MY SUMMARY OF

THE SCIENCE OF BEING GREAT

BY WALLACE D. WATTLES

PRINCE DEREJE
SECTION – C
ID-RAD0148/09
 Three years ago, it was a hard time for me and I was not emotionally well. I
was thinking of my whole life, looking inside me, focusing on the main incidents
of my life, and asking myself ‘why am I where I’m not supposed to be now?’ And
it was all painful. That was the time when I found an audio book on YouTube,
titled “THE SCIENCE OF BEING GREAT.” It, to some extent, cleared my
confusion, and showed me that there is also a possibility for me to be as one of the
great men. It filled me with hope, and made me emotionally stable.
The book has 21 chapters. The first chapter tells that “everyone may become
great.” According to the book no man has become at the highest tip of greatness in
any aspect, but he/ she might have started or continued the work of greatness and
left the completion for others to finish. This chapter also differentiates talent and
genius. It defines talent as “one faculty developed out of proportion to other
faculties” and genius as “the union of man and God”. This expression makes me
assume that it is not talent that is a gift from God. Talent is something that people
focus on after they know and get interested on an activity. For example, I think I
have a talent of writing, especially Amharic poems. But I don’t believe it is a gift,
but the interest I gave to the breathtaking poems that our Amharic teacher used to
read us, and the focus I gave to writing because of the inspiration I got, made this
talent grow out of proportion to other activities. But using this talent for something
that makes me great is what ‘genius’ is, and greatness is in truth, truth in turn
originates from God. God is the reserve of the power that is without limits.
It also informs us that conscious growth is given to man and man only. The
lower animals might need to be trained by humans in order to do something
extraordinary, something the other lower animals can’t do. But man can train
himself. And this conscious power has no limits. All plants and animals grow;
growth is the purpose of life. Trees and plants grow along a fixed line but humans
can grow as they will. Nothing that man can imagine is impossible of realization.
The book says that men, in order to be happy, they must continuously advance. A
person who stops to grow is either imbecile or insane. Growth is presented in the
book as getting closer to greatness.
No two men are destined to go through the same path in life, the book says.
Everyone has his own purpose in life. The point is identifying the genius in him
and taking that predestined path, which can push him towards greatness. There are
two mental attitudes a man may take. Those who are like a ball, and those who are
a flowing spring. Those like a ball are affected a lot by the environment. And those
who are like a flowing spring are those who have identified the power within them
and go through any path, without the environment affecting them.
The second chapter of this book is titled heredity and opportunity. It
assures the readers that no man is born incapable of growth. But it does not deny
that heredity also has an effect on us. We inherit the dominant thoughts of our
parents and their behaviors through our subconscious mind. These tendencies
might be bad ones, like the tendency to ill temper and the tendency to melancholy,
but they are not eternal. When the real man awakens he can fight and replace them
with better mental tendencies.
The book explains that the different faculties, which are essential for
different activities of life, are located in different parts of the brain. And heredity
counts for the development of these specific parts of the brain. The ability in a
certain activity, say writing, painting, or being good at math, depends on the
number of active cells in the brain that are necessary for the corresponding activity.
An activity with a larger brain area would be the dominant ability, talent, of the
person. But, what we can consider as good news is, through the principle of power,
with the will and purpose to develop any particular talent, the brain cells may be
divided indefinitely. If you make the desired effort you can develop any talent.
“The brain doesn’t make the man; the man makes the brain”
If you make your personal attitude right and are determined to rise, no
combinations of circumstances can keep you down. The power which is in you is
in the things around you. When you begin to move forward, the things will arrange
themselves towards your advantage. According to the book poverty can’t hold you
back from greatness; it can always be removed. It gives examples of great people
that were poor at their young ages, such as, Martin Luther sang in the streets for
bread, George Stevenson who invented the locomotive engine worked in coal
mine, Abraham Lincoln was a poor boy.
The third chapter talks about the source of power. It says that mans brain,
body, talent and other faculties are instruments for his greatness; they don’t make
the man great by themselves. Knowing how to use them together in a great way
and applying that knowledge is the key to greatness. This is the quality we call
wisdom, which is the essential basis for greatness. Wisdom is the power to
perceive to aim at and the best means to get to them. “The man who is wise enough
to know the right thing, who is good enough to do the right thing and who is able
and strong enough to do the right thing is truly a great man.”
Mans knowledge is limited and uncertain. Only God has real wisdom. And
to know the right thing to do and to be trusted on that, u must be able to understand
God. Truth is something to be perceived by the mind. And in the great men like A.
Lincoln and G. Washington we discover something greater than either Lincoln or
Washington. “Wisdom is obtained by reading the mind of God”.
