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THE SECRET DOOR TO SUCCESS: by the Author of "The Game of Life"

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THE SECRET DOOR TO SUCCESS With her classic book, THE GAME OF LIFE AND HOW TO PLAY IT, Florence Scovel Shinn established herself as one of the most down-to-earth, practical, and helpful prosperity writers of her era. With a timeless message and the ability to explain success principles and how they work in an entertaining style, her writings are still considered the leaders in prosperity literature today. THE SECRET DOOR TO SUCCESS is a series of talks and lectures given by Mrs. Shinn as she taught individuals to control conditions and release abundance through a knowledge of Spiritual Law.

90 pages, Paperback

First published November 30, 1940

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About the author

Florence Scovel Shinn

524 books694 followers
Florence Scovel Shinn (September 24, 1871, Camden, New Jersey – October 17, 1940) was an American artist and book illustrator who became a New Thought spiritual teacher and metaphysical writer in her middle years. In New Thought circles, she is best known for her first book, The Game of Life and How to Play It (1925).

Her books "Your Word Is Your Wand" and "The Game of Life and How To Play It" were released as audiobooks in 2014 and 2015 respectively and were narrated by actress Hillary Hawkins.

Shinn is considered part of the New Thought movement, as her writings follow in the tradition of Phineas Quimby (1802–1866), Emma Curtis Hopkins (1849–1925), and both Charles Fillmore (1854–1948) and Myrtle Fillmore (1845–1931), co-founders of the Unity Church.

Motivational author Louise Hay acknowledges her as an early influence.

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Displaying 1 - 30 of 91 reviews
Profile Image for Vaishali.
1,165 reviews311 followers
February 27, 2021
A lost book from 1940 on the Law of Attraction.
Great stuff here :
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"Neutralize envy for other people’s achievements so that good luck comes to you too. Say to yourself 'What God has done for others, he will do for me and more.' "

"Thoughts are a form of radioactivity. Enjoying and taking an interest in your work opens the secret door to your success."

"Success is not a secret. It’s a system."

"Most people give up just before The Big Thing will happen to them. Successful men never give up."

"You attract the things you give a great deal of thought to. If you think about injustice, you will attract it."

"No man gives to himself but himself, and no man takes from himself but himself."

"Resentment holds back your good. The more you resent, you grow a 'resentment track' in your brain, and the more it will be habitual. You may miss the golden opportunities which await you each day."

"All prayer is actually preparation. When you pray, act as if you have already received. Have total faith. Then you step into the arena of life. It is what you do in the arena - and only what you do here - that counts."

"Watch your motives with all diligence, for out of them are all the issues of life."

"If your problem is a financial one - and it usually is - you must know how to wind yourself up financially, and keep being wound up with faith."

"The spiritual attitude toward money is to trust in God for your supply. Keep your possessions. Always realize they are God in manifestation, and can’t be diminished. If one door shuts, another opens immediately."

"Never voice lack or limitation in words, or you will be condemned by what you notice. If you are noticing failure or hard times, then you must venture to the World of the Wondrous. Train your inner eye to see through failure and onward to success."

"Wisdom and understanding is oil for the Lamp of Consciousness."

"As money comes out, money always comes in. Your purse is always jam-packed with money. You are drawing on the bank of imagination, which is limitless."

"Prepare for something constructive instead of something destructive. Don’t save for a rainy day; that day will surely come. Invest in your empire!"

"Let your every thought and every act express your unwavering faith. 'According to your faith, be it done unto you.' Change your expectancies … expect success."

"Begin to make friends with the things you desire or require."

"Keep on noticing beautiful, expensive, valuable things, and you make an invisible contact".

"The soul is the subconscious mind. The Universe cannot fail, for its ways are ingenious. Do not put limits on the channels. 'I cannot be separated from the Giver, and thus I cannot be separated from the Gifts.' See the Divine in every situation; this makes you very, very, very wealthy."

"The Divine shall slay the negative enemy within thee, all the scriptures say. What is the enemy? Negative thoughts within you. All the organs of the body are affected by resentment. Acid thoughts produce acid in the body. Love is one of the first laws of hygiene, as well as ethics."

"Thoughts of hatred are like repeated doses of poison."

“ 'He was most relaxed when running the fastest.' Be most relaxed when doing your optimum, when doing you’re best. Your greatest success will happen when you least expect it. You have to let go long enough for the Law of Attraction to operate."

