I just read The Science of Being Great by Wallace D. Wattles. Published in 1911, the year of his death, this is the third book in the series after The Science of Getting Rich and The Science of Being Well. It’s been added to the Resources page.

Wattles believed that everyone has the ability to attain greatness. He wrote:

“Nothing was ever in any man that is not in you; no man ever had more spiritual or mental power than you can attain, or did greater things than you can accomplish. You can become what you want to be.”

Sounds promising, but what’s the secret? He tells us this:

“The Principle of Power in man is man himself, and man himself is God. But while man is original substance, and has within him all power and possibilities, his consciousness is limited. He does not know all there is to know, and so he is liable to error and mistake. To save himself from these he must unite his mind to that outside him which does know all; he must become consciously one with God.”

So now you see that compared to the previous two books, this one is much more religious (or sacrilegious, depending on your point of view). The law of attraction is downplayed in favor of emphasis on God. This book is also unusual in that it’s not nearly as easy to read as the other two. However, it’s still very good.

Note that this particular copy of the ebook contains an advertising link at the top of each page. I’m not affiliated with this link, I haven’t researched it, and I have no recommendation either for or against it.

Please share your thoughts on The Science of Being Great in the comments.

New addition to the Resources page: The Science of Being Well by Wallace D. Wattles. It was published in 1910, which ironically was the year before Wattles died from health problems at age 51. However, I don’t think this diminishes the validity of the book. For one thing, he didn’t have modern medicine working in his favor, and lots of people died young. Also, he had been in poor health for several years, and might not have even discovered his health secrets until the very end. I’m sure he would have been worse off not knowing what he knew.

Unlike The Science of Getting Rich, The Science of Being Well is not completely based on the law of attraction. Significant emphasis is placed on proper eating, drinking, breathing, and sleeping. It may be a bit controversial; for example, he says that you should always skip breakfast. But much of what he says is hard to argue with, aside from the polarizing issue of the law of attraction.

Partway through the book is an editor’s note that underscores the significance of this book:

“In 1910, very little was known about physiology and pathology, the inner workings of the body in health and disease. Today, almost a century later, despite huge advances in medical science, the human body is still largely a mystery. The process of mapping the intricate genetic code that makes us human (the Human Genome Project) has called into question what every present day doctor was taught in school about the most basic function in our cells: the role of DNA.

The implications of this are at least as dramatic as the discovery that the earth is not flat! Amazingly enough, cutting-edge science supports exactly what Mr. Wattles wrote in this last paragraph, which bears repeating: the Power of Nature within you is sufficient to overcome all hereditary impressions, and if you will learn to control your thoughts, so that you shall think only those of health, and if you will perform the voluntary functions of life in a perfectly healthy way, you can certainly be well.”

There are a tremendous number of unnatural typos in the book, such as periods and hard returns in the middle of a sentence. No doubt introduced by the editor and not the author, but unfortunately I found it very distracting. Still, it’s a very good ebook. You should read The Science of Getting Rich first, in order to get the necessary background on the law of attraction. The next book in the series is The Science of Being Great.

Note that this particular copy of the ebook contains an advertising link at the top of each page. I’m not affiliated with this link, I haven’t researched it, and I have no recommendation either for or against it.

Please share your thoughts on The Science of Being Well in the comments.

This is the first addition to the Resources page: The Science of Getting Rich by Wallace D. Wattles. Published in 1910, one year before the author’s death, this book went on to inspire Rhonda Byrne’s The Secret nearly a century later. Not much is known about Wallace Wattles, but we know that he was prosperous in his later years after living most of his life in poverty.

This book is about the law of attraction, although it doesn’t call it by that name. It’s very similar to The Secret, but of course it focuses purely on the financial aspects. One notable way in which it differs from The Secret is by placing much greater emphasis on taking action instead of just waiting for the universe to deliver. To quote Wattles:

“A person must not only think, but his personal action must supplement his thought. By thought you can cause the gold in the hearts of the mountains to be impelled toward you, but it will not mine itself, refine itself, coin itself into double eagles, and come rolling along the roads, seeking its way into your pocket…Your pocketbook is not going to be transformed into a Fortunata’s purse, which shall be always full of money without effort on your part. This is the crucial point in the science of getting rich — right here, where thought and personal action must be combined.”

One of the biggest complaints about The Secret is that it completely glosses over the importance of hard work, saying only that “action will sometimes be required.” This was my only major complaint about The Secret, so I was glad to see the need for action being stressed in The Science of Getting Rich.

I’ve heard several people complain that Robert Kiyosaki refers to people who don’t want to be rich as “hamsters.” Those people would probably not like to hear Wattles say this:

“It is perfectly right that you should give your best attention to the science of getting rich, for it is the noblest and most necessary of all studies. If you neglect this study, you are derelict in your duty to yourself, to God and humanity, for you can render to God and humanity no greater service than to make the most of yourself.”

It’s really not surprising that Wattles was ejected from his position in the Methodist Church for heresy.

This is definitely a recommended book, especially for the bargain price of free. The copyright has expired, and the book is now in the public domain. The other books in this series are The Science of Being Well and The Science of Being Great.

Note that this particular copy of the ebook contains an advertising link at the top of each page, and then several more at the end. I’m not affiliated with any of these links, I haven’t researched them, and I have no recommendation either for or against them.

Please share your thoughts on The Science of Getting Rich in the comments.