Goktug Yilmaz's Reviews > Outwitting the Devil: The Secret to Freedom and Success

3 Key:

- Don't drift or procrastinate. Do your own thinking on all occasions and act on it for success in life.
- Weak plans have a way of becoming strong if definitely applied.
- Plans based on unjust or immoral motives may bring temporary success, but enduring success must take into consideration the fourth dimension, time. Time is the enemy of immorality and injustice. It is the friend of justice and morality.  

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- Be willing to give useful service equivalent to the value of all material things you demand of life, and give the service first. 
- Never accept from life anything you do not want. If something you don't want is temporarily forced upon you, you can refuse and it will make way for the things you do want.
- Your greatest asset is time. Budget your time so none of it is wasted.
- Be definite in everything you do and never leave unfinished thoughts in the mind. Form the habit of reaching definite decisions on all subjects.
- Decide definitely what you want from life; then create a plan for attaining it and be willing to sacrifice everything else.
- Analyze temporary defeat. But know the difference between temporary defeat and failure.
- Failure often serves as a blessing in disguise because it breaks the grip of drifting and frees the mind for a fresh start.
- Don't eat too much food and the wrong sort of food. This leads to indigestion and destroys the power of accurate thought.
- Negative thoughts leads to negative acts and fills their minds with fears. These are planted through newspapers, moving pictures, radio, media.
- Both poverty and ability to acquire things is contagious.
- Technology, infrastructure and wealth gives man time to think and frees them.
- The person who insists on talking seldom has an opportunity to learn by listening to others.
- Wisdom is the ability to relate yourself to nature's laws so as to make them serve you, and the ability to relate yourself to other people so as to gain their willing cooperation in helping you to make life yield whatever you demand of it.
- Converting knowledge into wisdom: Time plus the desire for wisdom. Wisdom is never thrust upon one. It is acquired, by positive thinking, through voluntary effort!
- It is never safe for anyone to have extensive knowledge without wisdom.
- The majority of people who acquire wisdom do so after they have passed the age of forty. Prior to that time the majority of people are too busy gathering knowledge and organizing it into plans to spend any effort seeking wisdom.
- If a man jumped from a tree and was killed by the sudden impact of his body with the earth, through the law of gravity, you wouldn't say nature murdered him, would you? You would say the man neglected to relate himself properly to the law of gravity.
- The major difference between a sound and an unsound plan is that the sound plan, if definitely applied, may be carried out more quickly than an unsound plan.
- Sex, like all other forces available to man, should be understood, mastered, and made to serve man. The desire for sex expression is as natural as the desire for food. The person who has self-discipline understands the emotion of sex, respects it, and learns to control and transmute it into constructive activities.
 

Drifting: People who think for themselves never drift, while those who do little or no thinking for themselves are drifters. A drifter is one who permits himself to be influenced and controlled by circumstances outside of his own mind. A drifter is one who accepts whatever life throws in his way without making a protest or putting up a fight. He
doesn't know what he wants from life and spends all of his time getting just that. A drifter has lots of opinions, but they are not his own.
 
Drifter Properties:
- Lack of a major purpose in life. 
- Lack of self-confidence.
- Never accomplish anything requiring thought and effort.
- Spends all he earns.
- ill-tempered and lacking in control over his emotions.
- Has opinions on everything but accurate knowledge of nothing.
- Will neglect to cooperate with those around him, even those on whom he must depend for food and shelter.
- Will make the same mistake over and over again, never profiting by failure.
- Will be narrow-minded and intolerant on all subjects, ready to crucify those who may disagree with him.
- Will expect everything of others but be willing to give little or nothing in return.
- May begin many things but he will complete nothing.
- Will be loud in his condemnation of his government, but he will never tell you definitely how it can be improved.
- Will never reach decisions on anything if he can avoid it, and if he is forced to decide he will reverse himself at the first opportunity.
- Will eat too much and exercise too little.
- Will take a drink of liquor if someone else will pay for it.
- Will criticize others who are succeeding in their chosen calling.
- Will tell a lie rather than admit his ignorance on any subject.
- If he works for others, he will criticize them to their backs and flatter them to their faces.
- In brief, the drifter will work harder to get out of thinking than most others work in earning a good living.

Non-Drifter Properties:
- Always engaged in doing something definite, through some well-organized plan which is definite.
- Has a major goal in life toward which he is always working, and many minor goals, all of which lead toward his central scheme.
- The tone of his voice, the quickness of his step, the sparkle in his eyes, the quickness of his decisions clearly mark him as a person who knows exactly what he wants and is determined to get it, no matter how long it may take or what price he must pay.
- If you ask him questions, he gives you direct answers and never falls back on evasions or resorts to subterfuge.
- He extends many favors to others, but accepts favors sparingly or not at all.
- If he does not know the answers he will say so frankly.
- Never blames others for his mistakes no matter if they deserve the blame.
- Used to be known as a go-getter, but in modern times he is called a go-giver. You will find him running the biggest business in town, living on the best street, driving the best automobile, and making his presence felt wherever he happens to be. 
- Is an inspiration to all who come into contact with his mind.
- The major distinguishing feature of the non-drifter is this: He has a mind of his own and uses it for all purposes.