THE HABIT OF DOING MORE THAN PAID FOR 569actually went out of their way to encourage me not to be whipped by
either adversity or the opposition of relatives.
Of this small group of faithful ones who gave me encouragement
at a time when it was badly needed, perhaps one man should have the
most credit: Edwin C. Barnes, business associate of Thomas A. Edison.
Mr. Barnes became interested in my chosen work at its beginnings,
and had it not been for his unwavering faith in the soundness of the
philosophy behind the Law of Success, I would have yielded to the
persuasion of others and sought the way of least resistance.
This would have saved me much grief and an almost endless
amount of criticism, but it would also have wrecked the hopes of
a lifetime, and in the end I would in all probability have also lost
that finest and most desirable of all things-happiness-for I have
been extremely happy in my work, even during the periods when the
financial remuneration it brought me could be measured by nothing
but a mountain of debts.
Edwin Barnes not only believed in the soundness of the Law of
Success philosophy, but his own financial success had also demonstra-
ted, as had his close business relationship with the greatest inventor
on earth, that he had the right to speak with authority on the subject
of the laws through which success may be achieved.
I began my research with the belief that success could be attained,
by anyone with reasonable intelligence and a real desire to succeed, by
following certain (at that time unknown to me) rules of procedure. I
wanted to know what these rules were and how they could be applied.
Mr. Barnes believed as I did. Moreover, he was in a position to
know that the astounding achievements of Mr. Edison had come about
entirely through the application of some of the principles that later
were tested and included as a part of this philosophy. From his way of
thinking it seemed that the accumulation of money, enjoying peace of
mind, and finding happiness could be brought about by the applica-
tion of laws that anyone could master and apply.