The fourth chapter talks about the mind of God. God is a cosmic
intelligence that is in and through all things. It also says the brain doesn’t think, but
the man thinks and expresses his thoughts through the brain. The term ‘man’ is
used in place of our spirit substance. And man thinks according to how
experienced he is in life. But God knows every experience there is. Man is limited,
but the cosmic intelligence, God, whom Jesus calls the father, is a limitless source
of wisdom. This part makes you understand that being a great person is getting
closer to how God thinks and how he acts. You can have what you want, by
focusing on attainment of conscious unity with God.
The fifth chapter of the science of being great is about being prepared to be
a great man. It talks about defeating worry, fear and anxiety. Those dwelling inside
the thought of worry and anxiety would find the path to greatness to be very hard
to follow. Those who are in them can’t read the mind of God.
The other point of preparation to greatness, according the book, is rising
above moral evil doing. You must begin to govern appetite, it should not govern
you; eat to satisfy your hunger and don’t eat more than that. Cast out pride and
vanity. Never have a thought of ruling over others, which would make you selfish.
Forget all your selfish personal ambitions, and look for the wisdoms you would get
from God. “He that loves not his brother loves not God”. Be determined to
abandon evil thoughts out of your heart.
The sixth chapter speaks about the social point of view. Without faith it is
impossible to become great. Your faith must not just be in your own power, but
faith must be given to some principles you follow in your life, those you are able to
rely on in order to achieve greatness. It is vital to understand the point we raised
when we were talking about the first chapter of this book. There has never been
someone who is fully great in this world. Great people die leaving something more
to be done by people like me and you. The world must not be seen as something
complete. Each stage you see in evolution gets better and better. From single celled
organisms, to multi-cellular beings and to smarter ones like humans. But each time
was a perfect time, as the time we are on now is perfect, though not completed.
Nothing is wrong with anything and anybody. All things in nature stand for the
good of humans. The systems that seem inharmonious are all essential for the
completion of nature. When it gets completed, then it would be harmonious. See
government and industry as being perfect now, things that are taking as towards
the completion of nature. Then you will understand there is nothing to fear, no
cause for anxiety. This is the very best possible world for the stage man has
reached.
Some people might ask aren’t evil deeds like child labor bad, so does it
mean we should accept them and call them good too? What they should understand
is child labor and similar things are not more evil than the way the cavemen used
to live, which was perfect at that age. They are perfect at the stage of development
we are in now, but we might throw them away in a better stage of development,
which is closer to the harmonious complete nature. Whenever those working in the
industries desire a higher and more harmonious life, they will have a focus and
know how to achieve the best means of achieving that kind of life. But as long as
they want more of the things that are needed for animal satisfaction, and forget the
spirit and the soul, they will be walking the same path over and over to get those
physical needs. They will not have growth in their lives.
The majority of people like me and you desire the things that are produced
by child labor. For example, some of the clothes you have or had might have been
produced by child labor. As long as the majority needs things like these, the
majority must have them. At this stage the majority does not desire a world that is
not discourteous (having a lack of social grace), because if they did they would
create a world full of harmony. As the people rise above thoughts for just the flesh,
society will rise above its beastly thoughts. But it is perfect for its stage, since all
this can’t prevent you from working for better things, going towards completion.
You must know that it is not the world that is not good, your personal attitude, may
be.
The seventh chapter of the book talks about the individual point of view.
All men and women should be seen as perfect beings advancing to become
complete according to the book, not as lost and cursed. There are no evil people,
there are perfectly good people who are of the track. But these people don’t need to
be condemned or punished. We have trained ourselves to think that something that
is incomplete is evil. We must accept all men and women, no matter unlikable or
seeming bad they are; they are perfect in their stage of being. Once we attain this
ability, we lose all desire to find fault in people, judge, criticize or condemn them.
Working as the angles who are part of the completion of heaven is better than
thinking of working as a savior of lost souls. We no longer see men as trees
walking; we have nothing but good words to say.
How you see yourself also matters. You must always see yourself as a great
advancing soul. Know that there is that which is within you, who doesn’t know
weakness or sickness. There is nothing wrong except your personal attitude. And
your personal attitude gets wrong when you start disobeying that perfect being that
is within you, that perfect being is God. When you understand this you can
overcome fear.
The title of the eighth chapter is consecration, meaning commitment of life
or time to some cherished purpose, which is the next step towards greatness.
Consecration is obedience to the soul; obeying the divine principle of power
without questioning. As said before your greatness is a manifestation of that within
you, and this something within you is the most perfect being, God.
