INTRODUCTION
Welcome to the magic. I don’t mean literal magic, of course—I’m talking about The Magic of Believing.
What you are about to read is a set of principles and ideas that help readers to experience positive change in their life. It has sold millions of copies over the years and brought happiness, health, and success to countless readers.
And who wrote this classic bestseller? There isn’t a ton of information about Claude M. Bristol available, but here are some of the facts:
Bristol was born in 1891. He was a soldier in World War I and was stationed in Europe. He was a journalist during that time, and wrote for the Stars and Stripes. On his return, he continued his journalism career in various incarnations—reportedly as a police reporter and a church journalist for the newspaper of a large city. In this role, he met people from all walks of life, from many different viewpoints, and from many religious and spiritual communities. He published two books during his life—T.N.T: It Rocks the Earth in 1932 and The Magic of Believing in 1948 (plus a “young reader” edition of The Magic of Believing). He was a popular speaker to many different audiences, including military, business, and self-help groups. He died in 1951.
Those are the facts. In addition to those facts, there are a few stories that are widely reported. It is said that when Bristol was a soldier and struggling to pay for even basic necessities (if cigarettes can be considered a necessity!), he had one of those epiphany moments. He made a decision. He resolved to “have a lot of money.” He decided it, not hoped for it. This, according to stories, became an obsession for him, and he thought about it day and night. This focus kept him pointed towards success in whatever he did. He started with a small salary at a newspaper and kept choosing bigger and bigger opportunities, until eventually he was able to find success in the areas of investment banking and other businesses.
Another story is that Bristol was open to a wide variety of ideas. He studied psychology, religion, spirituality, science, the occult, and other sources of information. From this, he was able to find a “golden thread” that was common to all of these different disciplines. This golden thread became a passion for him, and he began giving talks about it. Then, he wrote his books and gained a following. The golden thread involved the power of the mind, and the idea that our beliefs have a powerful effect on our life experience. The more specific we are with what we want, the more we are able to realize those desires.
That’s what is widely known about Bristol. But before we turn to the book itself, there’s one last thing I want to mention about the author. The book you are holding, The Magic of Believing, was published just three years before Bristol’s passing. It is the culmination of decades of experiences and research. This is his life’s work. (This edition also includes his first book, T.N.T.: It Rocks the Earth, which is also a worthy read. It shows his awareness of the ideas of mental science early on.)
The Magic of Believing was an immediate success. It was influential to people from all backgrounds: in religion, psychology, and even the arts. Huge stars of the day heralded this book as a major influence in their success, including Phyllis Diller and Liberace, both of whom were A-list celebrities at the time. Liberace was such a major star, and such a major student of the work, that Bristol’s publisher released a special “Liberace Edition” of The Magic of Believing featuring Liberace on the cover!
Perhaps an even more important fan of Bristol’s work was the famous pastor and bestselling author Norman Vincent Peale. Peale wrote one of the most widely read inspirational self-help books of all time, The Power of Positive Thinking. About The Magic of Believing, Peale wrote: “In my opinion, one of the greatest inspirational and motivational books ever written…”
I have to think that there was a strong connection between these two authors. It’s impossible to overstate the influence Peale had during the time The Magic of Believing was published, and the power his endorsement had in the success of the book.
So, what exactly was it that these stars and thought leaders saw in The Magic of Believing? In a word, I would say, “simplicity.”
By the time this book was published, there had been a number of “mental science” bestsellers. Just a few of the many include The Science of Mind by Ernest Holmes, Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill, In Tune with the Infinite by Ralph Waldo Trine, The Game of Life by Florence Scovel Shinn, As a Man Thinketh by James Allen, plus several works by luminaries such as Joseph Murphy, Dale Carnegie, and Maxwell Maltz.
What sets Bristol’s work apart from the others falls into one main category, at least in my opinion. Bristol was able to take these large tomes and distill similar, if not the same, ideas into very graspable and practical steps. Bristol (like other authors of similar books) often wrote that he didn’t create these ideas, but rather he discovered them. And I would argue that he had a special gift to make these ideas not only easy to understand, but also easy to practice.
How can I make this claim? Well, most books that are published have short shelf lives. Especially in the time that Bristol was writing and publishing, most books were published and then perished within a few years (or even less!). But The Magic of Believing bucked that trend, and not only helped people immediately, but also had what we in the business call a “long tail”—meaning that the book kept appealing to new customers. In other words, it kept selling, probably through word of mouth. As one customer would read the book, put the principles into action, and then experience great success, they would recommend the book to several others, and so on.
Now, it’s your turn. It’s your time to read this book, enact the principles, and experience a more positive outcome than before. How much more positive, you might ask? Well, that’s up to you, my friend. You hold the keys to your own success, your own fate, within the boundaries of your own mind. Your thoughts are your ticket to a greater experience in every part of your life.
So, what will it be? Will you read this book, close it, and go on with your life? Or will you read The Magic of Believing and change everything so that you can experience more?
As Bristol—and every self-help teacher before (and after) him—has said: you are the answer to your own problems. You hold the keys within your own mind. You are 100% responsible for your own life experience. And you can always choose “more” for yourself than others.
Go and enjoy The Magic of Believing and T.N.T.: It Rocks the Earth. Read them with an open mind and an open heart. Practice what Bristol preaches, if you will. He took the time to distill many philosophies into one cohesive program, and now it’s your turn to tap into this limitless potential.
My wish for you is not to just read this book, but rather to take these ideas and animate them in your own life. Read them, believe them, and then live them.
I wish I could read The Magic of Believing again for the first time. But I can’t. However, I can encourage you to read through the book and try it for yourself. I predict that if you follow Bristol’s advice and adapt it to your own circumstances, you will see positive change. Test it, and see for yourself—but if you do test it, do so with everything you have! No use doing a program half-heartedly, especially one like this that has already helped millions of readers who have come before you.
As always, with these writings from the early to mid-twentieth century, the language is of its time. We have made slight augmentations to certain passages to ensure Bristol’s message remains relevant to a modern audience.
And now, it’s time to turn the page and start your journey to wholeness and success.…
—Joel Fotinos
IHOW I CAME TO TAP THE POWER OF BELIEF
Is there a something, a force, a factor, a power, a science—call it what you will—which a few people understand and use to overcome their difficulties and achieve outstanding success? I firmly believe that there is, and it is my purpose in this, first complete exposition of the subject, to attempt to explain it so that you may use it if you desire.
About fifteen years ago the financial editor of a great Los Angeles newspaper, after attending lectures I had given to financial men in that city and after having read my brochure, T.N.T.—It Rocks the Earth, wrote:
“You have caught from the ether something that has a mystical quality—a something that explains the magic of coincidence, the mystery of what makes men lucky.”
I realized that I had run across something that was workable, but I didn’t consider it then, neither do I now, as anything mystical, except in the sense that it is unknown to the majority of people. It is something that has always been known to a fortunate few down the centuries, but, for some unknown reason, is little understood by the average person.
Copyright © 2023 by Christian Wiman
