PROSPERITY – How to Attract It - Chapter 15. HOW TO GET RID OF FEAR AND WORRY - Orison Swett Marden - HQ Full Book.

Fear and worry are the twin shadows that silently steal joy, diminish health, and paralyze the potential of countless lives. In Chapter 15 of Prosperity – How to Attract It, Orison Swett Marden offers a transformative exploration into how fear and worry silently sabotage our success and outlines practical, spiritual, and psychological tools to banish them forever. This episode is a powerful guide for anyone tired of living in the clutches of doubt and emotional unrest, yearning instead to walk boldly in peace, confidence, and faith.  

Marden opens with a truth that resonates through time: a day of worry is more exhausting than a week of labor. Fear, he writes, not only impairs our health but paralyzes our efficiency, shortens life, and destroys happiness. It is a thief that robs us of our vitality long before any real hardship occurs. And worse still, most of our fears are never realized. We suffer more in imagination than in reality.  

This chapter challenges the listener to examine their relationship with fear: Are you crossing bridges before you get to them? Are you imagining disasters that never come? Marden illustrates, through poignant stories and clear logic, that living in constant anticipation of misfortune leads only to wasted energy and shattered nerves. A fearful man, he declares, is a man who lacks faith—faith in himself and faith in the divine presence that governs life with intelligence and order.  

He recounts the story of a girl in New York who, after slipping on ice and narrowly avoiding a truck, became convinced she'd been run over—so much so that she was driven insane by a purely imagined trauma. There were no injuries, no physical harm—only the fear in her mind. This haunting example serves to illustrate Marden’s central thesis: fear has no real power except the power we give it through belief. Throughout the episode, listeners are reminded of the immense damage fear causes—not just mentally, but physically. Worry and anxiety weaken the immune system, open the door to disease, and even hasten death. Marden brings forward another example of a woman who died from fright during a thunderstorm—not from lightning, but from a lifelong dread of it. Her body was untouched, yet her fear proved fatal.  

The great influenza epidemic of World War I, which devastated populations, is another instance where Marden points to fear as a catalyst. He argues that fear of disease actually invites it. When people expect illness, dread it, and constantly think about it, they lower their resistance and attract the very condition they wish to avoid. “Through the influence of the fear thought,” he says, “people are cutting off their divine supply, ruining their health, their possibilities of success and happiness.”

One of the most crippling forms of fear Marden addresses is the fear of poverty. The vision of the wolf at the door—of not being able to provide for one’s family—has led millions into anxiety, broken dreams, and financial paralysis. The tragedy is that this fear often becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. By focusing so intently on lack, people shut themselves off from abundance. They remain trapped in a poverty mindset, never realizing that the key to prosperity lies in visualizing abundance and trusting in divine provision.  

Marden is unequivocal: fear and worry are not only useless—they are destructive. They do not solve problems. They do not add to your income, improve your relationships, or heal your body. Instead, they sap your strength, kill your joy, diminish your courage, and reduce your efficiency by as much as seventy-five percent. But there is hope—and that hope lies in cultivating faith. Faith in oneself. Faith in God. Faith in the principle that we are not alone, and that we are meant to live abundantly. Marden calls on his listeners to confront their fears, to speak boldly against the thoughts that try to paralyze them, and to affirm their divine heritage. “I am a son of God,” he writes, “and I was never made to cower before anything.”  

He encourages us to take a cue from nature. Birds do not build nests for more winters than one. Dogs do not lose sleep over future bone shortages. These so-called “lower animals” exhibit a serene trust that most humans lack. And yet, Christ himself taught, “Take no thought for the morrow.” The message is clear: live fully in the present, and trust that your needs will be met.

This episode also dispels the idea that fear is natural or necessary. Citing Professor William James, Marden asserts that fear is conquerable, and that it is possible to live an entire life free of its grip. This is not blind optimism—it is grounded in spiritual truth and practical action. To conquer fear, we must change our thought. To change thought is to change life.  

Listeners are invited to flood their minds with courage, hope, assurance, and images of triumphant success. Instead of imagining disaster, they are urged to visualize strength, clarity, and fulfillment. Fear cannot survive in a mind filled with confidence and conviction. Marden’s call to action is empowering and direct: Speak to your fears. Command them to leave your mind. Affirm aloud your courage, your strength, your connection to the infinite power that created you. Tell yourself you were not born to fail, to suffer, or to be bound by chains of worry. You are a co-creator with God. As such, no obstacle can truly stand in your way—unless you permit it. “Nothing but ourselves can make God’s promise void,” Marden proclaims. The door to our dreams is already open. The only thing that can shut it is fear. And that fear has no power unless we give it power.  

Chapter 15 is a rallying cry to rise above the fog of worry and live in the sunlight of faith. It is not a naïve dismissal of life’s challenges, but a powerful reorientation toward inner mastery. This episode is a must-listen for anyone who has ever felt held back by fear or overwhelmed by worry. It will equip you with the tools to break free, reclaim your power, and walk boldly into a life of abundance, peace, and purpose. Let go of fear. Embrace faith. The life you desire is not just possible—it is waiting.  

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