Ernest Shurtleff
Holme
Part One ||
Part Two
Although similar in title, theme and
structure to his book Creative Mind, this is a completely different
book. Creative Mind has more of a focus on "Mental Healing."
This book is principally about what is today called in New Age circles "Prosperity
Consciousness". Holmes discusses how to focus one's thoughts
to create monetary wealth, as well as increase one's personal charisma
to garner circles of friends. This little classic of New Thought
is very similar to its successor, Think and Grow Rich, optimistic,
self-empowering, and confident in its outlook.
Contents
TREATMENTS.

THE way to give a treatment is first of all to absolutely believe
that you can; believe that your word goes forth into a real creative
power, which at once takes it up, and begins to operate upon it;
feel that to this power all things are possible. It knows nothing
but its own power to do that which it wishes to do. It receives
the impress of your thought and acts upon it.
It is never safe to treat for anything that you do not wish to
happen. This means that what you would want for another, you must
first be willing to receive for yourself.
Believe then that your word is to be acted upon by an Almighty
Power; feel its great reality, in and through all things you speak
into it; and declare just what you wish it to do for you, never
doubting in your own mind but that it will do just as you have directed.
All that a practitioner has to do is to convince himself, to
know, to believe, and that thing will happen to him which he states.
One of the first things, then, is to be definite; to have a mental
likeness of the thing that you desire; to know exactly what you
want. This mental likeness, this absolute acceptance of the fact
that it now is, must never be overlooked; without it you will not
accomplish.
We sit down of our own souls, at peace with the world, at peace
with ourselves; we realize that we are dealing with something that
is a reality, something that cannot fail. We try to get a clear
concept of the thing; we rest in that realization, while the Universal
Creative Power takes it up and acts upon it.
We have stated just what we wanted done unto us; we have believed;
we have believed that we have received; never again will we contradict
the fact that we have stated. The person who can do this is sure
of getting results.
UNDERSTANDING
AND GUIDANCE.

THE inner man is always in immediate connection with the Infinite
of understanding. We are immersed in a living intelligence; we are
surrounded by a Power that knows, for "In Him we live and move
and have our being."
If our outer thought were never confused, we should at all times
draw from this Infinite source of knowledge; we should be guided
by It and never make mistakes; our minds would be like the smooth
surface of a lake, unruffled by wind and storm.
But with most of us this is not the case; we become confused
in the outer so that the surface of the mind is in turmoil, no longer
clear and transparent, and we cannot get the clear vision, the real
guidance, and we get things wrong because we do not see clearly.
The development of the understanding is learning to draw from
the Infinite understanding; we can never do this while we are confused
in our thinking.
The first thing to do when we wish a greater understanding is
to be still and listen to the inner voice, to withdraw for a few
moments into the silence of the soul taking here what we already
know, and realizing that a greater intelligence is enlarging it.
Here we indefinitely take the pattern of our thought, the thing
that we are working on, and ask for, and receive, new light; we
hold this up in Divine Light and try to believe that we are being
guided; we state that Supreme Intelligence and Absolute Power are
acting upon our thought and bringing it to pass; it is now guiding
us and we shall make no mistake; we hold ourselves in the Secret
Place of the Most High, and abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
HOW TO KNOW
JUST WHAT TO DO.

