Wallace D. Wattles · Public domain edition · 66 cards · 18 chapters
The Science of Getting Rich argues that wealth follows from thinking and acting in a specific way, framed as a practical, quasi-scientific method rather than luck or competition. This deck covers Wattles's claims about money and personal development, his philosophical sources, and his advice on capital, business choice, and location.
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Chapter 1 · Question
What kind of book does the author say this is, and who is it for?
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Chapter 1 · Answer
The author calls it pragmatical rather than philosophical: a practical manual, not a treatise on theories. It targets men and women whose most pressing need is money, who wish to get rich first and philosophize afterward, and who lack the time, means, or opportunity for deep metaphysical study but want results and will act on scientific conclusions.
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XVII. SUMMARY OF THE SCIENCE OF GETTING RICH 1524 cards
What kind of book does the author say this is, and who is it for?
The author calls it pragmatical rather than philosophical: a practical manual, not a treatise on theories. It targets men and women whose most pressing need is money, who wish to get rich first and philosophize afterward, and who lack the time, means, or opportunity for deep metaphysical study but want results and will act on scientific conclusions.
Chapter 1
What does the author ask the reader to do with his fundamental statements?
The author expects the reader to take the fundamental statements upon faith, as one might accept a statement about electrical action from a Marconi or an Edison. Having taken them on faith, the reader should prove their truth by acting on them without fear or hesitation. The author claims everyone who does this will certainly get rich, since the science is exact and failure is impossible.
Chapter 1
Which philosophical theory underlies the book, and which thinkers does the author cite?
The author cites the monistic theory of the universe: that One is All and All is One, and that one Substance manifests as the seeming many elements of the material world. He says it is of Hindu origin, has been winning acceptance in the West for two hundred years, and underlies Oriental philosophies and those of Descartes, Spinoza, Leibnitz, Schopenhauer, Hegel, and Emerson.
Chapter 1
What does the author say about his style and the plan of action?
The author says he sacrificed all other considerations to plainness and simplicity of style so that all might understand. The plan of action was deduced from the conclusions of philosophy, has been thoroughly tested, and bears the supreme test of practical experiment: it works. He directs readers wanting the derivation to the authors mentioned, and those wanting results to read this book and do exactly as it says.
Chapter 1
CHAPTER I. THE RIGHT TO BE RICH.4 cards
According to the author, why can't a person fully develop without money?
The author argues that developing talent and soul requires having many things to use, and society is organized so that money is needed to possess those things. He therefore calls the science of getting rich the basis of all advancement, since body, mind, and soul all develop through the use of material things.
Chapter 2
What does the author mean by being rich, and what does he say about contentment with little?
He refuses a figurative meaning: to be really rich is not to be content with a little. He argues no one should be satisfied with little if capable of using and enjoying more, since Nature's purpose is advancement of life; being content with less he calls sinful. The rich man is one who owns all he wants for living fully.
Chapter 2
What three motives does the author say we live for, and how does he rank them?
The author says we live for the body, the mind, and the soul. He explicitly refuses to rank them: none is better or holier than the others, all are alike desirable, and no one of the three can live fully if another is cut short. Denying mind or body for the soul, or the reverse, he calls wrong.
Chapter 2
What does the author say each of body, mind, and soul requires to live fully?
The body needs good food, comfortable clothing, warm shelter, freedom from excessive toil, rest, and recreation. The mind needs books and time to study, travel and observation, intellectual companionship, and art and beauty. The soul needs love, which the author says poverty denies expression, since love most naturally expresses itself in giving.
Chapter 2
CHAPTER II. THERE IS A SCIENCE OF GETTING RICH.4 cards
According to the chapter, what primarily determines whether a person gets rich?
The author argues that getting rich is not primarily a matter of environment, talent, saving, or choosing a particular business. Rather, it results from doing things in a "Certain Way." Those who do things in this Certain Way get rich whether on purpose or accidentally, while those who do not remain poor no matter how hard they work or how able they are.
Chapter 3
How does the chapter use rich and poor living side by side as evidence?
