The Great Man Who Gave Away 30 Million Dollars

I just learned that a famous, colorful and charming American philanthropist is dead.

I had always loved his book, Ask for the Moon and Get It: The Secret to Getting What You Want by Knowing How to Ask.

His name was Percy Ross. Maybe you heard of him. Ross gave away an estimated thirty million dollars to various charities and organizations.

He also wrote a syndicated newspaper column, called Thanks a Million, for approximately 800 nationwide newspapers for 17 years. The column contained letters from people writing Ross, telling him their story and asking for his help. It was fascinating.

It was fascinating because Ross could always see through people. He would read their letters and sense if they were sincere, or lazy, or begging. And he always replied with words of wisdom--- and sometimes with a check. He gave checks 120 times per week.

And in 17 years he gave away about $30,000,000.

The thing is, Ross started with two million dollars!

Do you see the giving principle at work here?

Ross began with two million dollars as his source funds. You may not have that amount, but the story still holds true. In 17 years Ross gave away thirty million dollars!

Again, giving leads to receiving.

Consider: Have you ever experienced a situation where you were asked to donate money to a particular cause, and looking at your shrinking bank balance you were torn between giving money or not? Many people have told me stories about being in this exact situation, but after deciding to go ahead and make a donation, these same people were very surprised when suddenly a sum of money came to them from some unexpected source to replace the money they just gave away.

The truth is, if you hold on to your money, you risk losing the very thing you are hoarding. On the other hand, if you trust good things flow to those who give freely, you will always have funds available to suit your needs.

To prove this, look at Percy Ross. He started his charitable ways with $2 million dollars and yet over the course of 17 years donated some $30 million dollars!

I miss Percy Ross.

But now you can take his place.

My Great Confession

Okay, I'll confess.

I found it hard to believe I would receive money if I gave money.

It just sounded like such a con, like a strategy promoted by people who wanted me to give money to them.
Well, I was too smart for that.

I decided that I would not give money, but that I would instead give books.

That's right. Books. I had plenty of books. Since I had worked as a New Age journalist and book reviewer for many years, I had collected a lot of books. I had more than I needed. Why not give some of them away?

I still remember making the decision. I was lying in bed in Houston, where I lived at the time, reflecting on how to get prosperous.

I remember thinking, "I can become the richest man in America in terms of books."

And right then and there I decided to try out the giving principle on books.

Within days I had called a few friends over and let them pick out books. I didn't let them pick out any books or all my books, of course. But I pulled a few piles of books out and let my friends take what they wanted.

Then, over the course of the next few months, whenever I gave a talk someplace, I also gave out books. I found it a terrific way to hold attention. Whenever someone.s attention seemed to wander, I announced a free book for the next person who asked me a question.

Everyone in the room perked up.

And when I moved into this country estate where I now live, I set about 25 boxes of books in the garage. I then threw a housewarming party and had people come over. I told them that before they left, they were encouraged to go through the boxes and takewhat they wanted. Everyone did. One person took so many books that he needed a dolly to wheel them to his car.

What was the result of my grand book-giving?

Ever since the day in Houston when I decided to give books to receive books, I have always had an abundance of books.

And today I own one of the largest book collections in the world on marketing, and another on metaphysics.

People see my collection whenever they visit here and are in awe.

What they don't understand is this:

Books will always come to me because I always give books.

I was activating the great giving principle, but on books.

Today I know to give money to receive money. And as a result, I have money, far more than I ever did when I lived in Houston.

But in those early days, when I feared losing money and wanted to hold on to all I had, all I could allow myself to give were books.

As a result, books came.

Listen and learn: Give what you want to receive.


"We must not try to fix the avenues through which our good is to come. There is no reason for thinking that what you give will come back through the one to whom you gave it."
-- Charles Fillmore, Prosperity

Beware This Great Trap On Money-making

The article that gave birth to this book was called "The Greatest Money-Making Secret in History," which was a shorter version of chapter one.

That article became so popular that it was distributed to thousands of people across the Internet. Ezine publishers reproduced and distributed it. Content websites stored the article on their sites. And dozens of people wrote me, most thanking me and praising the article.

But a few of the emails I received were curious. They were from people asking me for money.

Apparently they read my article and concluded that I was someone who would give money to anyone who asked for it. So they wrote and asked for it.

