At long last, I’m finally going through my office, getting rid of stuff. The two books above are examples of some of the myriad books I am getting rid of. One is from 1990 and the other is from 1996.
 
Back then I was still highlighting books, which I think is sacrilegious now, as I believe in leaving them unscarred for the next recipient (and use small sticky tabs now.) Anyway, before moving these along, I thought I would capture some of what I highlighted in these.
 
It is interesting to look back to what I was reading just before I left engineering to pursue my spiritual practice full time… I haven’t looked at these books in all these intervening years– and I have not become a millionaire– but a lot of what Mark Fisher says sounds very familiar…

Quotes from The Instant Millionaire by Mark Fisher

• “True genius resides in simplicity. … To be a genius simply means to do what you enjoy doing. That is the true genius of life.””
 
• “Have a quantified objective. …Life gives us exactly what we ask from it. The first thing to do, therefore, is to ask for exactly what you want. Any request you make must be absolutely precise. As far as monetary wealth is concerned, you must establish an amount and a deadline by which to make it.”
 
• “All events in your life are a mirror image of your thoughts. In reality, everything in life is a matter of attitude. Life is exactly as you picture it. Everything that happens to you is a product of your thoughts. So if you want to change your life, you must start by changing your thoughts.”
 
• “The secret of any goal is it must be both ambitious and within reach.”
 
• “The stronger a person’s character is, the more powerful his thoughts will be, and the more quickly they will tend to manifest, thus shaping the circumstances of his life.”
 
• “Desire is what best sustains your thoughts. The more passionate your desire is, the more quickly the thing you want will spring up in your life. In every area of life, sincerity and fervor are necessary ingredients of success.”
 
• “The way to obtain faith is the repetition of words.”
 
• “One of the great laws of the human mind: When imagination and logic are in conflict with each other, the imagination invariably takes over.”
 
“One day you will learn that mastering your destiny and fulfilling your dreams are the ultimate purpose of life.”
 
• “The dual secret of true wealth: love for whatever you do, and love for others.”
 
• “If you have faith that you will be able to accomplish something, you will.”
 
• “To become rich, you have to create a new self-image.”
 
• “Man is the reflection of thoughts stored up in his unconscious mind. And imagination is what some people call the unconscious mind. The inner monologue that all of us live with continually shapes our lives. Self-suggestion plays a major role in our lives. If you remain unaware of it, it will work against you more often than not. But if you decide to use it, all its tremendous power will be at your disposal.”
 
• “Never lose sight of the fact that if you lose happiness, you lose everything.”
 
• “Money is an excellent servant but a tyrannical master.”
 
• “Money must flow freely to be able to multiply.”
 
• “I refuse to die without having had the courage to do what I wanted to do.”
 
• “To find out if your job really pleases you, ask this question: If I had a million dollars in the bank, right at this moment, would I continue doing the same job? To become a millionaire, you must enjoy your occupation.”
 
• “The value of work is to strengthen the fiber of your mind.”
 
• “Tranquility is the best manifestation of power. ‘Be still and know that I am God.’ Repeat it every day as often as you can.
 
• “In mysterious and unexpected ways your thoughts, nourished regularly, bring about the circumstances that allow them to become a reality.”
 
• “A problem is only a problem if you make it a problem.”
 
• “Always remember that at a certain height there are no clouds. If there are clouds in your life, it’s because your soul hasn’t soared high enough.”

Quotes from The Millionaire’s Secrets by Mark Fisher

• “Do you know that anything a man can conceive of, anything he can believe in, he can also accomplish?”
 
• “Discover who you really are. Truth will set you free.”
 
• “Extraordinary people know that ideas are very real entities, that every idea we emit tends to concretize, attracting people and circumstances that help make it a reality.”
 
• “Ask yourself the following question, ‘If I had the time to work on only one of those ideas that sprang into my mind, which one would I chose? Which one seems to have the most potential?’ Once you’ve answered that question, concentrate all your efforts on making that idea a reality.”
 
• “Say ‘Day by day, in every way, I am getting better and better’ – out loud every morning. … Alternatively say, ‘Day by day, in all ways, I am more powerful, confident, healthy and happy.’”
 
• “Everything we do has only one objective – bringing us closer to our real self, to our spiritual self-realization.”
 
• “People’s biggest mistake is thinking they have all the time in the world to do what is important. The really great sages and entrepreneurs of this world live each day as if it were their last, continually dedicating themselves to the essential tasks.”
 
• “A positive action or thought, or a correct state of mind, will always inevitably bear fruit, even if it takes a long time.”
 
