Excerpts from

  Earl Nightingale's
Greatest Discovery
by Earl Nightingale




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Earl Nightingale, for the first time in any book, presents his greatest discovery, now his own time-tested formula for success, and tells a new generation how to apply it to the hectic pulse of contemporary life He has re-examined the theme he first recorded thirty years ago, and the result is an exciting but practical guide to succeeding as a curious, adventuresome, and happy person.

What is success? Why do some succeed and others never make it? Is it worth all the sacrifice required, or are we chasing a dream that can never be satisfied?

Earl Nightingale, the fabulously suc­cessful businessman, broadcaster, and philosopher of achievement began a search for the answers to those questions at an early age that led him to write his famous essay, The Strangest Secret in 1956. First recorded at CBS and then produced by Columbia Rec­ords, Nightingale's essay became the first spoken message ever to receive a Gold Record for selling more than 1,000,000 copies and was the precur­sor of today's booming audiotape industry. In response to the growing suc­cess of his message, in I960 Nightin­gale and his good friend. Lloyd Conant, formed the Nightingale-Conant Corpo­ration, today's leader in the audio pub­lishing Industry.

Foreword

While vacationing with my family in Hawaii I received a long-distance telephone call from my secretary. "I know that you told me to keep all business matters strictly on hold until you return," she said, "but I just knew that you would want to have this message."

"I sure hope it is important," I responded, "because I do not want to even think about anything for the next few weeks."

"You received a telephone call from Earl Nightingale," she informed me "He wants you to write the foreword for his book, Earl Nightingale's Greatest Discovery: "The Strang-est Secret... Revisited." I was sure you would want to know that right away since you've always talked so enthusi-astically about the importance of his message, and you listen to that tape every week."

Five minutes later I was on the telephone to Earl and when we finished our conversation I said to my wife, "Can you imagine, Earl Nightingale, the author of The Strangest Secret, actually wants me to write the foreword for his book. This is one of the greatest honors of my life."

You see, the content of The Strangest Secret has been a source of inspiration for me for as long as I can remember. Somehow the words on that beautiful little recording solidified a philosophy of life that I had always practiced, yet had never seen articulated in print or on a recording. I have recommended to many of my clients over the years, listen to The Strangest Secret, I have told my children, listen to The Strangest Secret, my business associates, friends, clerks, and even total strangers who seem to need a

shining beam of truth in their lives. Always the advice is the same—listen to The Strangest Secret. Listen carefully and come back to me with how you think the message might apply to you. So, you can well imagine my state of excitement when I heard the words—Earl Nightingale wants you to write the foreword for his book—Earl Nightingale's Greatest Discovery: "The Strangest Secret... Revisited."

As honored and thrilled as I was to have Earl ask me to say something here in the pages of this magnificent book, somehow it seems fitting. For all of my life I have been blessed with this marvelous gift of knowing the importance of The Strangest Secret. I have used it since I was a little boy. I have applied the essential messages of this book throughout all the days of my life, and parlayed the essential ingredients of the "strangest secret" into any and all success I have ever enjoyed. I have lived The Strangest Secret since I first showed up on this planet in 1940, and Earls recording, and now his long—overdue book are the instruments which have illustrated to me most vividly—"Yes, that's it. I've been doing it this way all along and it really works." For me, Wayne Dyer, Earl's contributions have been the exclamation point on a lifetime of living by my own inner signals. For many others, Earl provides a glorious road map for how to get out of the self-imposed rut that they may have created for themselves.

It matters not how you use Earl's recordings and this book, just the fact that the information is now in print makes me feel that many many people will be able to benefit and use the "strangest secret" in ways based upon where they are on the path of their own enlightenment. And as Earl states so fittingly, "We are here only to serve others," and serve others he has done for a lifetime. But somehow, with the publication of this book, Earl's lifetime of serving is now fixed in permanence. The library shelves of the world will now house Earl Nightingales Greatest Discovery. Inquisi-tive children still unborn, will leaf through the pages of this gem in a future generation or even a future millenium. It is now where it has always belonged: available for everyone, in all languages, in a form that will last forever.

A recording is a magnificent way to experience a piece of truth and beauty, but a book is something to curl up with, to open on a long airplane ride, or to keep handy as a reference during a particularly troublesome time.

Obviously, I am ecstatic that Earl has put his message into this format. It deserves to be a BOOK!

When I was a very young boy, a woman once told me three words that literally sum up the message of Earl Night-ingale's Greatest Discovery. She said, "Wayne, if you don't want something bad to happen, or if you want good things for yourself in your life, be careful about what you think, for you will become what you think as sure as the dawn follows night. Always remember, THOUGHTS ARE THINGS." Wow — the entire world wrapped up in those three magic words — THOUGHTS ARE THINGS! Think hard on this as you read the pages of Earl's book. A thought is the most powerful force in the universe. You can make of your life whatever you wish if you learn to make your thoughts work for you.

