
at her roughly what do you want meekly
the child replied my mammy say send her
50 Cent's and I'll not do it the uncle
retorted now you run on home yes the
child replied but she did not move the
uncle went ahead with his work so busily
engaged that he did not pay enough
attention to the child to observe that
she did not leave when he looked up and
saw her still standing there he yelled
at her I told you to go on home now go
or I'll take a switch to you the little
girl said yes sir but she did not budge
an inch the uncle dropped a sack of
grain he was about to pour into the mill
hopper picked up a barrel stave and
started toward the child with an
expression on his face that indicated
trouble Darby held his breath he was
certain he was about to witness a murder
he knew his uncle out of fierce temper
he knew that colored children were not
supposed to defy white people in that
part of the country when the uncle
reached the spot where the child was
standing she quickly stepped forward one
step looked up into his eyes and
screamed at the top of her shrill voice
my Mami's got to have that $0.50 the
uncle stopped looked at her for a minute
then slowly laid the barrel stave on the
floor put his hand in his pocket took
out a half a dollar and gave it to her
the child took the money and slowly
backed toward the door never taking her
eyes off the man whom she had just
conquered after she had gone the uncle
sat down on a box and looked out the
window into space for more than ten
minutes he was pondering with all over
the whipping he had just taken mr. Darby
too was doing some thinking that was the
first time in all his experience that he
had seen a colored child deliberately
master an adult white person how did she
do it what happened to his uncle that
caused him to lose his fierceness and
become as docile as a lamb
what strange power did this child use
that made her master over her superior
these and other similar questions
flashed into Darby's mind but he did not
find the answer until years later when
he told me the story strangely the story
of this unusual experience was told to
the author in the old mill on the very
spot where the uncle took his whipping
strangely too I had devoted nearly a
quarter of a century to the study of the
power which enabled an ignorant
illiterate colored child to conquer an
intelligent man as we stood there in
that musty old mental mr. Darby repeated
the story of the unusual conquest and
finished by asking what can you make of
it what strange power did that child use
that so completely whipped my uncle the
answer to his question will be found in
the principles described in this audio
book
the answer is full and complete it
contains details and instructions
sufficient to enable anyone to
understand and apply the same force
which the little child accidentally
stumbled upon keep your mind alert and
you will observe exactly what strange
power came to the rescue of the child
you will catch a glimpse of this power
in the next chapter somewhere in the
audio book you will find an idea that
will quicken your receptive powers and
place at your command for your own
benefit this same irresistible power the
awareness of this power may come to you
in the first chapter or it may flash
into your mom
and in some subsequent chapter it may
come in the form of a single idea or it
may come in the nature of a plan or a
purpose again it may cause you to go
back into your past experiences of
failure or defeat and bring to the
surface some lesson by which you can
regain all that you lost through defeat
after I had described to mr. Darby the
power unwittingly used by the little
colored child
he quickly retraced his thirty years of
experience as a life insurance salesman
and frankly acknowledged that his
success in that field was due in no
small degree to the lesson he had
learned from the child mr. Darby pointed
out every time a prospect tried to bow
me out without buying I saw that child
standing there in the old mill her big
eyes glaring in defiance and I said to
myself I've got to make this sale the
better portion of all sales I have made
were made after people had said no he
recalled to his mistaken having stopped
only three feet from gold but he said
that experience was a blessing in
disguise it taught me to keep on keeping
on no matter how hard the going may be a
lesson I needed to learn before I could
succeed in anything this story of mr.
