The Science of Getting Rich

Published in 1910, this slim volume predates every modern self-help classic. Wattles, a New Thought philosopher, argued that wealth is not earned through competition but through aligning your thoughts with what he called the 'creative force' of the universe. His central claim: by cultivating gratitude, clarity of purpose, and unwavering faith in abundance, you become a magnet for riches. The book reads like a spiritual text crossed with a financial manual, full of exercises in positive thinking and visualization long before those terms entered the mainstream. Its influence is staggering: Napoleon Hill openly borrowed its framework for Think and Grow Rich. Some of Wattles' claims are rooted in pseudoscience, and his language reflects a distinctly religious worldview. But strip away the metaphysics and what remains is a provocative idea that still resonates: scarcity is a mindset, and so is wealth.