Sir John Templeton - Discovering the Laws of Life

BY JOHN MARKS TEMPLETON

Is God the Only Reality? (with Robert L. Hermann)

Evidence of Purpose (editor)

Looking Forward (editor)

Riches for the Mind and Spirit (editor)

The Templeton Plan (with James Ellison)

Global Investing the Templeton Way (with Norman Berryessa and Eric Kirzner)

The God Who Would Be Known (with Robert L. Hermann)

The Humble Approach

JOHN MARKS TEMPLETON

Foreword by

NORMAN VINCENT PEALE

CONTINUUM | NEW YORK

1995

The Continuum Publishing Company

370 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 10017

Copyright 1994 by John Marks Templeton

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written permission of The Continuum Publishing Company.

Printed in the United States of America

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Templeton, John, 1912

Discovering the laws of life/John Marks Templeton; Foreword by Norman Vincent Peak.

p. cm.

ISBN 0-8264-0636-X (alk. paper)

Ebook ISBN 978-1-5994-7455-7

1. Conduct of lifeQuotations, maxims, etc. 2. Spiritual lifeQuotations, maxims, etc. 3. Devotional calendars. I. Title.

BJ1581.2.T426 1994

170'.44dc20 93-30371

CIP

I have known John Marks Templeton for many years and have admired him greatly. From humble beginnings in a rural Tennessee farming community, he rose to lead a thirty-billion-dollar group of investment companies. His financial acumen and wisdom have helped thousands of investors, large and small, to grow their assets and develop wealth.

However, his financial skills and achievements are not what have produced my admiration, remarkable though they may be. What has impressed me most is his dedication and drive in the spiritual realm.

Long before he reached his present success, John Templeton awakened spiritually. Early in life, he began to tithe and to give his time unselfishly to philanthropic causes. He has since established several foundations to advance spiritual development. He has served tirelessly on the boards of key philanthropic and religious organizations. His most recent effort, the Humility Theology Information Center of the John Templeton Foundation, is typical, representing a commitment to discover and communicate the key factor in helping people develop humility, a spiritual quality that summarizes the character of Sir John.

Perhaps his best-known effort has been the establishment of the Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion. Given annually, the monetary value of this award now exceeds that of the Nobel Prizes. The international importance of this gift has been recognized by no less than Englands Queen Elizabeth II, who knighted John Templeton in 1987 for his service to philanthropy.

Once, when I had a conversation with him about spiritual faith, he summed up his thoughts by saying: The most important thing in human life is to seek and do the will of God. A person who does this is living by faith. He or she doesnt have to look around trying to find faith; it springs from within.

It is from this background, then, that Sir John has developed his wonderful collection of the laws of life. When I first heard of the concept, that there are universal principles present in every society and every religion that can lead us to a common understanding, I knew he was on to something important. It has been my experience that he is correct, that these principles do exist and that we can write them down and teach them to future generations.

This aspect of teaching the laws is vitally important. In an interview with the Peak Centers Plus Magazine , Sir John shared what he taught his own children about happiness: I taught them the principle of free will tied to happiness. Each of us is given a free will, and we can create our own happiness and our own heaven or hell. You can do it by choosing your thoughts. Choose negativity and you will get unhappiness and hell. Choose confident living and positive thoughts and you will produce a heaven of happiness.

This idea of teaching and learning is the key to Discovering the Laws of Life. Having passed my own 95th birthday, I know we never stop learning and needing to learn. Sir John has done us all a great service by distilling and passing on these principles that have guided his own life into happiness, success and incredible usefulness to others.

NORMAN VINCENT PEALE

The Hill Farm
Pawling, New York
July 1993

Following in the footsteps of Benjamin Franklin and others who have tried to pass on their learning to others, this book has been written from a lifetime of experience and diligent observation in the hope that it may help people in all parts of the world to make their lives not only happier but also more useful. It is intended for everyone, for the young who each day are being introduced to the laws that can make their lives more productive, as well as for the older and more experienced who seek confirmation and affirmation of the laws of life.

Outlined in my earlier book, The Templeton Plan: 21 Steps to Personal Success and Real Happiness , are some of the laws that should prove helpful as you proceed along the road to spiritual maturity:

• TRUTHFULNESS when a lie would be so much easier;
• RELIABILITY when you could slack off;
• FAITHFULNESS during moments of doubt;
• PERSEVERANCE when you think youre too tired to go on;
• ENTHUSIASM while encountering roadblocks;
• ENERGY at the moment you feel burned out;
• HUMILITY while others heap praise on you;
• PLEASING others before thinking of your own pleasure;
• GIVING to others before thinking of receiving;
• LEARNING from others because you realize theres so little you know;
• ALTRUISM even though you may sense around you an atmosphere of selfishness;
• JOY at the very moment when your prospects seem the darkest.

Indeed, this is a short list of the laws of life. There are many more laws, and, in this book, you will find 200 major ones, culled from a list of many hundreds. They come from a vast array of sourcesfrom the Scriptures, from storytellers such as Aesop, from scientists such as Isaac Newton, from artists and historians.

The poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote: Lives of great men oft remind us that we can make our lives sublime and departing leave behind us footprints in the sands of time. The truth of this statement can be demonstrated if we look to the lives of the famous as well as the unsung heroes of the past and present, for there we will find many models for useful, happy living. And, when we examine their words and deeds, we will discover the principles that inspired and sustained their benefits to future generations.

Some laws in this book are based on quotations from sources as far-reaching and varied as Aesops Fables , Lao Tses Tao Te Ching and Wayne Dyers The Skys The Limit. Drawn from the scriptures of different traditions, as well as from schools of philosophical thought both ancient and modern, each quotation points to a particular law that holds true for most people under most circumstances. The essays are designed to inspire and encourage youto help you consider more deeply the laws you live by and to reap the rewards of their practical application.