Law of Success (21st Century Edition)

246 THE PRINCIPLES OF SELF-MASTERY

you must trade the old car in for a new one. A porch must be added to
the' house. Someone needs a new wardrobe. The table must be set with
better food .... At the end of the year are you better off with such
an increase? Not at all! The more you get the more you want, and
the rule applies to the millionaire as much as it does to someone with
only a few thousand dollars.

A young man selects the girl of his choice, believing he cannot live

without her. After he gets her he is not sure that he can live with her.

If a man remains a bachelor he wonders why he is so stupid as to de-

prive himself of the joys of married life. If he marries he wonders how

she happened to catch him off guard long enough to "harpoon" him.

And the god of destiny cries out "0 fool, 0 fool! You are damned

if you do and you are damned if you done'

At every crossroad of life the imps of discontentment stand in the

shadows of the background, with a grin of mockery on their faces, cry-

ing, "Take the road of your own choice! We will get you in the end!"

At last many become disillusioned and begin to learn that happiness

and contentment are not of this world. Then begins the search for the

password that will open the door to some world of which we know

nothing. Surely there must be happiness on the other side of the Great

Divide. In desperation the tired, careworn heart turns to religion for

hope and encouragement.

But one's troubles are not over; they are just starting!

In the midst of sectarian claims and counterclaims, we become

undecided. Not knowing whether to turn this way or that, we wonder.

which brand of religion offers the safest passageway, until hope van-

ishes. As expressed in the Rubayat of Omar Khayyam (in the Fitzgerald

translation):