|
|
SUCCESS IS THE PROGRESSIVE
REALIZATION OF A WORTHY IDEAL—
The greatest discovery of my generation is that human
beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes
of mind. We need only in cold blood act as if the thing
in question were real and it will become infallibly real
by growing into such a connection with our life that it
will become real. It will become so knit with habit and
emotion that our interest in it will be those which characterize
belief. If you only care enough for a result, you will
almost certainly attain it. If you wish to be rich, you
will be rich. If you wish to learned, you will be learned.
If you wish to be good, you will be good. Only you must
then really wish these things, and wish them exclusively,
and not wish at the same time a hundred other incompatible
things just as strongly.
more quotes
>>
|
|
|
|
|
In 1912, Harry Leon Wilson wrote a novel of some three
hundred pages entitled Bunker Bean. This is an intriguing
story of a man who was tricked into believing in himself.
Most people suffer throughout life from too mean an estimate
of their own abilities. Consequently they spend their
strength on small tasks and never put their real powers
fairly to trial. Not to believe in God is a tragedy, but
not to believe in oneself is a
disaster. The human being who can have faith, who can
believe in God and in himself and in his work, is fortunate
indeed. One of the most powerful truths known in the world
centers in the literal declaration of Jesus that "all
things are possible to him that believeth" {Mark
9:23).
The study of Bunker Bean makes the potential power of
belief more clearly visible, and is a part of our literature
that comes under the heading of "useful fiction."
All through history the myth, the fable, the allegory,
have been used with great effectiveness to teach principles.
A remarkable thing about the parables of the Savior is
that they need not have been true as actual occurrences.
Of far greater importance is that they are always true
as principles and in the lessons they teach. In the parables
Jesus captured many of life's vital experiences and made
their messages timeless and universal in application.
Man is a child of God with abilities and potentialities
so great that we seldom even suspect them, and we need
more actual demonstrations of those abilities that can
literally move mountains.
Bunker Bean's parents died when he was but a child, and
he was left alone in the world. He "roamed the earth
in rags and lived timidly through its terrors." His
mind was full of fears. He was afraid of policemen; he
was afraid to ride in the elevator, for each time the
elevator seemed to fall he suffered the sensations of
dying. He knew he was inferior to others. Some of his
contemporaries made fun of him. He was afraid of the future,
afraid of situations, afraid of things, afraid of life-even
afraid of himself. |
|
|
Then one day a false spiritualistic medium moved into
the cheap boardinghouse where Bunker Bean lived. This
man had a book on reincarnation, and he persuaded young
Bunker Bean to believe that just as we cast off worn-out
shoes and replace them with new, so we cast off our worn-out
bodies and re-clothe the spirit by the process of reincarnation.
Bunker Bean believed wholeheartedly in the teaching of
his newfound friend. He was convinced that the friend
possessed some extraordinary powers from another world.
This man persuaded Bunker Bean that in return for his
savings and a part of his wages over a long period, he
could tell him about his (Bunker Bean's) previous incarnations.
After a considerable delay and seemingly great effort
on the part of the medium, Bunker Bean was surprised and
delighted to learn that he, the weak, timid Bunker Bean,
had once been the great Napoleon Bonaparte, the master
of Europe. It was quite a shock to learn that once people
had been afraid of him. When he was Napoleon, Europe had
trembled before him. Policemen had been as insects.
This he could not understand, so he inquired of his friend
why it was that Napoleon had been so courageous and Bunker
Bean so timid. The medium explained that life went in
a vast karmac cycle. Napoleon had lived on the upper half
of the cycle, when the qualities of courage, initiative,
and power had been in the ascendancy. But Bunker Bean
lived in the lower part of the cycle that was characterized
by timidity, fear, and weakness. Therefore Bunker Bean
possessed the exact opposite of the great Napoleonic courage
and self-confidence.
But there was some wonderful news awaiting Bunker Bean.
His friend told him that the lower part of the cycle was
just now being completed, and he was again reentering
that period in which he had lived so famously as Napoleon
the Great. It would not be many days before he himself
would know the truth. He would soon feel a strange life
stirring within him, for he was even now well on the way
to becoming his own inspired, courageous, determined self
again-strong, self-reliant, fearless, and successful.