OFTEN we find ourselves confronted by the problem of how to begin.
We are not sure what we want to do; we see no way to begin anything;
see nothing to begin on; when we find ourselves in this position,
humanly speaking, not knowing where to turn, then of all times we
must be quiet and listen; then of all times we must trust that the
same power that started all things will also start us
in the right road, for without some superior power we shall surely
fail.
How often do people in the business world find themselves in
this position. They realize that something must be done, but what?
How get the idea to work out?
Here we must wait and know that the same power that first thought
a universe into being can also think our world and work into being.
It knows all things; it knows how to begin and it cannot fail; we
wish in some way to connect with this power that will never fail
us, so that we may draw from it some idea to begin with.
We must realize that there is something that wants to respond,
to make manifest and in this realization wait for the idea; it may
not come at first, but we must be patient, never doubting, and waiting
thus in faith, it will come.
I once knew a business man who was connected with a firm that
had always been very successful, but at that time something had
occurred that was causing them to lose out. This had gone on for
a year and things were going from bad to worse. Failure seemed inevitable.
He became interested in New Thought. He was told he could draw an
idea from the Infinite and work it out on the plane of the visible.
He told his partners that he wished to go home for a few days and
that when he came back he would have worked out an idea which would
put the business on a successful basis. They laughed at him, as
people generally laugh at something they do not understand, but
having no other plan they gave their consent. He went home and for
three days sat in deep thought, claiming Supreme guidance and absolute
leading of the Spirit. During this time a complete plan formulated
in his mind as to the exact method to pursue in the business. He
returned and told his plan to his partners. Again they laughed,
saying it could not be done in business; could not be done any way;
it would not work. But again they consented, knowing it was this
or failure.
He then went to work carrying out all the details of his thought,
following each leading that had come to him during those three days,
and within a year he brought the failing business to a standard
that transcended anything they had ever before experienced, He proved
the law and became such an expert, that he gave up his business
and devoted his entire time to helping other people do the same
for themselves as he had done.
What this man did any one can do if he will follow the same course
and refuse to become discouraged. There is a power that simply awaits
our recognition of it, to spring into our thought as an unfailing
leading, an unerring guidance. To those who lean on the ever outstretched
arm of the Infinite, life is big with limitless possibilities.
We must wait and listen, then go about our outer business with
an inner conviction that we are being led into a more perfect expression
of life. All can do this.
FOLLOWING UP
A THOUGHT.

WHEN we feel that we do have the right leading; when that something
inside us tells us that we are led; then, no matter what it appears
like, we must follow it up. Something beyond our intelligence is
doing the thing through us and we must do nothing to contradict
it.
Perhaps it will cause us to do something that seems to go contrary
to the experience of the race. This makes no difference. All advance
in invention and all advance along any line has always gone ahead
of what the experience of the race thinks is possible.
Great men are the ones who get a vision and then go to work to
make it come true, never looking to one side but with one-pointedness
and calm determination, stick to the thing until it is accomplished.
It may take much patience and a great deal of faith, but the
end is as sure as is the reality of a Supreme Being itself.
Never hesitate to trust in that inner leading, never fear but
it will be right. We are all in the midst of Supreme Intelligence;
It presses against the doors of our thought, waiting to be known.
We must be open to It at all times, ready to receive direction and
to be guided into greater truths.
THE SINGLE
STREAM OF THOUGHT.

ATE are all in Mind and what we think into it is taken up and
done unto us.. This means that as we think it will be done. We cannot
think one way one day and change our thought the next and hope to
get the desired results. We must be very clear in our thought, sending
out only such thoughts as we wish to see manifested in our condition.
Here is something worth remembering. Unless we are working with
people who think as we do, we had better be working alone. One stream
of thought, even though it may not be very powerful, will do more
for us than many powerful streams that are at variance with each
other. This means that, unless we are sure that we are working with
people who harmonize, we would better work alone. Of course we cannot
retire from business simply because people do not agree with us,
but what we can do is to keep our thoughts to ourselves. We do not
have to leave the world in order to control our thought; but we
do have to learn that we can stay right in the world and still think
just what we want to think, regardless of what others are thinking.
One single stream of thought, daily sent out into Creative Mind,
will do wonders. Within a year the person who will practice this
will have completely changed his conditions of life.
The way to practice this is daily to spend some time in thinking
and in mentally seeing just what is wanted; see the thing just as
it is wished and then affirm that this is now done. Try to feel
that what has been stated is the truth.
Words and affirmations simply give shape to thought; they are
not creative. Feeling is creative and the more feeling that is put
into the word the greater power it will have over conditions. In
doing this we think of the condition only as an effect, something
that follows what we think. It cannot help following our thought.
This is the way that all creation comes into expression.
It is a great help to realize mentally that at all times a great
stream of thought and power is operating through us; it is constantly
going out into Mind, where it is taken up and acted upon. Our business
is to keep that stream of thought just where we want it to be: to
be ready at any time to act when the impulse comes for action. Our
action must never be negative, it must always be affirmative, for
we are dealing with something that cannot fail. We may fail to realize,
but the power in itself is Infinite and cannot fail.
We are setting in motion in the Absolute a stream of thought
that will never cease until it accomplishes its purpose. Try to
feel this, be filled with a great joy as you feel that it is given
to you to use this great and only power.
Keep the thought clear and never worry about the way that things
seem to be going. Let go of all outer conditions when working in
Mind, for there is where things are made; there creation is going
on, and it is now making something for us. This must be believed
as never believed before; it must be known as the great reality;
it must be felt as the only Presence. There is no other way to obtain.
Though all the Infinite may want to give, yet we must take, and,
as far as we are concerned, that taking is mental. Though people
may laugh at this, even that does not matter, "He laughs best
who laughs last." We know in "What we believe," and
that will be sufficient.
ENLARGING OUR
THOUGHT.

