Never tell people about the fine thing you are going to do, but wait until you have done it, and then show them the completed article. Never point to an empty lot and say: "I am going to build a tower there"; but wait until the edifice is complete, and then if you like, say: "Look at the tower I have built." But when the tower is there it will not really be necessary to say anything at all, because it will speak for itself.

Talking about your plans before they have actually materialized is the surest way to destroy them. It is a universal law of nature that the unborn child is protected from all contact with the world; in fact this is the real function of motherhood. Now the inspiration that comes to you is your child; you are its mother; and nature intends that you should protect and nourish that idea in secrecy and shelter, up to the moment when it is ready to emerge upon the material plane.

To chatter or boast about it is to expose it to the world and kill it. This applies to any new enterprise that you may be contemplating, as well as to a new idea. An important business deal, for instance, a large sale, the buying of a house, the forming of a partnership, should be protected in the same way. Don't discuss these things at the luncheon table, or anywhere else.

Keep your business to yourself. Of course it is quite permissible to consult experts, and to reveal your plan where it is absolutely necessary to do so. This is nourishing the idea, not exposing It. It is chatter, gossip, and boasting that are to be avoided. In quietness and confidence shall be your strength.

EMMET FOX