Even the thought of who he really was made Bunker Bean
expand his chest. He straightened his shoulders and studied
himself in the glass. Now that he thought about it, there
was a certain majesty in his look. The thought of who
he was and of his former accomplishments made him vibrate
with some strange, fresh power. He went to the library,
where he secured and enthusiastically read every book
about Napoleon, his former self. He devoured every idea
and absorbed the ambition of the mighty Bonaparte, for
he, Bunker Bean, was determined to prepare himself to
give full play to those great qualities, which even now
were beginning to reappear in his life. At all costs he
must learn immediately the secrets of his previous success. |
|
|
He collected pictures of Napoleon and hung
them around his little attic room where he could feast
his mind upon them. He imitated the speech, thoughts,
and acts of his former self .He was about the same height
as Napoleon, and he now remembered for the first time
that he did possess some of those qualities of character
that had distinguished the great general.
When he meditated and concentrated long enough he could
almost remember Marengo. In those days he had been the
one who had been in command. Now when he was tempted to
be afraid, he thought, "What would Napoleon have
done?" And he knew that Napoleon would have been
contemptuous of the groundless fears which had so terrorized
the early life of Bunker Bean.
One of his historians had said that Napoleon had "won
battles in his tent." That was good enough for Bunker
Bean. He too would plan and organize and think the problem
out in advance, as Napoleon had done. He, like Napoleon,
would see to it that nothing was left to chance. He would
permit no exceptions to success. He had a colored picture
of Napoleon sitting on his great white horse on an eminence
overlooking a crucial battle which he directed with masterly
waves of his sabre. Bunker Bean thrilled at the thought
that this same great power still lay hidden within his
own breast, just waiting for expression.
This mental stimulation proved a powerful tonic for the
ailing ego of Bunker Bean. He sat up all night to read
the book en-titled “The Hundred Days”, which
described Napoleon's battles. It told of defeat but of
how gloriously his former self had taken it; of his escape
from Elba, his return to France, the march on Paris, conquering
by the sheer magnetism of his personality wherever he
passed. His spirit bounded as he read of the frightened
exit of the enemy of Napoleon, that puny usurper who went
down in defeat before the mere rumor of Napoleon's approach.
Then he had been magnificent! He had been willing to stake
everything on his own judgment and skill. But finally
there had come Waterloo and deathless ignominy. He heard
again the choked sobs of "the old guard" as
they bade their emperor farewell. He felt the despairing
clasp of their hands as that strong bond was finally severed
that had held them together those many years.
Alone in his little room high above the flaring street
lights, the timid boy read The Hundred Days and thrilled
to a fancied memory of them. Now his breath was stronger,
his blood ran faster in his veins as it went to nourish
a body that contained the essential portion of the great
Bonaparte. Napoleon's contemporaries had called him an
upstart, but the historians had said that upstarts were
men who believed in themselves. This Bunker Bean now did
with all his heart. As he read about himself, he forgot
his mean surroundings and the timidities of spirit that
had brought him thus far through life almost with the
feelings of a fugitive. |
|
|
Napoleon had exhibited his greatest powers
as he led men to conquest. Inasmuch as there were now
no wars to be fought, Bunker Bean must find some other
outlet for his extraordinary ability. He had been employed
in a minor position in a business undertaking. It seemed
to him that this was the greatest field of adventure in
which to employ his peculiar genius. Bunker Bean knew
that what he had once accomplished on the field of battle
he would now repeat in the field of business. He then
began to think about making money. He knew nothing about
the specific processes involved, but he felt sure that
if he followed the principles that had been so productive
in the past, he could not fail in the future.
The historians had said that Napoleon "had known
human nature like a book." Therefore, he resolved
to study human nature. The historian had said that "with
Napoleon, to think was to act," also that Napoleon
was "merciless in driving himself." Bunker Bean
would now do again all of these things that had previously
laid Europe at his feet.
He had been working for small pay, but as he began to
think about and develop these Napoleonic qualities of
initiative and courage, amazing things began to happen.
He was a different person. Other people also began to
take notice of the change. As a consequence, he was given
more important assignments, his pay was increased, and
as he began to advance with great rapidity up the positive
incline of the cycle, he now knew that his friend had
told him the truth.
Then he was struck by another thought. He knew that for
a short period of fifty-two years he had been Napoleon.
But certainly he should know about himself over a longer
period. Who had he been before he was Napoleon? With these
questions he again confronted his friend, and now that
prosperity and money were coming his way, he could pay
the medium well for whatever additional information could
be obtained.
And he was not disappointed, because after the money had
been paid, he learned to his further astonishment and
delight that before he was Napoleon he had been the greatest
of the Egyptian Pharaohs. He had had a long and wonderful
reign and had died at the age of eighty-two. His death
was deeply mourned by all of his people. He, Rameses,
had been a ruler of great strength and character. He had
been stern at times but always just. His remains received
the burial customary in those times, and his body was
even now interred in the royal sepulcher, covered by the
sands of the centuries. |
|
|
As the Pharaoh, he had been tall and handsome.
