The Science of Getting Rich

"The Science of Getting Rich" is a book written by the New Thought Movement writer Wallace D. Wattles; it was published in 1910 by Elizabeth Towne. The book is still in print after almost 100 years. It was a major inspiration for Rhonda Byrne's bestselling book and film and book The Secret (2006 film)."The Secret of the Secret: Unlocking the Mysteries of the Runaway Bestseller" (2007) Kelly, Karen, Macmillan,ISBN 0312377908 p.13 ] According to USA Today, the text is "divided into 17 short, straight-to-the-point chapters that explain how to overcome mental barriers, and how creation, not competition, is the hidden key to wealth attraction." cite web| title= Book Buzz: Oprah weighs in, secret to 'Getting Rich'| url= http://www.usatoday.com/life/books/news/2007-04-04-book-buzz_N.htm| publisher = USAToday | author= Jacqueline Blais, Bob Minzesheimer and Carol Memmott| date= 2007-04-06| accessdate=2008-08-31]

Historical context

"The Science of Getting Rich" is based upon what Wattles called "the Certain [that is, the positive, self-assured] Way of Thinking." According to Mitch Horowitz, the editor-in-chief of the Jeremy Tarcher imprint of Penguin Books, which reprinted "The Science of Getting Rich" in 2007, Wattles's "Certain Way" descended from the "mental healing movement" that had started earlier with Phineas P. Quimby in the mid-19th century. As Horowitz explained to a reporter from the Washington Post, after experiencing relief from physical symptoms of discomfort or illness through Quimby's mental strategies, people began to wonder, "If my state of mind seems to have a positive influence over how I feel physically, what other things can it do? Can it lead to prosperity? Can it lead to happiness in my home? Can it lead to finding love and romance?" One result of such questioning was Wattles's application of Quimbian "mental healing" strategies to financial as well as physiologal situations. cite news| title= 'The Secret' Draws on Long Tradition |author = Tara Burghart, The Associated Press| publisher= Washington Post | date= 2007-06-23| url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/23/AR2007062300646.html | accessdate=2008-08-31]

Wattles, who had formerly been a Methodist, ran for office as a Socialist candidate in Indiana in 1916.Cox, Ora Ellen (1916) "The Socialist Party in Indiana", in "Indiana Magazine of History", June 1916, Indiana University, Dept. of History, p. 127.] Biographical note in cite book | last = Wattles | first = Wallace | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = How to Be a Genius: Or the Science of Being Great | publisher = Health Research | date = September 1996 | location = | pages = pp99-100 | url = | doi = | id = | isbn = 0787309370, including [http://musa23.blogspot.com/2008/06/florence-wattless-letter-to-mrs-towne.html "excerpts from a letter to Elizabeth Towne"] by Florance Wattles, originally published in Nautilus magazine, 1911] He included the word science in the title, reflecting a secular approach to New Thought as he wrote about business prosperity, mind training, and success in the material world. The mental technique that he called "thinking in the Certain Way," ["The Science of Getting Rich", chapter 8 (chapter title)] was intended to establish a state of positivity and self-affirmation. According to Horowitz, mental healing and positive thinking theories for prosperity were joined by late 19th century trends such as Transcendentalism and a belief in the power of science and that "All these currents came together, and this philosophy that we call 'New Thought,' was born out of them. It's as American as an old-growth forest."cite web | title= archive.org - open source audio. The Science of getting Rich by Wallace D. Wattles as read by Mike DeWitt| url=http://www.archive.org/details/TheScienceofGettingRich | accessdate = 2008-08-31 | quote=Wallace D. Wattles classic 1910 self-improvement book describes a Certain Way to think and act to get rich. These principles presage contemporary Law of Attraction books, using virtually identical methods.]

