Editor's entry
~1 min readWallace D. Wattles's 1910 New Thought tract argues that wealth is the result of doing things in a "certain way" — sustained mental imagery of a definite outcome, gratitude as the vibrational link to its source, and immediate practical action in one's current situation. The book is structured as seventeen short numbered chapters rather than narrative, designed to be re-read until the principles are internalised.
The direct source text behind Rhonda Byrne's The Secret — Byrne credits Wattles by name as the document that triggered the project. Inside New Thought it reads as one of the cleanest statements of the movement's prosperity branch; outside it, as an artefact of early-twentieth-century American optimism that has not aged well philosophically but remains influential because its modern repackagers have not. Sales of the original were modest in Wattles's lifetime; the explosion is post-2006, riding The Secret's coattails.
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First lines
opening of the bookWhatever may be said in praise of poverty, the fact remains that it is not possible to live a really complete or successful life unless one is rich. No man can rise to his greatest possible height in talent or soul development unless he has plenty of money; for to unfold the soul and to develop talent he must have many things to use, and he cannot have these things unless he has money to buy them with.
Contents
17 chapters- The Right to Be Rich
- There Is a Science of Getting Rich
- Is Opportunity Monopolized?
- The First Principle in the Science of Getting Rich
- Increasing Life
- How Riches Come to You
- Gratitude
- Thinking in the Certain Way
- How to Use the Will
- Further Use of the Will
- Acting in the Certain Way
- Efficient Action
- Getting into the Right Business
- The Impression of Increase
- The Advancing Man
- Some Cautions, and Concluding Observations
- Summary of the Science of Getting Rich
Reception
editor-collectedThe direct source text behind Rhonda Byrne's The Secret — Byrne credits Wattles by name as the document that triggered the project. Read inside New Thought as one of the cleanest statements of the movement's prosperity branch; outside it, treated as an artefact of early-20th-century American optimism that has not aged well philosophically but remains influential because its modern repackagers have not. Sales of the original were modest in Wattles's lifetime; the explosion is post-2006, riding The Secret's coattails.
Index reception note
Frequently asked
3 questions- What is The Science of Getting Rich about?
- Wallace Wattles's 1910 New Thought tract on becoming wealthy by acting "in a Certain Way" — sustained mental imagery of a definite outcome, gratitude as the vibrational link to its source, and practical action from one's current situation. Seventeen short chapters, designed to be re-read.
- Is this the book that inspired The Secret?
- Yes. Rhonda Byrne has stated publicly that reading The Science of Getting Rich in 2004 triggered the project that became The Secret (2006). Wattles's book is the direct New Thought source for the Law of Attraction framing The Secret popularised.
- Is The Science of Getting Rich in the public domain?
- Yes — the original 1910 edition has been in the public domain for decades and is freely available in full on the Internet Archive. The dozens of paperback reprints in circulation reproduce the same text.
Catalogue record
- Author
- Wallace Wattles
- Title
- The Science of Getting Rich
- Publisher
- Elizabeth Towne Co.
- Year
- 1 January 1910
- Pages
- not yet recorded
- Language
- English
- ISBN
- 9781604501230
- Shelf
- New Thought · Consciousness · Philosophy
Availability
By the same author
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