Man alone has been given the privilege of fixing his own earthly destiny, with the right to make it pleasant or unpleasant, successful or unsuccessful, happy or unhappy, rich or poor, and his achievements are always unpredictable because his potential power is unlimited.
If man had but two more privileges than he now possesses he would be on an equal footing with the Creator; namely, (1) the privilege of coming into the world at birth, of his own choice; and (2) the privilege of remaining among the living as long as he desires. Man has potential control over almost everything else, but alas, he rarely discovers the powers available to him or makes any attempt to use these powers for his own uplift, or to make this a better world.
For the most part, man settles down in a sort of tug-of-war struggle with forces which become unfriendly toward him because he does not understand them—forces such as the great miracles of life—and he gladly settles with life for a place to sleep, a little food to fill his belly and enough clothes to hide his nakedness.
Once in a long while an individual steps out of the long procession of human beings, takes possession of his own mind, recognizes its powers and makes use of them. Then the world has found an Edison, or a Ford, or a Luther Burbank, or an Alexander Graham Bell, or a Henry J. Kaiser—men who have removed all self-imposed limitations because they learned the truth that “Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, the mind can achieve.”
Geniuses? Yes, because genius is simply a matter of self-discovery!
Know yourself—your “other self” which does not recognize limitations—and you may become “the Master of Your Fate, the Captain of Your Soul,” and peace of mind will come to you as naturally as the eating of a meal when you are hungry.
Source: You Can Work Your Own Miracles. Random House. 1996. Pgs. 108-109.