Latest / Think and Grow Rich | Book Podcast / Chapter 15 Part 2

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Chapter 15 Part 2 · Think and Grow Rich | Book Podcast

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Speaker 1: You are listening to Think and Grow Rich, written by
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Speaker 1: Napoleon Hill. This is an independent edition containing the original
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Speaker 1: 1937 core text, produced by audiopulse.org. It is not affiliated with, approved,
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Speaker 1: or endorsed by the Napoleon Hill Foundation. We hope you enjoy.
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Speaker 1: The Fear of Criticism Just how man originally came by
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Speaker 1: this fear, no one can state definitely. But one thing
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Speaker 1: is certain, he has it in a highly developed form.
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Speaker 1: Some believe that this fear made its appearance about the
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Speaker 1: time that politics became a profession. Others believe it can
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Speaker 1: be traced to the age when women first began to
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Speaker 1: concern themselves with styles in wearing apparel. This author, being
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Speaker 1: neither a humorist nor a prophet, is inclined to attribute
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Speaker 1: the basic fear of criticism to that part of man's
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Speaker 1: inherited nature which prompts him not only to take away
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Speaker 1: his fellowman's goods and wares, but to justify his action
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Speaker 1: by criticism of his fellowman's character. It is a well-known
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Speaker 1: fact that a thief will criticize the man from whom
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Speaker 1: he steals, that politicians seek office not by displaying their
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Speaker 1: own virtues and qualifications, but by attempting to besmirch their opponents.
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Speaker 1: The fear of criticism takes on many forms. the majority
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Speaker 1: of which are petty and trivial. Bald-headed men, for example,
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Speaker 1: are bald for no other reason than their fear of criticism.
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Speaker 1: Heads become bald because of the tight-fitting bands of hats
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Speaker 1: which cut off the circulation from the roots of the hair.
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Speaker 1: Men wear hats not because they actually need them, but
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Speaker 1: mainly because everyone is doing it. The individual falls into
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Speaker 1: line and does likewise, lest some other individual criticize him.
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Speaker 1: Women seldom have bald heads or even thin hair because
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Speaker 1: they wear hats which fit their heads loosely, the only
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Speaker 1: purpose of the hats being adornment. But it must not
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Speaker 1: be supposed that women are free from the fear of criticism.
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Speaker 1: If any woman claims to be superior to man with
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Speaker 1: reference to this fear, ask her to walk down the
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Speaker 1: street wearing a hat of the vintage of 1890. The
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Speaker 1: astute manufacturers of clothing have not been slow to capitalize
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Speaker 1: this basic fear of criticism. with which all mankind has
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Speaker 1: been cursed. Every season, the styles in many articles of
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Speaker 1: wearing apparel change. Who establishes the styles? Certainly not the
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Speaker 1: purchaser of clothing, but the manufacturer. Why does he change
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Speaker 1: the styles so often? The answer is obvious. He changes
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Speaker 1: the styles so he can sell more clothes. For the
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Speaker 1: same reason, the manufacturers of automobiles, with a few rare
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Speaker 1: and very sensible exceptions, change styles of models every season.
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Speaker 1: No man wants to drive an automobile which is not
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Speaker 1: of the latest style, although the older model may actually
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Speaker 1: be the better car. We have been describing the manner
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Speaker 1: in which people behave under the influence of fear of
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Speaker 1: criticism as applied to the small and petty things of life.
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Speaker 1: Let us now examine human behavior when this fear affects
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Speaker 1: people in connection with the more important events of human relationships. Take,
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Speaker 1: for example, practically any person who has reached the age
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Speaker 1: of mental maturity, from 35 to 40 years of age
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Speaker 1: as a general average, and if you could read the
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Speaker 1: secret thoughts of his mind, you would find a very
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Speaker 1: decided disbelief in most of the fables taught by the
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Speaker 1: majority of the dogmatists and theologians a few decades back.
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Speaker 1: Not often, however, will you find a person who has
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Speaker 1: the courage to openly state his belief on this subject.
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Speaker 1: Most people will, if pressed far enough, tell a lie
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Speaker 1: rather than admit that they do not believe the stories
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Speaker 1: associated with that form of religion which held people in
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Speaker 1: bondage prior to the age of scientific discovery and education.
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Speaker 1: Why does the average person, even in this day of enlightenment,
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Speaker 1: shy away from denying his belief in the fables which
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Speaker 1: were the basis of most of the religions a few
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Speaker 1: decades ago? The answer is, because of the fear of criticism.
