Philosophy of Real Wealth:
Andrew Carnegie, Napoleon
Hill, Plato, Pythagoras,
& Some Fun Puzzles
By Dr. John F. Sase
“What has
been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new
under the sun.”
-Ecclesiastes 1:9
In this month’s column,
we will examine the core values that comprise the basis for economic success. The
principles of these values have been taught for almost a century through the
worldly philosophy developed by the steel industrialist Andrew Carnegie. His
principles then were shared across the planet by his student, Napoleon Hill.
Carnegie’s Principles of Real Wealth:
1. Economic
Security***
2. Mental
Health
3. Physical
Health***
4. Generosity
5. Social
Harmony
6. Open-Mindedness***
7. Fearlessness
8. Hopefulness
9. Faithfulness
10. Self-Discipline
11. Wisdom
12. Passion
Carnegie,
who was born in 1835 and died in 1919, was the wealthiest person in the world
during his professional life. Napoleon Hill, a law-school dropout of meager
means who worked as a journalist, was invited to interview Carnegie as part of
a newspaper series about men who were both successful and famous in 1908. Though
the interview was scheduled to be a short one, an impressed Carnegie invited
Hill to stay on at his home. Over the next three days, Carnegie shared his
philosophy of life with the young man and commissioned Hill to carry out the
task of communicating his secular philosophy. Hill accepted the challenge. The
output of his efforts in the form of his very popular book Think and Grow Rich (The Ralston Society, 1937) and lecture series reflects
the Carnegie “Philosophy of Achievement.”
However, we may inquire how Carnegie came to
develop his philosophy. Did he do this in the vacuum of his own life
experiences or was he influenced by the thoughts, writings, and examples of
others? In order to answer these questions, let us begin with Carnegie’s early
life. Born in Dunfermline, Scotland, he grew up in an impoverished family of
weavers. Though poor, young Andrew was literate, owing to the long-established
public-education system in Scotland and his introduction to the writings of
Scottish poet Robert Burns by an uncle.
Carnegie immigrated with his family to the United
States in 1848 and settled in Allegheny, Pennsylvania. In 1850, he became a messenger boy and then an operator at a telegraph
office in Pittsburgh. Although he
ended his formal education in Scotland, Carnegie
continued to learn through his passion for reading. Colonel James Anderson, who
became an early industrialist after serving in the Army, established the James
Anderson Library and Institute of Allegheny City with 400 books from his
personal library. This library, founded in 1850, was open to working boys, including
Carnegie, every Saturday night. Colonel Anderson became a role model for young
Carnegie, both as an industrialist and as a philanthropist.
Though
the full contents of Anderson’s library in the years preceding the Civil War are
not known, we may assume that the collection of an officer and a gentleman of
the time would include translations of classics from the Greek and Roman Empires.
Generally, these collections included the works of Plato, Aristotle, and
Sophocles. One popular collection of the era was The Works of Plato, viz. His Fifty-Five Dialogues and Twelve Epistles (S.
Cornish and Company, 1839). This
collection in five volumes contained English translations compiled by Andrie
Dacien. Though we do not know with certainty whether or not young Andrew read
these volumes, the “Apology of Socrates” listed within the section titled “Plato’s
Divine Dialogues” resonates within the “Philosophy of Achievement” penned by
Carnegie. Here is a quote from this section of Plato:
Since you are an honest man and a citizen of the
most famous city in the world, equally renowned for wisdom and valor, are you
not ashamed to make it your whole business to amass riches and to purchase
glory, credit, and honor, and at the same time to slight the treasures of
prudence, truth, and wisdom and not to think of improving your soul to the
highest perfection it is capable of? All my business is to persuade you, both
young and old, that you ought not doat so much upon your body, your riches, and
other things, but should love your souls. I ever tell you that virtue does not
flow from riches but, on the contrary, that riches spring from virtue, and that
other advantages accruing to men, whether in public or private stations, take
rise from the same fountain.
Those of
us familiar with the worldly philosophy of Carnegie as presented by Napoleon
Hill will recognize how the thoughts of this one paragraph permeate the twelve
principles found in Think and Grow Rich. Furthermore,
the structure of the set of twelve principles follows the same mathematical
architecture based on the ratios of 2:1 and 3:2. Plato used these ratios in his
numerous cosmological allegories found throughout his Republic, Laws, Timaeus, and other works. The basic cosmology
employed by Plato comes down from his predecessor Pythagoras, as encoded in his
mathematical developments (see Pythagoras
& Plato-- Economics, Music, Color, & Metatrons Cube, https://youtu.be/rTAz8sDj7eo, and Decoding Pythagoras for
Musicians & Sound Engineers, https://youtu.be/WnwW2c6MEns). In turn, much of what we find in the work of Pythagoras comes from
his education at the Temple School at Giza, Egypt. The mathematics, cosmology, and
philosophy developed and taught at Giza are embedded in the design, layout, and
structure of the pyramids and related constructions. Though we do not know the
source-origin of these principles, we do recognize earlier treatises. These
include works such as the Vedic texts of India, including the Sastra texts, approximately
fifteen volumes that focus on mathematics and architecture, and the 42 Ideals of Ma’at. This second source, which
served as a compendium of moral and spiritual instruction 5000 years ago,
contains amalgams of points that parallel eight of the Ten Commandments as well as the twelve principles in the
philosophy of Carnegie. Those of us familiar with Douglas Adams’s humorous
sci-fi novel The Hitchhiker’s Guide to
the Galaxy (Pan Books, 1979) may recognize that 42, the second sphenic
number (2 x 3 x 7 = 42, for which 2 + 3 + 7 = 12), is “The Answer to the
Ultimate Question of Life, The Universe, and Everything.”