The author argues that if environment caused wealth, whole neighborhoods, cities, or states would be uniformly rich or poor. Instead, rich and poor live side by side in the same environment, often in the same vocation. When two men in the same locality and business differ in outcome, it shows getting rich is not primarily environmental but the result of doing things in a Certain Way.
Chapter 3
What role do natural talent and ability play in getting rich, per the chapter?
The author argues talent is not the cause, since many talented people stay poor while people of little talent get rich; the rich are an average lot in all respects. Some ability to think and understand is essential, but anyone who can read and understand the words can get rich. Talented and stupid, strong and sickly people all get rich.
Chapter 3
What does the chapter say about capital, business choice, and location?
The author argues no one is prevented from getting rich by lack of capital, since getting capital is part of the process and result of the Certain Way. Business and location matter only generally: do best in congenial work suited to your talents and locality. But one can begin in the present business and location to do things in the Certain Way.
Chapter 3
CHAPTER III. IS OPPORTUNITY MONOPOLIZED?4 cards
According to the chapter, why are the poor not kept poor by monopolized opportunity?
The author argues no one is kept poor because opportunity has been taken away or wealth fenced off. Certain lines, like steam railroads, may be monopolized, but other channels remain open—he cites electric railways and aerial transportation as emerging fields. He also claims opportunity shifts direction with social evolution, currently toward agriculture in America, so people should go with the tide rather than swim against it.
Chapter 4
What does the author say workers could do to take possession of the industrial field?
The author argues workers are not kept down by masters or ground by trusts; as a class they remain where they are because they do not do things in a Certain Way. He claims that if American workers chose, they could follow Belgium's example, establish department stores and co-operative industries, elect men of their own class, and pass favorable laws—taking peaceable possession of the industrial field in a few years.
Chapter 4
How does the chapter describe the supply of riches and Original Substance?
The author argues no one is poor from a shortness of riches: there is more than enough for all. He claims building material in the United States alone could build a palace the size of the Capitol for every family, and intensive cultivation could clothe and feed the world. Everything is made from one original substance, a formless, intelligent stuff that is inexhaustible and constantly produces new forms.
Chapter 4
What does the author claim about the nature and motive of the universe?
The author argues the Formless Stuff is intelligent, alive, and always impelled toward more life. He claims it is the inherent impulse of life to seek to live more, and of intelligence to enlarge itself. The universe is a great Living Presence moving toward fuller functioning, and nature is formed for the advancement of life—so everything ministering to life is bountifully provided, and there can be no lack unless God contradicts himself.
Chapter 4
CHAPTER IV. THE FIRST PRINCIPLE IN THE SCIENCE OF GETTING…4 cards
According to the chapter, what are the three fundamental propositions of the science of getting rich?
The author asserts three propositions: there is one thinking substance from which all things are made, which permeates and fills the interspaces of the universe; a thought in this substance produces the thing imaged by the thought; and man can form things in thought and, by impressing thought upon formless substance, cause the thing he thinks about to be created.
Chapter 5
How does the chapter say thought-forms become created things, regarding timing and process?
The author argues every thought of form held in thinking substance causes creation, but generally along already-established lines of growth and action. An oak thought starts forces that produce the tree over centuries rather than instantly. A house thought redirects existing creative energies in trade and commerce, or if no channels exist, forms directly from primal substance.
Chapter 5
What does the chapter say about thinking truth regardless of appearances?
The author argues a man's way of doing things results from how he thinks, so acquiring the ability to think what he wants is the first step to riches. Thinking truth regardless of appearances is laborious, harder than any other work, because visible appearances tend to produce corresponding forms in the observer's mind unless one holds the truth.
Chapter 5
What does the author instruct readers to do to fix the monistic idea in their minds?
The author instructs readers to lay aside all other concepts of the universe, dwell on the three statements until they become habitual thought, read them repeatedly, and meditate until firmly believed. Doubts should be cast aside as a sin; readers should avoid churches, lectures, magazines, or books teaching contrary ideas, and simply take the statements on trust.