You might have a good reasoning power, you might be intellectual. But that
doesn’t make you a man of principle. An intelligent man can chose to either be a
thief that is very good at planning how to robe and murder people, or he can chose
to be a saint that serves the kingdom of God. It is true that intellect shows us the
best means to do the right thing, but intellect cannot tell us what the right thing is,
God can. You might have a good intellect, but if you use it without principles, you
might be known as an able person, but you are not truly great. Your personal
attitude fails when you fail to obey your soul; be closer to your soul you will find
out what is right. Every compromise on this stage costs you power.
 It might be impossible to disregard the widely accepted moral principles, the
‘rights’ and ‘wrongs’. But never let the narrow social thoughts imprison you.
These are just unwise restrictions that bind the majority of your fellow men. This
means you have all the right to be free of being obedient to any of those beliefs of
the society you don’t believe in.
There are many people that leave in a fear of betrayal by others. You must
rise above all of this kind of thoughts, and replace them with thoughts that benefit
your soul, mind and body. And your thoughts and your actions must be the same.
Your thoughts must not be greater than your actions. Make your thoughts
principled, and live according to your thoughts. Express the best thoughts you can
think through every aspect of your life.
You can’t be ruled from below if you are to be great, you must rule from
above. You must bring your body into subjection to the mind of the soul and the
mind. Surrender your body to be governed by your mind; surrender your mind to
be governed by your soul and surrender your soul to the guidance of God. The
mind is the place where you express your thoughts through, but thoughts without
principle won’t make you great. You need the principles from your soul, which is
in connection with God.
The ninth chapter is about identification. You must consciously identify
yourself with the highest. There is one substance that can create all things, and that
has a perfect understanding of all things. Man is also a substance with intelligence.
Man can’t be different from God. We can’t say there is a certain kind of
intelligence in man and another kind of intelligence in God. “Intelligence can only
be in an intelligent substance, and an intelligent substance is God.” All power is
given to man in heaven or on earth, not just to some special men, but to all men.
But the consciousness of man is limited, not enough to understand everything there
is to know, that is why he does errors and mistakes. But uniting yourself to that
who is greater than you saves you from these. Since man came from the substance
with perfect intelligence he can identify himself with the one who Jesus calls ‘The
Father’. You need to recognize consciously that you have identified yourself with
the perfectly intelligent substance.
The tenth chapter talks about idealization. Whatever you think and imagine
in your mind has a creative power. Thought is real, whether it has yet become
visible to the mortal eye or not. You internally take the form of what you think of
yourself. If you desire something, picture it clearly until it becomes a defined
thought form. Never have a thought of yourself in connection of disease and
sickness. Set your ideas as near to the perfection you want to get to as possible. If a
young marketer wants to become great, first that greatness must be captured in his
mind as a thought form.
Don’t believe anyone can now what is good for you better than you; listen to
what others have to say and always form your own conclusions. Be true to
yourself.
‘Chapter eleven’ talks about realization. You might be a master of
idealization, but that just makes you a man of beautiful dreams. Too many stop
there. You must also work to bring that thought form into manifestation. You are
what you want to be in the interior, when you have made the thought form in your
mind. You must also become externally what you want to be. Unless you do so, it
is only you that knows there is something great within you. No one else recognizes
your greatness, and you don’t touch the lives of others. You can begin to be great
today in your own home or any where you spend most of your times at. It is
obvious that no one accepts it when you tell him that you are great, but he will not
doubt it if you show him your greatness. In your daily activity, be courteous, kind
and generous to the people around you so that they identify the greatness within
you. You must have absolute faith in your perceptions of truth. Always patiently
wait until you know the true way, and once you feel so, be guided by the truth you
perceived from the mind of God, without fear anxiety. Soon you will be recognized
as someone great in smaller things, and you will be pushed to take charge of larger
things.
The next chapter is about trusting that God can bring solutions for the many
problems you have in life. Don’t act superficially and emotionally. There is an
invincible power in you, and it is in the things that you want. It makes you meet
them and brings them to you. Your tendency must always be to have the right
thought; that you are going to have all the things you want through the power of
God that is within you. If things around you seem to go wrong never lose your
peace of mind, it is only an appearance. Anxiety, hurry and fear will instantly cut
your connection with the universal mind. Until you are calm, you will get no
power and wisdom.
The thirteenth chapter of this book talks about thoughts. No man can
manifest greatness unless he is great internally, and no man can be great internally
until he thinks. Reading a book does not change you, thinking about what you just
read does. But most people try to escape thought. The truth though is we never
move forward until we begin to think. It is helpful to read plenty and think more. If
you always choose to take and follow what others think, you will never know what
you are capable of doing. “You are what you are because you think as you do; you
are where you are because you think as you do”, change the thoughts that your life
is centered around and change your life.
