''The Science of Getting Rich'' is a book written by the

New Thought Movement The New Thought movement (also Higher Thought) is a spiritual movement that coalesced in the United States in the early 19th century. New Thought was seen by its adherents as succeeding "ancient thought", accumulated wisdom and philosophy from ...

writer

Wallace D. Wattles Wallace Delois Wattles (; 1860 – 7 February 1911) was an American New Thought writer. He remains personally somewhat obscure, but his writing has been widely quoted and remains in print in the New Thought and self-help movements. Wattles' b ...

and published in 1910 by the

Elizabeth Towne Elizabeth Jones Towne (May 11, 1865 – June 1, 1960) was an influential writer, editor, and publisher in the New Thought and self-help movements. Early life Elizabeth Jones was born in Oregon, the daughter of John Halsey Jones. She first marri ...

Company. The book is still in print. According to ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

'', the text is "divided into 17 short, straight-to-the-point chapters that explain how to overcome mental barriers, and how creation, rather than competition, is the hidden key to wealth attraction."

Historical context

This book is based on the Hindu philosophies that One is All, and that All is One (Page one of Preface). ''The Science of Getting Rich'' is based upon what Wattles called "the Certain Way of Thinking." According to

Mitch Horowitz Mitch Horowitz (born November 23, 1965) is an American writer in occult and esoteric themes. He is the former editor-in-chief of TarcherPerigee. A frequent writer and speaker on religion and metaphysics in print and on television, radio, and onl ...

, the editor-in-chief of the Jeremy Tarcher imprint of

Penguin Books Penguin Books is a British publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers The Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the following year.Phineas P. Quimby in the mid-19th century. As Horowitz explained to a reporter from the ''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'', 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 physiological situations. Wattles, who had formerly been a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

, ran for office as a

Socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

candidate in

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

in 1916.Cox, Ora Ellen (1916)How is this possible if Wattles died in 1911? "The Socialist Party in Indiana", in ''Indiana Magazine of History'', June 1916, Indiana University, Dept. of History, p. 127.Biographical note in , includin
"excerpts from a letter to Elizabeth Towne"
by Florance Wattles, originally published in '' The Nautilus'' magazine, 1911 He included the word

science Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...

in the title, reflecting a secular approach to

New Thought The New Thought movement (also Higher Thought) is a spiritual movement that coalesced in the United States in the early 19th century. New Thought was seen by its adherents as succeeding "ancient thought", accumulated wisdom and philosophy from ...

though also thereby borrowing from the then widespread popularity of

Christian Science Christian Science is a set of beliefs and practices associated with members of the Church of Christ, Scientist. Adherents are commonly known as Christian Scientists or students of Christian Science, and the church is sometimes informally know ...

and its offshoots 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," 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 Transcendentalism is a philosophical movement that developed in the late 1820s and 1830s in New England. "Transcendentalism is an American literary, political, and philosophical movement of the early nineteenth century, centered around Ralph Wald ...

and a belief in the power of

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." The contents, with chapter titles like "How to Use the Will" and "Further Use of the Will" advance Wattles' concept of the "Certain Way."; similar keywords about

will power William "Will" Steven Power (born 1 March 1981) is an Australian motorsports driver who currently competes in the IndyCar Series, driving for Team Penske. He is the 2014 and 2022 IndyCar Series champion and the 2018 Indianapolis 500 champion. ...

, mastery, and success are found in the writings of contemporary early 20th century authors Charles F. Haanel (''

The Master Key System ''The Master Key System'' is a personal development book by Charles F. Haanel (1866–1949) that was originally published as a 24-week correspondence course in 1912, and then in book form in 1916. The ideas it describes and explains come most ...

''), the Methodist minister Frank Channing Haddock (''Power of Will'', ''Power for Success'', ''Mastery of Self for Wealth Power Success''), and

(''How to Grow Success''). Towne published other books and magazine articles by Wattles: ''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) 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 ''

'' by Charles F. Haanel (1912) and ''

Think and Grow Rich ''Think and Grow Rich'' is a book written by Napoleon Hill in 1937 and promoted as a personal development and self-improvement book. He claimed to be inspired by a suggestion from business magnate and later-philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. First ...

'' by

Napoleon Hill Oliver Napoleon Hill (October 26, 1883 – November 8, 1970) was an American self-help author. He is best known for his book ''Think and Grow Rich'' (1937), which is among the best-selling self-help books of all time. Hill's works insisted th ...

(1937). In the 100 years since its publication, it has gone through many editions, and remains in print from more than one publisher. ''The Science of Getting Rich'' was credited by

Rhonda Byrne Rhonda Byrne ( ; née Izon; born 1951, Melbourne, Australia) is an Australian television writer and producer. Her book '' The Secret'' is based on the belief of the pseudoscientific law of attraction, which claims that thoughts can change a p ...

as one of the inspirations for her popular 2006 film and 2007 book '' The Secret''. As Byrne explained it on the web site of

Oprah Winfrey Oprah Gail Winfrey (; born Orpah Gail Winfrey; January 29, 1954), or simply Oprah, is an American talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and philanthropist. She is best known for her talk show, ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', br ...

, "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."''The Secret of the Secret: Unlocking the Mysteries of the Runaway Bestseller'' (2007) Kelly, Karen, Macmillan, p.13 ''The Science of Getting Rich'' was brought to worldwide attention via The Science of Getting Rich Network in 1999. 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. The book is included in personal development scholar

Tom Butler-Bowdon Tom Butler-Bowdon (; born 1967) is a non-fiction author based in Oxford, England. Early life Butler-Bowdon was born in Adelaide. He graduated from the University of Sydney (BA Hons, Government and History) and the London School of Economics (MSc ...

's list of "50 Success Classics" in his 2004 book of that name."The Science of Getting Rich"
by Wallace Wattles, a commentary in ''50 Success Classics: Winning Wisdom For Work and Life from 50 Landmark Books'' (2004) Nicholas Brealey: London & Boston, pp. 282-287.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Science of Getting Rich New Thought literature