Today, workshops are conducted all over the country on Creative Imagery, Visualization, Selftalk, Success-Imagery, Positive Affirmations, and the like. Volumes are being written on the subject, and even hard-core scientists and pragmatic diehards in all fields are beginning to explore this realm of thought as a vehicle for transformation. In education, business, religion, medicine and virtually all fields of human exploration, the emphasis is now shifting to the importance of attitude and thought. Business leaders spend millions on training their workers to use their creative thinking capacities and attitudes to improve the bottom line. Medical schools, that once scorned the idea of the mind as healer, now offer specialized courses in wellness training and visualization as adjuncts to the entire healing process.

Educators are redirecting their efforts to help young people to understand the significance of their "selftalk" in the formation of their self-images, and ultimately their success in life. The focus is now, more than ever, on how one thinks and uses his unlimited potential for positive-attitude development to create the kind of existence one desires. All of this "new thought" or "new age" thinking originated in the concepts that Earl Nightingale recorded and has now written in this book. Thoughts Are Things! Positive thoughts create a positive image, and soon the individual will act upon those images, rather than the negative, self-defeating thoughts that previously filled one's conscious-ness. Being healthy is a function of first thinking healthy. The will to live is nothing more than a thought to live. The belief in one's abilities is nothing more than a thought in one's abilities. The perseverance to push onward is nothing more than the thought to push onward. The expectation of happiness is nothing more than the thought of happiness. The desire to be loved is nothing more than the thought to be loved. Indeed, it all boils down to THOUGHT.

While some may say that it is too simple to say that thought controls everything, nevertheless, for me it is crystal clear. We in fact become what we think about each and every day. I believe so strongly in this message that I take it several steps further. It is my belief that once we remove all the junk inside of us, that is the hate, anger, fear, depression, anxiety, stress and so on, we then open ourselves up for unlimited use of our thinking abilities. When we are clear inside—or centered if you will— thinking miracles begin to occur. We can think our way to levels never before even imagined while so filled with the junk. And how do we rid ourselves of that inner junkpile? By acknowledging that it only gets there through thought in the first place. There is no stress in the world, only people thinking stressfully. There is no anxiety in our world, only people thinking anxiously. The logic is irrefutable. Thought creates our inner world, and thought can eradicate that which we have created which is self-defeating. How does one do it? By taking charge of how one elects to think each and every moment, one day at a time. The habit of thinking in healthful productive ways can replace the habit of thinking in self-condemning ways. In this book, Earl makes it easy for us to see specifically how to make our minds works for us; to become what we choose through thought. I have never seen it written more succinctly, nor have I read it stated in a more readable style.

Earl Nightingale's great gift to millions of us over the years has been his ability to communicate seemingly complex matters in a commonsense listenable way. His very brief broadcast required him to get to the point and eliminate all of the oatmeal. Those thousands and thousands of five-minute spots provided Earl with the discipline for getting to it. As you read through this eminently readable volume, you will see the effects of those years. The precision is right here in every page. The uncounted "AH HAs" will astound you. Most books in the "self-development" field are manuals to study, much like a reference text. Believe it or not, this book is a page-turner, a rarity indeed in this field. Just like you can't wait to hear the rest of one of Earl's radio spots, here you will find yourself wanting to read more. Earl has combined philosophy, psychology, socio-logy, and his love for the English Language with his plain old-fashioned horse sense, and created what I am absolutely certain will be a classic in its own field. He has created his own genre, his own format, and it will defy compartmentalization. It is uniquely Earl Nightingale. Just like his recordings have the specialized stamp of a one-of-a-kind presentation, with his immediately recognizable gravelly voice, a blending of quotations from the masters, and his own common sense from having been "dragged up" through the suffering and stench of poverty, so, too, does this book have the Nightingale stamp of uniqueness. It is all here: the stories that capture your imagination, the philosophy that is timeless, the wisdom born of having lived through it, and the remarkable advice that can transform your life if you so choose. This book, like its classic predecessor in the audio format, is like a warm shower running inside of me. It feels right, it is comforting, and it also is an instrument for cleansing. I am proud to have shared a few of my thoughts in the opening pages of this jewel. While I am mighty proud of my many books and recordings in the entire field of human development, I must say that many of the ideas in those products had their original seeds sown in the simple logic and the powerful words of Earl Nightingale's Greatest Discovery.

As you read through the pages of this book, keep in mind those powerful words that I heard as a very young boy: Thoughts Are Things. For indeed, if you can get hold of this idea, and take total control of your own free will to think as you choose, and then take action on those new and self-serving thoughts, you will not only transform your own life, but you will begin to impact in the same way on those around you. And ultimately, it is only through a change in consciousness (thought) that the entire world will be transformed. Such is the impact of this critically important book. A thought can transform you, those immediately around you, and the entire world as well.

Thank you, Earl, for putting your life-changing thoughts down on paper, and for thinking of me to be a small part of your contribution, I can only say I am honored—and that is no secret!

Dr. Wayne W. Dyer

Author, Your Erroneous Zone

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