Chapter 5
CHAPTER V. INCREASING LIFE.1 cards
According to the chapter, why does God want you to get rich?
The author argues that God desires you to get rich because He can express Himself better through you when you have plenty of things to use, and can live more in you with unlimited command of the means of life. The One Substance wants you to have all the things you can use.
Chapter 6
CHAPTER VI. HOW RICHES COME TO YOU.4 cards
How can a seller give more than he takes without losing money?
The author argues you cannot always give more cash value than you receive, but you can give more use value. A book's paper and ink may be worth little, yet if its ideas earn the buyer thousands, the seller has given great use value for small cash value. Every transaction should add to the buyer's life.
Chapter 7
What example shows a sale that wrongs the buyer, and one that benefits him?
The author compares selling a valuable painting to an Eskimo in Baffin Bay for $500 of furs—wrongful, since the picture has no use value for him and adds nothing to his life—with giving him a $50 gun for the furs, which he can use to get more furs and food and so become rich.
Chapter 7
What does the author require of an employer's treatment of workers?
The author states you must take more cash value from employees than you pay in wages, but you can organize the business around the principle of advancement, so each willing employee may climb a little every day. The business should be a ladder by which any employee who takes the trouble may climb to riches; if he won't, it is not your fault.
Chapter 7
How does the author say a desired object like a sewing machine actually arrives?
The author argues you should not expect the machine to materialize without hands. Instead, hold the mental image with certainty, have unquestioning faith it is coming, and claim it as yours. It is brought by the Supreme Intelligence acting on the minds of men—perhaps a man from Texas or Japan makes a transaction that benefits you both.
Chapter 7
CHAPTER VII. GRATITUDE.4 cards
According to the chapter, what three beliefs and feelings connect a person to the Formless Substance?
The author says you must first believe there is one Intelligent Substance from which all things proceed; second, believe this Substance gives you everything you desire; and third, relate yourself to It through deep and profound gratitude. He sums up the whole process of mental adjustment and atonement in the single word gratitude.
Chapter 8
What is the Law of Gratitude as the chapter defines it?
The author states the law of gratitude is the natural principle that action and reaction are always equal and in opposite directions. Grateful praise to the Supreme is a liberation or expenditure of force that cannot fail to reach its addressee, and the reaction is an instantaneous movement toward you. Strong, constant gratitude produces a strong, continuous reaction.
Chapter 8
Why does the author warn against dwelling on dissatisfaction with things as they are?
The author argues that without gratitude you cannot long avoid dissatisfied thought about things as they are. Dwelling on the common, ordinary, poor, squalid, and mean makes your mind take that form, and you transmit those images to the Formless, so the inferior comes to you. Fixing attention on the best instead makes you become the best.
Chapter 8
What does the chapter say about plutocrats, trust magnates, and corrupt politicians?
The author argues you should not waste time discussing their shortcomings or rage against them, since their organization of the world has made your opportunity and all you get really comes through them. He says God will do away with them when they can be spared, but meanwhile they are all very good and help arrange the lines of transmission for your riches.
Chapter 8
CHAPTER VIII. THINKING IN THE CERTAIN WAY.4 cards
What does the chapter say is the initial step toward getting rich?
The author argues you must form a clear and definite mental picture of what you want, because you cannot transmit an idea unless you have it yourself. Vague longings and general desires for wealth are not enough; the desire must be coherent and definite, like a sentence rather than random letters, before it can impress Thinking Substance.
Chapter 9
Besides a clear picture, what two things must lie behind the vision?
The author argues that behind the clear vision must be the purpose to realize it and bring it into tangible expression, and behind that purpose must be an invincible, unwavering faith that the thing is already yours and at hand. Without these, he says, you are only a dreamer with little power for accomplishment.
Chapter 9
What does the chapter say about concentration exercises and set prayer times?
The author argues these are not necessary. You need not take concentration exercises, set special times for prayer and affirmation, go into the silence, or do occult stunts. All you need is to know what you want and want it badly enough that it stays in your thoughts, since no one needs effort to concentrate on something they truly want.
