The Law of Success. Napoleon Hill
Читать онлайн книгу.
him is literally true. In a subsequent lesson a whole chapter on this subject is addressed to the wives of men.
Any high-school student knows that certain food combinations will, if taken into the stomach, result in indigestion, violent pain and even death. Good health depends, in part at least, upon a food combination that “harmonizes.” But harmony of food combinations is not sufficient to insure good health; there must be harmony, also, between the units of energy known as the mind.
“Harmony” seems to be one of Nature’s laws, without which there can be no such thing as ORGANIZED ENERGY, or life in any form whatsoever.
The health of the body as well as the mind is literally built around, out of and upon the principle of HARMONY! The energy known as life begins to disintegrate and death approaches when the organs of the body stop working in harmony.
The moment harmony ceases at the source of any form of organized energy (power) the units of that energy are thrown into a chaotic state of disorder and the power is rendered neutral or passive.
Harmony is also the nucleus around which the principle of mind chemistry known as a “Master Mind” develops power. Destroy this harmony and you destroy the power growing out of the co-ordinated effort of a group of individual minds.
This truth has been stated, re-stated and presented in every manner which the author could conceive, with unending repetition, for the reason that unless the student grasps this principle and learns to apply it this lesson is useless.
Success in life, no matter what one may call success, is very largely a matter of adaptation to environment in such a manner that there is harmony between the individual and his environment. The palace of a king becomes as a hovel of a peasant if harmony does not abound within its walls. Conversely stated, the hut of a peasant may be made to yield more happiness than that of the mansion of the rich man, if harmony obtains in the former and not in the latter.
Without perfect harmony the science of astronomy would be as useless as the “bones of a saint,” because the stars and planets would clash with one another, and all would be in a state of chaos and disorder.
Without the law of harmony an acorn might grow into a heterogeneous tree consisting of the wood of the oak, poplar, maple and what not.
Without the law of harmony the blood might deposit the food which grows finger nails on the scalp where hair is supposed to grow, and thus create a horny growth which might easily be mistaken, by the superstitious, to signify man’s relationship to a certain imaginary gentleman with horns, often referred to by the more primitive type.
Without the law of harmony there can be no organization of knowledge, for what, may one ask, is organized knowledge except the harmony of facts and truths and natural1aws?
The moment discord begins to creep in at the front door harmony edges out at the back door, so to speak, whether the application is made to a business partnership or the orderly movement of the planets of the heavens.
If the student gathers the impression that the author is laying undue stress upon the importance of HARMONY, let it be remembered that lack of harmony is the first, and often the last and only, cause of FAILURE!
There can be no poetry nor music nor oratory worthy of notice without the presence of harmony.
Good architecture is largely a matter of harmony. Without harmony a house is nothing but a mass of building material, more or less a monstrosity.
Sound business management plants the very sinews of its existence in harmony.
Every well dressed man or woman is a living picture and a moving example of harmony.
With all these workaday illustrations of the important part which harmony plays in the affairs of the world—nay, in the operation of the entire universe—how could any intelligent person leave harmony out of his “Definite Aim” in life? As well have no “definite aim” as to omit harmony as the chief stone of its foundation.
* * * * *
The human body is a complex organization of organs, glands, blood vessels, nerves, brain cells, muscles, etc. The mind energy which stimulates to action and co-ordinates the efforts of the component parts of the body is also a plurality of ever-varying and changing energies. From birth until death there is continuous struggle, often assuming the nature of open combat, between the forces of the mind. For example, the life-long struggle between the motivating forces and desires of the human mind, which takes place between the impulses of right and wrong, is well known to everyone.
Every human being possesses at least two distinct mind powers or personalities, and as many as six distinct personalities have been discovered in one person. One of man’s most delicate tasks is that of harmonizing these mind forces so that they may be organized and directed toward the orderly attainment of a given objective. Without this element of harmony no individual can become an accurate thinker.
It is no wonder that leaders in business and industrial enterprises, as well as those in politics and other fields of endeavor, find it so difficult to organize groups of people so they will function in the attainment of a given objective, without friction. Each individual human being possesses forces, within himself, which are hard to harmonize, even when he is placed in the environment most favorable to harmony. If the chemistry of the individual’s mind is such that the units of his mind cannot be easily harmonized, think how much more difficult it must be to harmonize a group of minds so they will function as one, in an orderly manner, through what is known as a “Master Mind.”
The leader who successfully develops and directs the energies of a “Master Mind” must possess tact, patience, persistence, self-confidence, intimate knowledge of mind chemistry and the ability to adapt himself (in a state of perfect poise and harmony) to quickly changing circumstances, without showing the least sign of annoyance.
How many are there who can measure up to this requirement?
The successful leader must possess the ability to change the color of his mind, chameleon-like, to fit every circumstance that arises in connection with the object of his leadership. Moreover, he must possess the ability to change from one mood to another without showing the slightest signs of anger or lack of self-control. The successful leader must understand the Fifteen Laws of Success and be able to put into practice any combination of these Fifteen Laws whenever occasion demands.
Without this ability no leader can be powerful, and without power no leader can long endure.
THE MEANING OF EDUCATION: There has long been a general misconception of the meaning of the word “educate.” The dictionaries have not aided in the elimination of this misunderstanding, because they have defined the word “educate” as an act of imparting knowledge.
The word educate has its roots in the Latin word educo, which means to develop FROM WITHIN; to educe; to draw out; to grow through the law of USE.
Nature hates idleness in all its forms. She gives continuous life only to those elements which are in use. Tie up an arm, or any other portion of the body, taking it out of use, and the idle part will soon atrophy and become lifeless. Reverse the order, give an arm more than normal use, such as that engaged in by the blacksmith who wields a heavy hammer all day long, and that arm (developed from within) grows strong.
Power grows out of ORGANIZED KNOWLEDGE, but, mind you, it “grows out of it” through application and use!
A man may become a walking encyclopedia of knowledge without possessing any power of value. This knowledge becomes power only to the extent that it is organized, classified and put into action. Some of the best educated men the world has known possessed much less general knowledge than some who have been known as fools, the difference between the two being that the former put what knowledge they possessed into use while the latter made no such application.
An “educated” person is one who knows how to acquire everything he needs in the attainment of his main purpose in life, without violating the rights of his fellow men. It might be a surprise to many so-called men of “learning” to know that they come nowhere near qualification