The Law of Success: In Sixteen Lessons. A to Z Classics

FEAR OF CRITICISM: Just how and where man got this Fear is difficult to determine, but it is certain that he has it. But for this Fear men would not become bald-headed. Bald heads come from tightly fitting hat-bands, which cut off the circulation from the roots of the hair. Women seldom are bald because they wear loose fitting hats. But for Fear of Criticism man would lay aside his hat and keep his hair.

      The makers of clothing have not been slow to capitalize this Basic Fear of mankind. Every season the styles change, because the clothes makers know that few people have the courage to wear a garment that is one season out of step with what “They are all wearing.” If you doubt this (you gentlemen) start down the street with last year’s narrow-brimmed straw hat on, when this year’s style calls for the broad brim. Or (you ladies), take a walk down the street on Easter morning with last year’s hat on. Observe how uncomfortable you are, thanks to your unseen enemy, the FEAR OF CRITICISM.

      The sixth, and last of the Six Basic Fears is the most dreaded of them all. It is called:

      THE FEAR OF DEATH! For tens of thousands of years man has been asking the still unanswered questions — “WHENCE?” and “WHITHER?” The more crafty of the race have not been slow to offer the answer to this eternal question, “Where did I come from and where am I going after Death?” “Come into my tent,” says one leader, “and you may go to Heaven after Death.” Heaven was then pictured as a wonderful city whose streets were lined with gold and studded with precious stones. “Remain out of my tent and you may go straight to hell.” Hell was then pictured as a blazing furnace where the poor victim might have the misery of burning forever in brimstone.

      No wonder mankind FEARS DEATH!

      Take another look at the picture at the beginning of this essay and determine, if you can, which of the Six Basic Fears is doing you the greatest damage. An enemy discovered is an enemy half whipped.

      Thanks to the schools and colleges man is slowly discovering these Six Enemies. The most effective tool with which to fight them is ORGANIZED KNOWLEDGE. Ignorance and Fear are twin sisters. They are generally found together.

      But for IGNORANCE and SUPERSTITION the Six Basic Fears would disappear from man’s nature in one generation. In every public library may be found the remedy for these six enemies of mankind, providing you know what books to read.

      Begin by reading The Science of Power, by Benjamin Kidd, and you will have broken the strangle hold of most of your Six Basic Fears. Follow this by reading Emerson’s essay on Compensation. Then select some good book on auto-suggestion (selfsuggestion) and inform yourself on the principle through which your beliefs of today become the realities of tomorrow. Mind In the Making, by Robinson, will give you a good start toward understanding your own mind.

      Through the principle of social heredity the IGNORANCE and SUPERSTITION of the dark ages have been passed on to you. But, you are living in a modern age. On every hand you may see evidence that every EFFECT has a natural CAUSE. Begin, now, to study effects by their causes and soon you will emancipate your mind from the burden of the Six Basic Fears.

      Begin by studying men who have accumulated great wealth, and find out the CAUSE of their achievements. Henry Ford is a good subject to start with. Within the short period of twenty-five years he has whipped POVERTY and made himself the most powerful man on earth. There was no luck or chance or accident back of his achievement. It grew out of his careful observation of certain principles which are as available to you as they were to him.

      Henry Ford is not bound down by the Six Basic Fears; make no mistake about this.

      If you feel that you are too far away from Ford to study him accurately, then begin by selecting two people whom you know close at hand; one representing your idea of FAILURE and the other corresponding to your idea of SUCCESS. Find out what made one a failure and the other a success. Get the real FACTS. In the process of gathering these facts you will have taught yourself a great lesson on CAUSE and EFFECT.

      Nothing ever just “happens.” Everything, from the lowest animal form that creeps on the earth or swims in the seas, on up to man, is the EFFECT of Nature’s evolutionary process. Evolution is “orderly change.” No “miracles” are connected with this orderly change.

      Not only do the physical shapes and colors of animals undergo slow, orderly change from one generation to another, but the mind of man is also undergoing constant change. Herein lies your hope for improvement. You have the power to force your mind through a process of rather quick change. In a single month of properly directed self-suggestion you may place your foot upon the neck of every one of your Six Basic Fears. In twelve months of persistent effort you may drive the entire herd into the corner where it will never again do you any serious injury.

      You will resemble, tomorrow, the DOMINATING THOUGHTS that you keep alive in your mind today! Plant in your mind the seed of DETERMINATION to whip your Six Basic Fears and the battle will have been half won then and there. Keep this intention in your mind and it will slowly push your Six Worst Enemies out of sight, as they exist nowhere except in your own mind.

      The man who is powerful FEARS nothing; not even God. The POWERFUL man loves God, but FEARS Him never! Enduring power never grows out of FEAR. Any power that is built upon FEAR is bound to crumble and disintegrate. Understand this great truth and you will never be so unfortunate as to try to raise yourself to power through the FEARS of other people who may owe you temporary allegiance.

      Man is of soul and body formed for deeds

      Of high resolve; on fancy’s boldest wing

      To soar unwearied, fearlessly to turn

      The keenest pangs to peacefulness, and taste

      The joys which mingled sense and spirit yield;

      Or he is formed for abjectness and woe,

      To grovel on the dunghill of his fears,

      To shrink at every sound, to quench the flame

      Of natural love in sensualism, to know

      That hour as blest when on his worthless days

      The frozen hand of death shall set its seal,

      Yet fear the cure, though hating the disease.

      The one is man that shall hereafter be,

      The other, man as vice has made him now.

      —Shelley.

      Lesson 2 — A Definite Chief Aim

       “You Can Do It if You Believe You Can!”

      You are at the beginning of a course of philosophy which, for the first time in the history of the world, has been organized from the known factors which have been used and must always be used by successful people.

      Literary style has been completely subordinated for the sake of stating the principles and laws included in this course in such a manner that they may be quickly and easily assimilated by people in every walk of life.

      Some of the principles described in the course are familiar to all who will read the course. Others are here stated for the first time. It should be kept in mind, from the first lesson to the last, that the value of the philosophy lies entirely in the thought stimuli it will produce in the mind of the student, and not merely in the lessons themselves.

      Stated in another way, this course is intended as a mind stimulant that will cause the student to organize and direct to a DEFINITE end the forces of his or her mind, thus harnessing the stupendous power which most people waste in spasmodic, purposeless thought.

      Singleness of purpose is essential for success, no matter what may be one’s idea of the definition of success. Yet singleness of purpose is a quality which may, and generally does, call for thought on many allied subjects.

      This author traveled a long distance to watch Jack Dempsey train for