Chapter 9
How does the chapter distinguish prayer that works from vain repetition?
The author argues the answer to prayer comes not from faith while talking but from faith while working. He cites Jesus against vain repetitions, since the Father already knows your needs. Oral prayer clarifies vision and strengthens faith, but what impresses Formless Substance is holding the vision steadily with purpose and faith, praying without ceasing rather than in one sweet hour.
Chapter 9
CHAPTER IX. HOW TO USE THE WILL.4 cards
According to the chapter, upon what should will power be used to get rich?
The author argues will power should be used only upon yourself, not on other people or on things. You use will to compel yourself to think and act in the Certain Way, and to keep your mind fixed on your vision with faith and purpose. Applying will to others is described as coercion equivalent to physical force, and attempting to coerce God or things is called foolish and useless.
Chapter 10
Why does the author say you should not study or dwell on poverty?
The author argues that dwelling on poverty creates negative impressions in Formless Substance, which start currents away from you and neutralize your positive impressions. He claims things are not brought into being by thinking about their opposites, and that studying poverty fills the mind with pictures that prevent holding the wealth image. He therefore urges using will to keep attention off poverty entirely.
Chapter 10
What does the chapter claim happens when a desire is held with steady faith and purpose?
The author claims the picture of your desire is taken up by Formless Substance and permeates it, possibly throughout the universe. As the impression spreads, all things—living, inanimate, and yet uncreated—are stirred toward its realization, and people's minds are influenced to do what is necessary, working for you unconsciously. He adds that doubt or unbelief starts an equal movement away from you.
Chapter 10
How does the author say poverty should best be helped, and what does he say about charity?
The author argues charity only perpetuates wretchedness by keeping people alive in it, and that you should not fill your mind with pictures of poverty or spend time on charity movements. Instead, the poor need inspiration, not charity. He claims the best help is to get rich yourself and demonstrate that others can become rich by creation rather than competition.
Chapter 10
CHAPTER X. FURTHER USE OF THE WILL.4 cards
What does the chapter say about dwelling on past financial troubles?
The author warns that telling of or thinking about past financial troubles, your parents' poverty, or early hardships mentally classes you with the poor for the time being and will certainly check the movement of things in your direction. He urges putting poverty and everything pertaining to it completely behind you, quoting Jesus: "Let the dead bury their dead."
Chapter 11
According to the author, how should you think and speak about poor people?
The author argues you should think and speak of the poor as those who are becoming rich, as people to be congratulated rather than pitied, so that they and others catch the inspiration and begin to search for the way out. He also says the best thing you can do for the world is to make the most of yourself by getting rich through the creative method.
Chapter 11
Why does the author advise against reading other systems or occult material?
The author asserts this book contains the complete principles and needs no supplement, comparing it to the only method in mathematics. He warns that reading other systems breeds doubts and wavering thought, leading to failure, and that dabbling in Theosophy, Spiritualism, or kindred studies starts mental cross-currents that will shipwreck your hopes. He permits other study only after you are rich.
Chapter 11
What does the chapter claim about health, morality, and domestic happiness?
The author argues that physical health is conditional on getting rich, since only those free from financial worry can live care-free and follow hygienic practices. He claims moral and spiritual greatness is possible only to those above the competitive battle, and that love flourishes best where there is refinement and freedom from corrupting influences, found only where riches come by creative thought.
Chapter 11
CHAPTER XI. ACTING IN THE CERTAIN WAY.3 cards
According to the chapter, what must supplement thought for riches to arrive?
The author argues thought alone is insufficient: personal action must supplement thought. He calls reliance on thought without action the rock on which many metaphysical thinkers shipwreck. Thought impels creative power, but a person must act so as to be able to receive what arrives, since things come through other men who ask an equivalent.
Chapter 12
What does the chapter say about trying to 'project' thought mysteriously or occultly?
The author says not to try to project thought in any mysterious or occult way, expecting it to go out and do things for you. He calls this wasted effort that will weaken your power to think with sanity. Instead, faith and purpose impress your vision on Formless Substance, which sets creative forces working through their regular channels, directed toward you.
