The Master Key System by Charles F. Haanel --- 23 CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

In the part which I have the honor to transmit herewith you will find that money
weaves itself into the entire fabric of our very existence; that the law of success is
service; that we get what we give, and for this reason we should consider it a great
privilege to be able to give.
We have found that thought is the creative activity behind every constructive
enterprise. We can therefore give nothing of more practical value than our thought.
Creative thought requires attention, and the power of attention is, as we have found, the
weapon of the Super-man. Attention develops concentration, and concentration develops
Spiritual Power, and Spiritual Power is the mightiest force in existence.
This is the science which embraces all sciences. It is the art which, above all arts,
is relevant to human life. In the mastery of this science and this art there is opportunity
for unending progression. Perfection in this is not acquired in six days, nor in six weeks,
nor in six months. It is the labor of life. Not to go forward is to go backward.
It is inevitable that the entertainment of positive, constructive and unselfish thoughts
should have a far-reaching effect for good. Compensation is the keynote of the universe.
Nature is constantly seeking to strike an equilibrium. Where something is sent out
something must be received; else there should be a vacuum formed.
By observance of this rule you cannot fail to profit in such measure as to amply
justify your effort along this line.

PART TWENTY-THREE

1. The money consciousness is an attitude of mind; it is the open door to the arteries
of commerce. It is the receptive attitude. Desire is the attractive force which sets the
current in motion and fear is the great obstacle by which the current is stopped or
completely reversed, turned away from us.
2. Fear is just the opposite from money consciousness; it is poverty consciousness,
and as the law is unchangeable we get exactly what we give; if we fear we get what we
feared. Money weaves itself into the entire fabric of our very existence; it engages the
best thought of the best minds.
3. We make money by making friends, and we enlarge our circle of friends by
making money for them, by helping them, by being of service to them. The first law of
success then is service, and this in turn is built on integrity and justice. The man who at
least is not fair in his intention is simply ignorant; he has missed the fundamental law of all exchange; he is impossible; he will lose surely and certainly; he may not know it; he
may think he is winning, but he is doomed to certain defeat. He cannot cheat the Infinite.
The law of compensation will demand of him an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.
4. The forces of life are volatile; they are composed of our thoughts and ideals and
these in turn are molded into form; our problem is to keep an open mind, to constantly
reach out for the new, to recognize opportunity, to be interested in the race rather than
the goal, for the pleasure is in the pursuit rather than the possession.
5. You can make a money magnet of yourself, but to do so you must first consider
how you can make money for other people. If you have the necessary insight to perceive
and utilize opportunities and favorable conditions and recognize values, you can put
yourself in position to take advantage of them, but your greatest success will come as
you are enabled to assist others. What benefits one must benefit all.
6. A generous thought is filled with strength and vitality, a selfish thought contains
the germs of dissolution; it will disintegrate and pass away. Great financiers are simply
channels for the distribution of wealth; enormous amounts come and go, but it would be
as dangerous to stop the outgo as the income; both ends must remain open; and so our
greatest success will come as we recognize that it is just as essential to give as to get.
7. If we recognize the Omnipotent power that is the source of all supply we will
adjust our consciousness to this supply in such a way that it will constantly attract all
that is necessary to itself and we shall find that the more we give the more we get.
Giving in this sense implies service. The banker gives his money, the merchant gives his
goods, the author gives his thought, the workman gives his skill; all have something to
give, but the more they can give, the more they get, and the more they get the more they
are enabled to give.
8. The financier gets much because he gives much; he thinks; he is seldom a man
that lets anyone else do his thinking for him; he wants to know how results are to be
secured; you must show him; when you can do this he will furnish the means by which
hundreds or thousands may profit, and in proportion as they are successful will he be
successful. Morgan, Rockefeller, Carnegie and others did not get rich because they lost
money for other people; on the contrary, it is because they made money for other people
that they became the wealthiest men in the wealthiest country on the globe.
9. The average person is entirely innocent of any deep thinking; he accepts the ideas
of others, and repeats them, in very much the same way as a parrot; this is readily seen
when we understand the method which is used to form public opinion, and this docile attitude on the part of a large majority who seem perfectly willing to let a few persons
do all their thinking for them is what enables a few men in a great many countries to
usurp all the avenues of power and hold the millions in subjection. Creative thinking
requires attention.
10. The power of attention is called concentration; this power is directed by the will;
for this reason we must refuse to concentrate or think of anything except the things we
desire. Many are constantly concentrating upon sorrow, loss and discord of every kind;
as thought is creative it necessarily follows that this concentration inevitable leads to
more loss, more sorrow and more discord. How could it be otherwise? On the other
hand, when we meet with success, gain, or any other desirable condition, we naturally
concentrate upon the effects of these things and thereby create more, and so it follows
that much leads to more.
11. How an understanding of this principle can be utilized in the business world is
well told by an associate of mine:
12. "Spirit, whatever else it may or may not be, must be considered as the Essence of
Consciousness, the Substance of Mind, the reality underlying Thought. And as all ideas
