This lesson will bring you a conception of thought which may carry you far above the
level to which you have risen by the evolutionary processes to which you have been subjected
in the past; and, for this reason, you should not be disappointed if, at first
reading, you do not fully understand it.
Most of us disbelieve that which we cannot understand, and it is with knowledge of this
human tendency in mind that I caution you against closing your mind if you do not grasp
all that is in this lesson at the first reading.
For thousands of years men made ships of wood, and of nothing else.
They used wood because they believed that it was the only substance that would float;
but that was because they had not yet advanced far enough in their thinking process to understand
the truth that steel will float, and that it is far superior to wood for the building
of ships.
They did not know that anything could float which was lighter than the amount of water
is displaced, and until they learned of this great truth they went on making ships of wood.
Until some twenty-five years ago, most men thought that only the birds could fly, but
now we know that man can not only equal the flying of the birds, but he can excel it.
Men did not know, until quite recently, that the great open void known as the air is more
alive and more sensitive than anything that is on the earth.
They did not know that the spoken word would travel through the ether with the speed of
a flash of lightning, without the aid of wires.
How could they know this when their minds had not been unfolded sufficiently to enable
them to grasp it?
The purpose of this lesson is to aid you in so unfolding and expanding your mind that
you will be able to think with accuracy, for this unfoldment will open to you a door that
leads to all the power you will need in completing your temple of success.
You will also observe that these principles have been so presented that they lead to success
as measured by material wealth.
This seemed necessary for the reason that to most people the word success and the word
money are synonymous terms.
Obviously, the previous lessons of this course were intended for those who look upon worldly
things and material wealth as being all that there is to success.
Presenting the matter in another way, I was conscious of the fact that the majority of
the students of this course would feel disappointed if I pointed out to them a roadway to success
that leads through other than the doorways of business, and finance, and industry; for
it is a matter of common knowledge that most men want success that is spelled $UCCE$$!
Very well - let those who are satisfied with this standard of success have it; but some
there are who will want to go higher up the ladder, in search of success which is measured
in other than material standards, and it is for their benefit in particular that this
and the subsequent lessons of this course are intended.
Accurate thought involves two fundamentals which all who indulge in it must observe.
First, to think accurately you must separate facts from mere information.
There is much "information" available to you that is not based upon facts.
Second, you must separate facts into two classes; namely, the important and the unimportant,
or, the relevant and the irrelevant.
Only by so doing can you think clearly.
All facts which you can use in the attainment of your definite chief aim are important and
relevant; all that you cannot use are unimportant and irrelevant.
It is mainly the neglect of some to make this distinction which accounts for the chasm which
separates so widely people who appear to have equal ability, and who have had equal opportunity.
Without going outside of your own circle of acquaintances you can point to one or more
persons who have had no greater opportunity than you have had, and who appear to have
no more, and perhaps less, ability than you, who are achieving far greater success.
And you wonder why.
Search diligently and you will discover that all such people have acquired the habit of
combining and using the important facts which affect their line of work.
Far from working harder than you, they are perhaps working less and with greater ease.
By virtue of their having learned the secret of separating the important facts from the
unimportant, they have provided themselves with a sort of fulcrum and lever with which
they can move with their little fingers loads that you cannot budge with the entire weight
of your body.
The person who forms the habit of directing his attention to the important facts out of
which he is constructing his Temple of Success, thereby provides himself with a power which
may be likened to a trip-hammer which strikes a ten-ton blow as compared to a tack-hammer
which strikes a one-pound blow.
That you may understand the importance of distinguishing between facts and mere information,
study that type of man who is guided entirely by that which he hears; the type who is influenced
by all the "whisperings of the winds of gossip" that accepts, without analysis, all that he
reads in the newspapers and judges others by what their enemies and competitors and
contemporaries say about them.
Search your circle of acquaintances and pick out one of this type as an example to keep
before your mind while we are on this subject.
Observe that this man usually begins his conversation with some such term as this - "I see by the
papers," or "they say."
The accurate thinker knows that the newspapers are not always accurate in their reports,
and he also knows that what "they say" usually carries more falsehood than truth.
If you have not risen above the "I see by the papers," and the "they say" class, you
have still far to go before you become an accurate thinker.
Of course, much truth and many facts travel in the guise of idle gossip and newspaper
reports; but the accurate thinker will not accept as such all that he sees and hears.
This is a point which I feel impelled to emphasize, for the reason that it constitutes the rocks
and reefs on which so many people flounder and go down to defeat in a bottomless ocean
of false conclusions.
In the realm of legal procedure, there is a
A principle which is called the law of evidence; and the object of this law is to get at the
facts.
Any judge can proceed with justice to all concerned, if he has the facts upon which
to base his judgment, but he may play havoc with innocent people if he circumvents the
law of evidence and reaches a conclusion or judgment that is based upon hearsay information.
The law of Evidence varies according to the subject and circumstances with which it is
used, but you will not go far wrong if, in the absence of that which you know to be facts,
you form your judgments on the hypothesis that only that part of the evidence before
you which furthers your own interests without working any hardship on others is based upon
facts.
This is a crucial and important point in this lesson; therefore, I wish to be sure that
you do not pass it by lightly.
Many a man mistakes, knowingly or otherwise, expediency for fact; doing a thing, or refraining
from doing it, for the sole reason that his action furthers his own interest without consideration
as to whether it interferes with the rights of others.
