When Andrew Carnegie suggested that I devote twenty years to the organization of a philosophy ofindividual achievement my first impulse of thoughtwas fear of what people might say. The suggestionset up a goal for me， far out of proportion to any Ihad ever conceived. As quick as a flash， my mindbegan to create alibis and excuses， all of themtraceable to the inherent FEAR OF CRITICISM.
Something inside of me said， “You can’t do it—thejob is too big， and requires too much time-what willyour relatives think of you？—how will you earn aliving？—no one has ever organized a philosophyof success， what right have you to believe you cando it？—who are you， anyway， to aim so high？—remember your humble birth—what do you knowabout philosophy—people will think you are crazy—（and they did）—why hasn’t some otherperson done this before now？”
These， and many other questions flashed into mymind， and demanded attention. It seemed as if thewhole world had suddenly turned its attention to mewith the purpose of ridiculing me into giving up alldesire to carry out Mr. Carnegie’s suggestion.
I had a fine opportunity， then and there， to killoff ambition before it gained control of me. Laterin life， after having analyzed thousands of people，I discovered that MOST IDEAS ARE STILLBORN，AND NEED THE BREATH OF LIFE INJECTED INTO
THEM THROUGH DEFINITE PLANS OF IMMEDIATE ACTION. The time to nurse an idea is at the timeof its birth. Every minute it lives， gives it a betterchance of surviving. The FEAR OF CRITICISM is atthe bottom of the destruction of most ideas whichnever reach the PLANNING and ACTION stage.
Many people believe that material success is theresult of favorable “breaks.” There is an element ofground for the belief， but those depending entirelyupon luck， are nearly always disappointed， becausethey overlook another important factor which mustbe present before one can be sure of success. It is theknowledge with which favorable “breaks” can bemade to order.
During the depression， W. C. Fields， the comedian，lost all his money， and found himself withoutincome， without a job， and his means of earning aliving （vaudeville） no longer existed. Moreover， hewas past sixty， when many men consider themselves“old.” He was so eager to stage a comeback that heoffered to work without pay， in a new field （movies）.
In addition to his other troubles， he fell and injuredhis neck. To many that would have been the place togive up and QUIT. But Fields was PERSISTENT. Heknew that if he carried on he would get the “breaks” sooner or later， and he did get them， but not bychance.
Marie Dressler found herself down and out， withher money gone， with no job， when she was aboutsixty. She， too， went after the “breaks，” and gotthem. Her PERSISTENCE brought an astoundingtriumph late in life， long beyond the age when mostmen and women are done with ambition to achieve.
Eddie Cantor lost his money in the 1929 stockcrash， but he still had his PERSISTENCE and hiscourage. With these， plus two prominent eyes， heexploited himself back into an income of 10，000 aweek！ Verily， if one has PERSISTENCE， one can getalong very well without many other qualities.
The only “break” anyone can afford to rely uponis a self-made “break.” These come through theapplication of PERSISTENCE. The starting point isDEFINITENESS OF PURPOSE.
Examine the first hundred people you meet， askthem what they want most in life， and ninety eight ofthem will not be able to tell you. If you press themfor an answer， some will say—SECURITY， many willsay—MONEY， a few will say—HAPPINESS， others willsay—FAME AND POWER， and still others will say—SOCIAL RECOGNITION， EASE IN LIVING， ABILITY TOSING， DANCE， or WRITE， but none of them will be ableto define these terms， or give the slightest indicationof a PLAN by which they hope to attain these vaguelyexpressed wishes. Riches do not respond to wishes.
They respond only to definite plans， backed bydefinite desires， through constant PERSISTENCE.
HOW TO DEVELOP PERSISTENCE
There are four simple steps which lead to the habitof PERSISTENCE. They call for no great amount ofintelligence， no particular amount of education， andbut little time or effort. The necessary steps are：—
1. A DEFINITE PURPOSE BACKED BY BURNINGDESIRE FOR ITS FULFILLMENT.
2. A DEFINITE PLAN， EXPRESSED IN CONTINUOUS ACTION.
3. A MIND CLOSED TIGHTLY AGAINST ALL NEGATIVEAND DISCOURAGING INFLUENCES， including negativesuggestions of relatives， friends and acquaintances.
4. A FRIENDLY ALLIANCE WITH ONE OR MORE PERSONS WHO WILL ENCOURAGE ONE TO FOLLOW THROUGH WITH BOTH PLAN AND PURPOSE.
These four steps are essential for success in allwalks of life. The entire purpose of the thirteenprinciples of this philosophy is to enable one to takethese four steps as a matter of habit.
These are the steps by which one may control one’s economic destiny.
They are the steps that lead to freedom and independence of thought.
They are the steps that lead to riches， in small orgreat quantities.
They lead the way to power， fame， and worldlyrecognition.
They are the four steps which guarantee favorable“breaks.”
They are the steps that convert dreams into physical realities.
They lead， also， to the mastery of FEAR，
DISCOURAGEMENT， INDIFFERENCE.
There is a magnificent reward for all who learn totake these four steps. It is the privilege of writingone’s own ticket， and of making Life yield whateverprice is asked.
I have no way of knowing the facts， but I ventureto conjecture that Mrs. Wallis Simpson’s greatlove for a man was not accidental， nor the resultof favorable “breaks” alone. There was a burningdesire， and careful searching at every step of theway. Her first duty was to love. What is the greatestthing on earth？ The Master called it love-not manmade rules， criticism， bitterness， slander， or political“marriages，” but love.