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Speaker 1: Men and women have been burned at the stake for
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Speaker 1: daring to express disbelief in ghosts. It is no wonder
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Speaker 1: we have inherited a consciousness which makes us fear criticism.
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Speaker 1: The time was, and not so far in the past,
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Speaker 1: when criticism carried severe punishments. It still does in some countries.
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Speaker 1: The fear of criticism robs man of his initiative, destroys
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Speaker 1: his power of imagination, limits his individuality, takes away his self-reliance,
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Speaker 1: and does him damage in a hundred other ways. Parents
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Speaker 1: often do their children irreparable injury by criticizing them. The
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Speaker 1: mother of one of my boyhood chums used to punish
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Speaker 1: him with a switch almost daily, always completing the job
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Speaker 1: with the statement, You'll land in the penitentiary before you
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Speaker 1: are twenty. He was sent to a reformatory at the
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Speaker 1: age of seventeen. Criticism is the one form of service
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Speaker 1: of which everyone has too much. Everyone has a stock
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Speaker 1: of it which is handed out, gratis, whether called for
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Speaker 1: or not. One's nearest relatives often are the worst offenders.
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Speaker 1: It should be recognized as a crime. In reality, it
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Speaker 1: is a crime of the worst nature, for any parent
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Speaker 1: to build inferiority complexes in the mind of a child
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Speaker 1: through unnecessary criticism. Employers who understand human nature get the
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Speaker 1: best there is in men, not by criticism, but by
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Speaker 1: constructive suggestion. Parents may accomplish the same results with their children.
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Speaker 1: Criticism will plant fear in the human heart, or resentment,
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Speaker 1: but it will not build love or affection. Symptoms of
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Speaker 1: the Fear of Criticism This fear is almost as universal
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Speaker 1: as the fear of poverty, and its effects are just
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Speaker 1: as fatal to personal achievement, mainly because this fear destroys
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Speaker 1: initiative and discourages the use of imagination. The major symptoms
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Speaker 1: of the fear are self-consciousness, generally expressed through nervousness, timidity
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Speaker 1: in conversation and in meeting strangers, awkward movement of the
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Speaker 1: hands and limbs, shifting of the eyes, lack of poise,
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Speaker 1: expressed through lack of voice control, nervousness in the presence
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Speaker 1: of others, poor posture of body, poor memory, personality, lacking
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Speaker 1: in firmness of decision, personal charm, and ability to express
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Speaker 1: opinions definitely. The habit of sidestepping issues instead of meeting
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Speaker 1: them squarely. Agreeing with others without careful examination of their opinions.
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Speaker 1: Inferiority complex. The habit of expressing self-approval by word of
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Speaker 1: mouth and by actions as a means of covering up
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Speaker 1: a feeling of inferiority. Using big words to impress others,
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Speaker 1: often without knowing the real meaning of the words. imitating
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Speaker 1: others in dress, speech, and manners, boasting of imaginary achievements.
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Speaker 1: This sometimes gives a surface appearance of a feeling of superiority, extravagance,
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Speaker 1: the habit of trying to keep up with the Joneses,
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Speaker 1: spending beyond one's income. Lack of initiative. Failure to embrace
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Speaker 1: opportunities for self-advancement, fear to express opinions, lack of confidence
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Speaker 1: in one's own ideas. giving evasive answers to questions asked
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Speaker 1: by superiors, hesitancy of manner and speech, deceit in both
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Speaker 1: words and deeds, lack of ambition, mental and physical laziness,
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Speaker 1: lack of self-assertion, slowness in reaching decisions, easily influenced by others,
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Speaker 1: the habit of criticizing others behind their backs and flattering
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Speaker 1: them to their faces, the habit of accepting defeat without protest,
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Speaker 1: quitting an undertaking when opposed by others, suspicious of other
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Speaker 1: people without cause, lacking in tactfulness of manner and speech,
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Speaker 1: unwillingness to accept the blame for mistakes, the fear of
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Speaker 1: ill health. This fear may be traced to both physical
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Speaker 1: and social heredity. It is closely associated, as to its origin,
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Speaker 1: with the causes of fear of old age and the
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Speaker 1: fear of death. because it leads one closely to the
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Speaker 1: border of terrible worlds, of which man knows not, but
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Speaker 1: concerning which he has been taught some discomforting stories. The
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Speaker 1: opinion is somewhat general, also, that certain unethical people engaged
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Speaker 1: in the business of selling health have had not a
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Speaker 1: little to do with keeping alive the fear of ill health.
