The Prosperity & Wealth Bible. Kahlil Gibran
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Pay
Emerson says that “the strongest man on earth is the man who stands most alone.” Owe money — be in Debt — and you stand by the props that the sweat of other men’s brows and the gray of other men’s brains have earned and bought. You don’t stand alone. You play false to your own strength.
Abhor Debt. Pay.
Debt means to owe — somebody else. It means that you give up what might be yours. It means that you offer a part of yourself for sale for a definite sum. When you owe money you make yourself a slave. The other fellow holds you fast in literal bondage.
Abhor Debt. Pay.
Better live happy away from glamor, smooth words, hand-clapping, and selfish gratification than Dog to some Master whose whistle you are bound to respect.
Abhor Debt. Pay.
The quickest way to kill a Friend (the most valuable possession on Earth) is to ask him to lend you money. If he is a real Friend he will refuse. If you are a real Man you will learn a lesson and thank him. The man who makes it a rule to live within his means soon creates means to live out of it. There is but one safe, sound, sensible rule in money affairs and that is to pay as you go — or don’t go!
Abhor Debt. Pay.
Start to-day to Pay up. Will yourself to do it. Catch fire and enthusiasm from the freedom and power that follow in the way of the man who owes not a dollar to any man.
Abhor Debt. Pay.
Count
If there IS any pure Luck in the world or if it ever really does figure in the summing up of things, here’s when it figures biggest — on the day that you find your Life Work — and glory in it. Lucky you are, then — for you — Count. The world must have you.
Be Somebody in the Crowd — Count.
No man ever Counts until he assumes Responsibility. Responsibility demands the work of the Brain and Heart. These two, working together, breed Ideas. Then Results begin to show. And Results make you Count.
Be Somebody in the Crowd — Count.
People who are Useful always Count. So if you want to Count — if you want to be singled out and justly praised, think of the most useful service possible for you to render. Then get busy in doing it. You at your job, doing it as best you can, are sure to Count. Be Somebody in the Crowd — Count.
Nothing stirs and inspires more than to have it said that you are Somebody and that — you Count — that you are a Creator, a Builder, a Producer. Anyone is justified in congratulating himself if he does things — if he really Counts. Be Somebody in the Crowd — Count.
But don’t be so foolish as to be completely satisfied with the results of any work. Growth comes in a large measure by Comparison. When you do your work better To-day than Yesterday you realize your genuine Capacity and know that there is no actual Perfection except the Perfection of doing better To-day than Yesterday. Strive for this and you need have no concern as to whether or not you will Count. You will.
Why
Before you do a thing — ask Why?
A great deal of the Lost Motion of the world results from Head-long Action — going into a task without Cause — without some definite Purpose — without first finding out — Why.
Before you do a thing — ask Why?
Let Why lead you on and save you Power. Simply answer with promptness its Silent questionings. Give unto Why a substantial reason for the fiber that is within you.
Before you do a thing — ask Why?
Ask yourself: “Why should I do this thing? Why should I refuse to do it?” Put your actions to the Why test. Think of the wealth of happiness that the habitual use of Why can bring you!
Before you do a thing — ask Why?
Make Why very personal. “Why do I squander so much Time? Why do I appreciate so little the chance to Live? Why do I use so small a fraction of my Brain Ability? Why do I not make more Friends? Why do I worry about things that Never Happen? Why do I scold when I should Cheer?” Why?
Before you do a thing — ask Why?
Keep Why busy about your House. And at the Night-fall of each day gather into convention the Whys of each Thought and Act.
Before you do a thing — ask Why?
Eliminate the regretful Why. Put yourself on the Stand hourly. Ask and Answer with fortitude and freedom — unafraid of Right conscientiously performed.
Frankness
Frankness is the art of saying things you honestly think exactly as you think them. To be Frank is to be naturally straightforward.
Look the other fellow in the Eye.
Just as a straight line is the shortest distance between two points, so is Frankness the only right course between all people. Because nothing is wasted. The Frank man is the only man worthy of trust.
Look the other fellow in the Eye.
Frankness between Employer and Employee, Frankness between a Man or a Woman, Frankness between yourself and the one who disagrees with you, is the only sensible way.
Look the other fellow in the Eye.
The beginning of mutual respect is trust. No satisfactory result in anything was ever achieved without Frankness.
Look the other fellow in the Eye.
Never think that Frankness is Impudence, nor crude Opinion. It is the face to face openness of Mind and Heart that challenges immediate acceptance of what you have to say as the uncoated Truth.
Look the other fellow in the Eye.
To-day, don’t hedge. Stand squarely on your own legs. Be Frank. And you will marvel at the ease with which other people will understand and respect you. Frankness, a very precious possession, is possible to all — save one, the Coward. You — start to put Frankness into use. Make it earn its board and lodging. Say out what you have to say — with Frankness.
Look the other fellow in the Eye.
Faces
The most marvelous of all pieces of work is the human Face. Strange that out of all the billions of Faces made since Time got to going, no two Faces have ever been exactly alike. Strange, too, that no one Face long remains the same!
Make Something of YOUR Face.
The Face is the Revelation of Character. As surely and positively as does the hand guided by the orders of the Brain clear wide wastes, build great cities, and cut into life-like figures from bare rocks the story of men’s achievements, so does the Brain and Thought of a man carve and fashion daily the secret workings of his Ideals and Purposes into the Lines and Planes of his own Face.
Make Something of YOUR Face.
There is one thing a man cannot hide from — his own Face! Where the Man goes the Face must go. How tremendous the responsibility, then, of making your Face a good Companion, a faithful Servant, an active Force, an interesting Study — a Face worth remembering! Make Something of YOUR Face.
The only way to make Something of your Face is to make Something of your Character.
A Face never lies. It may be a Comic Picture, a Comedy of Errors, a Shakespearean Tragedy, a chiseled piece of Power, or a wrecked god — but it is no lie. If you would know your Friend, study the history of his Face.
Make Something