WE can never stand still in our thought. Either we will be growing
or else we will be going back. As we can attract to ourselves only
what we first have a mental likeness of, it follows that if we wish
to attract larger things we must provide larger thoughts. This enlarging
of consciousness is so necessary that too much cannot be said about
it.
Most people get only a short way and then stop: they cannot seem
to get beyond a certain point; they can do so much and no more.
Why is it that a person in business does just about so much each
year? We see people in all walks of life, getting so far, never
going beyond a certain point. There must be a reason for everything;
nothing happens, if all is governed by law, and we can come to no
other conclusion.
When we look into the mental reason for things we find out why
things happen. The man who gets so far and never seems to go beyond
that point is still governed by law; when he allows his thoughts
to take him out into larger fields of action, his conditions come
up to his thought; when he stops enlarging his thought he stops
growing. If he would still keep on in thought, realizing more and
still more, he would find that in the outer form of things he would
be doing greater things.
There are many reasons why a man stops thinking larger things.
One of them is a lack of imagination. He cannot conceive of anything
more to follow than that which has already happened. Another thought
works like this: "This is as far as any one can go in my business."
Right here he signs his own death warrant. Often a person will say, "I
am too old to do bigger things." There he stops. Some one else
will say, "Competition is too great"; and here is where
this man stops; he can go no further than his thought will carry
him.
All this is unnecessary when we realize that life is first of
all Consciousness, and then conditions follow. We see no reason
why a man should not go on and on, and never stop growing. No matter
what age or what circumstance, if life is thought, we can keep on
thinking bigger things. There is no reason why a man who is already
doing well should not be able mentally to conceive of a still better
condition. What if we are active? There is always a greater activity
possible. We can still see a little beyond what has come before.
This is just what we should do, see, even though it be but a little
beyond our former thought. If we always practice this, we will find
that every year we shall be growing, every month we shall be advancing;
and as time goes on we shall become really great. As there is no
stopping in that power which is Infinite, as the Limitless is without
bounds, so should we keep on trying to see more and greater possibilities
in life.
We should definitely work every day for the expansion of thought.
If we have fifty customers a day we should endeavor to believe that
we have sixty. When we have sixty we should mentally see seventy.
This should never stop; there is no stopping place in mind.
Let go of everything else, drop everything else from your thought,
and mentally see more coming to you than has ever come before; believe
that Mind is establishing this unto you, and then go about your
business in the regular way. Never see the limitation; never dwell
upon it, and above all things else never talk limitation to any
one; this is the only way, and there is no other way to grow a larger
thought. The man with the big thought is always the man who does
big things in life. Get hold of the biggest thing that you can think
of and claim it for your own; mentally see it and hold it as a thing
already done, and you will prove to yourself that life is without
bounds.
ALWAYS BE GATHERING.