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Speaker 1: In the main, man fears ill health because of the
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Speaker 1: terrible pictures which have been planted in his mind of
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Speaker 1: what may happen if death should overtake him. He also
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Speaker 1: fears it because of the economic toll which it may claim.
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Speaker 1: A reputable physician estimated that 75% of all people who
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Speaker 1: visit physicians for professional service are suffering with hypochondria, imaginary illness.
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Speaker 1: It has been shown most convincingly that the fear of disease,
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Speaker 1: even where there is not the slightest cause for fear,
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Speaker 1: often produces the physical symptoms of the disease feared. Powerful
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Speaker 1: and mighty is the human mind. It builds or it destroys.
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Speaker 1: Playing upon this common weakness of fear of ill health,
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Speaker 1: dispensers of patent medicines have reaped fortunes. This form of
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Speaker 1: imposition upon credulous humanity became so prevalent some 20 years
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Speaker 1: ago that Collier's Weekly magazine conducted a bitter campaign against
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Speaker 1: some of the worst offenders in the patent medicine business.
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Speaker 1: During the flu epidemic, which broke out during the World War,
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Speaker 1: the mayor of New York City took drastic steps to
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Speaker 1: check the damage which people were doing themselves through their
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Speaker 1: inherent fear of ill health. He called in the newspaper
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Speaker 1: men and said to them, Gentlemen, I feel it necessary
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Speaker 1: to ask you not to publish any scare headlines concerning
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Speaker 1: the flu epidemic. Unless you cooperate with me, we will
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Speaker 1: have a situation which we cannot control. The newspapers quit
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Speaker 1: publishing stories about the flu, and within one month the
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Speaker 1: epidemic had been successfully checked. Through a series of experiments
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Speaker 1: conducted some years ago, it was proved that people may
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Speaker 1: be made ill by suggestion. We conducted this experiment by
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Speaker 1: causing three acquaintances to visit the victims, each of whom
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Speaker 1: asked the question, What ails you? You look terribly ill.
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Speaker 1: The first questioner usually provoked a grin and a nonchalant, Oh, nothing,
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Speaker 1: I'm all right, from the victim. The second questioner usually
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Speaker 1: was answered with the statement, I don't know exactly, but
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Speaker 1: I do feel badly. The third questioner was usually met
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Speaker 1: with the frank admission that the victim was actually feeling ill.
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Speaker 1: Try this on an acquaintance if you doubt that it
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Speaker 1: will make him uncomfortable, but do not carry the experiment
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Speaker 1: too far. There is a certain religious sect whose members
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Speaker 1: take vengeance upon their enemies by the hexing method. They
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Speaker 1: call it placing a spell on the victim. There is
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Speaker 1: overwhelming evidence that disease sometimes begins in the form of
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Speaker 1: negative thought impulse. Such an impulse may be passed from
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Speaker 1: one mind to another by suggestion or created by an
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Speaker 1: individual in his own mind. A man who was blessed
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Speaker 1: with more wisdom than this incident might indicate once said,
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Speaker 1: When anyone asks me how I feel, I always want
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Speaker 1: to answer by knocking him down. Doctors send patients into
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Speaker 1: new climates for their health because a change of mental
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Speaker 1: attitude is necessary. The seed of fear of ill health
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Speaker 1: lives in every human mind, Worry, fear, discouragement, disappointment in
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Speaker 1: love and business affairs caused this seed to germinate and grow.
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Speaker 1: The recent business depression kept the doctors on the run
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Speaker 1: because every form of negative thinking may cause ill health.
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Speaker 1: Disappointments in business and in love stand at the head
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Speaker 1: of the list of causes of fear of ill health.
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Speaker 1: A young man suffered a disappointment in love which sent
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Speaker 1: him to a hospital. For months he hovered between life
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Speaker 1: and death. A specialist in suggestive therapeutics was called in.
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Speaker 1: The specialist changed nurses, placing him in charge of a
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Speaker 1: very charming young woman who began, by prearrangement with the doctor,
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Speaker 1: to make love to him the first day of her
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Speaker 1: arrival on the job. Within three weeks, the patient was
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Speaker 1: discharged from the hospital, still suffering, but with an entirely
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Speaker 1: different malady. He was in love again. The remedy was
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Speaker 1: a hoax, but the patient and the nurse were later married.
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Speaker 1: Both are in good health at the time of this writing.
