A DEFINITE CHIEF AIM 131the real nature of the course. It is true that this is a course in master
salesmanship, providing one takes a deeper-than-the-average view of the
meaning of salesmanship.
This philosophy is intended to enable those who master it to sell
their way through life successfully, with a minimum of resistance and
friction. Such a course, therefore, must help the student organize and
make use of much truth that is overlooked by the majority of people
who go through life as mediocrities.
Not all people are so constituted that they wish to know the truth
about all matters vitally affecting life. One of the great surprises I met
with, in connection with my research, is that so few people are willing to
hear the truth when it shows up their own weaknesses.
We prefer illusions to realities!
New truths, if accepted at all, are taken with the proverbial grain of
salt. Some of us demand more than a mere pinch of salt; we demand
enough to pickle new ideas so they become useless.
For these reasons, the first lesson of this course, and this lesson as
well, cover subjects intended to pave the way for new ideas so those ideas
will not be too severe a shock to the mind of the reader.
The thought I want to get across has been quite plainly stated by the
editor of The American Magazine in an editorial that appeared in a recent
issue, in the following words:
On a recent rainy night, Carl Lomen, the reindeer king of Alaska,
told me a true story. It has stuck in my crop ever since. And now
I am going to pass it along.
"A certain Greenland Eskimo;' said Lomen, "was taken on
one of the American North Polar expeditions a number of years
ago. Later, as a reward for faithful service, he was brought to New
York City for a short visit. At all the miracles of sight and sound
he was filled with a most amazed wonder. When he returned to