THE AUTHOR

IN EVERY chapter of this book, mention has been made of the

money-making secret which has made fortunes for more than five

hundred exceedingly wealthy men whom I have carefully analyzed

over a long period of years.

The secret was brought to my attention by Andrew Carnegie,

more than a quarter of a century ago. The canny, lovable old

Scotsman carelessly tossed it into my mind, when I was but a boy.

Then he sat back in his chair, with a merry twinkle in his eyes, and

watched carefully to see if I had brains enough to understand the

full significance of what he had said to me.

When he saw that I had grasped the idea, he asked if I would

be willing to spend twenty years or more, preparing myself to take it

to the world, to men and women who, without the secret, might go

through life as failures. I said I would, and with Mr. Carnegie’s

cooperation, I have kept my promise.

This book contains the secret, after having been put to a

practical test by thousands of people, in almost every walk of life. It

was Mr. Carnegie’s idea that the magic formula, which gave him a

stupendous fortune, ought to be placed within reach of people who

do not have time to investigate how men make money, and it was

his hope that I might test and demonstrate the soundness of the

formula through the experience of men and women in every calling.

He believed the formula should be taught in all public schools and

colleges, and expressed the opinion that if it were properly taught it

would so revolutionize the entire educational system that the time

spent in school could be reduced to less than half.

His experience with Charles M. Schwab, and other young men

of Mr. Schwab’s type, convinced Mr. Carnegie that much of that

which is taught in the schools is of no value whatsoever in

connection with the business of earning a living or accumulating

riches. He had arrived at this decision, because he had taken into

his business one young man after another, many of them with but

little schooling, and by coaching them in the use of this formula,

developed in them rare leadership. Moreover, his coaching made

fortunes for everyone of them who followed his instructions.

In the chapter on Faith, you will read the astounding story of

the organization of the giant United States Steel Corporation, as it

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was conceived and carried out by one of the young men through

whom Mr. Carnegie proved that his formula will work for all who are

ready for it. This single application of the secret, by that young

man—Charles M. Schwab—made him a huge fortune in both money

and OPPORTUNITY. Roughly speaking, this particular application of

the formula was worth six hundred million dollars.

These facts-and they are facts well known to almost everyone

who knew Mr. Carnegie—give you a fair idea of what the reading of

this book may bring to you, provided you KNOW WHAT IT IS THAT

Even before it had undergone twenty years of practical testing,

the secret was passed on to more than one hundred thousand men

and women who have used it for their personal benefit, as Mr. Car-
negie planned that they should. Some have made fortunes with it.

Others have used it successfully in creating harmony in their

homes. A clergyman used it so effectively that it brought him an

income of upwards of $75,000.00 a year.

Arthur Nash, a Cincinnati tailor, used his near-bankrupt

business as a “guinea pig” on which to test the formula. The

business came to life and made a fortune for its owners. It is still

thriving, although Mr. Nash has gone. The experiment was so

unique that newspapers and magazines, gave it more than a million

dollars’ worth of laudatory publicity.

The secret was passed on to Stuart Austin Wier, of Dallas,

Texas. He was ready for it—so ready that he gave up his profession

and studied law. Did he succeed? That story is told too.

I gave the secret to Jennings Randolph, the day he graduated

from College, and he has used it so successfully that he is now

serving his third term as a Member of Congress, with an excellent

opportunity to keep on using it until it carries him to the White

While serving as Advertising Manager of the La-Salle

Extension University, when it was little more than a name, I had

the privilege of seeing J. G. Chapline, President of the University,

use the formula so effectively that he has since made the LaSalle

one of the great extension schools of the country.

The secret to which I refer has been mentioned no fewer than

a hundred times, throughout this book. It has not been directly

named, for it seems to work more successfully when it is merely un-
covered and left in sight, where THOSE WHO ARE READY, and

 13

SEARCHING FOR IT, may pick it up. That is why Mr. Carnegie

tossed it to me so quietly, without giving me its specific name.

If you are READY to put it to use, you will recognize this secret

at least once in every chapter. I wish I might feel privileged to tell

you how you will know if you are ready, but that would deprive you

of much of the benefit you will receive when you make the discovery

While this book was being written, my own son, who was then

finishing the last year of his college work, picked up the manuscript

of chapter two, read it, and discovered the secret for himself. He

used the information so effectively that he went directly into a

responsible position at a beginning salary greater than the average

man ever earns. His story has been briefly described in chapter two.

When you read it, perhaps you will dismiss any feeling you may

have had, at the beginning of the book, that it promised too much.

And, too, if you have ever been discouraged, if you have had

difficulties to surmount which took the very soul out of you, if you

have tried and failed, if you were ever handicapped by illness or

physical affliction, this story of my son’s discovery and use of the

Carnegie formula may prove to be the oasis in the Desert of Lost

Hope, for which you have been searching.

This secret was extensively used by President Woodrow

Wilson, during the World War. It was passed on to every soldier who

fought in the war, carefully wrapped in the training received before

going to the front. President Wilson told me it was a strong factor in

raising the funds needed for the war.

More than twenty years ago, Hon. Manuel L. Quezon (then

Resident Commissioner of the Philippine Islands), was inspired by

the secret to gain freedom for his people. He has gained freedom for

the Philippines, and is the first President of the free state.

A peculiar thing about this secret is that those who once

acquire it and use it, find themselves literally swept on to success,

with but little effort, and they never again submit to failure! If you

doubt this, study the names of those who have used it, wherever

they have been mentioned, check their records for yourself, and be

There is no such thing as SOMETHING FOR NOTHING!

The secret to which I refer cannot be had without a price,

although the price is far less than its value. It cannot be had at any

price by those who are not intentionally searching for it. It cannot

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be given away, it cannot be purchased for money, for the reason

that it comes in two parts. One part is already in possession of

those who are ready for it.

The secret serves equally well, all who are ready for it.

Education has nothing to do with it. Long before I was born, the

secret had found its way into the possession of Thomas A. Edison,

and he used it so intelligently that he became the world’s leading

inventor, although he had but three months of schooling.

The secret was passed on to a business associate of Mr.

Edison. He used it so effectively that, although he was then making

only $12,000 a year, he accumulated a great fortune, and retired

from active business while still a young man. You will find his story

at the beginning of the first chapter. It should convince you that

riches are not beyond your reach, that you can still be what you

wish to be, that money, fame, recognition and happiness can be

had by all who are ready and determined to have these blessings.

How do I know these things? You should have the answer

before you finish this book. You may find it in the very first chapter,

While I was performing the twenty year task of research, which

I had undertaken at Mr. Carnegie’s request, I analyzed hundreds of

well known men, many of whom admitted that they had

accumulated their vast fortunes through the aid of the Carnegie

secret; among these men were: —

HENRY FORD

WILLIAM WRIGLEY JR.

JOHN WANAMAKER

JAMES J. HILL

GEORGE S. PARKER

E. M. STATLER

HENRY L. DOHERTY

CYRUS H. K. CURTIS

GEORGE EASTMAN

THEODORE ROOSEVELT

JOHN W. DAVIS

ELBERT HUBBARD

WILBUR WRIGHT

WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN

DR. DMTID STARR JORDAN

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J. ODGEN ARMOUR

CHARLES M. SCHWAB

HARRIS F. WILLIAMS

DR. FRANK GUNSAULUS

DANIEL WILLARD

KING GILLETTE

RALPH A. WEEKS

JUDGE DANIEL T. WRIGHT

JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER

THOMAS A. EDISON

FRANK A. VANDERLIP

F. W. WOOLWORTH

COL. ROBERT A. DOLLAR

EDWARD A. FILENE

EDWIN C. BARNES

ARTHUR BRISBANE

WOODROW WILSON

WM. HOWARD TAFT

LUTHER BURBANK

FRANK A. MUNSEY

DR. ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL

JOHN H. PATTERSON

JULIUS ROSENWALD

STUART AUSTIN WIER

DR. FRANK CRANE

GEORGE M. ALEXANDER

HON. JENNINGS RANDOLPH

CLARENCE DARROW

EDWARD W. BOK

ELBERT H. GARY

J. G. CHAPPLINE

ARTHUR NASH

These names represent but a small fraction of the hundreds of

well known Americans whose achievements, financially and

otherwise, prove that those who understand and apply the Carnegie

secret, reach high stations in life. I have never known anyone who

was inspired to use the secret, who did not achieve noteworthy

success in his chosen calling. I have never known any person to

distinguish himself, or to accumulate riches of any consequence,

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without possession of the secret. From these two facts I draw the

conclusion that the secret is more important, as a part of the

knowledge essential for self-determination, than any which one

receives through what is popularly known as “education.”

What is EDUCATION, anyway? This has been answered in full

As far as schooling is concerned, many of these men had very

little. John Wanamaker once told me that what little schooling he

had, he acquired in very much the same manner as a modern loco-
motive takes on water, by “scooping it up as it runs.” Henry Ford

never reached high school, let alone college. I am not attempting to

minimize the value of schooling, but I am trying to express my

earnest belief that those who master and apply the secret will reach

high stations, accumulate riches, and bargain with life on their own

terms, even if their schooling has been meager.

Somewhere, as you read, the secret to which I refer will jump

from the page and stand boldly before you, IF YOU ARE READY

FOR IT! When it appears, you will recognize it. Whether you receive

the sign in the first or the last chapter, stop for a moment when it

presents itself, and turn down a glass, for that occasion will mark

the most important turning-point of your life.

We pass now, to Chapter One, and to the story of my very dear

friend, who has generously acknowledged having seen the mystic

sign, and whose business achievements are evidence enough that

he turned down a glass. As you read his story, and the others,

remember that they deal with the important problems of life, such

as all men experience.

The problems arising from one’s endeavor to earn a living, to

find hope, courage, contentment and peace of mind; to accumulate

riches and to enjoy freedom of body and spirit.

Remember, too, as you go through the book, that it deals with

facts and not with fiction, its purpose being to convey a great

universal truth through which all who are READY may learn, not

only WHAT TO DO, BUT ALSO HOW TO DO IT! and receive, as well,

THE NEEDED STIMULUS TO MAKE A START.

As a final word of preparation, before you begin the first

chapter, may I offer one brief suggestion which may provide a clue

by which the Carnegie secret may be recognized? It is this—ALL

ACHIEVEMENT, ALL EARNED RICHES, HAVE THEIR BEGINNING IN

AN IDEA! If you are ready for the secret, you already possess one

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half of it, therefore, you will readily recognize the other half the

moment it reaches your mind.

 THE AUTHOR