"Do not let your heart’s desire become your heart’s disease. You are demagnetized when you desire something too intensely. You worry, fear, agonize."

"Words and thought are a form of radioactivity and do not return void. Aladdin said the word, rubbed the lamp, and the genie simply appeared. If your words are continually clothed in light, you will continually reap gold."

“Now is the appointed time. Today is the day of my amazing good fortune.”

"Conversely, so many people have made exaggerated talk and reckless statements. For example, a woman in a bookstore once said 'Give me something terribly great, and frightfully exciting.' Boy, did she get it."

"Cultivate intuition. Wake up to the divinity within. Ask for a definite, unmistakeable lead."

"All that we understand stands under us in consciousness. Once rooted, it can never be taken from us."

"It takes much strength and courage to trust the Universe."

"Time is but a dream, and your blessing is waiting for you to release it in the world."

"All big ideas meet with opposition. Do not let people rock your boat. Misfortune is the result of not sticking to things. All big things happened to those men who stuck to their ideas. 'Thou may prosper wherever thou goest.' ”

"I go for my word, and arrive at the promised land. We must all have a watchman at the gate of our thoughts. Since we have lived with them for thousands of years, it seems tough to control them. They rush through like stampeding cattle. We may not always control our thoughts, but we can control our words. We are then Master of our situation."

"If you run away, your problems will run after you. When you can no longer be disturbed, all disturbances will fall away from the external. Be undisturbed by a bad situation, and it will fall away by its own weight. Stand firm and confront it."

"Cyclops have one eye, like Shiva’s omniscient eye. They were powerful giants. When you see from your Single Eye, then every thought will be a constructive thought. Let the Third Eye be the watchman at the gate."

"It takes eternal vigilance to check up on words and thoughts. Fear, resentment… all negativity must be dissolved. 'Any plant not born in heaven shall be uprooted.' Do not give space to negative thoughts nor nourish them through attention."

"The way of abundance is a one-way street. You are either heading for lack, or heading for abundance. The poor and rich man do not walk on the same mental street. Wealthy thoughts produce wealthy surroundings. Change the quality of your words and thoughts."

"Be filled with wonder."

"Do not miss all the opportunities of today. Be wide awake to your intuitive leads. But you must have eyes that see this, and ears that hear. 'Before they call, I will answer.' ”

"We must be careful not to slip into lazy states of mind. Many people are in a fog most of the time… making wrong decisions and going about the wrong way."

"Do not magnify obstacles. If you give obstacles and hindrances your undivided attention, they grow worse and worse. Magnify the power of the Universe. Give the Divine Within your undivided attention. In the divine design, all things are Permanently Perfect. Infinite Intelligence knows the way out."

"People are enslaved by ideas of lack: Lack of love, lack of money, lack of friendship, lack of health, etc. If you lack any good thing, you are still asleep to your good. When the two of you agree, it shall be done. This is the Law of Agreement."

"Indecision is the cause of much ill health."

"People who live in the past have severed contact with the Wonderful Now. The Divine knows only The Now."

"When you ask the Divine Plan to manifest, you are protected from those things which will not be given from the Divine Plan."

"I am wide awake to my good. I never miss a trick. Eternal vigilance is the price of freedom from negative thoughts."


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Profile Image for Irene.
319 reviews68 followers
August 19, 2022
"My soul wait thou only upon God for my expectation is from Him. This is a most important statement from the 62nd psalm. The Soul can be the subconscious mind and the psalmist was telling his subconscious to expect everything directly from the Universal (Source/God/Law) not to depend upon doors and channels. My expectation is from Him. God cannot fail for His ways are ingenious, his methods sure. You can expect any seemingly impossible good from God if you do not limit the channels. Do not say how you want it done or how it can be done. God creates his own amazing channels."

Begin to make friends with the things you require. Get yourself into their vibration.