Let us
return to the philosophy of Andrew Carnegie as expressed by Napoleon Hill. The
twelve principles that constitute real riches fall into four natural groups of
one, two, three, and six—three prime numbers and the product of two of them (2
x 3 = 6). As we go through the following discussion of the twelve things that
constitute real wealth, we ask you to find a dozen pennies or another set of
twelve coins of identical diameter. Place them one by one on a table or desk as
we go through the twelve principles.
Start by
placing one coin down, right now.
Group of One
In order
to achieve a good life, Carnegie considered “Financial Security” (aka economic
or material) to be the outcome of the coalescence of--and with--the other
eleven principles. Many people have been surprised when they have found financial
security at the bottom of this list. Those of us with barely enough to eat may
place this item at the top of their lists. Thinking in terms of the Hierarchy
of Needs identified by Abraham Maslow, material security exists as a
precondition for obtaining the higher forms of riches on the list. However,
following the Platonic/Pythagorean model would imply that all twelve elements are
complementary and, therefore, of equal necessity. Perhaps Carnegie found that
the mastery and application of the other eleven attributes generated a facility
for accumulating material income and wealth.
Next, we ask
you to place two more coins on your surface so that the three coins touch one
another, thus forming a triangular shape.
Group of Two: Basic Self
“Positive Mental
Attitude” and “Sound Physical Health” comprise the group of two. A positive
mental attitude may be the most difficult to attain and to maintain. Many
professionals in fields that require physical and emotional empathy with a
client often confront this challenge. These professionals include doctors and
other medical personnel who treat life-threatening or imminently fatal
conditions, psychologists and psychiatrists, funeral directors, musicians, attorneys
and their experts, police officers, and fire and rescue workers, among others. Need
we say more?
Sound physical
health coexists closely with the previous. An interrelationship and a codependency
of these two are needed for the fulfillment of the other ten principles.
Concurrently, the actualization of the other ten attributes of wealth proceeds
from the realization of these two. Many doctors of medicine emphasize that the
health of the mind and body intertwine. The well-being of one depends on the
health of the other. Thus, many doctors recognize the importance of a positive
mental attitude during the process of recovery from a serious physical illness.
Next,
please place another three coins on your surface in a row, such that the middle
one of the three is nested below the previous two. Thus, the six coins form a
triangle.
Group of Three: Social Being
This
group of three principles is social in nature; it includes generosity, harmony,
and open-mindedness. Generosity implies a willingness to share our blessings
with others. It has been said that the one thing that makes a person feel truly
poor is the belief that s/he has nothing to offer to another. Sharing creates
communication that develops the bonds that hold together humanity. For most of
us, our blessings and good fortune may range from a simple abundance of
material goods to the ability to give completely of ourselves. In addition,
sharing carries over to developing harmony in human relations. How many of us
remember the epic turnaround of Ebenezer Scrooge at the climax of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens and
the great personal sacrifice by the couple in O. Henry’s short story “The Gift
of the Magi?”
Harmony
in human relationships implies harmony within as well as with others. We feel
and extend our inner harmony when we reach out to one another. Congruence in
human relations renders a comprehensive aesthetic similar to the harmony among
sounds and colors or the proportions within physical objects, as stated by both
Pythagoras and Plato. In human harmony, we experience a balance and flow that
produce energetic feelings of well-being. These feelings heal and subsequently
maintain the health within the bodies that extend beyond any one of us.
Furthermore, the energetic feelings that originate from harmony grow
exponentially as the number of relationships compound among us. Some of us
refer to this extending web of relationships as “the biosphere” while others
call it “the human family.” However, dissonance within our web of relationships
creates negative energies that bring turmoil while consonance generates
positive energies and peace.
Dissonance
can be overcome by keeping an open mind on all subjects, toward all people.
Most of
us like to consider ourselves as open-minded. However, one of the great
weaknesses of human nature is our hesitation to move outside of our own comfort
zones. We tend to cling to our own sets of belief that bring us comfort, much
like we would cling to a life-preserver or to a rock in a stormy sea. The stormier
the weather, the more we cling to a sense of our own righteousness. When faced
with a growing complexity in life, we seek the support of those beliefs that we
assume to be right. All of us engage in this action to some extent by tending
to associate with others who hold the same or similar sets of beliefs. Why?
This weakness remains a part of our human nature. Perhaps it serves to remind
us that we continue to remain human beings rather than perfect beings. Our
basic nature constitutes the “why” by which we find it challenging to keep an
open mind on all subjects toward all people. As human beings, we take great
comfort in the simplification and homogenization of all thought and things,
among them our conceptualizations of, and beliefs in, a deity as well as our
views on human life, science, and politics.
Finally, place
the remaining six coins on each side of the existing pyramid. Do this by
nesting two coins symmetrically on each of the three sides. Your array should
appear as follows:
