The Secret oppinions & thoughts

[Andrew Scherer]

Nope. The Secret is based on "The Science of Getting Rich", which came out a couple of decades before "Think and Grow Rich" and is by a different author entirely. It was while reading "The Science Getting Rich" that the author got the inspiration to write The Secret.

To confuse it further Hill wrote a book called The Law of Success, of which Think And Grow Rich was a watered down version. Henry Ford was pissed at Hill was revealing the secrets of the Upper Class and convinced Hill to water it down to Think and Grow Rich.

Going back to the other book, The Science of Getting Rich, on which The Secret is based, it itself was based on an earlier book still, that was about The Law Of Attraction - a very popular concept at the time, and all sorts of Esotericists, Hermeticism, Theosophists and the "New-Agers" of the time were writing about it in the late 19th/early 20th century. Hill also drew a little on the concept, but without crossing the line into pseudo-scientific esotericism.

That is good shit +rep

I'll have to look up The Law of Success, never even heard about it

 

[emp]

It is complete bullshit.

Please never set foot in that shallow pool of crap.

::emp::

 

[barman]

The Secrect is that it made somebody very fucking rich pawning off stupid fucking shit to the dumb masses.

 

[ayzo]

The real "secret" to success: Be willing to do what 99% of the population isn't. Everybody wants to be an elite NFL quarterback, but how many are willing to dedicate their life to throwing the perfect pass? Every kid wants to get straight A's but how many are willing to put the xbox down and pick up a book? Everybody wants to start their own business but how many are willing to take a risk and leave the security of a steady paycheck? Every affiliate wants to make big $ but how many are willing to come up with their own methods and ideas instead of copying the latest clickbank ebook?

 

[DTAlexONE]

Nope. The Secret is based on "The Science of Getting Rich", which came out a couple of decades before "Think and Grow Rich" and is by a different author entirely. It was while reading "The Science Getting Rich" that the author got the inspiration to write The Secret.

To confuse it further Hill wrote a book called The Law of Success, of which Think And Grow Rich was a watered down version. Henry Ford was pissed at Hill was revealing the secrets of the Upper Class and convinced Hill to water it down to Think and Grow Rich.

Going back to the other book, The Science of Getting Rich, on which The Secret is based, it itself was based on an earlier book still, that was about The Law Of Attraction - a very popular concept at the time, and all sorts of Esotericists, Hermeticism, Theosophists and the "New-Agers" of the time were writing about it in the late 19th/early 20th century. Hill also drew a little on the concept, but without crossing the line into pseudo-scientific esotericism.

Do you know which book, The Science of Getting Rich, is based upon?

I'm definitely going out and buying all these books.

 

[Moxie]

People interviewed for the movie have said that the final product ended up being exaggerated marketing. Some of the concepts do have some type of backing for them.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Observer_effect_(physics)

Creative visualization - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Dispel]

Do you know which book, The Science of Getting Rich, is based upon?

I'm definitely going out and buying all these books.

according to Wikipedia its this book by Atkinson:

In 1906, William Walker Atkinson (1862 - 1932) used the phrase [The Law of Attraction] in his New Thought Movement book Thought Vibration or the Law of Attraction in the Thought World.[20] The following year, Elizabeth Towne, the editor of The Nautilus Magazine, a Journal of New Thought, published Bruce MacLelland's book Prosperity Through Thought Force, in which he summarized the principle, stating: "You are what you think, not what you think you are."

The book "The Science of Getting Rich" (1910) by Wallace D. Wattles espouses many of the exact same principles—that truly believing in the object of your desire and focusing onto it will lead to that object or goal being realized on the material plane (Wallace indicates in the Preface and later chapters of this book that his premise stems from the monistic Hindu view that God pervades everything and can deliver that which we focus on). In addition, the book also indicates that negative thinking will manifest negative results.

from
Law of Attraction - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

then:

The Science of Getting Rich was credited by Rhonda Byrne as one of the inspirations for her popular 2006 film and 2007 book The Secret. [12][13] As Byrne explained it on the web site of Oprah Winfrey, "Something inside of me had me turn the pages one by one, and I can still remember my tears hitting the pages as I was reading it. [...] It gave me a glimpse of The Secret. It was like a flame inside of my heart. And with every day since, it's just become a raging fire of wanting to share all of this with the world."

The Science of Getting Rich - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This are the 'woo' factor books though. Napoleon Hill seems a far better bet to me. This thread has inspired me to read all 650 pages of his Laws of Success (the one Henry Ford said gave away too much).

The "Hill" stream:

The text of Think and Grow Rich (1937) is founded on Hill's earlier work The Law of Success (1928), the result of more than twenty years of research based on Hill's close association with a large number of individuals who achieved great wealth during their lifetimes

Think and Grow Rich - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Law of Success:

The turning point in the writing career of Napoleon Hill is considered to have occurred in 1908 with his assignment, as part of a series of articles about famous men, to interview the industrialist Andrew Carnegie, one of the most powerful men in the world. Hill discovered that Carnegie believed that the process of success could be elaborated in a simple formula that could be duplicated by the average person. Impressed with Hill, Carnegie asked him if he was up to the task of putting together this information with only reimbursement for out-of-pocket expenses to interview or analyze over 500 successful men and women, many of them millionaires, in order to discover and publish this formula for success.[5]

As part of his research, Hill interviewed many of the most famous people of the time, including Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, George Eastman, Henry Ford, Elmer Gates, John D. Rockefeller, Sr., Charles M. Schwab, F.W. Woolworth, William Wrigley Jr., John Wanamaker, William Jennings Bryan, Joseph Stalin, Theodore Roosevelt, William H. Taft, Woodrow Wilson, and Jennings Randolph. Hill was also an advisor to two presidents of the United States of America, Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

As a result of Hill's studies via Carnegie's introductions, the Philosophy of Achievement was offered as a formula for rags-to-riches success by Hill and Carnegie, published initially in 1928 as a study course called The Law of Success.

Napoleon Hill - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Thats quite a list of people he talked to!

and the Henry Ford part:

Before the release of the watered down version of his work (Think and Grow Rich), Napoleon Hill Released The Law of Success in 16 Lessons (1928) which directly references the Law of Attraction, by name, repeatedly. Rumor has it that Henry Ford was furious over Napoleon Hill releasing secrets of the Elite Class and so a lot of the content was stripped out for the Think and Grow Rich version.

Conspiracy!


I first came across this stuff through Matt Furey, who I later realised was a brilliant internet marketer:
Matt Furey - Zen Master of the Internet

He repackaged these courses/books into new ones and made millions. I was more into his martial arts training books (on Hindu Squats etc - the Hindu Royal Court). He was world champion in Chinese wrestling. Check him out if you're into no bullshit self-development. He also takes a lot of influence of classic 'strongmen' and wrestlers as well as Chinese teachings in martial arts and philosophy. The book "Thick Face, Black Heart" comes to mind and I highly recommend it:

"Thick Face, Black Heart: The Warrior Philosophy for Conquering the Challenges of Business and Life" by Chin-Ning Chu
[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Thick-Face-Black-Heart-Philosophy/dp/0446670200/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1267655863&sr=8-1]Amazon.com: Thick Face, Black Heart: The Warrior Philosophy for Conquering the Challenges of Business and Life (9780446670203): Chin-Ning Chu: Books[/ame]

"Chin-Ning Chu is president of Asian Marketing Consultants, Inc., and is an international lecturer, corporate trainer, consultant, and author of The Chinese Mind Game and The Asian Mind Game. Considered the foremost expert in the world on the subject of understanding the Asian business psyche, she is also the bestselling business author in Asia"

 

[DTAlexONE]

Hey Dispel, thank you.

I know which book I'm going to buy next.