You combine with what you notice. Notice beautiful things and you make an invisible contact. Sooner or later these things are drawn into your life unless you say poor me too good to be true....
Profile Image for Ali Zakaria.
Author 10 books43 followers
June 12, 2021
This book will restore your faith in manifesting miracles using the power of expecting the good
Profile Image for Saeid Mohammadpour.
112 reviews1 follower
June 10, 2016
As the name implies, in this book the author speaks about a Secret Door, so we can understand that the reason that everybody can't become successful is because he/she is not aware of this secret door. She believes that maybe one of the reasons that you cannot find that secret door is because of the fences or walls that you've built around yourself(which limits your view). This wall or fence can be "hating", "being uninterested in actions", "fear" and so on. Using this book, we're able to identify these constraints and learn how to destroy them. Therefore, we'll easily find the secret door and enter that to find all the success and happiness waiting for us.
Don't miss this opportunity of learning about gaining success and happiness in your life. I recommend you reading this book and sharing your comments and reviews on it.
Profile Image for Ashraf Bashir.
226 reviews139 followers
February 12, 2017
It is one of useless books which tells you to imagine whatever you want, and think as if you already have it, and it will magically come to you! Some useless blah blah, do not waste your time and money, the author also tries to link this stupid idea with Christianity by giving very weird interpretations which do not play well with bible books' contexts where the verse exists. This book is one of many books which instead of pushing you to work for what you want, tells you to imagine and wait for the sky to rain Gold! Hilarious!
Profile Image for May Ling.
1,086 reviews286 followers
March 17, 2025
Summary: I prefer the Game of Life and How to Play it. That said, if you need more examples and want to stay on the right track, I'm a fan.

The book is not long. You an also just play the audiobook on YouTube for free. It is very inspirational and gets you in the right attitude. They tell you lots of examples of thinking that - if modify - ends in the positive.

Liguistic programming is very real, so I love to just have a few of these in my back pocket when I'm feeling less inspired.
Profile Image for Vikas Jadon.
326 reviews
January 3, 2019
The books by this great author Florence scovel shinn are the main inspiration behind so many other books and thought patterns. Awesome book.


Profile Image for Naveen Kumar.
189 reviews8 followers
July 29, 2022
#76 of 100 self help books
#23 of 25 loa books
Good
Short and sweet
Profile Image for Eileen.
544 reviews21 followers
September 26, 2012
Not sure what to make of this. The author believes that you can obtain what you need and want not by asking God for it, but by repeating affirmations to yourself that assume God's good will and action on your behalf. For e.g. “I am grateful for blessings manifested and all those yet to be,” or “I am more than equal to this situation.” Supposedly it only works if you believe it and demonstrate that belief in concrete actions. The book is full of examples of people the author knew who got what they affirmed. Who knows?

Profile Image for Kimber.
221 reviews118 followers
December 30, 2016
This book has so much wisdom, it's a pleasure to read ( like all of her books). Ms. Shinn was an early precurser to the field of law of attraction. The day I finished this book I won 50 bucks on a scratch off by following my hunches as she describes it. All of her books are wonderful and much better than the Secret. It was kind of amusing for her to say "it's not a secret at all....." almost in synchronous anticipation of that book....
Profile Image for Sandy.
15 reviews
July 16, 2011
"The Secret Door to Success" is basically a re-write of Shinnn's earlier book "The Game of Life." All of her writings are gems onto themselves and are good reminders of her gentle teachings. Shinn was one of those specially blessed individuals who helped show the way to a meaningful spiritual and prosperous life.
Profile Image for C..
54 reviews1 follower
November 18, 2023
,,Succesul nu este un Secret/ Este un Sistem"

,,Teoria lui Lamarck: păsările nu zboară pentru că au aripi, ci au aripi pentru că și-au dorit să zboare."

,,Fugi de lucrurile care fug de tine!"

,,Filozoful îi lasă croitorului grija de a croi hainele"

,,Acum este ziua!"

,,Țin acum pasul cu binele meu, întrucât mi s-a răspuns înainte să cer!"
Profile Image for Lynda.
2,497 reviews120 followers
December 11, 2011
I was at a retreat once where one of the people brought up this book several times in discussion. I bought a copy the next week. I highly recommend it.
Profile Image for Sian.
513 reviews3 followers
January 6, 2025
Such a short book, but enjoyed the read. It does state religious quotes.
Profile Image for Stevo Ilišković.
104 reviews3 followers
Read
February 1, 2016
'Čovek bez osmeha ne sme da otvara prodavnicu.'

'Život u Egiptu pod stranim tlačiteljima simbolizuje čoveka koji je pod teškim nadzorom destruktivnog razmišljanja, ponosa, straha, ozlojeđenosti, zlovolje...' Razložni um, intelekt, zauzima Faraonov tron u vašoj svesti. On neprestano govori: 'To je nemoguće. Nema svrhe!'... 'Neočekivano se događa, moje naizgled nemoguće dobro sada se pukim slučajem dešava.'

Kada se za nešto moliš, veruj da to već imaš. Kada se moliš, delaj kao da si to već primio.

