The Prosperity & Wealth Bible. Kahlil Gibran

your Thoughts the right Food.

      Thoughts are the Master Builders of Fate. And as sure and plain as the chisel in the hands of the Sculptor leaves the lines and form of the finished Statue, so do Thoughts cut and shape your Character — and no man can change their work. Thoughts are Messengers of Events.

      Feed your Thoughts the right Food.

      Train your Thoughts. Organize them. Concentrate them. Exercise them. Guard them. Glory in the Society of your Thoughts — alone. For your Thoughts are your best Companions. Besmirch them — betray them, and you loom useless and abandoned.

      Feed your Thoughts the right Food.

      As your Mind grows in Strength, your Thoughts increase in Power. It is a wise plan, therefore, to fill your Mind with Thoughts that inspire and cheer and ennoble. For in the darker days of stress and rebellion that come into every life, the re-enforcements of great and useful Thoughts, step out to Protect and Save.

      Boost

      There are a great many people on this earth that we don’t need and that we wish we could just easily push off. Knockers, for instance. There is a difference between a Knocker and a Kicker. Sometimes people kick to a good purpose. But a Knocker is a Knocker — a Pest and a Destroyer. Here is the way to push the Knockers into Oblivion —

      Boost!

      Boost your Town. Boost your Business. Boost your Friends. Boost your Ideas. Boost everything that helps other people or yourself. Be a Booster and you can’t help but be a Builder.

      Boost!

      The man who Boosts is a Leader. He is always followed by a crowd. His philosophy at once becomes contagious. He leaves a trail of Boosters in his path. While those who follow him cut his name into Bronze.

      Boost!

      When you don’t know what else to do — Boost. It makes little odds what you Boost so long as you Boost something. Once you form the habit you need have no fear for lack of things to Boost. They will spring up from every direction.

      Boost!

      If you want to be happy — Boost. If you want to get higher in the world — Boost. The Busiest and Wisest men that live will be glad to listen to you if you are a Booster. Learn the knack of Boosting. It’s a great knack — more important than any “Pull,” or “Influence” — and it’s bigger than the mere making of Money.

      The Battle

      The greatest Battles being fought anywhere are those you fight daily inside your own Soul — against Anger, Lies, Habits, Misjudgments, Ill Health — Circumstances. Continually it is The Battle.

      The Battle — to find out how far Brain and Body fiber can be put to the test in order to learn that The Man is in Command.

      Heroes pass us daily — and we know it not.

      Character and Strength come from Strife. Like the Diamond, you become valuable only after the most painstaking toil and effort. We all come up out of the rough — we all demand cutting and polishing and shaping before we are able to stand out beautiful and inspiring.

      But Battling should hold nothing of gloom and sourness. For even in Defeat, there is always something Woo. The main requisites are to keep Smile-bound, carry light Equipment, and in the words of Cromwell, “trust in God and keep your Powder dry.”

      Welcome The Battle, as it goes on in your Life. Plan each little Skirmish with Care and with Courage. Be unmindful of the outside Crowd. Center on the destroying forces that face you and fight them to a finish. Then get ready for another Battle. Charge the dissenters in your own ranks. But keep your face toward the Enemy, under whatever name it fights you.

      Always Battle to Win!

      By firmly and patiently loading and reloading the guns at your command you become a seasoned Soldier. Little by little the intricate rules and principles of warfare become more simple and understandable. You begin to fed yourself a Leader and a Conqueror.

      Thus does The Battle — fought out by us hourly with fortitude — make real Men and Women of us all.

      Appreciation

      Appreciation is the Salt that savors the work and life of the World. Without Appreciation for what we do and without Appreciation for what is done for us, the merest task would become a burden and the Sunshine would go down out of the Hearts of People.

      Express your Appreciation.

      Appreciation is often withheld for fear of an advantage being taken of it. Nothing could be more foolish. Such a man takes advantage of himself. Appreciation acts like oil on the dry, worn parts of a machine. It starts off everybody and everything with Smiles. Continued Appreciation keeps things running smoothly. Also it saves wear.

      Express your Appreciation.

      People waste away, render but half service, and finally drop back in the race amply through a lack of Appreciation. Appreciation is not only one of the most powerful Tonics on earth — it’s an actual necessary Food. And without it no one partakes of a Balanced Diet.

      Express your Appreciation.

      If you are an Employer and one of your Helpers does good work, tell him so. And if you are a Helper and your Employer encourages you on, tell him so in thanks and increased service. Appreciation stirs and stimulates. It goes to a man’s soul as an electric current to the sensitive nerve centers.

      Express your Appreciation.

      Appreciate the chance to Live. Appreciate your Health, your Home, your Father and Mother, your Friends, your Opportunity. Some of these you may not have. But Appreciate what you do have — and greater gifts will hourly be added.

      Up

      For general Run-down-ed-ness try the Tonic — “Up.” The “Up” Tonic has actually saved this big world from going off to a Hospital. Millions daily rise to sing its marvelous praises.

      Get Up.

      That is the first step. Stand Up. The more you test your own Strength, the more you will pat yourself on the back for having such Strength. Get Up — and stay Up.

      Cheer Up.

      The Best is always yet to come. Cheer Up. All you have to do is to go after the Best. And then, Cheer is so Magnetic. No matter where you work or where you go — you draw People and Fortune your way. Suppose the Cow did lack over the pail of Milk. There’s more Cow and there’s more Milk. Cheer Up!

      Smile Up.

      Smiles don’t count when they hit the ground. Smile Up. When you face a day that seems knotted with kinks, Smile Up. There will be very few Kinks left. At every time and in every place — Smile Up. Make no exception. Smile Up.

      Climb Up.

      Be satisfied with nothing. Climb Up. Gather up carefully and patiently the threads of Toil and Experience that make up your completed day and use them as a Rope with which to pull yourself higher. Climb Up.

      Lift Up.

      If everybody were always Up and never Down, there would be no reason for this little Talk. Somebody is always Down and somebody is always Up. You who are Up help the one who is Down. Lift Up. Then YOU will be HIGHER Up.

      Lead

      This world needs Leaders more than it needs any other breed of men. Every line of activity calls for Leaders — every Home, every Business, every Town — every Nation. As long as there are people there will be plenty to Follow. The demand is for those who can Lead.

      Be a Leader.