Wallace Delois Wattles (1860-1911) was an American author and one of the first success and self-development writers. His work is an inspirational collection of practical and easy-to-apply information for improving your life. His writing has influenced the success and self-development literature for nearly a century, yet his guidance is useful and applicable even today. Many self help gurus can trace their success directly to Wattles teachings.
He wrote a number of books including Health Through New Thought and Fasting, The Science of Getting Rich, The Science of Being Great, The Science of Being Well, and a novel, Hellfire Harrison. But it is for his prosperity classic book in 1910, The Science of Getting Rich that he is best known, in which he explains how to get rich. He personally "tested" the principles he described in his book and in his later years became rich.
Wallace D. Wattles book "The Science of Getting Rich" was the basis for Rhonda Byrne's "The Secret".
Little is known about Wattles' life. He was born in the USA shortly after the civil war, and experienced much failure in his earlier years. Later in his life he took to studying the various religious beliefs and philosophies of the world including those of Descartes, Spinoza, Leibnitz, Schopenhauer, Hegel, Swedenborg, Emerson, and others. It was through his tireless study and experimentation that he discovered the truth of New Thought principles and put them into practice in his own life. He began to write books outlining these principles. He practiced the technique of creative visualization and as his daughter Florence relates, "He wrote almost constantly. It was then that he formed his mental picture. He saw himself as a successful writer, a personality of power, an advancing man, and he began to work toward the realization of this vision. He lived every page ... His life was truly the powerful life."