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Speaker 1: Symptoms of the Fear of Ill Health The symptoms of
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Speaker 1: this almost universal fear are Auto-suggestion The habit of negative
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Speaker 1: use of self-suggestion by looking for and expecting to find
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Speaker 1: the symptoms of all kinds of disease. Enjoying imaginary illness
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Speaker 1: and speaking of it as being real. The habit of
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Speaker 1: trying all fads and isms recommended by others as having
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Speaker 1: therapeutic value. Talking to others of operations, accidents, and other
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Speaker 1: forms of illness. Experimenting with diets, physical exercises, reducing systems,
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Speaker 1: without professional guidance. Trying home remedies, patent medicines, and quack remedies. Hypochondria.
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Speaker 1: The habit of talking of illness. concentrating the mind upon
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Speaker 1: disease and expecting its appearance until a nervous break occurs.
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Speaker 1: Nothing that comes in bottles can cure this condition. It
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Speaker 1: is brought on by negative thinking, and nothing but positive
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Speaker 1: thought can affect a cure. Hypochondria, a medical term for
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Speaker 1: imaginary disease, is said to do as much damage on
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Speaker 1: occasion as the disease one fears might do. Most so-called
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Speaker 1: cases of nerves come from imaginary illness. Exercise Fear of
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Speaker 1: ill health often interferes with proper physical exercise and results
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Speaker 1: in overweight by causing one to avoid outdoor life. Susceptibility
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Speaker 1: Fear of ill health breaks down nature's body resistance and
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Speaker 1: creates a favorable condition for any form of disease one
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Speaker 1: may contact. The fear of ill health often is related
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Speaker 1: to the fear of poverty, especially in the case of
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Speaker 1: the hypochondriac, who constantly worries about the possibility of having
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Speaker 1: to pay doctor's bills, hospital bills, etc. This type of
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Speaker 1: person spends much time preparing for sickness, talking about death,
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Speaker 1: saving money for cemetery lots and burial expenses, etc. Self-coddling.
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Speaker 1: The habit of making a bid for sympathy, using imaginary
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Speaker 1: illness as the lure. People often resort to this trick
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Speaker 1: to avoid work. The habit of feigning illness to cover
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Speaker 1: plain laziness or to serve as an alibi for lack
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Speaker 1: of ambition. Intemperance. The habit of using alcohol or narcotics
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Speaker 1: to destroy pains, such as headaches, neuralgia, etc., instead of
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Speaker 1: eliminating the cause. The habit of reading about illness and
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Speaker 1: worrying over the possibility of being stricken by it. The
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Speaker 1: habit of reading patent medicine advertisements. The Fear of Loss
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Speaker 1: of Love The original source of this inherent fear needs
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Speaker 1: but little description, because it obviously grew out of man's
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Speaker 1: polygamous habit of stealing his fellow man's mate and his
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Speaker 1: habit of taking liberties with her whenever he could. Jealousy
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Speaker 1: and other similar forms of dementia precox grow out of
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Speaker 1: man's inherited fear of the loss of love of someone.
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Speaker 1: This fear is the most painful of all the six
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Speaker 1: basic fears. It probably plays more havoc with the body
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Speaker 1: and mind than any of the other basic fears, as
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Speaker 1: it often leads to permanent insanity. The fear of the
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Speaker 1: loss of love probably dates back to the Stone Age,
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Speaker 1: when men stole women by brute force. They continue to
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Speaker 1: steal females, but their technique has changed. Instead of force,
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Speaker 1: they now use persuasion, the promise of pretty clothes, motor cars,
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Speaker 1: and other bait much more effective than physical force. Man's
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Speaker 1: habits are the same as they were at the dawn
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Speaker 1: of civilization, but he expresses them differently. Careful analysis has
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Speaker 1: shown that women are more susceptible to this fear than men.
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Speaker 1: This fact is easily explained. Women have learned, from experience,
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Speaker 1: that men are polygamous by nature, that they are not
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Speaker 1: to be trusted in the hands of rivals. Symptoms of
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Speaker 1: the fear of loss of love The distinguishing symptoms of
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Speaker 1: this fear are Jealousy The habit of being suspicious of
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Speaker 1: friends and loved ones without any reasonable evidence of sufficient grounds.
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Speaker 1: Jealousy is a form of dementia precox, which sometimes becomes
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Speaker 1: violent without the slightest cause. The habit of accusing wife
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Speaker 1: or husband of infidelity without grounds. General suspicion of everyone.