Nikada ne govorite o nemaštini i ograničenjima jer će vas 'vaše reči osuditi'. Udružujete se sa onim što primećujete, a ako uvek primećujete neuspeh i teškoće, udružićete se sa neusehom i teškoćama.

Čovek koji je postigao uspeh ima nepokoleblijvu zamisao o uspehu. Ona je utemeljena na steni istine i ispravnosti, i opstaće. U suprotnom, biva izgrađena na pesku i sprana u more, vrativši se u svoje prvobitno ništavilo.

Ne govorite da želite da se nešto obavi na poseban način, niti na koji način ne sme da se obavi.

Ništa nije previše dobro i krasno da bi bilo istinito, da bi se desilo, da bi potrajalo, dovoljno je da se obratite Bogu za svoje dobro.

'Beži od stvari koje beže od tebe,
ne traži ništa i sreća će te potražiti.'

Bivate potpuno demagnetizovani kada nešto previše želite. Brinete se, strahujete i u agoniji ste.

A ima i ljudi koji slede magični put intuicije i za tren oka se nađu u Obećanoj Zemlji.
Intuicija je duhovna sposobnost koja visoko premašuje razložni um, a na tom putu je sve što želite ili vam treba... molitva telefoniranje Bogu, a intuicija je kada Bog telefonira vama.

Govorite što je moguće manje o svojim poslovima, a i tada jedino onima koji će vas ohrabriti i nadahnuti.
611 reviews6 followers
April 3, 2018
Okay so far this one was my favorite,,maybe because it is the most relevant to me. I first started believing your thoughts and words could change your life for the better, when I watched a nature show, about a man who fell off a boat, and was stuck in the ocean overnight lost at sea. No one even knew he was missing, until the next day, and the odds of finding him was almost impossible. He faced the dark, sharks, and the immense ocean. People were sure they wouldn't find him, but they looked anyway. Anyone who knows me knows how terrified of the ocean and sharks I am. But this man didn't panic, even with faced with the most frightening of circumstances he kept saying he would be found safe, and he was.
It's all about the way you think, it's about what you say to yourself. This speaks a lot about the idea of Karma,,you really do bring your own circumstances to you. How many times do you worry about getting sick and then you do. How many times do you worry about your car breaking down and then it does. Well if works that way, it can work the positive way too.
This was very easy to understand and the simple way she guides you is uplifting. Again I am really impressed by this author...worth every word.
1 review
September 9, 2020
I am 17 years old and this small book changed my life. I will never view this book as a “quick read”, as I believe I will be reading this and referring to this book endlessly forever.
I previously would view myself as atheist, but this book has shown me so many beautiful ideas of faith and spirituality. It takes small biblical references, mostly from Joshua, and interprets it in such a healthy and unimaginable way.
I now practice using daily affirmations from this book, directed at the universe - I hope to see some sort of miracle, as she often describes in the book.
Profile Image for Kath Unsworth.
70 reviews
February 3, 2014
Loved this book the most out of the three I have read of Florence Scovel Shinn so far. The books are quite dated but still hold a positive message of being grateful and having gratitude. To expect wonderful things to happen in our lives and even miracles. Definitely a keeper to read over and over.
Profile Image for Iman de Reiki.
26 reviews2 followers
August 8, 2018
Uno de mis libros favoritos, corto, de fácil lectura, muy motivador y concreto. Te ofrece una serie de decretos y recomendaciones para cambiar tu manera de pensar y atraer lo que deseas a tu vida. Cree y entonces todo es posible.
Profile Image for Yzl Cruz.
2 reviews
November 15, 2012
A continuity of the book The Game of Life. Another great book that is full of teaching of what faith really is and how to achieve your goals in life.

Definitely a must read book for everybody.
Profile Image for Bill Kasal.
Author 12 books1 follower
January 2, 2013
Excellent book. Simply written (in a style of the earl 20th century). Wisdom for the ages.
30 reviews
March 1, 2017
Very easy read, and simple to understand how spiritual law ties in with Law of attraction. She was definitely ahead of her time.
1 review1 follower
September 5, 2017
Good read

I'm happy that I read "the game of life" first. But, you can read this one first and not have a problem.
Profile Image for Gwen Lester-Cunningham.
Author 1 book1 follower
June 21, 2018
Think positive

I found this book to be very informative. It confirms all of the concepts of positive thinking and self-affirmation that I have learned throughout the years
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