Darby and his uncle the colored child
and the goldmine doubtless will be read
by hundreds of men who make their living
by selling life insurance and to all of
these the author wishes to offer the
suggestion that Darby owes to these two
experiences his ability to sell more
than a million dollars of life insurance
every year life is strange and often
imponderable both the successes and the
failures have their roots in simple
experiences
mr. Darby's experiences were commonplace
and simple enough
yet they held the answer to his destiny
in life therefore they were as important
to him as life itself he profited by
these two dramatic experiences because
he analyzed them and found the lesson
they taught but what of the man who has
neither the time nor the inclination to
study failure in search of knowledge
that may lead to success
and how is he to learn the art of
converting defeat into stepping stones
to opportunity an answer to these
questions this book was written the
answer called for a description of 13
principles but remember as you listen
the answer you may be seeking to the
questions which have caused you to
ponder over the strangeness of life may
be found in your own mind through some
idea plan or purpose which may spring
into your mind as you read one sound
idea is all that one needs to achieve
success the principles described in this
program contain the best and the most
practical of all that is known
concerning ways and means of creating
useful ideas before we go any further on
our approach to the description of these
principles we believe you are entitled
to receive this important suggestion
when riches begin to come they come so
quickly in such great abundance that one
wonders where they have been hiding
during all those lean years this is an
astounding statement and all the more so
when we take into consideration the
popular belief that riches come only to
those who work hard and long when you
begin to think and grow rich you will
observe that riches begin with a state
of mind with definiteness of purpose
with little or no hard work you and
every other person ought to be
interested in knowing how to acquire
that state of mind which will attract
riches I spent 25 years in research
analyzing more than 25,000 people
because I too wanted to know how wealthy
men become that way without that
research this book could not have been
written here take notice of a very
significant truth viz the business
depression started in 1929 and continued
on to an all-time record of destruction
until sometime after President Roosevelt
entered office then the Depression began
to fade into nothingness just as an
electrician in a theater raises the
lights so gradually that darkness is
transmuted into light before you realize
it so did the spell of fear in the minds
of the people
gradually fade away and become faith
observe very closely as soon as you
master the principles of this philosophy
and begin to follow the instructions for
applying those principles your financial
status will begin to improve and
everything you touch will begin to
transmute itself into an asset for your
benefit impossible not at all
one of the main weaknesses of mankind is
the average man's familiarity with the
word impossible he knows all the rules
which will not work he knows all the
things which cannot be done this book
was written for those who seek the rules
which have made others successful and
are willing to stake everything on those
rules a great many years ago I purchased
a fine dictionary the first thing I did
with it was to turn to the word
impossible and neatly clip it out of the
book that would not be an unwise thing
for you to do success comes to those who
become success conscious failure comes
to those who indifferently allow
themselves to become failure conscious
the object of this audio book is to help
all who seek it to learn the art of
changing their minds from failure
consciousness to success consciousness
another weakness found in altogether too
many people is the habit of measuring
everything and everyone by their own
impressions and beliefs some who will
hear this will believe that no one can
think and grow rich they cannot think in
terms of riches because their thought
habits have been steeped in poverty want
misery failure and defeat these
unfortunate people remind me of a
prominent Chinese who came to America to
be educated in American ways he attended
the University of Chicago one day
president Harper met this young oriental
on the campus stopped to chat with him
for a few minutes and asked what had
impressed him as being the most
noticeable characteristic of the
American people why the Chinaman
exclaimed the queer slant of your eyes
your eyes are off slant what do we say
about the Chinese we refuse to believe
that which we do not understand
we foolishly believe that our own
limitations are the proper measure of
limitations sure the other fellows eyes
are off slant because they are not the
same as our own millions of people look
at the achievements of Henry Ford after
he is arrived and envied him because of
his good fortune or luck or genius or
whatever it is that they credit for
Ford's fortune
perhaps one person in every hundred
thousand knows the secret of Ford's
success and those who do know are too
modest or too reluctant to speak of it
because of its simplicity a single
transaction will illustrate the secret
perfectly a few years back Ford decided
to produce his now-famous v8 motor he
chose to build an engine with the entire
eight cylinders cast in one block and
instructed his engineers to produce a
design for the engine the design was
placed on paper but the engineers agreed
to a man that it was simply impossible
to cast an 8 cylinder gas engine block
in one piece Ford said produce it anyway
but they replied it's impossible go
ahead
Ford commanded and stay on the job until
you succeed no matter how much time is
required the engineers went ahead there
was nothing else for them to do if they
were to remain on the Ford staff six
months went by nothing happened another
six months passed and still nothing
happened
the engineers tried every conceivable
plan to carry out the orders but the
things seemed out of the question
impossible at the end of the year Ford
checked with his engineers and again
they informed him they had found no way
to carry out his orders go right ahead
said Ford I want it and I'll have it
they went ahead and then as if by a
stroke of magic the secret was
discovered the Ford determination had
won once more this story may not be
described with minut accuracy but the
sum and substance of it is correct
deduce
you who wish to Think and Grow Rich the
secret of the Ford Millions if you can
you'll not have to look very far Henry
Ford is a success because he understands
and applies the principles of success
one of these is desire knowing what one
wants remember this Ford story as you
listen and pick out the lines in which
the secret of his stupendous achievement
have been described if you can do this
if you can lay your finger on the
particular group of principles which