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Speaker 1: Absolute faith in no one. Fault-Finding The habit of finding
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Speaker 1: fault with friends, relatives, business associates, and loved ones upon
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Speaker 1: the slightest provocation or without any cause whatsoever. Gambling. The
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Speaker 1: habit of gambling, stealing, cheating, and otherwise taking hazardous chances
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Speaker 1: to provide money for loved ones with the belief that
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Speaker 1: love can be bought. The habit of spending beyond one's
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Speaker 1: means or incurring debts to provide gifts for loved ones.
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Speaker 1: with the object of making a favorable showing. Insomnia, nervousness,
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Speaker 1: lack of persistence, weakness of will, lack of self-control, lack
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Speaker 1: of self-reliance, bad temper. The Fear of Old Age In
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Speaker 1: the main, this fear grows out of two sources. First,
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Speaker 1: the thought that old age may bring with it poverty. Secondly,
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Speaker 1: and by far the most common source of origin, from
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Speaker 1: false and cruel teachings of the past, which have been
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Speaker 1: too well mixed with fire and brimstone, and other bogies
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Speaker 1: cunningly designed to enslave man through fear. In the basic
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Speaker 1: fear of old age, man has two very sound reasons
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Speaker 1: for his apprehension. One, growing out of his distrust of
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Speaker 1: his fellow man, who may seize whatever worldly goods he
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Speaker 1: may possess, and the other arising from the terrible pictures
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Speaker 1: of the world beyond, which were planted in his mind
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Speaker 1: through social heredity before he came into full possession of
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Speaker 1: his mind. The possibility of ill health, which is more
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Speaker 1: common as people grow older, is also a contributing cause
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Speaker 1: of this common fear of old age. Eroticism also enters
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Speaker 1: into the cause of the fear of old age, as
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Speaker 1: no man cherishes the thought of diminishing sex attraction. The
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Speaker 1: most common cause of fear of old age is associated
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Speaker 1: with the possibility of poverty. Poorhouse is not a pretty word.
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Speaker 1: It throws a chill into the mind of every person
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Speaker 1: who faces the possibility of having to spend his declining
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Speaker 1: years on a poor farm. Another contributing cause of the
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Speaker 1: fear of old age is the possibility of loss of
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Speaker 1: freedom and independence, as old age may bring with it
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Speaker 1: the loss of both physical and economic freedom. Symptoms of
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Speaker 1: the Fear of Old Age The commonest symptoms of this
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Speaker 1: fear are the tendency to slow down and develop an
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Speaker 1: inferiority complex at the age of mental maturity, around the
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Speaker 1: age of forty. falsely believing oneself to be slipping because
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Speaker 1: of age. The truth is that man's most useful years,
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Speaker 1: mentally and spiritually, are those between 40 and 60. The
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Speaker 1: habit of speaking apologetically of oneself as being old, merely
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Speaker 1: because one has reached the age of 40 or 50,
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Speaker 1: instead of reversing the rule and expressing gratitude for having
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Speaker 1: reached the age of wisdom and understanding. The habit of
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Speaker 1: killing off initiative, imagination, and self-reliance by falsely believing oneself
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Speaker 1: too old to exercise these qualities. The habit of the
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Speaker 1: man or woman of 40 dressing with the aim of
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Speaker 1: trying to appear much younger and affecting mannerisms of youth,
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Speaker 1: thereby inspiring ridicule by both friends and strangers. The Fear
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Speaker 1: of Death To some, this is the cruelest of all
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Speaker 1: the basic fears. The reason is obvious. The terrible pangs
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Speaker 1: of fear associated with the thought of death, in the
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Speaker 1: majority of cases, may be charged directly to religious fanaticism.
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Speaker 1: So-called heathen are less afraid of death than the more civilized.
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Speaker 1: For hundreds of millions of years, man has been asking
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Speaker 1: the still unanswered questions, whence and whither? Where did I
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Speaker 1: come from and where am I going During the darker
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Speaker 1: ages of the past, the more cunning and crafty were
22:07
Speaker 1: not slow to offer the answer to these questions. For
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Speaker 1: a price. Witness now the major source of origin of
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Speaker 1: the fear of death. Come into my tent, embrace my faith,
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Speaker 1: accept my dogmas, and I will give you a ticket
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Speaker 1: that will admit you straight away into heaven when you die,
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Speaker 1: cries a leader of sectarianism. Remain out of my tent,
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Speaker 1: says the same leader. And may the devil take you
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Speaker 1: and burn you throughout eternity. Eternity is a long time.
