Law Of Attraction
Nearly everybody around the Edison plant laughed at Barnes, except
Edison himself. He saw something in the square jaw and determined
face of young Barnes which most of the others did not see, despite
the fact that the young man looked more like a tramp than he did a
future partner of the greatest inventor on earth.
Barnes got his start, sweeping floors in the Edison offices!
That was all he sought - just a chance to get a toehold in the Edison organization. From there on he made history that is well worth emulation by other young men who wish to make places for themselves. Barnes has now retired from active business, even though he is still a comparatively young man, and spends most of his time at his two beautiful homes in Bradentown, Florida, and Damariscotta, Maine.
He is a multimillionaire, prosperous and happy. I first became acquainted with Barnes during the early days of his association with Edison, before he had "arrived." In those days he had the largest and most expensive collection of clothes I had ever seen or heard of one man owning. His wardrobe consisted of thirty-one suits; one for each day of the month. He never wore the same suit two days in succession. Moreover, all his suits were of the most expensive type.
(Incidentally, his clothes were made by the same tailors who made those three suits for me.) He wore socks, which cost six dollars per pair. THERE is a suitable reward for every virtue and appropriate punishment for every sin a man commits. Both the reward and the punishment are effects over which no man has control, as they come upon him voluntarily. His shirts and other wearing apparel cost in similar proportion. His cravats were specially made, at a cost of from five to seven dollars and a half each.
One day, in a spirit of fun, I asked him to save some of
his old suits, which he did not need, for me. He informed me that he hadn't
a single suit, which he did not need! He then gave me a lesson on the
psychology of clothes, which is well worth remembering.
"I do not wear thirty-one suits of clothes," said he, "entirely for the impression they make on other people; I do it mostly for the impression they have on me."