138 THE PRINCIPLES OF SELF-MASTERYor correcting any statements that appeared to be unsound, from an
economic viewpoint.
This request was complied with and the manuscripts were carefully
examined, with the result that not a single change was made, with the
exception of one or two slight changes in wording.
One of the professors who examined the manuscripts expressed
himself, in part, as follows: "It is a tragedy that every boy and girl who
enters high school is not efficiently drilled on the seventeen major parts
of your course in the Law of Success. It is regrettable that the great
university with which I am connected, and every other university, does
not include your course as a part of its curriculum:'
Inasmuch as this course is intended as a map or blueprint that will
guide you in the attainment of that coveted goal called success, may it
not be well here to define success?
Success is the development oj the power with which to get whatever one
wants in life without interfering with the rights oj others.
I lay particular stress on the word power because it is inseparably
related to success. We are living in a world and during an age of intense
competition, and the law of the survival of the fittest is everywhere in
evidence. Because of this, all who would enjoy enduring success must go
about its attainment through the use of power.
And what is power?
Power is organized energy or effort. This course is appropriately called
the Law of Success because it teaches how one may organize facts and
knowledge} and the faculties of one's mind, into a unit of power.
The course brings you a definite promise: Through its mastery and
application you can get whatever you want, with but two qualifying
words-"within reason."
This qualification takes into consideration your education, your
wisdom or your lack of it, your physical endurance, your temperament,
and all of the other qualities mentioned in the seventeen lessons of this
course as being the factors most essential in the attainment of success.