No matter how regrettable, it is true that most thinking of today, far from being accurate,
is based upon the sole foundation of expediency.
It is amazing to the more advanced student of accurate thought, how many people there
are who are "honest" when it is profitable to them, but find myriads of facts to justify
themselves in following a dishonest course when that course seems to be more profitable
or advantageous.
No doubt you know people who are like that.
The accurate thinker adopts a standard by which he guides himself, and he follows that
standard at all times, whether it works always to his immediate advantage, or carries him,
now and then, through the fields of disadvantage (as it undoubtedly will).
The accurate thinker deals with facts, regardless of how they affect his own interests, for
he knows that ultimately this policy will bring him out on top, in full possession of
the object of his definite chief aim in life.
He understands the soundness of the philosophy that the old philosopher, Croesus, had in
mind when he said: "There is a wheel on which the affairs of
men revolve, and its mechanism is such that it prevents any man from being always fortunate."
The accurate thinker has but one standard by which he conducts himself, in his intercourse
with his fellow men, and that standard is observed by him as faithfully when it brings
him temporary disadvantage as it is when it brings him outstanding advantage; for, being
an accurate thinker, he knows that, by the law of averages, he will more than regain
at some future time that which he loses by applying his standard to his own temporary
detriment.
You might as well begin to prepare yourself to understand that it requires the staunchest
and most unshakable character to become an accurate thinker, for you can see that this
is where the reasoning of this lesson is leading.
There is a certain amount of temporary penalty attached to accurate thinking; there is no
denying this fact; but, while this is true, it is also true that the compensating reward,
in the aggregate, is so overwhelmingly greater that you will gladly pay this penalty.
In searching for facts it is often necessary to gather them through the sole source of
knowledge and experience of others.
It then becomes necessary to examine carefully both the evidence submitted and the person
from whom the evidence comes; and when the evidence is of such a nature that it affects
the interest of the witness who is giving it, there will be reason to scrutinize it
all the more carefully, as witnesses who have an interest in the evidence that they are
submitting often yield to the temptation to color and pervert it to protect that interest.
If one man slanders another, his remarks should be accepted, if of any weight at all, with
at least a grain of the proverbial salt of caution; for it is a common human tendency
for men to find nothing but evil in those whom they do not like.
The man who has attained to the degree of accurate thinking that enables him to speak
of his enemy without exaggerating his faults, and minimizing his virtues, is the exception
and not the rule.
Some very able men have not yet risen above this vulgar and self-destructive habit of
belittling their enemies, competitors and contemporaries.
I wish to bring this common tendency to your attention with all possible emphasis, because
it is a tendency that is fatal to accurate thinking.
Before you can become an accurate thinker, you must understand and make allowance for
the fact that the moment a man or a woman begins to assume leadership in any walk of
life, the slanderers begin to circulate "rumors" and subtle whisperings reflecting upon his
or her character.
No matter how fine one's character is or what
service he may be engaged in rendering to the world, he cannot escape the notice of
those misguided people who delight in destroying instead of building.
The moment a man begins to make himself felt in the field of industry or business, this
chorus becomes active.
If a man makes a better mouse-trap than his neighbor, the world will make a beaten path
to his door; no doubt about that; and in the gang that will trail along will be those who
come, not to commend, but to condemn and to destroy his reputation.
You are well on the road toward success if you have such a keen conception of life that
you never build a plan which contemplates your requesting another person to do that
which does not bring that person some corresponding advantage in return for compliance with your
request.
As an accurate thinker, it is both your privelege anf your duty to avail yourself of facts.
Even though you must go out of your way to get them.
If you permit yourself to be swayed to and fro by all manner of information that comes
to your attention, you will never become an accurate thinker; and if you do not think
accurately, you cannot be sure of attaining the object of your definite chief aim in life.
Many a man has gone down to defeat because, due to his prejudice and hatred, he underestimated
the virtues of his enemies or competitors.
The eyes of the accurate thinker see facts - not the delusions of prejudice, hate and
envy.
An accurate thinker must be something of a good sportsman - in that he is fair enough
(with himself at least) to look for virtues as well as faults in other people, for it
is not without reason to suppose that all men have some of each of these qualities.
"I do not believe that I can afford to deceive others - I know I cannot afford to deceive
myself!"
This must be the motto of the accurate thinker.
With the supposition that these "hints" are sufficient to impress upon your mind the importance
of searching for facts until you are reasonably sure that you have found them, we will take
up the question of organizing, classifying and using these facts.
Look, once more, in the circle of your own acquaintances and find a person who appears
to accomplish more with less effort than do any of his associates.
Study this man and you observe that he is a strategist in that he has learned how to
arrange facts so that he brings to his aid the Law of Increasing Returns.
The man who knows that he is working with facts goes at his task with a feeling of self-confidence
which enables him to refrain from temporizing, hesitating or waiting to make sure of his
ground.
He knows in advance what the outcome of his efforts will be; therefore, he moves more
rapidly and accomplishes more than does the man who must "feel his way" because he is
not sure that he is working with facts.
The man who has learned of the advantages of searching for facts as the foundation of
his thinking has gone a very long way toward the development of accurate thinking, but
the man who has learned how to separate facts into the important and the unimportant has
gone still further.
You Can Do It if You Believe You Can.
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