The Secret

The SECRET is this: thinking hard about stuff magically lures it to you. Therefore, anyone who doesn't have everything they want is to blame for being too damn lazy. Especially all those starving people. If they would just picture a delicious meal, served in a lovely setting, it would come to them. Also, sick people are to blame for being sick, because if they just visualized themselves being well that nasty broken bone, cancer, or whatever would heal.

Edited to add an E on 9/13/21

This book is so inspirational! It turns out that by just believing and wanting really hard you can get whatever you want out of life! And if that doesn't work you can write a vacuous self help book full of profound sounding but utterly meaningless tripe and there are enough stupid people in the world to make you rich! This book has also taught me that I don't need to care about other people; if they don't get what they want it isn't anything to with me or anything to do with society being fair or equal, it's because they didn't wish hard enough or learn to visualise what they want! I used to give a lot of money to various charities – cancer research, rape support groups, third world aid – but I've stopped that now because I realise show more that the problems people have are because they secretly, deep down, wish them upon themselves, and only they can make their lives better! It's sad if a child dies of leukaemia or lots of people are killed by a tsunami or a train crash but something in them brought it on themselves, and anyway they'll get another chance in the great circle of life and they should try harder next time. And by 'try harder', I don't mean actually work to achieve anything but just wish really hard, because it turns out that all sorts of brilliant people like Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, Mozart, Beethoven, Plato and John D Rockefeller were successful not because they worked hard or were particularly smart or talented but JUST BECAUSE THEY KNEW THE SECRET!!!!!


NOTE: Just in case there is anyone who is especially slow on the uptake, this is sarcasm. I'm not that shocked that this book exists but that it has apparently sold somewhere in the region of 21 million copies really does make me worry for humanity. Does the author (and her contributors, the most qualified of whom are described as “a doctor of Chiropractic” and another “an internationally known feng-shui mistress”) actually believe this bollocks, or are just using it to milk the stupid. And if you believe in this book there's no sugaring the pill; you are a moron. A shallow, self centred, vacuous moron. I would happily spit in the face of Ms Byrne, any of her contributors or people who worked on the DVD. Yes, there is a lot to be said for the power of positive thought – because it can change your own attitude and behaviour! There's a whole field of psychology based on that idea called Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. There is nothing mystical about it. You know the old saying, "the universe doesn't owe you a living"?

Some of my favourite quotes:

“Nothing can come into your experience unless you summon it thought persistent thoughts.” Damn, those Jews were pretty careless before WW2, weren't they?

“Quantum Physicists will tell you the universe was created from thought!” Really? Truly? Okay, NAME ONE. Seriously, just one published quantum physicist who is taken seriously by the scientific community.

“Our feelings let us know what we’re thinking.” What? What does that actually mean?

And the best, from Ester Hicks, conduit for a spirit called Abraham (seriously):
“...I used to be extremely disturbed when a person's rights were violated by violence on a person, or by someone forcefully taking someone else's property....But then, after meeting you [Abraham:], I got to the point that I see all those things they're doing with others as "games" that they're playing—more or less "agreements" that they have between one another, spoken or unspoken. I've gotten somewhat better at not feeling their pain. But can I get to the point that I don’t feel anything negative when I see someone violating the rights of another? Can I just look at whatever they're doing to one another out there, and think, You're all doing to one another what you have somehow chosen to do? “ show less

SHHHHHH! It's a secret.
SHH, it's the Secret.
Shh, it's the Secret.
Sh, it is the Secret.
Sh it is the Secret.
Shit is the Secret.

The above is more thoughtful and enlightening than the entire book.

ZERO stars
OMG! This REALLY works! While I was listening I thought I would win the solitaire game I was playing – and I DID. Then I thought of chocolate, and I ate some! Then I thought of Coffee Ice Cream, and I remembered I had some in the freezer, so I had some of that!

Okay … all kidding aside …. Not only did I NOT learn anything, but I think part of my brain has atrophied from listening to this.

The Audio book is narrated by the author, and several other contributors. First it starts out with this “eastern” meditation music and a deep-voiced male (ala the voice of God). Really? I know this is supposed to be inspirational and motivating, but I really do not understand the immense popularity of this drivel. There’s nothing show more new here, nothing that most of us (if we paid attention in school or life) wouldn’t have come across on our own. All Byrne is doing is regurgitating the thoughts and philosophies of many others … over and over and over and over again, ad nauseum. Kudos to her for making a living at this. Still, it just gave me a headache.

