Some people remain in poverty because they are ignorant of the fact that there is wealth for them；and these can best be taught by showing them the way to affluence in your own person and practice.
Others are poor because，while they feel that there is a way out，they are too intellectually indolent to put forth the mental effort necessary to find that way and by travel it；and for these the very best thing you can do is to arouse their desire by showing them the happiness that comes from being rightly rich.
Others still are poor because，while they have some notion of science，they have become so swamped and lost in the maze of metaphysical and occult theories that they do not know which road to take. They try a mixture of many systems and fail in all. For these，again，the very best thing，to do is to show the right way in your own person and practice；an ounce of doing things is worth a pound of theorizing.
The very best thing you can do for the whole world is to make the most of yourself.
You can serve God and man in no more effective way than by getting rich；that is，if you get rich by the creative method and not by the competitive one.
Another thing. We assert that this book gives in detail the principles of the science of getting rich；and if that is true，you do not need to read any other book upon the subject. This may sound narrow and egotistical，but consider： there is no more scientific method of computation in mathematics than by addition，subtraction，multiplication，and division；no other method is possible. There can be but one shortest distance between two points. There is only one way to think scientifically，and that is to think in the way that leads by the most direct and simple route to the goal. No man has yet formulated a briefer or less complex ＂system＂ than the one set forth herein；it has been stripped of all non-essentials. When you commence on this，lay all others aside；put them out of your mind altogether.
Read this book every day；keep it with you；commit it to memory，and do not think about other ＂systems＂ and theories. If you do，you will begin to have doubts，and to be uncertain and wavering in your thought；and then you will begin to make failures.
After you have made good and become rich，you may study other systems as much as you please；but until you are quite sure that you have gained what you want，do not read anything on this line but this book，unless it be the authors mentioned in the Preface.
And read only the most optimistic comments on the world＇s news；those in harmony with your picture.
Also，postpone your investigations into the occult. Do not dabble in theosophy，Spiritualism，or kindred studies. It is very likely that the dead still live，and are near；but if they are，let them alone；mind your own business.
Wherever the spirits of the dead may be，they have their own work to do，and their own problems to solve；and we have no right to interfere with them. We cannot help them，and it is very doubtful whether they can help us，or whether we have any right to trespass upon their time if they can. Let the dead and the hereafter alone，and solve your own problem；get rich. If you begin to mix with the occult，you will start mental cross-currents which will surely bring your hopes to shipwreck. Now，this and the preceding chapters have brought us to the following statement of basic facts：
There is a thinking stuff from which all things are made，and which，in its original state，permeates，penetrates，and fills the interspaces of the universe.
A thought，in this substance，produces the thing that is imaged by the thought.
Man can form things in his thought，and，by impressing his thought upon formless substance，can cause the thing he thinks about to be created.
In order to do this，man must pass from the competitive to the creative mind；he must form a clear mental picture of the things he wants，and hold this picture in his thoughts with the fixed PURPOSE to get what he wants，and the unwavering FAITH that he does get what he wants，closing his mind against all that may tend to shake his purpose，dim his vision，or quench his faith.
And in addition to all this，we shall now see that he must live and act in a Certain Way.