The contents, with chapter titles like "How to Use the Will" and "Further Use of the Will" advance Wattles's concept of the "Certain Way." ; similar keywords about will power, mastery, and success are found in the writings of contemporary early 20th century authors Charles F. Haanel ("The Master Key System"), the Methodist minister Frank Channing Haddock ("Power of Will", "Power for Success", "Mastery of Self for Wealth Power Success"), and Elizabeth Towne ("How to Grow Success"). Towne published other books and magazine articles by Wattles: Cite book |title= The Secret of the Secret: Unlocking the Mysteries of the Runaway Bestseller | author= Karen Kelly| page= p.89| publisher= Thomas Dunne Books | date=1st edition, July 24, 2007 | ISBN 978-0312377908|quote="She [Towne] ran pieces by Wallace Wattles in almost every issue [of The Nautilus] during the early 1900s."] "The Science of Getting Rich" (1910) is a companion volume to the author's book on health from a New Thought perspective, "The Science of Being Well" (1910) cite book| title= The Science of Being Well | author = Wallace D. Wattles | url = http://books.google.com/books?id=mUgPAAAAIAAJ&dq=wattles&jt] and his personal self-help book "The Science of Being Great" (1911). All three were originally issued in matching bindings.

Influence

"The Science of Getting Rich" preceded similar financial success books such as The Master Key System by Charles F. Haanel (1912) and Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill (1937). In the 100 years since its publication, it has gone through many editions, and remains in print from more than one publisher. [Wattles, Wallace D. "The Science of Getting Rich or Financial Success through Creative Thought". Wheatmark, Inc. 2002 ISBN-13: 9781587360947] [Wattles, Wallace D. "The Science of Getting Rich". Tarcher. 2007 SBN-10: 1585426016. ISBN-13: 978-1585426010. ]

"The Science of Getting Rich" was credited by Rhonda Byrne as one of the inspirations for her popular 2006 film and 2007 book The Secret. cite news| author = Jerry Adler | url=http://www.newsweek.com/id/36603/output/print| title= Decoding The Secret | work= Newsweek | date = 2007-08-21 | accessdate = 2008-08-19] [ cite news| url=http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,21062184-5006022,00.html | title= The Secret life of Rhonda | work= Herald Sun] As Byrne explained it on the web site of Oprah Winfrey, "Something inside of me had me turn the pages one by one, and I can still remember my tears hitting the pages as I was reading it. [...] It gave me a glimpse of The Secret. It was like a flame inside of my heart. And with every day since, it's just become a raging fire of wanting to share all of this with the world."cite web | title = Spirit: Discovering the Secret | publisher = oprah.com (The Oprah Winfrey Show) |url = http://www.oprah.com/slideshow/spirit/knowyourself/slideshow1_ss_20070208/1| accessdate = 2008-08-31]

When Tarcher/Penguin reprinted the book in 2007, their initial print run was 75,000 copies.

The continuing influence of "The Science of Getting Rich" is such that in addition to reprints and audio versions of the book itself, there are a number of web domains whose names are based on its title. [Among the domain names with titles taken from this book are www.scienceofgettingrich.net [access date 2008-08-31] , www.scienceofgettingrich.org [access date 2008-08-31] , www.ScienceGettingRichDVD.com [access date 2008-08-31] , www.gettingrichscience.com [access date 2008-08-31] and thesgrprogram.com [access date 2008-08-31] ]

Criticism

"The Science of Getting Rich" has been criticized by the Ankerberg Theological Institute for being centered on the individual rather than on God, and for ignoring Biblical viewpoints that are unfavourable to ideas of striving for personal accumulation of wealth. [Paper published by Ankerberg Theological Institute, located at http://ankerburg.org/Articles/_PDFArchives/media-wise/MW2W0307.pdf and retrieved on Sep 1 2008. [http://ankerburg.org/Articles/_PDFArchives/media-wise/MW2W0307.pdf] ]

References

External links

* [http://www.portzon.com/rich1.htm Online Version] of "The Science of Getting Rich"