‘Action at home’ is the title of the next chapter of the book. Don’t plan to
be great in the future, think that you are great now; begin being great now. Begin
now to deal in a great way with the people around you. Never mind how the people
in your home treat you, that has nothing to do on your path towards greatness.
Treat the unthankful and ungrateful in a kind way just as God does. You must
recognize all the people around you are perfect in their own plain of thought. “You
are a god but among other gods”. Never ask for honors and recognitions, let them
come by themselves. When the people around you recognize your greatness they
will love you and see you as a tower of solutions. But beware of throwing yourself
away in the service of others. You can’t help people by being a slave to them. You
must leave the jobs others must do for themselves. The ideal world is one where all
can stand for themselves.
The fifteenth chapter is about action abroad. The book advises readers to be
in the outside world as active as they are in their home. You must still rely on the
truth that is within you. Calmness is always essential. As said before, not being
calm gets you away from the truth. “Don’t get disturbed, if you feel ignorant” the
book says, the inner power within you will provide all the wisdom you need in any
situation. Never undertake great things, if you don’t feel like you can undertake
them in a great way. Never seek for rewards, “greatness is reward by itself”
Mind your own business. It is not up to you to correct others. You must let
everyone live as they choose. Don’t try to convert others, just show them your way
and let them choose. You don’t have to explain yourself. And never forget to treat
everyone as the same, either a millionaire or a beggar. Act like a god whenever
there is an action.
The sixteenth chapter gives some further explanations. The book says
some religious teachers mislead us by making the world seem like an evil place to
live in. Never forget the world is good and becoming better. All of our personal
affairs are not going wrong, since we have said the world is going to completion,
just always make yourself right. Think well of yourself, in order to achieve
greatness. If you keep on having ill thoughts towards yourself, you will be
surrounded by those bad things in your thought.
The seventeenth chapter talks more about thought. Whenever you think
you always must focus on the truth, the book says. Sincerity is essential on the
journey towards greatness. However logical or brilliant it may be insincere thought
doesn’t bring wisdom. Whenever you think, think deeply and ask which one is the
right attitude. The moment you see selfishness in your thoughts, know that your
thinking is false; your thoughts will have no power. Just start today, the writer
says, just get use your soul that is the place of ‘the most powerful’, and perceive
truth; live up to that truth, and you will find more in the near future. Seize looking
at human mistakes, and focus on successes. Always admit all men and women are
not lost souls, shining beings ascending towards heaven. You have a will to direct
your thoughts. “Think! Think! Think!”
The eighteenth chapter talks about Jesus’ idea of greatness. Jesus said in
one of his teachings, “he that will be great among you, let him serve”. For a selfish
soul nothing is greater than ruling over others, ordering others to do something and
watching them do it. For many, this is the definition of greatness. Wishing for
dominion makes you a slave of the things that make you feel powerful. It might
make you resourceful but not great. Lincoln was a great man because he knew how
to serve his fellow people; this is a greatness that we find in Jesus. Napoleon on the
other hand was brilliant, but his selfishness mad him fail to be great. But, as said
before, never forget that you should not throw yourself away for the service of
others; being a slave for others doesn’t help anyone.
Jesus classified men in to two; those who live in pure love and those who
live in the love of ruling for the love of self. According to Jesus love is what leads
you to greatness.
 ‘Chapter 19’ is about the view of evolution. According to geology the
question ‘where does life come from?’ seems impossible to answer. Whatever
position we take in the arguments of evolution, and even if we believe all life came
beginning from a single celled organism, behind this cells there was an insistent
urge of spirit, the great one life seeking expression. That must be why they kept on
having greater and smarter forms.
The writer of this book believes starting from the existence of the first man;
God chose to insert himself more and more upon us. From the ape man to the men
of this generation we are growing more and better. God needed us to be his
manifestations in real life. The end is not yet, the time will come where our race
will be glorified. At the end of the journey of nature towards completion, there will
be no crying, and no suffering, because God is expressing himself more and more.
The next chapter talks about serving God. As you are applying the science
of being great in your life, you will find out that you need to change many of your
relationships. One thing for sure is that you are going to be considered selfish when
you become a great being. Doing the right thing at any cost, or waiting for a
smoother time to come will be the dilemma. Greatness is presented in the book as
serving God, and uncertainty is what holds most men back from greatness.
The writer believes men can’t do anything for God. The thing God wants
from men is expression, and expressing God is greatness.
The last chapter of the science of being great is titled the mental exercise. It
defines mental exercise as an exercise, not in repeating words, but in the thinking
of certain thoughts. The thoughts we repeatedly think become habitual and become
part of our behavior; they will be your thoughts all the time. They change how
your subconscious mind works.
I hope you have got something from my summary of the “Science of Being
Great”, and wish you find the book and go through the same experience I had with
it.

Prince