Chapter 12
When does the chapter say you must act, and where?
The author insists you must act NOW, upon the people and things in your present environment. You cannot act in the past or future, nor where you are not. He advises against postponing action until you reach the right business or environment; instead, use your present business and environment as the means of getting better ones.
Chapter 12
CHAPTER XII. EFFICIENT ACTION.4 cards
What does the chapter say about doing today's work?
The author instructs readers to do, every day, all that can be done that day, and to do each act efficiently. He warns that if something may be done today and you do not do it, you have failed in that thing, and the consequences may be more disastrous than you imagine, since you cannot foresee what forces a small act sets moving.
Chapter 13
What limitation does the author place on doing all you can each day?
The author says you are not to overwork, rush blindly into business, do tomorrow's work today, or do a week's work in a day. He argues it is not the number of things you do but the efficiency of each separate action that counts, so many inefficient acts are worse than fewer efficient ones.
Chapter 13
How does the author say each act can be made efficient?
The author argues each act can be made a success by holding your vision while doing it and putting the whole power of your faith and purpose into it, since All Power works with you and cannot fail. He says people fail when they separate mental power from personal action, using mind in one place and acting in another.
Chapter 13
How does the chapter connect efficient action to evolution and getting rich?
The author argues evolution occurs when an organism has more life than its own plane can express, developing higher organs and new species. He applies this to people: the world advances only by those who more than fill their present places, and your getting rich depends on applying this principle to your own affairs.
Chapter 13
CHAPTER XIII. GETTING INTO THE RIGHT BUSINESS.4 cards
What does the chapter say about succeeding in a business you lack natural talent for?
The author argues you can get rich in any business, because if you lack the right talent you can develop it—making your tools as you go rather than relying only on inborn ones. It will be easier in a vocation where talents are already well developed, but he claims there is no talent of which you lack at least the rudiment.
Chapter 14
How does the chapter interpret a strong desire to do a particular work?
The author argues desire is a manifestation of power: the desire to play music is the power to play music seeking expression and development. Where there is no power, developed or undeveloped, there is never any desire; and strong desire is certain proof the power is strong and needs only development and right application.
Chapter 14
According to the chapter, how should one change to a more desirable vocation?
The author says the best way to change business or environment is generally by growth, and not to act too hastily. You may make a sudden radical change if opportunity is presented and careful consideration confirms it, but never when in doubt. On the creative plane there is no hurry and no lack of opportunity, so when in doubt, wait.
Chapter 14
What does the chapter say about hurrying and the creative versus competitive mind?
The author argues that the moment you begin to hurry you cease to be a creator and become a competitor, dropping back to the old plane. He advises doing all you can perfectly each day without haste, worry, or fear—going as fast as you can but never hurrying—and, when you catch yourself hurrying, fixing attention on your mental image and giving thanks.
Chapter 14
CHAPTER XIV. THE IMPRESSION OF INCREASE.4 cards
What impression must you convey to everyone you deal with, according to the chapter?
The key-thought of all your efforts must be to convey the impression of increase, since all people are seeking increase. This applies to every transaction, however small, even selling candy to a child, and even to people met socially with no business intent. You convey it by holding unshakable faith that you are in the Way of Increase and letting that faith permeate every action.
Chapter 15
How does the chapter describe the desire for increased wealth?
The author argues the normal desire for increased wealth is not evil or reprehensible but is simply the desire for more abundant life, and is aspiration. He holds that the desire for increase is inherent in all nature and the fundamental impulse of the universe, and that where increase of life ceases, dissolution and death set in at once.
Chapter 15
What warning does the author give about seeking power over others?
The author warns against the insidious temptation to seek power over men, calling the desire to rule for selfish gratification the curse of the world. He argues the mind seeking mastery is the competitive mind, which is not the creative one, and that entering the world's struggle for high places makes getting rich a matter of chance and speculation.
Chapter 15
How should you avoid boastfulness while conveying the impression of increase?
