Page 194 - Napoleon Hill Think and Grow Rich Full Book | Success Learned

disturb him. Finally, he lifted his head slowly, got up and walked to the door, then
turned around, came back, and laid his hand on my shoulder and said, "My boy,
you will need much courage if you remain steadfast in carrying out your purpose
in life. But remember, when difficulties overtake you, the common people have
common sense. Adversity will develop it."

One evening Edison arrived ahead of all the others. He walked over and seated
himself at my left, where Emerson was accustomed to sit, and said, "You are des-
tined to witness the discovery of the secret of life. When the time comes, you will
observe that life consists of great swarms of energy, or entities, each as intelligent

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as human beings think themselves to be. These units of life group together like
hives of bees, and remain together until they disintegrate, through lack of har-
mony.

These units have differences of opinion, the same as human beings, and often
fight among themselves. These meetings which you are conducting will be very
helpful to you. They will bring to your rescue some of the same units of life which
served the members of your Cabinet, during their lives. These units are eternal.
THEY NEVER DIE! Your own thoughts and DESIRES serve as the magnet which
attracts units of life, from the great ocean of life out there. Only the friendly units
are attracted-the ones which harmonize with the nature of your DESIRES."

The other members of the Cabinet began to enter the room. Edison got up, and
slowly walked around to his own seat. Edison was still living when this happened.
It impressed me so greatly that I went to see him, and told him about the experi-
ence. He smiled broadly, and said, "Your dream was more a reality than you may
imagine it to have been." He added no further explanation to his statement.

These meetings became so realistic that I became fearful of their consequences,
and discontinued them for several months. The experiences were so uncanny, I
was afraid if I continued them I would lose sight of the fact that the meetings were
purely experiences of my imagination.

Some six months after I had discontinued the practice I was awakened one night,
or thought I was, when I saw Lincoln standing at my bedside. He said, "The world
will soon need your services. It is about to undergo a period of chaos which will
cause men and women to lose faith, and become panic stricken. Go ahead with
your work and complete your philosophy. That is your mission in life. If you ne-
glect it, for any cause whatsoever, you will be reduced to a primal state, and be
compelled to retrace the cycles through which you have passed during thousands
of years."