Page 172 - Napoleon Hill Think and Grow Rich Full Book | Success Learned

TION comes only through a change of heart -through a DESIRE to change. Love,
Romance, and Sex are all emotions capable of driving men to heights of super
achievement. Love is the emotion which serves as a safety valve, and insures bal-
ance, poise, and constructive effort. When combined, these three emotions may
lift one to an altitude of a genius. There are genii, however, who know but little
of the emotion of love. Most of them may be found engaged in some form of ac-
tion which is destructive, or at least, not based upon justice and fairness toward
others. If good taste would permit, a dozen genii could be named in the field of
industry and finance, who ride ruthlessly over the rights of their fellow men. They
seem totally lacking in conscience. The reader can easily supply his own list of
such men.

174

NAPOLEON HILL THINK AND GROW RICH

The emotions are states of mind. Nature has provided man with a "chemistry
of the mind" which operates in a manner similar to the principles of chemistry
of matter. It is a well known fact that, through the aid of chemistry of matter, a
chemist may create a deadly poison by mixing certain elements, none of which
are-in themselves-harmful in the right proportions. The emotions may, likewise,
be combined so as to create a deadly poison. The emotions of sex and jealousy,
when mixed, may turn a person into an insane beast.

The presence of any one or more of the destructive emotions in the human mind,
through the chemistry of the mind, sets up a poison which may destroy one's
sense of justice and fairness. In extreme cases, the presence of any combination
of these emotions in the mind may destroy one's reason.

The road to genius consists of the development, control, and use of sex, love, and
romance. Briefly, the process maybe stated as follows:

Encourage the presence of these emotions as the dominating thoughts in one's
mind, and discourage the presence of all the destructive emotions. The mind is
a creature of habit. It thrives upon the dominating thoughts fed it. Through the
faculty of will-power, one may discourage the presence of any emotion, and en-
courage the presence of any other. Control of the mind, through the power of will,
is not difficult. Control comes from persistence, and habit. The secret of control
lies in understanding the process of transmutation. When any negative emotion
presents itself in one's mind, it can be transmuted into a positive, or constructive
emotion, by the simple procedure of changing one's thoughts.

THERE IS NO OTHER ROAD TO GENIUS THAN THROUGH VOLUN-
TARY SELF EFFORT!

A man may attain to great heights of financial or business achievement, solely