Science Of Being Great
First Person Adaptations With Word Clarifications...
by Darlene Hedrick-Sartore
from Original Text
Science Of Being Great
written circa 1903 by Wallace Delois Wattles

This is the THIRD book written by Wallace Wattles.
His FIRST book "Science of Getting Rich" published in 1910 is
timeless wisdom, and a practical, step-by-step prosperity program.

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The Science of Being Great
Chapter 14: Action At Home

1. DO not merely think about going to become great; think I AM great NOW. Do not think about beginning to act in a great way at some future time; begin NOW. Do not think about acting in a great way when a different environment is reached; I act in a great way where I AM NOW. Do not think about beginning to act in a great way when have begun to deal with great things; I begin to deal in a great way with small things. Do not think about beginning to be great when getting among more intelligent people, or among people who understand me better; I begin NOW to deal in a great way with the people around me.

2. If I am not in an environment where there is scope for my best powers and talents, I can move in due time; but meanwhile I can be great where I am now. Lincoln was as great when he was a backwoods lawyer as when he was President. As a backwoods lawyer he did common things in a great way, and that made him President. Had he waited until he reached Washington to begin to be great, he would have remained unknown. Nobody is made great by the location in which we happen to be, nor by the things with which we may surround the self. We are not made great by what is received from others, and we can never manifest greatness so long as we depend on others. A person will manifest greatness only when beginning to stand alone. Dismiss all thought of reliance on externals; whether things, books, or people. As Emerson said, "Shakespeare will never be made by the study of Shakespeare." Shakespeare will be made by the thinking of Shakespearean thoughts.

3. I never give attention to how the people around me, including those of my own household, may treat me. That has nothing at all to do with me being great; that is, it cannot hinder me from being great. People may neglect me, and be unthankful, and unkind in their attitude toward me. Does any of that prevent me from being great in my manner and attitude toward them? Jesus said "Your Father is kind to the unthankful and the evil." Would God be great if He should go away and sulk because people were unthankful and did not appreciate Him? Treat the unthankful and the evil in a great and perfectly kind way, just as God does. Do not talk about personal greatness; I am really, in essential nature, no greater than those around me. I may have entered upon a way of living and thinking which they have not yet found, but they are perfect on their own plane of thought and action. I am entitled to no special honor or consideration for my greatness.

4. I am a god among gods. I will fall into the boastful attitude if I see other people's shortcomings and failures and compare them with my own virtues and successes; and if I fall into the boastful attitude of mind, I would cease to be great, and become small. I think of myself as a perfect being among perfect beings, and meet every person as an equal, not as either superior or an inferior. I give myself no airs; great people never do.

5. I ask no honors and seek for no recognition. Honors and recognition will come fast enough if I am entitled to them.

6. Begin at home. It is a great person who can always be poised, assured, calm, and perfectly kind and considerate at home. If my manner and attitude in my own family are always the best I can think, I will soon become the one on whom all the others will rely. I will be a tower of strength and a support in time of trouble. I will be loved and appreciated. At the same time I do not make the mistake of throwing myself away in the service of others. The great person respects their self; serves and helps, but is never slavishly servile. I cannot help my family by being a slave to them, or by doing for them those things that by right they should do for themselves. I would do an injury to any person I served too much. The selfish and exacting are a great deal better off if their exactions are denied. The ideal world is not one where there are a lot of people being waited on by other people; it is a world where everybody waits on their self. Meet all demands, selfish and otherwise, with perfect kindness and consideration; but do not allow the self to be made a slave to the whims, caprices, exactions, or slavish desires of any family member. To do so is not great, and it works an injury to the other party.

7. Do not become uneasy over the failures or mistakes of any family member, nor feel any need to interfere. Do not be disturbed if others seem to be going wrong, and never feel any urge to step in and set them right. Remember that every person is perfect on their own plane; we cannot improve on the work of God. Do not meddle with the personal habits and practices of others, though they are nearest and dearest; these things are none of our business. Nothing can be wrong but our own personal attitude; make that right and know that all else is right. We each are a truly great soul when living with those who do things that are not in the Certain Way, and yet refrain from either criticism or interference.

8. Do the things that are right for the self to do, and believe that every family member is doing the things that are right for him or her.

9. Nothing is wrong with anybody or anything, behold, it is all very good. Do not be enslaved by any one else, but be just as careful not to enslave any one else to personal notions of what is right. Think, and think deeply and continuously; be perfect in kindness and consideration; let attitude be that of a god among gods, and not that of a god among inferior beings. This is the way to be great in my own home.

Table of Contents

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