are phases of the activity of Consciousness, Mind or Thought, it follows that in Spirit,
and in it alone, is to be found the Ultimate Fact, the Real Thing, or Idea."
13. This being admitted, does it not seem reasonable to hold that a true understanding
of Spirit, and its laws of manifestation, would be about the most "practical" thing that a
"practical" person can hope to find? Does it not seem certain that if the "practical" men
of the world could but realize this fact, they would "fall all over themselves" in getting
to the place in which they might obtain such knowledge of spiritual things and laws?
These men are not fools; they need only to grasp this fundamental fact in order to move
in the direction of that which is the essence of all achievement.
14. Let me give you a concrete example. I know a man in Chicago whom I had
always considered to be quite materialistic. He had made several successes in life; and
also several failures. The last time I had a talk with him he was practically "down and
out," as compared with his former business condition. It looked as if he had indeed
reached "the end of his rope," for he was well advanced into the stage of middle-age,
and new ideas came more slowly, and less frequently to him than in former years.
15. He said to me, in substance: "I know that all things that "work out" in business are
the result of Thought; any fool knows that. Just now, I seem to be short on thoughts and
good ideas. But, if this "All-Mind" teaching is correct, it should be possible for the
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individual to attain a ‘direct connection’ with Infinite Mind; and in Infinite Mind there
must be the possibility of all kinds of good ideas which a man of my courage and
experience could put to practical use in the business world, and make a big success
thereof. It looks good to me; and I am going to look into it."
16. This was several years ago. The other day I heard of this man again. Talking to a
friend, I said: "What has come of our old friend X? Has he ever gotten on his feet
again?" The friend looked at me in amazement. "Why," said he, "don't you know about
X's great success? He is the Big Man in the ' XXXX' (naming a concern which has mad
a phenomenal success during the last eighteen months and is now well known, by reason
of its advertisements, from one end of the country to another, and also abroad). He is the
man who supplied the BIG IDEA for that concern. Why, he is about a half-million to the
good and is moving rapidly toward the million mark; all in the space of eighteen
months." I had not connected this man with the enterprise mentioned; although I knew
of the wonderful success of the company in question. Investigation has shown that the
story is true, and that the above stated facts are not exaggerated in the slightest.
17. Now, what do you think of that? To me, it means that this man actually made the
"direct connection" with Infinite Mind -- Spirit -- and, having found it, he set it to work
for him. He "used it in his business."
18. Does this sound sacrilegious or blasphemous? I hope not; I do not mean it to be
so. Take away the implication of Personality, or Magnified Human Nature, from the
conception of the "The Infinite," and you have left the conception of an Infinite
Presence-Power, the Quintessence of which is Consciousness -- in fact, at the last, Spirit.
As this man, also, at the last, must be considered as a manifestation of Spirit; there is
nothing sacrilegious in the idea that he, being Spirit, should so harmonize himself with
his Origin and Source that he would be able to manifest at least a minor degree of its
Power. All of us do this, more or less, when we use our minds in the direction of
Creative Thought. This man did more, he went about it in an intensely "practical"
manner.
19. I have not consulted him about his method of procedure, though I intend doing so
at the first opportunity, but, he not only drew upon the Infinite Supply for the ideas
which he needed (and which formed the seed of his success), but that he also used the
Creative Power of Thought in building up for himself an Idealistic Pattern of that which
he hoped to manifest in material form, adding thereto, changing, improving its detail,
from time to time -- proceeding from the general outline to the finished detail. I judge
this to be the facts of the case, not alone from my recollection of the conversation a few
years ago, but also because I have found the same thing to be true in the cases of other prominent men who have made similar manifestation of Creative Thought.
20. Those who may shrink from this idea of employing the Infinite Power to aid one
in his work in the material world, should remember that if the Infinite objected in the
least to such a procedure the thing could never happen. The Infinite is quite able to take
care of itself.
21. "Spirituality" is quite "practical," very "practical," intensely "practical." It teaches
that Spirit is the Real Thing, the Whole Thing, and that Matter is but plastic stuff, which
Spirit is able to create, mold, manipulate, and fashion to its will. Spirituality is the most
"practical" thing in the world -- the only really and absolutely "practical" thing that there
is!
22. This week concentrate on the fact that man is not a body with a spirit, but a spirit
with a body, and that it is for this reason that his desires are incapable of any permanent
satisfaction in anything not spiritual. Money is therefore of no value except to bring
about the conditions which we desire, and these conditions are necessarily harmonious.
Harmonious conditions necessitate sufficient supply, so that if there appears to be any
lack, we should realize that the idea or soul of money is service, and as this thought
takes form, channels of supply will be opened, and you will have the satisfaction of
knowing that spiritual methods are entirely practical.

Part Twenty-Three - Study Questions

221. What is the first law of success?

222. How may we be of the most service?

223. What is the result of a selfish thought?

224. How will our greatest success be achieved?

225. Why do financiers frequently meet with great success?

226. Why do the great majority in every country remain the docile and apparently
willing tools of the few?

227. What is the effect of concentrating upon sorrow and loss?

228. What is the effect of concentrating upon gain?

229. Is this principle used in the business world?

230. What is the practical application of this principle?