• “If you want to succeed in business, or in any other line of work, you’re going to have to develop your powers of observation and logic.”
 
• “Whatever you do with love is invariably crowned with success.”
 
• “Pascal said that man’s biggest problem is not being able to stay alone in his room.”
 
• “Extraordinary people are aware. They are concentrated, firmly in the center of their being, and nothing can distract them. … Concentration means sacrificing all other activities…. As you concentrate, as you devote yourself tirelessly to the same activity… you will attain the state in which lucrative ideas, marvelous beneficial ideas, will arise in your mind spontaneously. … Concentration will lead to mental mastery, and mental mastery will allow you to control your destiny.”
 
• “Understand that we always worry over nothing, and that everything happens for a reason. Things always happen for the best. And at the same time, in a way, things are only as important as we make them. … The world is simply a reflection of your mind. If your mind remains perfectly calm, even under the most critical circumstances, even when faced with death, all your anxiety will disappear and all your problems will dissolve back into the void whence they arose.”
 
• “Always abide by the great golden rule: do unto others as you would have them do unto you. And if you can, take the law one step further, pushing it to the limit: do nothing for yourself and everything for others. This supreme devotion, which I say is the aim of all existence, will endow you with great power. You will appear to be the smallest, most modest of men, while in reality you will be among the greatest. In the future, whenever you feel unhappy, know that it is because you have forgotten this great principle and have reverted to your old selfish ways.”
 
• “Most people think seeing is believing. To really succeed you need real faith, faith that allows you to see what you want to attain even before attaining it, like a farmer who holds a few seeds in his hands and sees the golden stalks of wheat that will fill his fields by the end of summer. Real faith is simply an inner vision of great spiritual laws. But faith isn’t everything. You also need audacity, you need to dare to achieve the things you really want, and not let fear bury your talents, as so many people do. … You have to have audacity to become who you are. Nobody can do that for you.””
 
• “Every time you are unhappy, tell yourself that it is probably a sign you have deviated from your plan.”
 
• “Most people use only a tiny portion of their true potential. If you have a lofty goal, you can exceed even your own expectations.”
 
• “Now you have to repeat your goal morning and night… That’s the best way to make your goal a part of you, to communicate it to your subconscious mind, which in turn, nourished by your commands, will set to work.”
 
• “What makes people age prematurely is the fact that they don’t live in the present, nor do they fill their lives with love. People who love all beings, all situations, don’t worry about the future or carry the burden of the past around on their shoulders, such persons do not age in the proper sense of the word. Disease cannot affect them because they live in harmony, and disease is only a message that is sent to us whenever our inner harmony is disturbed by incorrect mental attitudes. Of course, there are other factors that cause most people to age before their time, such as eating twice as much as they should, breathing ten times less than they should, and allowing their real potential to remain dormant.”
 
• “An observing mind –animated by a specific objective– can see things that minds that are distracted or lack motivation will overlook.”
 
• “It’s when you think it’s all over that things really begin.”
 
• “Each day is the first day of the rest of your life. Develop the ability to forget about your past failures –or more precisely, to forget about the disappointment, the melancholy they caused, while retaining the lessons learned from them. Tell yourself that every failure you’ve encountered is one less failure you’ll have to undergo in the future, as long as you’ve learned the lesson it was meant to teach you.

So although it may seem paradoxical, every failure actually brings you closer to your goal. Your failures become your power, just another aspect of your success. They are the price you have to pay. Cultivate in yourself the ability to forget your past frustrations. Clean the slate. Your life begins anew each day. Your determination grows stronger each day, and you approach a success you never dreamed possible. Just persevere.

Perseverance will overcome all obstacles. Therein lies your true genius. It is the ultimate proof of the veritable love you bring to everything you do, if you feel a burning passion for your work, then every experience associated with it will be enriching, and nothing will be a failure.

Everything you live is meant to teach you something. Failure exists only in the eyes of ordinary persons. There’s no shame on making mistakes, in falling. Even Jesus fell three times as he carried the cross. But each time you fall you have to get up again, lifted by the power of your unswerving ideals, even if you hear echoes of mocking laughter and derision all around you, sometimes that of your friends or even your family, those who are supposed to be your partners in life.

With each failure you encounter your character becomes stronger and your soul more durable. You become more and more the master of your own destiny, because as the great and profound Heraclitus stated, ‘Character equals destiny.’

Each failure eliminates imperfections of character. The more patiently you can accept failure, the more you evolve, because patience and humility are the virtues of the great. … Never give up.”
 
• “People who are tested are fortunate. But when you find your true self, suffering is no longer necessary. And not only is it no longer necessary, it is no longer possible.”