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Speaker 1: Fire is a terrible thing. The thought of eternal punishment
22:42
Speaker 1: with fire not only causes man to fear death, it
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Speaker 1: often causes him to lose his reason. It destroys interest
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Speaker 1: in life and makes happiness impossible. During my research, I
22:55
Speaker 1: reviewed a book entitled A Catalog of the Gods. in
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Speaker 1: which were listed the 30,000 gods which man has worshipped.
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Speaker 1: Think of it! 30,000 of them, represented by everything from
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Speaker 1: a crawfish to a man. It is little wonder that
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Speaker 1: men have become frightened at the approach of death. While
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Speaker 1: the religious leader may not be able to provide safe
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Speaker 1: conduct into heaven, nor, by lack of such provision, allow
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Speaker 1: the unfortunate to descend into hell, the possibility of the
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Speaker 1: latter seems so terrible... that the very thought of it
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Speaker 1: lays hold of the imagination in such a realistic way
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Speaker 1: that it paralyzes reason and sets up the fear of death.
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Speaker 1: In truth, no man knows, and no man has ever known,
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Speaker 1: what heaven or hell is like, nor does any man
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Speaker 1: know if either place actually exists. This very lack of
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Speaker 1: positive knowledge opens the door of the human mind to
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Speaker 1: the charlatan, so he may enter and control that mind
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Speaker 1: with his stock of ledger domain and various brands of
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Speaker 1: pious fraud and trickery. The fear of death is not
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Speaker 1: as common now as it was during the age when
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Speaker 1: there were no great colleges and universities. Men of science
24:08
Speaker 1: have turned the spotlight of truth upon the world, and
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Speaker 1: this truth is rapidly freeing men and women from this
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Speaker 1: terrible fear of death. The young men and young women
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Speaker 1: who attend the colleges and universities are not easily impressed
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Speaker 1: by fire and brimstone. Through the aid of biology, astronomy, geology,
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Speaker 1: and other related sciences, the fears of the Dark Ages
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Speaker 1: which gripped the minds of men and destroyed their reason
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Speaker 1: have been dispelled. Insane asylums are filled with men and
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Speaker 1: women who have gone mad because of the fear of death.
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Speaker 1: This fear is useless. Death will come, no matter what
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Speaker 1: anyone may think about it. Accept it as a necessity
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Speaker 1: and pass the thought out of your mind. It must
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Speaker 1: be a necessity, or it would not come to all.
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Speaker 1: Perhaps it is not as bad as it has been pictured.
24:59
Speaker 1: The entire world is made up of only two things,
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Speaker 1: energy and matter. In elementary physics, we learn that neither
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Speaker 1: matter nor energy, the only two realities known to man,
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Speaker 1: can be created nor destroyed. Both matter and energy can
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Speaker 1: be transformed, but neither can be destroyed. Life is energy,
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Speaker 1: if it is anything. If neither energy nor matter can
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Speaker 1: be destroyed, of course life cannot be destroyed. Life, like
25:29
Speaker 1: other forms of energy, may be passed through various processes
25:33
Speaker 1: of transition or change, but it cannot be destroyed. Death
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Speaker 1: is mere transition. If death is not mere change or transition,
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Speaker 1: then nothing comes after death except a long, eternal, peaceful sleep,
25:48
Speaker 1: and sleep is nothing to be feared. Thus you may
25:51
Speaker 1: wipe out forever the fear of death. Symptoms of the
25:56
Speaker 1: Fear of Death The general symptoms of this fear are
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Speaker 1: The habit of thinking about dying instead of making the
26:05
Speaker 1: most of life, due generally to lack of purpose or
26:09
Speaker 1: lack of a suitable occupation. This fear is more prevalent
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Speaker 1: among the aged, but sometimes the more youthful are victims
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Speaker 1: of it. The greatest of all remedies for the fear
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Speaker 1: of death is a burning desire for achievement, backed by
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Speaker 1: useful service to others. A busy person seldom has time
26:27
Speaker 1: to think about dying. He finds life too thrilling to
26:30
Speaker 1: worry about death. Sometimes the fear of death is closely
26:34
Speaker 1: associated with the fear of poverty, where one's death would
26:38
Speaker 1: leave loved ones poverty-stricken. In other cases, the fear of
26:42
Speaker 1: death is caused by illness and the consequent breaking down
26:45
Speaker 1: of physical body resistance. The commonest causes of the fear
26:49
Speaker 1: of death are ill health, poverty, lack of appropriate occupation,
26:55
Speaker 1: disappointment over love, insanity, religious fanaticism. Old Man Worry Worry
27:06
Speaker 1: is a state of mind based upon fear. It works
27:09
Speaker 1: slowly but persistently. It is insidious and subtle. Step by step,
27:15
Speaker 1: it digs itself in. until it paralyzes one's reasoning faculty,
27:19
Speaker 1: destroys self-confidence and initiative. Worry is a form of sustained
27:24
Speaker 1: fear caused by indecision. Therefore, it is a state of
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Speaker 1: mind which can be controlled. An unsettled mind is helpless.