Here are a couple of my “favorite” quotes: “We used The Secret to create The Secret.” “The Secret has been used to attract all manner of things, from a specific feather to ten million dollars.” Like I said … absolute drivel.

Okay … I’m off to “change my frequency” and transmit only good thoughts. The next book I read will be FANTASTIC! (Repeat to self, until it comes true.) show less

Egads. One star is one star too many for this book. Positively awful. Dreadful. Terrible. There are not enough negative words in the English language to describe this book.

Another book I read for book club. I was not enthused from the get-go. I made certain to order a used copy of the book (as opposed to the Kindle edition) because I did not want the author to make any money off of my purchase. I do believe in the power of positive thinking, and really like the girl who picked this book, so I truly gave it the ol' college try.

Most of it was merely eye roll worthy. Silly, new-agey crap, but nothing to get me too worked up. That is, until I got to the part wherein she all but blames the Jews for the Holocaust. Of course, she doesn't come show more out and say that. Instead, she couches it carefully and instead talks about "events in which masses of people have died". (That's a rough paraphrase. I'd quote directly from the book, but I've already sent the book on to someone else and have no desire to lay eyes on it again.) She says that, difficult though it may be to accept, people who die in these tragedies certainly brought on their own death by thinking negative thoughts. Had they only thought more positively, they certainly would have survived.

Essentially, all the tragedies and problems in the world are brought on by a lack of positive thinking. You have cancer? It's your fault. You could cure yourself if you'd just try hard enough. You're fat? It's not because you eat too much! No! That's nonsense! You need merely say to yourself, "I eat anything I want and stay thin!" and it WILL BE SO!!! You can will the universe to behave as you desire!

Of course, you must also be careful in how you word your positive thoughts. You musn't say, "I am not fat," because, apparently, the universe does not "hear" negative words such as "not" and "no". Were you to say, "I am not fat," the universe would merely hear, "fat," and, well, you're right back where you started. Instead, you must think, "I am THIN!" and LO! it will be so.

I'm not gonna lie: after the Holocaust implication, she lost me. I was so pissed off, I couldn't do it, not even for book club. Each chapter ends with bullet points, and I did read those. Not that you need to. The book was more succinctly summed up by Peter Pan: "Just think lovely thoughts."

I really do believe in positive thinking. I do not believe in this book. It was an absolute waste of time and $4. show less

I hate to give this book such a low review because I have so many friends (and relatives) who love this book. Rest assured, if you are one of them, this is not a personal attack. This is the result of years of academia which has so completely warped me in regards to non-fiction writing, that I am almost incapable of seeing other points of view.

This book was so jarring and lacking in consolidated direction. It was inundated, and I mean drowning, with quotes from people I have never heard of and, therefore, couldn't trust.
It made claims it didn't/couldn't support (Not really convinced that all those people in history knew about "the secret." Give me quotes and citations, please)*.

I thought it made one valid point at the beginning: our show more thoughts can shape how we view our lives. I don't believe it does to the extent that this book (and its unknown, probably well-paid, pundits) claim. My example? Read [b:Night|1617|Night (The Night Trilogy, #1)|Elie Wiesel|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1473495285s/1617.jpg|265616]. And then read [b:Man's Search for Meaning|4069|Man's Search for Meaning|Viktor E. Frankl|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1535419394s/4069.jpg|3389674]. I see in these books two different points of view with two different mental experiences (even though they largely had the same physical experiences). Their mental processes determined a small part of their experience before and their response after.

But this book took it waaaay too far and just couldn't provide solid proof that it was justified in taking it that far.

In short, this book was like a very bad infomercial for a weight loss product. It had one good point (like the popular you lose weight if you eat less) but eliminated some other points... like (you gotta expend more energy to lost weight) working hard, taking care of valuable relationships, self-discipline, etc.

* My absolute fave (not) "citation" was when they referenced a book that focused on "Biblical Millionaires" and included Moses... who may have been at one point but most probably wasn't for those 40 long years post-Exodus. show less

This is a guide for being a nicer sociopath. Rarely I have I seen such utter greed and desperation masked as 'spirituality'. This is a disgusting book that panders to the weak minded.