Page 201 - Napoleon Hill Think and Grow Rich Full Book | Success Learned

Nature has endowed man with absolute control over but one thing, and that is
THOUGHT. This fact, coupled with the additional fact that everything which man
creates, begins in the form of a thought, leads one very near to the principle by
which FEAR may be mastered.

If it is true that ALL THOUGHT HAS A TENDENCY TO CLOTHE ITSELF IN
ITS PHYSICAL EQUIVALENT (and this is true, beyond any reasonable room for
doubt), it is equally true that thought impulses of fear and poverty cannot be
translated into terms of courage and financial gain.

The people of America began to think of poverty, following the Wall Street crash
of 1929. Slowly, but surely that mass thought was crystalized into its physical
equivalent, which was known as a "depression." This had to happen, it is in con-
formity with the laws of Nature.

THE FEAR OF POVERTY

There can be no compromise between POVERTY and RICHES! The two roads
that lead to poverty and riches travel in opposite directions. If you want riches,
you must refuse to accept any circumstance that leads toward poverty. (The word
"riches" is here used in its broadest sense, meaning financial, spiritual, mental and
material estates). The starting point of the path that leads to riches is DESIRE. In
chapter one, you received full instructions for the proper use of DESIRE. In this
chapter, on FEAR, you have complete instructions for preparing your mind to
make practical use of DESIRE.

Here, then, is the place to give yourself a challenge which will definitely determine
how much of this philosophy you have absorbed. Here is the point at which you
can turn prophet and foretell, accurately, what the future holds in store for you.
If, after reading this chapter, you are willing to accept poverty, you may as well
make up your mind to receive poverty. This is one decision you cannot avoid.

If you demand riches, determine what form, and how much will be required to
satisfy you. You know the road that leads to riches. You have been given a road
map which, if followed, will keep you on that road. If you neglect to make the
start, or stop before you arrive, no one will be to blame, but YOU. This responsi-
bility is yours. No alibi will save you from accepting the responsibility if you now
fail or refuse to demand riches of Life, because the acceptance calls for but one

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thing-incidentally, the only thing you can control-and that is a STATE OF MIND.