27:33
Speaker 1: Indecision makes an unsettled mind. Most individuals lack the willpower
27:39
Speaker 1: to reach decisions promptly and to stand by them after
27:42
Speaker 1: they have been made, even during normal business conditions. During
27:46
Speaker 1: periods of economic unrest, such as the world recently experienced,
27:50
Speaker 1: the individual is handicapped, not alone by his inherent nature
27:54
Speaker 1: to be slow at reaching decisions, but he is influenced
27:57
Speaker 1: by the indecision of others around him who have created
28:00
Speaker 1: a state of mass indecision. During the Depression, the whole atmosphere,
28:06
Speaker 1: all over the world, was filled with firenza and worryitis.
28:11
Speaker 1: the two mental disease germs which began to spread themselves
28:14
Speaker 1: after the Wall Street frenzy in 1929. There is only
28:18
Speaker 1: one known antidote for these germs. It is the habit
28:22
Speaker 1: of prompt and firm decision. Moreover, it is an antidote
28:26
Speaker 1: which every individual must apply for himself. We do not
28:30
Speaker 1: worry over conditions. Once we have reached a decision to
28:33
Speaker 1: follow a definite line of action. I once interviewed a
28:37
Speaker 1: man who was to be electrocuted two hours later. The
28:40
Speaker 1: condemned man was the calmest of some eight men who
28:44
Speaker 1: were in the death cell with him. His calmness prompted
28:47
Speaker 1: me to ask him how it felt to know that
28:49
Speaker 1: he was going into eternity in a short while. With
28:53
Speaker 1: a smile of confidence on his face, he said, It
28:56
Speaker 1: feels fine. Just think, brother, my troubles will soon be over.
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Speaker 1: I have had nothing but trouble all my life. It
29:04
Speaker 1: has been a hardship to get food and clothing. Soon
29:08
Speaker 1: I will not need these things. I have felt fine
29:11
Speaker 1: ever since I learned for certain that I must die.
29:15
Speaker 1: I made up my mind then to accept my fate
29:17
Speaker 1: in good spirit. As he spoke, he devoured a dinner
29:21
Speaker 1: of proportions sufficient for three men, eating every mouthful of
29:26
Speaker 1: the food brought to him, and apparently enjoying it as
29:29
Speaker 1: much as if no disaster awaited him. Decision gave this
29:32
Speaker 1: man resignation to his fate. Decision can also prevent one's
29:37
Speaker 1: acceptance of undesired circumstances. The six basic fears become translated
29:43
Speaker 1: into a state of worry through indecision. Relieve yourself forever
29:48
Speaker 1: of the fear of death by reaching a decision to
29:51
Speaker 1: accept death as an inescapable event. Whip the fear of
29:55
Speaker 1: poverty by reaching a decision to get along with whatever
29:58
Speaker 1: wealth you can accumulate without worry. Put your foot upon
30:02
Speaker 1: the neck of the fear of criticism by reaching a
30:05
Speaker 1: decision not to worry about what other people think, do,
30:08
Speaker 1: or say. Eliminate the fear of old age by reaching
30:12
Speaker 1: a decision to accept it, not as a handicap, but
30:15
Speaker 1: as a great blessing which carries with it wisdom, self-control,
30:19
Speaker 1: and understanding not known to youth. Acquit yourself of the
30:23
Speaker 1: fear of ill health by the decision to forget symptoms.
30:28
Speaker 1: Master the fear of loss of love by reaching a
30:30
Speaker 1: decision to get along without love, if that is necessary.
