Wallace Delois Wattles – New Thought Writer

American author Wallace Delois Wattles was born in the United States in 1860. Little is known about his early life. He spent his early years living and working on his parents’ farm in McHenry County, Illinois.

His parents were born in New York and had no other children. Wattles received little formal education, but began to study the world’s many philosophies and religious beliefs as an adult.

Wattles left his parents’ home with the goal of becoming a great writer. He suffered many failures, barely earning enough money to feed himself.

In 1908, Wattles ran for Congress as the Socialist Party of America candidate. He ran again in 1910 for the office of attorney for the 50th judicial district of Indiana. He lost both elections.

He even held a position in the Methodist Church at one point, but was expelled for “heresy.” However, he refused to give up on his dreams. It wasn’t until many years later that Wattles discovered the secrets to wealth and success.

Wattles places George Davis Herron in Chicago, Illinois in 1896 while he was attending “a convention of reformers.” Herron was a professor of Applied Christianity at Grinnell College and a minister in the Congregational Church. He preached a form of Christian socialism that attracted nationwide attention. It was this meeting that set Wattles on the path to becoming a social visionary.

Wattles became an active supporter of the New Thought Movement; a popular spiritual movement that emphasized metaphysical beliefs. Members of this movement included Emma Curtis Hopkins, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and William Walker Atkinson. All of these individuals promoted the effects of positive thinking, creative visualization, and personal power.

Wattles spent much time studying his writings, as well as other works written by members of the New Thought Movement. Through personal study of him, Wattles claimed to have discovered the fundamental truths of New Thought principles and began to practice them in his own life.

Wattles wrote several books outlining these practices and principles. The Science of Being Great, The Science of Being Well, and Health Through New Thinking and Fasting were three such books. He encouraged readers to test his theories for themselves rather than just take his word for it.

One of the techniques that Wattles practiced and taught in his books was called creative visualization. This involved forming a visual image of a desired goal or achievement, and then working towards the realization of that goal.

Another of Wattles’s books, and possibly his most famous work, was The Science of Getting Rich. Many programs are modeled after this book, even today.

The Wattles tradition continues, many years later, by people who study, reinvent and use his techniques and methods in pursuit of happiness, prosperity and wealth.