My Great Confession

Okay, I'll confess.

I found it hard to believe I would receive money if I gave money.

It just sounded like such a con, like a strategy promoted by people who wanted me to give money to them.

Well, I was too smart for that.

I decided that I would not give money, but that I would instead give books.

That's right. Books. I had plenty of books. Since I had worked as a New Age journalist and book reviewer for many years, I had collected a lot of books. I had more than I needed. Why not give some of them away?

I still remember making the decision. I was lying in bed in Houston, where I lived at the time, reflecting on how to get prosperous.

I remember thinking, "I can become the richest man in America in terms of books."

And right then and there I decided to try out the giving principle on books.

Within days I had called a few friends over and let them pick out books. I didn't let them pick out any books or all my books, of course. But I pulled a few piles of books out and let my friends take what they wanted.

Then, over the course of the next few months, whenever I gave a talk someplace, I also gave out books. I found it a terrific way to hold attention. Whenever someone's attention seemed to wander, I announced a free book for the next person who asked me a question. Everyone in the room perked up.

And when I moved into this country estate where I now live, I set about 25 boxes of books in the garage. I then threw a housewarming party and had people come over. I told them that before they left, they were encouraged to go through the boxes and take what they wanted. Everyone did. One person took so many books that he needed a dolly to wheel them to his car.

What was the result of my grand book-giving?

Ever since the day in Houston when I decided to give books to receive books, I have always had an abundance of books.

And today I own one of the largest book collections in the world on marketing, and another on metaphysics.

People see my collection whenever they visit here and are in awe.

What they don't understand is this:

Books will always come to me because I always give books.

I was activating the great giving principle, but on books.

Today I know to give money to receive money. And as a result, I have money, far more than I ever did when I lived in Houston.

But in those early days, when I feared losing money and wanted to hold on to all I had, all I could allow myself to give were books.

As a result, books came.

Listen and learn: Give what you want to receive.

"We must not try to fix the avenues through which our good is to come. There is no reason for thinking that what you give will come back through the one to whom you gave it."

--Charles Fillmore, Prosperity

我的坦白

OK，我坦白。

我以前确实不太相信“布施金钱就会获得金钱”这样的说法。

这种说法简直就像是一种欺诈，是那些想从我这里得到钱的人编造出来的一种蒙骗我的方法。

哼！我可比他们想象的要聪明得多。

我决定亲自实验一下，但我不会傻乎乎的去布施金钱——我要布施书。

对，书！我有大量的书。我作为“新时代”记者和书评作者已经有多年了，我收集了大量的书，远远超出我自己的需要。为什么不送出去一些呢？

我对当时的这个决定还记忆犹新。那时我在休斯敦的家里，躺在床上，思考着如何才能致富。

记得当时我是这样想的：“如果以书来衡量的话，我可以成为美国最富有的人”。

就是在这样的一瞬间，我决定用我的书来测试一下“布施公理”。

几天后，我召集了几个朋友，让他们来挑书。当然，我并没有让他们随意的在我所有的藏书中挑选，而只是有选择性拿出几摞，让他们从这几摞中选择自己喜欢的书。

在接下来的几个月里，只要我有机会演讲，我就会实施我的送书行动。而且，我发现，这是一个极好的吸引大家注意力的方法。不论什么时候，只要我看到有人走神了，我就会宣布：下一个向我提问的人可以获得一本免费赠书。于是屋里所有的人立刻 振奋起来。

后来我搬到了我现在住的这个乡间别墅。我在车库里放了大约25箱书，然后开了一个乔迁庆宴，邀请朋友们来聚会。我告诉大家，在他们离开之前，他们可以到车库里任意挑选自己喜爱的书。每个人都去挑了。有一个人甚至因为挑的书太多，以至于需要用一个手推车来帮他 把书运到自己的车上。

那么我的这个“书本大赠送”行动的结果是什么呢？

自从我在休斯敦决定开始“赠书以得书”的实践以来，我总是有足够的书。

现在，我的个人藏书，在营销学和哲学方面，是全世界最大的藏书之一。

不论什么时候有客人到访，他们总是要来看我的藏书，并都为此而感到震惊。

他们不理解的是：

书总是不断的“来到”我这里，因为我总是不断的在把书赠出去。

我已经激活了伟大的“布施定律”，只不过这次只是关于书的。

现在我知道了，布施金钱可以获得金钱。作为这种实践的结果，我拥有的金钱远远比我在休斯敦时候多得多。

但在当时，因为我害怕失去金钱，紧紧地攥着自己的钞票，我能布施的只有书。

听好了，这就是你要学的：想要什么你就布施什么。

“不要试图去开发我们的利益来源；没有任何理由可以认为你的布施将会通过受施者得到回报。”

-- Charles Fillmore, 《富足》