THERE is no reason why a person should ever stop.
This does not mean that we should be miserly, trying to accumulate
more and more to hold, but that our thought should so enlarge that
it can not help gathering more and more, even though, on the other
hand, or with the other hand, we are ever distributing that which
we gather. Indeed, the only reason for having is that we may give
out of that which we have.
No matter what big thing happens to us we should still be expecting
more and more. Even when we think that we have at last arrived;
right at the moment when it seems as though life had given us all
that we could stand; right here let it be but a beginning for still
greater things.
No matter how large the picture that you hold in mind, make it
larger. The reason why so many people come to the point where they
stop is that they come to a point where they stop growing in their
own minds. They come to a point where they can see no more, thinking
that because they have really done a big thing they should stop
there. We must watch our thought for signs of inactivity. Nothing
in the universe ever stops. Everything is built on a boundless basis,
drawn from a limitless source, come forth from an Infinite sea of
unmanifest life We speak forth into this life and draw back from
it all that we first think into it. Life is always limitless, and
the only thing that limits us is our inability to conceive mentally,
and we should draw more and more from that limitless source.
MENTAL LIKENESS.

WE can draw from the Infinite only as much as we first think
into it. It is at this point that so many fail, thinking that all
they need to do is to affirm what they want and it will follow.
While it is true that affirmations have real power, it is also true
that they have only that which we speak into them.
As we cannot speak a word that we do not know, so we cannot make
an affirmation that we do not understand. We really affirm only
that which we know to be true; we know that to be true which we
have experienced within ourselves. Although we may have heard or
read that this or that thing is true, it is only when there is something
within our own souls that corresponds or recognizes its truth, that
it is true to us. This ought never to be lost sight of: we can effectively
affirm only that which we know, and we know only that which we are.
It is herein that we see the necessity of providing within a greater
concept of life; a bigger idea of ourselves and a more expanded
concept of the Universe in which we live, move and have our being.
This is a matter of inner growth together with the enlarging of
all lines of thought and activity.
If we want to do a thing that is really worth doing, we must
mentally grow until we are that thing, which we want to see made
flesh. This may take time, but we should be glad to use all the
time necessary to our own development.
But few people in limitation have a mental likeness of plenty.
This likeness must be provided. The thought mast be large enough
to cover the whole of the thing desired; a small thought will produce
only a small thing. The very fact that all is Mind proves this to
be true. All is mind and, because it is, we can draw from
that mind only that which we first think into it as a reality. We
must become the thing we want. We must see it, think it, realize
it, before the creative power of Mind can work it out for us. This
is an inner process of the expansion of consciousness. It is a thought,
growing and realizing within. All can do this who wish and who will
take the time and trouble, but it will mean work. The majority of
people are too lazy to make the effort.
Daily we must train our thought to see that only which we wish
to experience, and since we are growing into what we are mentally
dwelling upon, we should put all small and insignificant thoughts
and ideals out of our thinking and see things in a larger way. We
must cultivate the habit of an enlarged mental horizon, daily seeing
farther and farther ahead, and so experiencing larger and greater
things in our daily life.
A good practice for the enlargement of thought is daily to see
ourselves in a little bigger place, filled with more of activity,
surrounded with increased influence and power; feel more and more
that things are coming to us; see that much more is just ahead,
and so far as possible, know that we now have all that we see and
all that we feel. Affirm that you are that larger thing; that you
are now entered into that larger life; feel that something within
is drawing more to you; live with the idea and let the concept grow,
expecting only the biggest and the best to happen. Never let small
thoughts come into your mind, and you will soon find that a larger
and greater experience has come into your life.
KEEPING THE
THING IN MIND.

