LIFE'S IMPORTANT FACTS

                                                    LEARN FROM DEFEAT

                          THE IMPORTANT FACTS OF LIFE STAND OUT BOLDLY!

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                  ONE IS THE FACT THAT THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF LIFE ARE SUCH THAT EVERYONE INEVITABLY IS OVERTAKEN BY DEFEAT, IN MANY DIFFERENT WAYS, AT ONE TIME OR ANOTHER. THE OTHER IS THE FACT THAT EVERY ADVERSITY CARRIES WITH IT THE SEED OF AN EQUIVALENT BENEFIT!

                SEARCH WHERE YOU WILL BUT YOU CANNOT FIND A SINGLE EXCEPTION TO EITHER OF THESE CIRCUMSTANCES, EITHER IN YOUR OWN EXPERIENCE OR IN THE EXPERIENCES OF OTHERS. THE BURDEN OF THIS CHAPTER, THEREFORE, IS TO DESCRIBE HOW DEFEAT MAY BE MADE TO YIELD THE SEED OF AN EQUILAVENT BENEFIT, HOW TO CONVERT IT INTO A STEPPING STONE TO GREATER ACHIEVEMENT, AND THAT IS NOT NECESSARY TO ACCEPT DEFEAT AS A HANDY EXCUSE FOR FAILURE.

                 HILL : MR. CARNEGIE, YOU HAVE STATED IN PREVIOUS INTERVIEWS THAT THERE ARE NO LIMITATIONS TO MENTAL CAPACITY EXCEPT THOSE WHICH AN INIVIDUAL SETS UP HIS OWN MIND, AND YOU HAVE EXPLAINED THIS BY SAYING THAT DEFEAT CAN BE CONVERTED INTO A PRICELESS ASSET IF ONE TAKES THE RIGHT ATTITUDE TOWARD IT. WILL YOU NOW EXPLAIN WHAT IS THE RIGHT ATTITUDE?

                  CARNEGIE : FIRST OF ALL, LET ME SAY THAT THE RIGHT ATTITUDE TOWARD DEFEAT IS THATWHICH REFUSES TO ACCEPT IT AS ANYTHIG MORE THAN TEMPORARY, AND THIS IS AN ATTITUDE THAT ONE CAN BEST MAINTAIN BY SO DEVELOPING HIS WILL-POWER THAT HE LOOKS UPON DEFEAT AS A CHALLENGE TO TEST HIS METTLE. THAT CHALLENGE SHOULD BE ACCEPTED AS A SIGNAL THAT HAS BEEN DELIBERATELY HOISTED TO INFORM HIM THAT HIS PLAS NEED MENDING.

                   DEFEAT SHOULD BE LOOKED UPON IN PRECISELY THE SAME MANNER THAT ONE ACCEPTS THE UNPLEASANT EXPERIENCE OF PHYSICAL PAIN, FOR IT IS OBVIOUS THAT PHYSICAL PAIN IS NATURE'S WAY OF INFORMING ONE THAT SOMETHING NEEDS ATTENTION AND CORRECTION. PAIN, THEREFORE, MAY BE A BLESSING AND NOT A CURSE!

                THE SAME IS TRUE OF THE MENTAL ANGUISH ONE EXPERIENCES WHEN OVERTAKEN BY DEFEAT. WHILE THE FEELING IS UNPLEASANT IT MAY BE, NEVERTHELESS, BENEFICIAL, BECAUSE IT SERVES AS A SIGNAL BY WHICH ONE MAY BE STOPPED FROM GOING IN THE WRONG DIRECTION.

               HILL : I SEE YOUR LOGIC, BUT DEFEAT SOMETIMES IS SO DEFINITE ADN SEVERE THAT IT HAS THE EFFECT OF DESTROYING ONE'S INITIATIVE AND SELF - RELIANCE. WHEN IS TO BE DONE IS SUCH A CIRCUMSTANCE?

