"You know，if I could buy a set of this silverware at a bargain price，I'd be tempted to do it，" Elmer continued，as I held the knife and fixed my attention on it."What do you think of it？"
"It is rather attractive，" I conceded."Light，as you say ...good design....I'm surprised myself at the hotel having silverware of this grade."
"Wouldn't you like to own a set like this？" Elmer asked." That is，if the price were right ...？"
"Well，I suppose I might，" I agreed.
Elmer held out his hand."I'11 sell you that knife.Give me a quarter for it！"
Instinctively I caught myself reaching for my pocket to take out a quarter！ Elmer had led up to this suggestion so cleverly，had intrigued my interest to the point where when he asked for the quarter，I felt almost impelled to buy a knife Elmer didn't own！
"That's all there is to it！" Elmer grinned."Get your prospect to accept your product or proposition，whatever it is； place it in his hands，develop his appreciation of it，get him to agree with you，and remember the most important sales point of all—'possession is nine-tenths of the law.' Once an individual's mind accepts the product or the idea，and he has it in his possession，he doesn't want to give it up.It's harder for him to return it to you than it is to go down in his pocket and pay you for it！ "
I can certainly testify to the truth of his statement about not wanting to give up a product.It seems silly，but I still felt impelled to hand Elmer a quarter and keep the knife！ I was left with this urge，knowing the knife belonged to the hotel，This，to me，was selling，in the nth degree！
Those of you who are salesmen or who have your own businesses can increase business as a result of right thinking，When others tell you that business is bad，things are tough，going to the bow-wows，and hand you other negative thoughts of this nature—if you accept their thoughts and make them your own，your business will go to the bow-wows.Have no doubt about that.Then，as you talk to others，with your chin on your chest，your feet dragging and the front of a professional mourner，you tap them down，and the more you circulate and the more you talk（tap，tap，tapping with the same pessimistic story） and especially if you think and talk with an air of conviction，the more damage you do to yourself and those around you.
You are setting up thought，in reality fear thought，vibrations which are far-reaching.Fear thoughts are terrifically contagious and spread like wildfire.Conversely，as you direct your thoughts（visualizing） towards increasing your business，your sales，your profits，having no misgivings of your own（keeping your mind closed to the downward tapping thoughts of others） and putting enthusiasm，energy and action into your program—your business，your sales will automatically increase！
You must have the fire of enthusiasm！
You must keep in mind always that the intense fire of enthusiasm from within becomes a conflagration which affects all on your wave length as long as you radiate it.The vibrations you set up with your powerful rays of enthusiasm inspire others，raise them up，build and attract business ...just as fear vibrations tap others down，repel and destroy.
It is an indisputable fact，irrespective of the times，that there is always business somewhere for the man who believes it exists and goes after it； but none for the person who is positive that none exists，and makes no endeavor to move.
Suggestion is one of the most powerful forces in the world.It has equal power in two directions—positive and negative—dependent on which direction you give it.
As a builder-upper，you can use suggestion upon yourself to excellent advantage.Now that you know the potency of thought，when you catch yourself taking on negative mental attitudes about anything you are doing or about the future，stop everything！ Recognize at once the damage you are doing to yourself by permitting such thoughts to reside in your consciousness.Replace these wrong mental pictures with strong visual suggestions of the right kind.See yourself overcoming whatever difficulty you are facing，doing a better job，getting a better result tomorrow.Remember： the creative power within can only work on what you give it！ A builder has to operate from a blueprint.If there are defects in the blueprint and he doesn't know about them，those defects will show up in the completed building.Unless you discover your wrong thinking，the wrong suggestions you are giving yourself each day，you'll attract what you are visualizing to you.Pass those suggestions on to your friends or associates and，if they accept them，they will help you produce the very conditions you have pictured！
What are we doing to the child mind？
Little children are more sinned against by parents and elders who are constantly giving them wrong suggestions than sinning：
"Don't go out dressed that way—you'll catch your death of cold！”
"Look out—you'll get run over！"
"Don't touch that—you'1l break it！"
"I knew you'd do that！ Can't you watch what you're doing？"
"Don't stay out late—something may happen to you！"
"Stay away from the water—you might get drowned！"
"You can't do that—better let me do it for you！"
"For heaven's sake，keep quiet！ You don't know anything！ "
"No，of course not—l don't trust you！"
"If you don't stop that，I'11 call a policeman and have you locked up."
"You shouldn't ask questions like that—you're not old enough to know the answers！"
"So，you’ve done it again！ Well，that's just what I expected！"
"Go away，you’re a nuisance！ I don't know why you were ever born！"
"Why，you little brat！ I'm so mad I could kill you！"
You've heard these delightful suggestions and many，many more ...and the only wonder is that children，subjected to this kind of highly emotionalized wrong thinking，turn out as well as they do！