The problem is, that.s not what the article describes as the great secret for attracting wealth. I never wrote, "Ask for money and you'll get wealthy." Instead I conveyed the message, "Give money to wherever you received spiritual nourishment and you'll activate the money-attracting law."

I wrote to every person who had written to me asking for money. I explained the concept.

None of them wrote back.

I'm bringing this experience up for you to consider for two reasons:

1. Don't beg for money and expect to get wealthy. Just look at the beggars on the streets. They are not living
prosperous life styles. They are just getting by, if that. Or look at the people who do fund-raising. Most of them are begging, though they would never call it that, and they never seem to have enough. Is that a clue or what?

2. Don't give money to beggars and expect to get wealthy. I didn't say don't help the poor, though it's questionable how much it helps them to hand them things. Instead, I.m saying don.t give money to people just because they ask for it and expect to turn on the universe's cornucopia.

I see giving money out of a sense of obligation or duty as a trap.

That was always the problem I had with ministers who asked people to give money because either (a) they needed it or (b) the Bible decreed it.

Either may be true. But if you or anyone gives money without a feeling of joy in your heart, it is highly unlikely that the money you gave will come back to you multiplied.

The best way to determine where to give money is to ask yourself one simple question:

Where did you receive the most joy?

And if you want further clarity, or more questions to assist you in knowing where to give money, try these on for size:

Where were you reminded of your divinity?
Where were you encouraged to go for your dreams?
Who made you feel glad to be alive?

Whatever your answer, that's where to give your money.



"Many people have had a psychological block against tithing (giving), because so many theologians have stressed what tithing would do for the church rather than what it could do for the individual."
-- Catherine Ponder, Open Your Mind to Prosperity

What is True Giving?

What is True Giving?
Or, Do You Have An "Equation Mentality"?

I just got off the phone with my dear friend, Dr. Paul Hartunian, publicity genius, philanthropist and true lover of dogs.

I asked Paul about giving and how he saw it working in his own life and with his own personal cause. That's when he told me something truly eye-opening.

"Too many people make an equation out of giving," he said.

"They give some money and then wait for it to come back to them ten-fold. That, to me, is not true giving."

This was a shocking statement to me.

"What is true giving then?" I asked.

"I believe true giving is done anonymously," Paul explained. "If someone gives a million dollars to a foundation because they are going to have a building named after them, then that is trading, not giving.

Paul was bringing up a valid point.

I remember a time when someone e-mailed me, asking what they should do if they try to give money to their friends and it's refused. I remember thinking, Why do your friends have to know it's coming from you? Can't you give in secret?

Paul went on to tell me something even more fascinating.

"I think the secret to giving is in not caring if it comes back to you or not," he explained. "Once you don't care, you're in the flow."

Ah, yes!

That's the secret!

Give without expecting return --- give because your heart moves you to give --- give because it.s your joy to give --- and you're in the flow of life itself.

"All I can say is that maybe the Cosmos handles the rest," Paul told me. "I've been blessed in my life but I didn't give to be blessed. The cosmos just took care of me."

I love how Paul Hartunian explained all of this to me. He gave such a practical, level-headed view of giving.

"I have no problem with someone being recognized for giving," he added. "But if you give because you want recognition or you expect a ten-fold return, then you're not giving, you're calculating."

Paul walks his talk. Around Christmas of 2002 he sent me an email and asked if I had anything of a spiritual nature he could give to the readers of his e-newsletter. He said he always gave them publicity and money-making advice. Now he wanted to give them something spiritual.

I suggested he let his fans read the e-book version of my #1 best-seller, Spiritual Marketing. I told him anyone could read the version online at http://www.mrfire.com/spirit

Paul let his readers know. He was very generous to do so. After all, he didn't make a dime off my book and never would from this endorsement. He was simply giving.

Now the punch line here is that Paul had, at that time, about 76,000 readers. That meant his gift (and my gift, too) touched a lot of lives. Paul gave from his heart. I gave from my heart. How this will come back to us, no one knows---except maybe the Cosmos.

Are you giving?


"The law of prosperity, whose first action is giving, comes so close into the heart of being that we can scarcely expect to weigh and balance it by numbers and calculations...We must give without expectation of return."
-- Ernest C. Wilson, The Great Physician