The earth on which you live， you， yourself，and every other material thing are the result ofevolutionary change， through which microscopic bitsof matter have been organized and arranged in anorderly fashion.
Moreover—and this statement is of stupendousimportance—this earth， every one of the billionsof individual cells of your body， and every atom ofmatter， began as an intangible form of energy.
DESIRE is thought impulse！ Thought impulses areforms of energy. When you begin with the thoughtimpulse， DESIRE， to accumulate money， you aredrafting into your service the same “stuff” thatNature used in creating this earth， and every materialform in the universe， including the body and brain inwhich the thought impulses function.
As far as science has been able to determine， theentire universe consists of but two elements-matterand energy.
Through the combination of energy and matter， hasbeen created everything perceptible to man， from thelargest star which floats in the heavens， down to， andincluding man， himself.
You are now engaged in the task of trying to profit by Nature’s method. You are （sincerely andearnestly， we hope）， trying to adapt yourself toNature’s laws， by endeavoring to convert DESIREinto its physical or monetary equivalent. YOUCAN DO IT！ IT HAS BEEN DONE BEFORE！
You can build a fortune through the aid of laws which are immutable. But， first， you mustbecome familiar with these laws， and learn to USEthem. Through repetition， and by approachingthe deion of these principles from everyconceivable angle， the author hopes to reveal toyou the secret through which every great fortunehas been accumulated. Strange and paradoxical asit may seem， the “secret” is NOT A SECRET. Nature，herself， advertises it in the earth on which we live，the stars， the planets suspended within our view， inthe elements above and around us， in every blade ofgrass， and every form of life within our vision.
Nature advertises this “secret” in the terms ofbiology， in the conversion of a tiny cell， so small thatit may be lost on the point of a pin， into the HUMANBEING now reading this line. The conversion ofdesire into its physical equivalent is， certainly， nomore miraculous！
Do not become discouraged if you do not fullycomprehend all that has been stated. Unless youhave long been a student of the mind， it is not to beexpected that you will assimilate all that is in thischapter upon a first reading.
But you will， in time， make good progress.
The principles which follow will open the wayfor understanding of imagination. Assimilate thatwhich you understand， as you read this philosophyfor the first time， then， when you reread and studyit， you will discover that something has happenedto clarify it， and give you a broader understandingof the whole. Above all， DO NOT STOP， nor hesitatein your study of these principles until you have readthe book at least THREE times， for then， you will notwant to stop.
HOW TO MAKE PRACTICAL USE
OF IMAGINATION
Ideas are the beginning points of all fortunes. Ideasare products of the imagination. Let us examine a fewwell known ideas which have yielded huge fortunes，with the hope that these illustrations will conveydefinite information concerning the method by whichimagination may be used in accumulating riches.
THE ENCHANTED KETTLE
Fifty years ago， an old country doctor drove totown， hitched his horse， quietly slipped into a drugstore by the back door， and began “dickering” withthe young drug clerk.
His mission was destined to yield great wealth tomany people. It was destined to bring to the Souththe most far-flung benefit since the Civil War.
For more than an hour， behind the preioncounter， the old doctor and the clerk talked in lowtones. Then the doctor left. He went out to the buggyand brought back a large， old fashioned kettle， a bigwooden paddle （used for stirring the contents of thekettle）， and deposited them in the back of the store.
The clerk inspected the kettle， reached into hisinside pocket， took out a roll of bills， and handedit over to the doctor. The roll contained exactly500.00—the clerk’s entire savings！
The doctor handed over a small slip of paper onwhich was written a secret formula. The words onthat small slip of paper were worth a King’s ransom！
But not to the doctor！ Those magic words wereneeded to start the kettle to boiling， but neither thedoctor nor the young clerk knew what fabulousfortunes were destined to flow from that kettle.
The old doctor was glad to sell the outfit for fivehundred dollars. The money would pay off his debts，and give him freedom of mind. The clerk was takinga big chance by staking his entire life’s savingson a mere scrap of paper and an old kettle！ Henever dreamed his investment would start a kettleto overflowing with gold that would surpass themiraculous performance of Aladdin’s lamp.
What the clerk really purchased was an IDEA！
The old kettle and the wooden paddle， and the secretmessage on a slip of paper were incidental. Thestrange performance of that kettle began to take placeafter the new owner mixed with the secret instructionsan ingredient of which the doctor knew nothing.
Read this story carefully， give your imaginationa test！ See if you can discover what it was that theyoung man added to the secret message， whichcaused the kettle to overflow with gold. Remember，as you read， that this is not a story from ArabianNights. Here you have a story of facts， stranger thanfiction， facts which began in the form of an IDEA.
Let us take a look at the vast fortunes of gold thisidea has produced. It has paid， and still pays hugefortunes to men and women all over the world， whodistribute the contents of the kettle to millions ofpeople.
The Old Kettle is now one of the world’s largestconsumers of sugar， thus providing jobs of apermanent nature to thousands of men and womenengaged in growing sugar cane， and in refining andmarketing sugar.