The Science of Being Great: Wallace Wattles Explained

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Wallace Wattles is best known for The Science of Getting Rich, but a lesser-known 1911 book extends his Certain Way philosophy into an entirely different domain: personal character and power. This breakdown covers what that book actually argues, how it’s organized, and where it fits alongside Wattles’ other major works.

What The Science of Being Great Is About

Wattles intended The Science of Being Great as the third book in a planned trilogy, following The Science of Getting Rich and The Science of Being Well. Rather than applying his framework to money or physical health, this book turns its attention to greatness itself — the underlying quality of character Wattles believed made both wealth and health genuinely sustainable rather than accidental or temporary.

The central claim running through the text is that a Principle of Power exists within every person, available for development through consistent, intelligent use rather than granted only to a naturally gifted few. This premise sets The Science of Being Great apart from more transactional self-help writing, positioning it as a book about who a person becomes rather than what a person acquires.

Wattles wrote at a time when much popular success literature focused narrowly on external accomplishment. His decision to write an entire book on inner character, as a companion to his wealth and health titles, reflects a broader ambition — a complete philosophy of a well-lived life, not just a formula for acquiring things.

The Structure of The Science of Being Great

The book unfolds across 22 chapters, opening with a direct claim that any person may achieve greatness regardless of heredity or present circumstance. The early chapters lay out the philosophical foundation — where genuine power and wisdom actually come from — before moving into specific mental practices, including a dedicated exercise Wattles taught for connecting with deeper guidance and insight.

A closing summary chapter draws the full argument together around three linked ideas: conscious unity, righteous action, and continuous growth. This progression — principle first, then discipline, then integration — matches the structural pattern found across Wattles’ other books, giving readers already familiar with his work a recognizable shape to follow.

Each chapter builds directly on the one before it, so The Science of Being Great rewards being read in sequence rather than skipped around, unlike some other personal development texts that can be sampled chapter by chapter without much loss of meaning.

The Central Argument

At its core, this book insists that greatness is genuinely available to anyone, independent of background, heredity, or current position in life. Wattles pointed to historical figures who rose from significant hardship as evidence that poverty or humble origin presents no real barrier to developing authentic personal power.

One of the most practical teachings here is that greatness starts small — doing ordinary things in a genuinely great way, rather than waiting for a dramatic opportunity to prove oneself. According to Wattles, consistently bringing full attention and quality to small, everyday actions is what gradually builds the capacity for larger achievement down the road.

Wisdom as the Foundation of Greatness

Wattles gives wisdom a central place in this teaching, treating it as something distinct from mere knowledge or cleverness. He connects genuine wisdom to a deeper source of guidance available to anyone willing to seek it with consistency, and the book devotes real space to specific mental practices designed to develop that connection.

Growth is treated throughout as a fundamental human purpose — the idea that people are formed for ongoing development, and that circumstances, approached with the right inner disposition, tend to support rather than obstruct that growth. This mirrors the same faith-backed orientation found in The Science of Getting Rich, explored further in What Is the Certain Way? Wallace Wattles’ Core Teaching Explained.

The Principle of Power Explained

Central to The Science of Being Great is what Wattles termed the Principle of Power — an inherent capacity for growth and greatness present in every person, unrestricted by education, heredity, or circumstance. This idea functions as the philosophical anchor for the entire book; nearly every practical instruction only makes sense if this underlying capacity is genuinely universal rather than exceptional.

Wattles was explicit in rejecting the notion that greatness belongs only to the naturally talented. Instead, the Principle of Power is framed as something every reader already carries, simply waiting for intelligent and consistent application to become visible. This gives the book a distinctly democratic quality relative to other achievement literature of its period.

This democratic framing is arguably what has kept the book relevant to readers a century later, since it makes no assumptions about a reader’s starting resources, education, or social standing before offering its central promise.

Comparing The Science of Being Great to Wattles’ Other Work

The Science of Being Great shares its underlying method — consistent thought paired with deliberate action — with both The Science of Getting Rich and The Science of Being Well, applying that same method to a third, arguably broader area of life. Where the earlier books zero in on wealth and physical vitality specifically, this one addresses the character underneath both.

Longtime readers of Wattles have often described this book as the natural completion of his intended trilogy, tying his wealth and wellness teaching back into a fuller picture of what a genuinely well-developed person actually looks like. Read after the other two, it frequently reads as the most philosophically complete of the set.

Recurring Themes Throughout the Book

Several ideas surface repeatedly across the text, reinforcing its central argument from multiple directions. Service to others is treated as a genuine and necessary component of greatness rather than a separate virtue — Wattles consistently links personal power to usefulness and contribution, not to self-focused accumulation alone.

Patience and unhurried, steady growth are also constant themes, with Wattles repeatedly warning against forced or rushed effort. This cumulative, patient approach fits the broader Certain Way framework found across his body of work, underscoring that real growth unfolds gradually rather than through sudden transformation.

Humility appears as a related thread as well — Wattles cautions against boasting or announcing one’s own greatness, arguing instead that consistent quality of action speaks for itself over time far more convincingly than any claim a person could make about themselves.

How The Science of Being Great Has Aged

Given its 1911 publication date, some of the book’s language and cultural references feel dated to a modern reader, much like Wattles’ other work from the same period. Its core argument, however, holds up reasonably well, since the claim that character and consistent small action underlie lasting achievement isn’t tied to any particular era or economic system.

Readers approaching The Science of Being Great today generally get the most value by focusing on its underlying structure — the relationship between wisdom, consistent action, and service — rather than treating every specific illustration as directly applicable to modern circumstances.

Reading The Science of Being Great Today

The book remains considerably less well known than The Science of Getting Rich, but it continues to attract readers exploring Wattles’ complete body of work rather than only his most famous title. Its focus on character, service, and small consistent action gives it a noticeably different tone than the overtly wealth-focused reputation Wattles is best known for today.

Readers arriving here after his other titles will recognize the same voice and structural framework, applied to the wider question of what it actually means to become great, rather than simply wealthy or well. For anyone building a complete picture of Wattles’ philosophy, this book offers arguably the broadest lens of his three major works.

Frequently Asked Questions About The Science of Being Great

What is The Science of Being Great about

The Science of Being Great is Wallace Wattles’ 1911 book applying his Certain Way framework to the development of personal power and character, arguing that any person can become great regardless of heredity or circumstance.

How does The Science of Being Great relate to Wattles’ other books

It was intended as the third book in a series alongside The Science of Getting Rich and The Science of Being Well, applying the same underlying principles to character and personal power rather than wealth or physical health.

What is the central teaching of The Science of Being Great

A central teaching is that greatness begins with doing small, ordinary things in a great way, rather than waiting for large opportunities, gradually building the capacity for larger achievement through consistent quality of attention and action.