The author advises not boasting or bragging of success or talking about it unnecessarily, since true faith is never boastful; a boastful person is secretly doubtful and afraid. Instead, simply feel the faith and let every act, tone, and look express quiet assurance that you are getting rich, so others feel the sense of increase in your presence without words.
Chapter 15
CHAPTER XV. THE ADVANCING MAN.4 cards
According to the chapter, why won't employers promote a merely 'good' workman?
The author argues that a workman who fills his place to the best of his ability and is satisfied with that is valuable to his employer, so it is not in the employer's interest to promote him—he is worth more where he is. Advancement requires being too big for your place and having a clear concept of what you want to be, not just currying favor with superiors.
Chapter 16
What does the chapter say about the clergyman who teaches the science of getting rich?
The author argues the world cries out for a clergyman who can teach the true science of abundant life. He who masters the science of getting rich along with the allied sciences of being well, being great, and winning love, and teaches these from the pulpit, will never lack a congregation; men will hear it gladly and give liberal support.
Chapter 16
How does the chapter address the wage-earner with small wages and no visible advancement?
The author argues the wage-earner should not feel trapped by small wages or high living costs. He should form a clear mental vision of what he wants, act with faith and purpose, do all the work he can each day perfectly, and hold the purpose of increase before, during, and after work hours—not merely to please an employer. Opportunities will then appear.
Chapter 16
What does the chapter claim about opportunities for the Advancing Man?
The author asserts there is no such thing as a lack of opportunities for the man living the advancing life. He argues it is inherent in the constitution of the cosmos that all things work together for his good, and that a Power never fails to present opportunity to the Advancing Man moving in obedience to law. One should take the first opportunity toward something greater.
Chapter 16
CHAPTER XVI. SOME CAUTIONS, AND CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS.2 cards
According to the author, what can keep a person from getting rich?
The author argues that neither the government you live under nor the capitalistic or competitive system of industry can keep you from getting rich. Existing governments keep the masses in poverty only because the masses do not think and act in the Certain Way. Individuals may enter the Certain Way at any time, under any government, and become rich.
Chapter 17
What does the author say about seeming failures and disappointment?
The author says never allow yourself to feel disappointed. You may expect something at a certain time and not get it, which appears like failure, but if you hold to your faith the failure is only apparent. He tells of a student whose desired business combination failed inexplicably; weeks later a far better opportunity came, and he saw a Mind that knew more had overruled him.
Chapter 17
CHAPTER XVII. SUMMARY OF THE SCIENCE OF GETTING RICH.4 cards
What must a person do to impress a mental image upon formless substance?
The author argues a person must form a clear and definite mental image of what he wishes to have, do, or become, hold it in thought while feeling deeply grateful that it is granted, and contemplate it in leisure hours with unwavering faith and devout gratitude. This process impresses the image on the Formless and sets creative forces in motion.
Chapter 18
Through what channels does the creative energy bring a person's mental image to them?
The author argues creative energy works through the established channels of natural growth and the industrial and social order. What is in the mental image comes through the ways of established trade and commerce, not through miraculous shortcuts. Faith must not waver for this to occur.
Chapter 18
How does Wattles describe the activity required to receive one's own?
The author argues a person must be active, and this activity consists in more than filling his present place. He must do every day all that can be done that day, perform each act successfully, give every man a use value exceeding the cash value received, and hold the Advancing Thought so the impression of Increase reaches all he meets.
Chapter 18
According to Wattles, in what proportion are the riches received?
The author argues that those who practice the instructions will certainly get rich, and their riches will be in exact proportion to the definiteness of their vision, the fixity of their purpose, the steadiness of their faith, and the depth of their gratitude. These four qualities, not luck, determine the measure received.
Chapter 18
Source and licence
Text used: Project Gutenberg eBook #59844 (Public domain in the United States). Generated from the full text; cards paraphrase the source.
Version: Public domain edition. Retrieved 2026-10-18. Cards reviewed 2026-10-18.
These cards paraphrase the text for study. They are not a substitute for reading the book, and they do not reproduce long passages.
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