For countless ages kings and lords have drenched the earth with blood in their battles to extend their dominions — not to seek more life for all, but to get more power for themselves. Today, the main motive in the business and industrial world is the same: Men marshal their armies of dollars and lay waste the lives and hearts of millions in the same mad scramble for power over others. Commercial kings, like political kings, are inspired by the lust for power. Look out for the temptation to seek for authority, to become a “master,” to be considered as one who is above the common herd, to impress others by lavish display, and so on. The mind that seeks for mastery over others is the competitive mind, and the competitive mind is not the creative one. In order to master your environment and your destiny, it is not at all necessary that you should rule over your fellow men, and, indeed, when you fall into the world’s struggle for the high places, you begin to be conquered by fate and environment and your getting rich becomes a matter of chance and speculation. Beware of the competitive mind! No better statement of the principle of creative action can be formulated than the favourite declaration of the late “Golden Rule” Jones of Toledo: “What I want for myself, I want for everybody.”  

CHAPTER 15: The Advancing Personality