             CARNEGIE :  HERE IS WHERE THE PRINCIPLE OF SELF- DISCIPLINE COMES TO ONE'S RESCUE. THE WELL- DISCIPLINED PERSON ALLOWS NOTHING TO DESTROY HIS BELIEF IN HIMSELF, AND PERMITS NOTHING TO STOP HIM FROM REARRANGING HIS PLANS AND MOVING AHEAD WHEN HIS IS DEFEATED. YOU SEE, HE CHANGES HIS PLANS, IF THEY NEED CHANGE, BUT NOT HIS PURPOSE. IF ONE HAS MASTERED THE PRICIPLE OF ORGANIZED THOUGHT ONE KNOWS THAT THE POWER OF WILL IS EQUAL TO ALL THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF LIFE, AND HE ALLOWS NOTHING TO DESTROY HIS WILL TO WIN.

                        HILL : YOU MEAN, I ASSUME, THAT DEFEAT SHOULD BE ACCEPTED AS A SORT OF MENTAL TONIC THAT CAN BE MADE TO SERVE AS A MEANS OF STIMULATING ONE'S WILL POWER.

                      CARNEGIE : YOU'VE STATED IT CORRECTLY. AS I TOLD YOU PREVIOUSLY, EVERY NEAGATIVE EMOTION CAN BE TRANSMUTED INTO A CONSTRUCTIVE POWER AND USED FOR THE ATTAINMENT OF DESIRABLE ENDS. SELF-DISCIPLINE ENABLES ONE TO CHANGE UNPLEASANT EMOTIONS INTO A DRIVING POWER, AND EVERY TIME THIS IS DONE IT HELPS TO DEVELOP ONE'S POWER OF WILL.

                  YOU MUST REMEMBER, ALSO, THAT THE SUBCONSCIOUS MIND ACCEPTS AND ACTS UPON ONE'S MENTAL ATTITUDE. IF DEFEAT IS ACCEPTED AS PERMENENT, INSTEAD OF BEING REGARDED AS A MERE STIMULANT TO GREATER ACTION, THE SUBCONSCIOUS MIND ACTS ACCORDINGLY AND MAKES IT PERMANENT. 

                  YOU SEE, THEREFORE, HOW IMPORTANT IT IS THAT ONE FORM THE HABIT OF SEARCHING FOR GOOD THERE IS TO BE FOUND IN EVERY FORM OF DEFEAT. THIS PROCEDURE  BECOMES THE FINEST SORT OF TRAINING OF THE WILL-POWER AND SERVES, AT THE SAME TIME, TO BRING THE SUBCONSCIOUS MIND INTO ACTION IN ONE'S BEHALF.

                 HILL : YES, OF COURSE! YOU MEAN THAT THE SUBCONSCIOUS MIND CARRIES OUR ONE'S MENTAL ATTITUDE TO ITS LOGICAL CONCLUSION, REGARDLESS OF THE NATURE OF THE CIRCUMSTANCES WHICH BRINGS IN INTO ACTION.

                CARNEGIE : YES, BUT YOU HAVE HARDLY STATED THE MATTER FULLY. THE SUBCONSCIOUS MIND RESPONDS ALWAYS TO THE DOMINATING THOUGHTS IN ONE'S MIND. MOREOVER, IT GETS INTO THE HABIT OF ACTING QUICKLY ON THE THOUGHTS WHICH ARE REPEATED MOST OFTEN. FOR EXAMPLE, IF ONE FALLS INTO THE HABIT OF ACCEPTING DEFEAT AS A NEGATIVE CIRCUMSTANCES, THE SUBCONSCIOUS MIND MAKES THE SAME MISTAKE CIRCUMSTANCE, THE SUBSCONSCIOUS MIND MAKES THE SAME MISTAKE AND FORMS SIMILAR HABITS. THAT IS WHY I STRESS THE IMPORTANCE OF CONTROLLED HABITS.

