474 THE PRINCIPLES OF PERSONAL POWERdoctor or engineer or businessperson or financier, and if you plant
that suggestion deeply enough, and keep it there, by repetition, it will
begin to move the child toward the achievement of the object of that
ambition.
If you would plant a suggestion "deeply," mix it generously with
Enthusiasm, for Enthusiasm is the fertilizer that will ensure its rapid
growth as well as its permanency. When that kind-hearted old gentleman
planted in my mind the suggestion that I was a "bright boy" and that I
could make my mark in the world if I would educate myself, it was not
so much what he said, as it was the wtry in which he said it that made such
a deep and lasting impression on my mind. It was the way in which he
gripped my shoulders, and the look of confidence in his eyes, that drove
his suggestion so deeply into my subconscious mind that it never gave me
any peace until I commenced taking the steps that led to the fulfillment
of the suggestion.
This is a point I would stress with all the power at my command.
It is not so much what you say as it is the TONE and MANNER in which you
say it that makes a lasting impression.
It naturally follows, therefore, that sincerity of purpose, honesty,
and earnestness must be placed behind all that one says if one would
make a lasting and favorable impression.
Whatever you successfully sell to others you must first sell to
yourself!
Not long ago I was approached by an agent of the government of a
certain country. The agent sought my services as a writer of propaganda
for the administration in charge at that time. His approach was about
as follows:
"Whereas, you have a reputation as an exponent of the Golden Rule
philosophy; and whereas, you are known throughout the United States as
an independent who is not allied with any political faction, would you
be gracious enough to come to our country, study the economic and
political affairs, then return to the United States and write a series of