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CHAPTER
1 INTRODUCTION THE MAN WHO "THOUGHT" HIS WAY INTO
PARTNERSHIP WITH THOMAS A. EDISON
TRULY,
"thoughts are things," and powerful things at that, when they
are mixed with definiteness of purpose, persistence, and a BURNING
DESIRE for their translation into riches, or other material
objects. A little more than thirty years ago, Edwin C. Barnes
discovered how
true it is that men really do THINK AND GROW RICH. His discovery did
not come about at one sitting. It came little by little, beginning with
a BURNING DESIRE to become a business associate of the great Edison.
One of the chief characteristics of Barnes' Desire was that
it was definite. He wanted to work with Edison, not for
him. Observe, carefully, the description of how he went about
translating his DESIRE into reality, and you will have a better
understanding of the thirteen principles which lead to riches.
When this DESIRE, or impulse of thought, first flashed into
his mind he
was in no position to act upon it. Two difficulties stood in his way.
He did not know Mr. Edison, and he did not have enough money to pay his
railroad fare to Orange, New Jersey. These difficulties were
sufficient to have discouraged the majority of
men from making any attempt to carry out the desire. But his was no
ordinary desire! He was so determined to find a way to carry out his
desire that he finally decided to travel by "blind baggage," rather
than be defeated. (To the uninitiated, this means that he went to East
Orange on a freight train). He presented himself at Mr.
Edison's laboratory, and announced he had
come to go into business with the inventor. In speaking of the first
meeting between Barnes and Edison, years later, Mr. Edison said, "He
stood there before me, looking like an ordinary tramp, but
there was something in the expression of his face which conveyed the
impression that he was determined to get what he had come after. I
had learned, from years of experience with men, that when a man really
DESIRES a thing so deeply that he is willing to stake his entire future
on a single turn of the wheel in order to get it, he is sure to win. I
gave him the opportunity he asked for, because I saw he had made up his
mind to stand by until he succeeded. Subsequent events proved that no
mistake was made." Just what young Barnes said to Mr. Edison
on that occasion was far less important than that which he thought.
Edison, himself, said so! It could not have been the young man's
appearance which got him his start in the Edison office, for that was
definitely against him. It was what he THOUGHT that
counted. If the significance of this statement could be
conveyed to every person
who reads it, there would be no need for the remainder of this
book. Barnes did not get his partnership with Edison on his
first interview.
He did get a chance to work in the Edison offices, at a very nominal
wage, doing work that was unimportant to Edison, but most important to
Barnes, because it gave him an opportunity to display his "merchandise"
where his intended "partner" could see it. Months went by.
Apparently nothing happened to bring the coveted goal
which Barnes had set up in his mind as his DEFINITE MAJOR PURPOSE. But
something important was happening in Barnes' mind. He was constantly
intensifying his DESIRE to become the business associate of
Edison. Psychologists have correctly said that "when one is
truly ready for a thing, it puts in its appearance." Barnes
was ready for a business association with Edison, moreover, he
was DETERMINED TO REMAIN READY UNTIL HE GOT THAT WHICH HE WAS SEEKING.
He did not say to himself, "Ah well, what's the use? I guess
I'll
change my mind and try for a salesman's job." But, he did say, "I came
here to go into business with Edison, and I'll accomplish this end if
it takes the remainder of my life." He meant it! What
a different story men would have to tell if only they would adopt a
DEFINITE PURPOSE, and stand by that purpose until it had time to become
an all-consuming obsession! Maybe young Barnes did not know it
at the time, but his bulldog
determination, his persistence in standing back of a single DESIRE, was
destined to mow down all opposition, and bring him the opportunity he
was seeking. When the opportunity came, it appeared in a
different form, and from a
different direction than Barnes had expected. That is one of the tricks
of opportunity. It has a sly habit of slipping in by the back door, and
often it comes disguised in the form of misfortune, or temporary
defeat. Perhaps this is why so many fail to recognize
opportunity. Mr. Edison had just perfected a new office
device, known at that time,
as the Edison Dictating Machine (now the Ediphone). His salesmen were
not enthusiastic over the machine. They did not believe it could be
sold without great effort. Barnes saw his opportunity. It had crawled
in quietly, hidden in a queer looking machine which interested no one
but Barnes and the inventor. Barnes knew he could sell the
Edison Dictating Machine. He suggested
this to Edison, and promptly got his chance. He did sell the machine.
In fact, he sold it so successfully that Edison gave him a contract to
distribute and market it all over the nation. Out of that business
association grew the slogan, "Made by Edison and installed by Barnes."
The business alliance has been in operation for more than
thirty years.
Out of it Barnes has made himself rich in money, but he has done
something infinitely greater, he has proved that one really may "Think
and Grow Rich." How much actual cash that original DESIRE of
Barnes' has been worth to
him, I have no way of knowing. Perhaps it has brought him two or three
million dollars, but the amount, whatever it is, becomes insignificant
when compared with the greater asset he acquired in the form of
definite knowledge that an intangible impulse of thought can be
transmuted into its physical counterpart by the application of known
principles. Barnes literally thought himself
into a partnership with the great Edison! He thought himself into a
fortune. He had nothing to start with, except the capacity to KNOW WHAT
HE WANTED, AND THE DETERMINATION TO STAND BY THAT DESIRE UNTIL HE
REALIZED IT. He had no money to begin with. He had but little
education. He had no
influence. But he did have initiative, faith, and the will to win. With
these intangible forces he made himself number one man with the
greatest inventor who ever lived. Now, let us look at a
different situation, and study a man who had plenty of tangible
evidence of riches, but lost it, because he stopped three feet short of
the goal he was seeking.More...
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