                 ONE'S MENTAL ATTITUDE TOWARD DEFEAT BECOMES, EVENTUALLY, A HABIT, AND THIS IS ONE HABIT THAT MUST BE CONTROLLED IF ONE IS TO ACQUIRE THE ABILITY TO MAKE DEFEAT AND ASSET INSTEAD OF A LIABILITY. YOU HAVE NO DOUBT SEEN MEN AND WOMEN WHO BY THEIR IMMEDIATE REACTIONS SEEM TO AUTOMATICALLY ACCEPT DEFEAT AND WHO THUS BECOME CONFINED PESSIMISTS.

                         HILL : I SEE WHAT YOU MEAN. THE "SEED OF AN EQUIVALENT BENEFIT" THAT IS TO BE FOUND IN EVERY ADVERSITY CONSISTS IN THE OPPORTUNITY ONE HAS TO USE THE EXPERIENCE AS A MEANS OF DEVELOPING HIS WILLPOWER, BY ACCEPTING IT AS A MENTAL STIMULANT TO GREATER ACTION. IS THAT YOUR IDEA, MR. CARNEGIE?

                       CARNEGIE : THAT STATES THE IDEA IN PART, BUT YOU OMITTED SAYING THAT BY ACCEPTING DEFEAT IN A POSITIVE MENTAL ATTITUDE ONE THEREBY INFLUENCES THE SUBCONSCIOUS MIND TO FORM THE HABIT OF DOING THE SAME THING. IN TIME THIS HABIT BECOMES PERMANENT, AFTER WHICH THE SUBCONSCIOUS MIND WILL BE RELUCTANT TO ACCEPT ANY EXPERIENCE IN ANY EXCEPT A POSITIVE ATTITUDE. IN OTHER WORDS THE SUBCONSCIOUS MIND CAN BE TRAINED TO CONVERT ALL NEGATIVE EXPERIENCES INTO AN INSPIRATIONAL URGE TO GREATER EFFORT. NOW, THAT IS THE POINT, I WISH TO EMPHASIZE.

                         HILL :  APPARENTLY THEREIS NO ESCAPE FROM THE LAW WHICH FASTENS HABITS UPON ONE. IF I UNDERSTAND YOU CORRECTLY, MR. CARNEGIE, FAILURE CAN BECOME A HABIT.

                         CARNEGIE : NOT ONLY CAN FAILURE BECOME A HABIT, BUT THE SAME THING APPLIES TO POVERTY, AND WORRY, AND PESSIMISM OF EVERY NATURE. ANY STATE OF MIND, WHETHER POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE, BECOMES A HABIT THE MOMENT IT BEGINES TO DOMINATE THE MIND.

                         HILL : I NEVER THOUGHT OF POVERTY AS BEING A HABIT.

                         CARNEGIE : THEN, YOU MUST THINK AGAIN, BECAUSE IT IS A  HABIT! WHEN ANYONE ACCEPT THE CONDITION OF POVERTY THIS STATE OF MIND BECOMES A HABIT, AND POOR HE IS AND SO REMAINS.

                           

                        HILL : WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY "ACCEPTING POVERTY"? HOW DOES ONE SIGNIFY HIS ACCEPTANCE OF SO UNDESIRABLE A CONDITION AS POVERTY, IS A COUNTRY LIKE OURS, WHERE THERE IS AN ABUNDANCE OF RICHES OF EVERY NATURE?

                     CARNEGIE : A MAN ACCEPTS POVERTY BY NEGLECTING TO CREATE A PLAN TO ACQUIRE RICHES. HIS ACT MAY BE, AS IT USUALLY IS, ENTIRELY NEGATIVE, CONSISTING OF NOTHING BUT THE LACK OF A DEFINITE PURPOSE. HE MAY NOT BE CONSCIOUS OF HIS ACCEPTANCE, BUT THE RESULT IS THE SAME. THE SUBCONSCIOUS MIND ACTS ON ONE'S DOMINATING, MENTAL ATTITUDE,.

                  

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