The Wisdom of Wallace D. Wattles

The Science of Getting Rich is a book written by the New Thought Movement writer Wallace D. Wattles. The book is still in print after 100 years. It was a major inspiration for Rhonda Byrne's bestselling book and film The Secret. According to USA Today, the text is "divided into 17 short, straight-to-the-point chapters that explain how to overcome mental barriers, and how creation, not competition, is the hidden key to wealth attraction." Wattles, who had formerly been a Methodist, ran for office as a Socialist candidate in Indiana in 1916. He included the word science in the title, reflecting a secular approach to New Thought though also thereby borrowing from the then-rampant popularity of Christian Science and its offshoots as he wrote about business prosperity, mind training, and success in the material world. The mental technique that he called "thinking in the Certain Way," was intended to establish a state of positivity and self-affirmation. The contents, with chapter titles like "How to Use the Will" and "Further Use of the Will" advance Wattles's concept of the "Certain Way." Similar keywords about will power, mastery, and success are found in the writings of contemporary early 20th century authors Charles F. Haanel (The Master Key System), the Methodist minister Frank Channing Haddock (Power of Will, Power for Success, Mastery of Self for Wealth Power Success), and Elizabeth Towne (How to Grow Success). The Science of Getting Rich (1910) is a companion volume to the author's book on health from a New Thought perspective, The Science of Being Well (1910) and his personal self-help book The Science of Being Great (1911). All three were originally issued in matching bindings. The Science of Getting Rich preceded similar financial success books such as The Master Key System by Charles F. Haanel (1912) and Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill (1937). In the 100 years since its publication, it has gone through many editions, and remains in print from more than one publisher. 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. 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 book is included in personal development scholar Tom Butler-Bowdon's list of "50 Success Classics" in his 2004 book of that name.