NEVER let go of the mental image until it becomes manifested.
Daily bring up the clear picture of what is wanted and impress it
on the mind as an accomplished fact. This impressing on our own
minds the thought of what we wish to realize will cause our own
minds to impress the same thought on Universal Mind. In this way
we shall be praying without ceasing. We do not have to hold continually
the thought of something we want in order to get it, but the thought
that we may inwardly become the thing we want. Fifteen minutes,
twice each day, is time enough to spend in order to demonstrate
anything, but the rest of the time ought also to be spent constructively.
That is, we must stop all negative thinking and give over all wrong
thought, holding fast to the realization that it is now done unto
us. We must know that we are dealing with the only power there is
in the Universe; that there is none other beside it, and that we
are in it partaking of its nature and its laws. Always, behind the
word that we send forth, must be the calm confidence in our ability
to speak into the power, and the willingness of Mind to execute
for us. We must gradually grow in confidence and in trust in the
unseen world of spiritual activity. This is not hard, if we but
remember that the Spirit makes things out of Itself by simply becoming
the thing that it makes, and since there is no other power to oppose
it, it will always work. The Spirit will never fail us if we never
fail to believe in its goodness and its responsiveness.
Life will become one grand song, when we realize that since God
is for us, none can be against us. We shall cease merely to exist;
we shall live.
DESTROY ALL
THOUGHTS THAT WE DO NOT WISH TO EXPERIENCE.

WE must resolutely set our faces to the rising consciousness
of the Son of Truth; seeing only the One Power we must destroy the
adversary and leave the field to God or Good. All that is in any
way negative must be wiped off the slate and we must daily come
into the higher thought, to be washed clean of the dust and chaos
of the objective life. In the silence of the soul's communion
with the Great Cause of All Being, into the stillness of the Absolute,
into the secret place of the Most High, back of the din and the
ceaseless roar of life, we shall find a resting place and a place
of real spiritual power. Speak in this inner silence and say, "I
am one with the Almighty; I am one with all life, with all power,
with all presence. I AM, I AM, I AM." Listen to the silence.
From out of the seeming void the voice of peace will answer the
waiting soul, "All is well."
Here we make known all our needs and wants, and here we receive
first hand from the Infinite all that we shall ever need to make
life healthy, happy and harmonious. Few enter here, because of the
belief that conditions and circumstances control. Know that there
is no law but God's law; that the soul sets its own law in the
Infinite and that our slightest wish is honored of the Father Mind.
Daily practice the truth and daily die to all error-thought.
Spend more time receiving and realizing the, presence of the Most
High and less time worrying. Wonderful power will come to the one
who believes and trusts in that Power in which he has come to believe.
Know that all good and all God is with you; All Life and All Power;
and never again say, "I fear," but always, "I trust,
because 'I know in whom I have believed.'"
DIRECT PRACTICE
FOR PROSPERITY.

SUPPOSE that you are doing a mail order business and sending
out cards to the whole country. Take the cards into your hands,
or simply think of them and declare into the only Mind that they
will accomplish that for which they are sent out; know that every
word written on them is truth and carries its own conviction with
it; see them each reaching that place where it will be received
with gladness and read with interest; declare this to be so now;
feel it to be the truth; mentally assert that each card will find
its way to the exact place where it will be wanted and where it
will benefit the receiver; feel that each card is cared for by the
Spirit; that it is a messenger of truth and power and that it will
carry conviction and realization with it. When the word is .spoken
always feel that Mind at once takes it up and never fails to act
upon it. Our place in the creative order is to know this and to
be willing to do all that we can without hurry or worry, and, above
all else, to trust absolutely in the Spirit to do the rest. He who
sees most clearly and believes most implicitly will make the greatest
demonstration. This one should be you, and will be you as soon as
the false thought is gone and the realization that there is but
the one power and the one presence comes. We are wrapped in an Infinite
Love and Intelligence and we should cover ourselves with it and
claim its protection from all evil. Declare that your word is the
presence and the activity of the Power of all that is and wait for
the perfect concept to unfold.
RACE CONSCIOUSNESS.

ONE of the things which greatly hinders us from demonstrating
a greater degree of prosperity we may call race thought or race
consciousness. This is the result of all that the race has thought
or believed. We are immersed in it, and those who are receptive
to it are controlled by it. All thought seeks expression along the
lines of least resistance. When we become negative or fearful we
attract that kind of thought and condition. We must be sure of ourselves;
we must be positive; we must not be aggressive, but absolutely sure
and poised within. Negative people are always picking up negative
conditions; they get into trouble easily: Persons who are positive
draw positive things; they are always successful. Few people realize
that the law of thought is the great reality; that thoughts produce
things. When we come to understand this power of thought, we will
carefully watch our thinking to see that no thought enters that
we should not want made into a thing.
We can guard our minds by knowing that no negative thought can
enter; we can daily practice by saying that no race thought of limitation
can enter the mind; that Spirit forms itself around us and protects
us from all fear and from all limitation. Let us clothe ourselves
in the great realization that all power is ours and that nothing
else can enter; let us fill the atmosphere of our homes, and places
of business with streams of positive thought. Other people will
feel this and will like to be near us and enter into the things
that we enter into. In this way we shall be continually drawing
only the best.
DEVELOPING
INTUITION.

