There are two types of people in the world \u2013 those who want more life for all and those who want more power for themselves. I love this warning in Wallace Wattles\u2019 1910 classic, \u201cThe Science of Getting Rich:\u201d<\/p>\n
“Let me here give you another word of caution in regard to motives: Beware of the insidious temptation to seek for power over other people.<\/p>\n
Nothing is so pleasant to the unformed or partially developed mind as the exercise of power or dominion over others. The desire to rule for selfish gratification has been the curse of the world. For countless ages kings and lords have drenched the earth with blood in their battles to extend their dominions \u2014 not to seek more life for all, but to get more power for themselves.<\/p>\n
Today, the main motive in the business and industrial world is the same: Men marshal their armies of dollars and lay waste the lives and hearts of millions in the same mad scramble for power over others.<\/p>\n
Commercial kings, like political kings, are inspired by the lust for power. Look out for the temptation to seek for authority, to become a \u201cmaster,\u201d to be considered as one who is above the common herd, to impress others by lavish display, and so on. The mind that seeks for mastery over others is the competitive mind, and the competitive mind is not the creative one.<\/p>\n
In order to master your environment and your destiny, it is not at all necessary that you should rule over your fellow men, and, indeed, when you fall into the world\u2019s struggle for the high places, you begin to be conquered by fate and environment and your getting rich becomes a matter of chance and speculation. <\/p>\n
Beware of the competitive mind! No better statement of the principle of creative action can be formulated than the favorite declaration of the late \u201cGolden Rule\u201d Jones of Toledo: \u201cWhat I want for myself, I want for everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n