made Henry Ford rich you can equal his
achievements in almost any calling for
which you are suited you are the master
of your fate the captain of your soul
because when Henley wrote the prophetic
lines I am the master of my fate I am
the captain of my soul he should have
informed us that we are the masters of
our fate the captains of our souls
because we have the power to control our
thoughts he should have told us that the
ether in which this little earth floats
in which we move and have our being is a
form of energy moving at an
inconceivably high rate of vibration and
that the ether is filled with a form of
universal power which adapts itself to
the nature of the thoughts we hold in
our minds and influences us in natural
ways to transmute our thoughts into
their physical equivalent if the poet
had told us of this great truth we would
know why it is that we are the masters
of our fate the captains of our souls he
should have told us with great emphasis
that this power makes no attempt to
discriminate between destructive
thoughts and constructive thoughts that
will urge us to translate into physical
reality thoughts of poverty just as
quickly as will influence us to act upon
thoughts of riches he should have told
us too that our brains become magnetized
with the dominating thoughts which we
hold in our minds and by means with
which no man is familiar these magnets
attract to us the forces the people the
circumstances of life which harmonize
with the nature of our dominating
thoughts he should have told us that
before we can accumulate riches in great
abundance
we must magnetize our minds with intense
desire for riches that we must become
money conscious until the desire for
money drives us to create definite plans
for acquiring it but being a poet and
not a philosopher Henley contented
himself by stating a great truth in
poetic form leaving those who followed
him to interpret the philosophical
meaning of his lines little by little
the truth has unfolded itself until it
now appears certain that the principles
described in this audio book hold the
secret of mastery over our economic fate
we are now ready to examine the first of
these principles maintain a spirit of
open-mindedness and remember as you
listen there the invention of no one man
the principles were gathered from the
life experiences of more than 500 men
who actually accumulated riches in huge
amounts men who began in poverty with
but little education without influence
the principles worked for these men you
can put them to work for your own
enduring benefit you will find it easy
not hard to do before you listen to the
next chapter I want you to know that it
conveys factual information which might
easily change your entire financial
destiny as it has so definitely brought
changes of stupendous proportions to two
people described I want you to know also
that the relationship between these two
men and myself is such that I could have
taken no liberties with the facts even
if I had wished to do so one of them has
been my closest personal friend for
almost 25 years the other is my own son
the unusual success of these two men
success which they generously accredit
to the principle described in the next
chapter
more than justifies this personal
reference as a means of emphasizing the
far-flung power of this principle almost
fifteen years ago I delivered the
commencement address at Salem College
Salem West Virginia I emphasized the
principle described in the next chapter
with so much intensity
that one of the members of the
graduating class definitely appropriated
it and made it a part of his own
philosophy the young man is now a member
of Congress and an important factor in
the present administration just before
this book went to the publisher he wrote
me a letter in which he so clearly
stated his opinion of the principle
outlined in the next chapter that I have
chosen to publish his letter as an
introduction to that chapter it gives
you an idea of the rewards to come my
dear Napoleon my service as a member of
Congress having given me an insight into
the problems of men and women I am
writing to offer a suggestion which may
become helpful to thousands of worthy
people with apologies I must state that
the suggestion if acted upon will mean
several years of labor and
responsibility for you but I am in
heartened to make the suggestion because
I know your great love for rendering
useful service in 1922 you delivered the
commencement address at Salem College
when I was a member of the graduating
class in that address you planted in my
mind an idea which has been responsible
for the opportunity I now have to serve
the people of my state and will be
responsible in a very large measure for
whatever success I may have in the
future the suggestion I have in mind is
that you put into a book the sum and
substance of the address you delivered
at Salem College and in that way give
the people of America an opportunity to
profit by your many years of experience
and association with the men who by
their greatness have made America the
richest nation on earth I recall as
though it were yesterday
the marvelous description you gave of
the method by which Henry Ford with but
little schooling without a dollar with
no influential friends rose to great
heights I made up my mind then even
before you had finished your speech that
I would make a place for myself no
matter how many difficulties I had to
surround thousands of young people will
finish their schooling this year and
within the next few years every one of
them will be seeking just such a message
of practical encouragement as the one I
received from you they
want to know where to turn what to do to
get started in life you can tell them
because you have helped to solve the
problems of so many many people if there
is any possible way that you can afford
to render so great a service may I offer
the suggestion that you include with
every book one of your personal analysis
charts in order that the purchaser of
the book may have the benefit of a
complete self inventory indicating as
you indicate it to me years ago exactly
what is standing in the way of success
such a service as this providing the
readers of your book with a complete
unbiased picture of their faults and
their virtues would mean to them the
difference between success and failure
the service would be priceless millions
of people are now facing the problem of
staging a comeback because of the
depression and I speak from personal
experience when I say I know these
earnest people would welcome the
opportunity to tell you their problems
and to receive your suggestions for the
solution you know the problems of those
who face the necessity of beginning all
over again there are thousands of people
in America today who would like to know
how they can convert ideas into money
people who must start at scratch without
finances and recoup their losses if
anyone can help them you can if you
publish the book I would like to own the
first copy that comes from the press
personally autographed by you with best
wishes believe me cordially yours
Jennings Randolph