IF a person always lived near to mind he would never make any
great mistakes. Some seem to have the faculty of always knowing
just what is best to do; they always succeed because they avoid
making errors. We can all so train ourselves that we will be guided
by the Supreme Mind of the Universe; but we can never do this until
we believe that we can receive direct from the source of all knowledge.
This is done by sitting in the silence and knowing that the Spirit
is inwardly directing us. We should try to feel that our thought
is being permeated by the thought of the Spirit. We should expect
it to direct but should never become discouraged if at once a direct
impression is not received. The work is going on even if it is not
seen or even felt. Thought is forming in our mind and in time will
come forth as an idea. When the idea does come always trust in it
even though it may not seem to be quite as we had expected. The
first impressions are usually the most direct and the clearest;
they are generally direct from the Mind of the Universe and should
be carefully worked out into expression.
We declare as we sit in the silence that the Spirit of all knowledge
is making known within us just what we should do; that it is telling
us just what to say or where to go. Have absolute reliance on this
as it is one of the most important things to do. We should always
get that inner assurance before undertaking any new enterprise;
being sure that we have really put the whole thing into the hands
of life and that all that we have to do is to work it out in the
outer. We shall learn to avoid mistakes when we learn to be directed
by that inner voice that never makes mistakes. We should declare
in the silence that intelligence is guiding us and it will do so.
PRESENCE OF
ACTIVITY.

SUPPOSE that your place of business does not seem to manifest
any activity; that is, suppose that customers do not come. To the
person in the business world the presence of customers generally
means activity. Suppose that you have come to believe that the principle
will work in the smallest as well as in the greatest things. What
you want now is a greater activity. How are you going to see activity
when there is none?
Here is a great question in Truth. Must we overlook that which
we see, and that which we have experienced? Yes, absolutely; there
is no other way. If we keep on seeing the thing as it appears we
will never be able to change its appearance. What we must do, then,
in spite of the seeming inactivity, is still to know and mentally
to see and declare that we are in the midst of activity. Feel this
to be true; mentally see the place crowded; know that it is packed
full of customers all the time; declare that your word draws them
in; have no sense of strain about it whatever; simply know that
you are dealing with the only power that there is; it will work;
it must work. Realize when you have spoken the word that a greater
power has taken it up and that it is being established unto you.
Have no idea of limitation; speak forth into mind with perfect trust.
If you have the ability mentally to see the place full, combine
this with the word, and daily visualize it as being filled. Always
combine faith in the higher power with all that you do; feel that
you are being especially looked after. This is true. When a soul
turns to the Universe of unmanifest life, at the same time It turns
toward him. Jesus told this in the story of the Prodigal Son; the
Father saw him afar off. Always there is that inward turning to
us of the Parent Mind when we turn to It and place ourselves in
closer contact with Life.
We must keep our mind clear so that when the Spirit brings the
gift we will be open to receive it. Even God cannot force things
upon us. We must receive even before we see.
"For the feeble
hands and helpless,
Groping blindly in the darkness
Touch God's right hand in that darkness
And are lifted up and strengthened."
Always, when we believe, we will have that belief honored of
the Spirit of Life. Mentally seeing just what we want; still seeing
even though the heavens fall, we shall succeed in proving that the
law of life is a law of liberty. God made man to have all that the
Universe contained and then left him alone to discover his own nature.
Stop all striving and all struggle and within your own soul know
the truth and trust absolutely in it. Daily declare that you are
being guided and protected and that the power of the Spirit is bringing
all to pass, and wait in perfect peace and confidence. Such an attitude
of mind will overcome anything and will prove that spiritual thought
force is the only real power in the Universe.
DRAWING YOUR
OWN TO YOU.

