Secret of the Ages

The author of "Secret of the Ages", Robert Collier, during an active and successful life developed the basic ideas which opened up new vistas of living for countless multitudes of people. Brought up to be a priest, he worked as a mining engineer, an advertising executive and a prolific writer and publisher. His family carries on his quest to help people open up their minds to the potential within themselves and thereby to achieve wealth, success, health and happiness out of life.

Basically his concept is that there isa within each person-unknown to most of us-a sleeping giant who, properly aroused and stimulated can carry us onto happiness, fame and fortune. It is a "Genie-of-the-Brain more powerful, more the servant of our every wish, than was ever Alladin's fabled Genie-of-the-lamp-of old." Robert Collier published books, lessons, and magazines, of which over two million have been distributed, the most successful of which was "Secret of the Ages".

Collier's ideas on selling illustrate his dramatic grasp of the essentials of human nature. You must appeal to certain motives to make him buy, such as: love, gain, duty, pride, self-indulgence, and self-preservation. These are the six prime motives of human action. You have to find the motive that will impel your reader to do as you wish and then persuade him to order your product by showing him how he is going to benefit, and this you cannot do unless you have the faculty of putting yourself in his place. Would he be richer, healthier, happier, for having your product? Would it help his standing in the community? Would it enable him to do anything, write anything, say anything better than he could before? Is it something everyone should have? Would it help him to help those he loves? Would it prevent loss of money or the respect of others? Summed up, arousing the right motives comes down to making the reader want what you have to offer, whether that be merchandise or money or credit or a clean bill of health-not merely for what it is, but WHAT IT WILL DO FOR HIM! Many men have tried to write successful sales copy but few seem to have the knack of really reaching the customer.

Testimonies from many successful people who have studied "Secret of the Ages" leaves no doubt that this gifted man developed and communicated ideas which provide the key to unlocking the potential for success in anyone who is willing to make the effort.

A progressive social reformer and New Thought pioneer, Wallace D. Wattles was born in 1860 in the United States. He popularized creative-thought principles in his groundbreaking classics The Science of Getting Rich, The Science of Being Great, and The Science of Being Well. An inspiration to on future generations of success writers, he died in 1911.

Born in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1885, Robert Collier distilled New Thought, metaphysical, and success principles into a popular and influential pamphlet series, collected into a single volume as The Secret of the Ages in 1926, and later revised by Collier in an expanded edition in 1948. He died in 1950.

Born in 1866, Charles F. Haanel achieved success as both a businessman and an author, rising to top positions at numerous corporations in his native St. Louis. Often called the "Father of Personal Development," Haanel was among the earliest writers to popularize the "Law of Attraction." He published The Master Key System as a correspondence course in 1912 and collected his lessons into a single volume in 1917. He died in 1949.