He was so impressed with the account of the magnificence
of the physical bearing of the Pharaoh that he immediately
employed the best tailor and had his clothing cut in such
a way as to give him the appearance of perfect physical
development. The effect produced so improved his form
that he unconsciously strove to develop the appearance
that the garment gave him. He expanded his chest, drew
in his waist and stood erect. "In beggar's rags most
men are beggars; in kingly robes most men could be kings."
He must achieve that kingly behavior that is said to distinguish
royalty.
He had been thrilled by his deliberate acts of courage
because they stiffened his spine. Now he would add royalty
and grace and mental power. He understood that such a
marked advance in his spirit could not all be made in
a day. Such progress could only come after long dwelling
in thought and practice upon the qualities that were responsible
for his splendid past. He must do what kings did. Kings
were rich. He was a king; therefore he would be rich.
No sooner would his kingship be proclaimed than money
would be in his hands. Money would come to him as it had
come to him on the banks of the Nile many centuries before.
He did not question how or when-he only knew it would
come.
No longer would he play the coward before trivial adversaries.
He would direct large affairs; he would think big and
he would live big. Never again would he be afraid of death
or life or policemen or the mockery of his fellows. His
spirit grew tall and his fiber toughened. He knew he was
a king, and others could not help knowing it also.
He sometimes thought about his present employer, and it
occurred to him that had his employer lived with him back
in Egypt he would probably have been a royal steward,
a keeper of the royal granaries, perhaps, or a dependable
accountant. But he could never had risen very high because
his "lameness of manner was an incurable defect of
the soul." He pitied his employer. Though his employer
was successful and well to do, Bunker Bean was in a different
class. He was a king. But money and power came not only
to kings, but also to the kingly. Bunker Bean was born
to riches; he was born a king, but he would also do the
things that characterized greatness.
Strength seemed to flow to him from his mental image of
the strong, calm demeanor of the Pharaoh. When reliving
his previous experiences he could believe no weakness
of himself. He had once ruled a mighty people in Egypt.
But also centuries later he had been Napoleon and had
made Europe tremble under the tread of his victorious
armies. He had made some mistakes in those earlier appearances.
These he would not make again. Bunker Bean believed himself
to be both a wise king and a courageous soldier. He thought
courage at night and he awoke in the morning with a giant's
strength. His thoughts were like a great inpouring of
phosphorous into his personality. This gave him an iron
will. |
|
|
Then one day Bunker Bean made a tragic discovery. The
medium was a fake. None of these important things that
he had believed were true. He had been cheated for the
sake of his money. Then he realized that he was not a
king, that he was only weak, timid Bunker Bean, mean and
insignificant. What a tremendous letdown! What an occasion
for discouragement, dejection, failure!
But in the years that Bunker Bean had believed himself
a king, he had formed the habits that go with success,
and habits are not easily broken. It was now natural and
easy for him to do the things that great men did.
And then Bunker Bean had another great experience. This
time he was not deceived. He learned that great scriptural
philosophy that, "As [a man] thinketh in his heart,
so is he" (Proverbs 23:7).
And so it had been. When he had believed himself a king,
he had been a king. When he had believed himself weak,
he had been weak. Had he not discovered the deception
and gone on believing in himself, all would have been
as before. And as he thought that through he learned this
great truth: "Believing is all that matters."
Then a new truth ran through his mind, molten, luminous.
No one had known that he had believed himself to be Rameses
and Napoleon except himself and his former friend. But
Bunker Bean had become wealthy in the years that he had
lived this myth of imagining himself to be great. He had
gained wealth, power, and prestige by believing in himself.
Rameses and Napoleon had been only a crude bit of scaffolding
on which he had climbed to success.
The confidence that he had developed in himself could
now endure without the help of the scaffolding. He would
still think big and live big. In spite of the discovery
, his faith would still continue. The Corsican's magnetism
would still prevail, and he, Bunker Bean, the lowly, would
still have the power to magnetize, to thrill, to lead,
and to accomplish. He would still remember that money,
power, success, and leadership come not only to kings
but also to the kingly. The world would always be at his
feet if he could only believe.
Later he visited the tomb of Napoleon to pay his tribute
to the man who never lost faith in himself. Even in those
last sad days on the prison rock of his lonely island,
this man's spirit had remained unbroken. How greatly Bunker
Bean had profited from that courage and faith! He had
developed a certain grim sureness of himself which would
survive.
Emotion surged into the eyes of Bunker Bean, threatening
to overwhelm him. He had learned the great truth: Every
man is born a king. Every man is born to riches. To believe
is all that matters.
from "The Best of Sterling W. Sill" |
|
|
|
|
