Page 146 - Napoleon Hill Think and Grow Rich Full Book | Success Learned

steps as a matter of habit. These are the steps by which one may control one's
economic destiny. They are the steps that lead to freedom and independence of
thought. They are the steps that lead to riches, in small or great quantities. They
lead the way to power, fame, and worldly recognition. They are the four steps

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which guarantee favorable "breaks." They are the steps that convert dreams into
physical realities.

They lead, also, to the mastery of FEAR, DISCOURAGEMENT, INDIFFER-
ENCE.

There is a magnificent reward for all who learn to take these four steps. It is the
privilege of writing one's own ticket, and of making Life yield whatever price is
asked.

I have no way of knowing the facts, but I venture to conjecture that Mrs. Wallis
Simpson's great love for a man was not accidental, nor the result of favorable
"breaks" alone. There was a burning desire, and careful searching at every step
of the way. Her first duty was to love. What is the greatest thing on earth? The
Master called it love-not man made rules, criticism, bitterness, slander, or politi-
cal "marriages," but love.

She knew what she wanted, not after she met the Prince of Wales, but long before
that. Twice when she had failed to find it, she had the courage to continue her
search. "To thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou
canst not then be false to any man."

Her rise from obscurity was of the slow, progressive, PERSISTENT order, but
it was SURE! She triumphed over unbelievably long odds; and, no matter who
you are, or what you may think of Wallis Simpson, or the king who gave up his
Crown for her love, she is an astounding example of applied PERSISTENCE, an
instructor on the rules of self-determination, from whom the entire world might
profitably take lessons.

When you think of Wallis Simpson, think of one who knew what she wanted, and
shook the greatest empire on earth to get it. Women who complain that this is
a man's world, that women do not have an equal chance to win, owe it to them-
selves to study carefully the life of this unusual woman, who, at an age which most
women consider "old," captured the affections of the most desirable bachelor in
the entire world.

And what of King Edward? What lesson may we learn from his part in the world's