30:35
Speaker 1: Kill the habit of worry, in all its forms, by
30:38
Speaker 1: reaching a general, blanket decision that nothing which life has
30:42
Speaker 1: to offer is worth the price of worry. With this
30:45
Speaker 1: decision will come poise, peace of mind, and calmness of thought,
30:50
Speaker 1: which will bring happiness. A man whose mind is filled
30:53
Speaker 1: with fear not only destroys his own chances of intelligent action,
30:58
Speaker 1: but he transmits these destructive vibrations to the minds of
31:02
Speaker 1: all who come into contact with him and destroys also
31:05
Speaker 1: their chances. Even a dog or a horse knows when
31:09
Speaker 1: its master lacks courage. Moreover, a dog or a horse
31:14
Speaker 1: will pick up the vibrations of fear thrown off by
31:16
Speaker 1: its master and behave accordingly. Lower down the line of
31:20
Speaker 1: intelligence in the animal kingdom, one finds this same capacity
31:24
Speaker 1: to pick up the vibrations of fear. A honeybee immediately
31:28
Speaker 1: senses fear in the mind of a person. For reasons unknown,
31:33
Speaker 1: a bee will sting the person whose mind is releasing
31:35
Speaker 1: vibrations of fear much more readily than it will molest
31:39
Speaker 1: the person whose mind registers no fear. The vibrations of
31:43
Speaker 1: fear pass from one mind to another just as quickly
31:46
Speaker 1: and as surely as as the sound of the human
31:48
Speaker 1: voice passes from the broadcasting station to the receiving set
31:52
Speaker 1: of a radio, and by the self-same medium. Mental telepathy
31:57
Speaker 1: is a reality. Thoughts pass from one mind to another, voluntarily,
32:02
Speaker 1: whether or not this fact is recognized by either the
32:05
Speaker 1: person releasing the thoughts or the persons who pick up
32:08
Speaker 1: those thoughts. The person who gives expression, by word of mouth,
32:13
Speaker 1: to negative or destructive thoughts, is practically certain to experience
32:17
Speaker 1: the results of those words in the form of a
32:19
Speaker 1: destructive kickback. The release of destructive thought impulses, alone, without
32:25
Speaker 1: the aid of words, produces also a kickback in more
32:29
Speaker 1: ways than one. First of all, and perhaps most important
32:33
Speaker 1: to be remembered, the person who releases thoughts of a
32:36
Speaker 1: destructive nature must suffer damage through the breaking down of
32:40
Speaker 1: the faculty of creative imaginations. Secondly, the presence in the
32:44
Speaker 1: mind of any destructive emotion develops a negative personality which
32:49
Speaker 1: repels people and often converts them into antagonists. The third
32:54
Speaker 1: source of damage to the person who entertains or releases
32:57
Speaker 1: negative thoughts lies in this significant fact. These thought impulses
33:02
Speaker 1: are not only damaging to others, but they embed themselves
33:05
Speaker 1: in the subconscious mind of the person releasing them and
33:08
Speaker 1: there become a part of his character. One is never
33:12
Speaker 1: through with a thought, merely by releasing it. When a
33:16
Speaker 1: thought is released, it spreads in every direction, through the
33:19
Speaker 1: medium of the ether, but it also plants itself permanently
33:23
Speaker 1: in the subconscious mind of the person releasing it. Your
33:27
Speaker 1: business in life is, presumably, to achieve success. To be successful,
33:32
Speaker 1: you must find peace of mind, acquire the material needs
33:36
Speaker 1: of life, and above all, attain happiness. All of these
33:41
Speaker 1: evidences of success begin in the form of thought impulses.
33:45
Speaker 1: You may control your own mind. You have the power
33:48
Speaker 1: to feed it whatever thought impulses you choose. With this
33:52
Speaker 1: privilege goes also the responsibility of using it constructively. You
33:57
Speaker 1: are the master of your own earthly destiny, just as
34:00
Speaker 1: surely as you have the power to control your own thoughts.
34:04
Speaker 1: You may influence, direct, and eventually control your own environment.
34:08
Speaker 1: making your life what you want it to be. Or
34:11
Speaker 1: you may neglect to exercise the privilege which is yours
34:15
Speaker 1: to make your life to order, thus casting yourself upon
34:18
Speaker 1: the broad sea of circumstance where you will be tossed
34:21
Speaker 1: hither and yon like a chip on the waves of
34:24
Speaker 1: the ocean. The End You have been listening to Think
34:40
Speaker 1: and Grow Rich, written by Napoleon Hill. We hope you
34:44
Speaker 1: enjoyed this classic rendition. Find more stories on audiopulse.org.