American men today long for the golden age of the 1950s. “If only I hadn’t been born today,” men exclaim, “I would have made something out of my life!”
Wrong. The Strangest Secret was written in 1956. It’s message is timeless.
Some years ago, the late Nobel prize-winning Dr. Albert Schweitzer was asked by a reporter, “Doctor, what’s wrong with men today?” The great doctor was silent a moment, and then he said, “Men simply don’t think!”
It’s about this that I want to talk with you. We live today in a golden age. This is an era that humanity has looked forward to, dreamed of, and worked toward for thousands of years. We live in the richest era that ever existed on the face of the earth … a land of abundant opportunity for everyone.
However, if you take 100 individuals who start even at the age of 25, do you have any idea what will happen to those men and women by the time they’re 65? These 100 people believe they’re going to be successful. They are eager toward life, there is a certain sparkle in their eye, an erectness to their carriage, and life seems like a pretty interesting adventure to them.
But by the time they’re 65, only one will be rich, four will be financially independent, five will still be working, and 54 will be broke — depending on others for life’s necessities.
Only five out of 100 make the grade! Why do so many fail? What has happened to the sparkle that was there when they were 25? What has become of the dreams, the hopes, the plans … and why is there such a large disparity between what these people intended to do and what they actually accomplished?
The Strangest Secret is a book and also an audio recording. Both are worth returning to frequently.
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Yeah this is good stuff. Simple and direct.
Is this a shameless plug?
Can you please say a few words about why there is such a large disparity, thanks.
Shameless plug? He’s posted the audio there for you, for free. Which as you can see is on youtube – and you can bet if you spent 5 seconds on google you’d likely find the book, for free, too. Appreciate him sharing, quit trying to bring him down.
Yeah, that was a pretty weird comment.
Great audio This info is still relevant for those who seek a little mental pick me up.
Picked up the kindle copy. Well worth the 3$. I can see a lot of your writing reflected in it.
The kindle edition you linked, by the way, includes a number of other short pieces by that author, dealing with creativity, problem solving, asking questions, etc.
It’s not a long book, but the information inside is gold.
every thoughts carries a certain energy with it.
make thoughts count.
and if you can’t make em count then go empty by default.
His opening argument is that all philosophers have agreed upon the “secret”:
As you think, you should become. If you think negative things, you get negative results. If you think positive things, you get positive results. If you think about how you’ll achieve your goals, then you’ll achieve them.
But you know what, that’s not true. Aristotle, perhaps the greatest philosopher of them all, has a directly opposite view: Thoughts are irrelevant.
“To be, is to do.”
You are nothing more than your actions… what you think about is irrelevant.
I had a lot of dreams and goals when I was younger. I achieved some of them and then I realized the goals were worthless.
The greatest thing I’ve achieved is that goals and dreams are worthless.
If what you think about leads you to action, then thoughts aren’t worthless.
Saying thoughts aren’t relevant is similar to saying the people you hang around with don’t matter. The people in our lives shape and influence us. Thoughts shape our perspective and mood. Both thoughts and people directly influence our actions.
If goals and dreams are worthless, can I assume you don’t have any?
“If goals and dreams are worthless, can I assume you don’t have any?”
Au contraire, I have many of them, and I pursue them forcefully, yet I am indifferent to the outcome.
Typo.
The greatest thing I’ve achieved is realizing that goals and dreams are worthless.
“Most people would sooner die than think; in fact, they do so.”
Bertrand Russell
I heard that in uni and it stuck with me ever since.
“Mediocrity knows nothing higher than itself, but talent instantly recognizes genius.”
Sherlock Holmes