SUPPOSE that you wish to draw friends and companions to you;
that you wish to enlarge your circle of friendships. This, too,
can all be worked out by law, for everything can be worked out by
the same law, the reason being that all is One and that the One
becomes the many in expression. There are too many people in the
world who are lonesome because they have a sense of separation from
people. The thing to do is not to try to unify with people, but
with the Principle of Life behind all people and things.
This is working from the center and not the circumference; in this
One Mind are the minds of all people. When you unite your thought
with the whole you will be united with the parts of the whole. The
first thing to do, then, is to realize that Life is your friend
and companion; feel the divine companionship; feel that you are
one with all life; declare that, as this thought awakens within
your mind, so does it awaken within the mind of the whole race;
feel that the world is being drawn to you; love the world and everyone
who is in it; include all, if you would be included in all. The
world seeks strength; be strong. The world loves love; embody it;
see the good in all people; let go of all else. People will feel
your love and will be drawn into it. Love is the greatest power
in the Universe; it is at the base of all else; it is the cause
of all that is. Feel your love to be like a great light lighting
the pathway of the whole world; it will come back to you bringing
so many friends that there will not be time enough to enjoy them
all. Become a real friend and you will have many friends.
Be sufficient unto yourself and at the same time include all
else, and people will feel your strength and will have a desire
to come into the radiance of it. Never become unhappy or morbid;
always be cheerful and radiate good nature and happiness; never
look depressed or down in the mouth; the world is attracted to the
strongest center of cheer and good fellowship. Never allow your
feelings to be hurt. No one wants to hurt you, and none could, even
though they did want to; you are above all that. Wherever you go
know that the Spirit of Truth goes before and prepares the way,
bringing to you every friend and influence that will be necessary
to your comfort and well being. This is not selfishness but good
sense and will surely bring to you a harvest of friends and companions.
Declare unto Mind that you are now linked with all people and
that all people are linked with you: see yourself surrounded with
hosts of friends; mentally feel their presence and rejoice that
all good is yours now. Do this no matter what seems to happen, and
it will not be long before you will meet wonderful friends and will
be brought into touch with the great of the world.
THE FINAL WORD.

IN the last analysis, man is just what he thinks himself to be;
he is big in capacity if he thinks big thoughts; he is small if
he thinks small thoughts. He will attract to himself what he thinks
most about. He can learn to govern his own destiny when he learns
to control his thoughts. In order to do this he must first realize
that everything in the manifest universe is the result of some inner
activity of Mind. This Mind is God, producing a universe by the
activity of His own divine thoughts; man is in this Mind as a thinking
center, and what he thinks governs his life, even as God's thought
governs the Universe, by setting in motion all the cosmic activities.
This is so easy to understand, and so plain as to use that we often
wonder why we have been so long finding out this, the greatest of
all truths of all the ages. Believing; thinking what is believed
to be true; thinking into Mind each day that which is wished to
be returned; eliminating negative thoughts; holding all positive
thoughts; giving thanks to the Spirit of Life that it is so trusting
always in the higher law; never arguing with one's self or with
others; using; these are the steps which, when followed, will bring
us to where we shall not have to ask if it be true, for, having
demonstrated, we shall know.
The seed that falls into the ground shall bear fruit of its own
kind; and nothing shall hinder it.
"He that hath ears to hear, let him hear."
Notice of Attribution: CREATIVE MIND and
SUCCESS by ERNEST SHURTLEFF HOLMES Author of "CREATIVE
MIND" NEW YORK, ROBERT M. McBRIDE & CO. [1919] The text
has been reformatted and represented suitably at Selfhelpvision.com
for the convenience of readers. While we have taken every precaution
to reproduce this text, we cannot guarantee its accuracy. This
is not an exact copy of the original. Its contents have been
reformatted and certain pages have been removed for clarity
and ease of reading.