Success Through A Positive Mental Attitude

And at that very instant Fate was taking his measure for a larger place. The misfortune that struck him would have ruined many a man. What happened?

The panic of 1893 struck. Two of the Marden hotels burned to the ground. His manuscript, nearly completed, was destroyed. His tangible wealth went down the drain, wiped out.

But Marden had a Positive Mental Attitude. He looked about him to see what had happened to the nation and himself. His first conclusion was that the panic was brought on by fear: fear of the value of the American dollar; fear caused by the failure of a few

large corporations; fear of stock values; and fear of industrial unrest.

Those fears caused the stock market to crash. Five hundred and sixty-seven banks and loan and trust companies, as well as a hundred and fifty-six railway companies, failed. Strikes were prevalent. Unemployment affected millons of persons. Because of drouth and heat, farmers experienced crop failures.

Marden looked about him at the shambles in material things and human lives. He saw the great need for someone or something to inspire the nation and its people. Offers came to him to manage other hotels. He turned them down. A desire had caught hold of him, a Magnificent Obsession. And he combined it with PMA. He set to work on a new book. His new motto, a self-motivator: Every occasion is a great occasion!

"If ever there was a time when America needed the help of a positive mental attitude, it is now," he told friends.

He worked over a livery stable and lived on one dollar and a half each week. He worked almost unceasingly, day and night. He completed the first edition of Pushing to the Front in 1893.

The book received immediate acceptance. It was used extensively in the public schools as a textbook and as a supplementary reader. Business houses circulated it among their employees. Distinguished educators, statesmen and members of the clergy, merchants, and sales managers commended it as a most powerful motivator to a positive mental attitude. And, in time, it was printed in twenty-five different languages. Millions of copies were sold.

Marden, like the authors of Success Through a Positive Mental Attitude, believed that character is the cornerstone in building

and maintaining success. He believed the highest and best achievements are noble manhood and womanhood, and that the achievement of true integrity and well-rounded character is in itself success. He taught the secrets of financial and business success. But he also entered a perpetual protest against dollar chasing and over-reaching greed. He taught there is something infinitely better than making a living: It is making a noble life.

Marden showed how some men may make millions and still be utter failures. Those who sacrifice their families, reputation, health ? everything ? for dollars are failures in life, regardless of how much money they may accumulate. He also taught that one may succeed without be coming a president or a millionaire.

Perhaps one of the greatest achievements of Marden's Magnificent Obsession was the awakening of men and women to the realization that they could experience success if they would only employ the virtues they would like their children to have.

Perhaps fully as rewarding to Marden, Pushing to the Front was instrumental in changing the attitude of an entire nation from negative to positive. And that influence was felt throughout the world.

Marden demonstrated that a burning desire can generate the drive to action that is imperative for great achievement.

As you have seen, it took courage and sacrifice for Orison Swett Marden to bring his Magnificent Obsession into reality.

A Magnificent Obsession does take courage. You may need to stand alone in combating and repelling the ridicule and ignorance of the experts. Like great discoverers, creators, inventors, philosophers, and geniuses, you may be termed "crazy," "nuts," or a "crackpot." The experts may say what you are trying to do

can't be done. With time your burning desire and constant effort will bring your Magnificent Obsession into reality. When they say, "It can't be done," find a way to do it!