Thomas Troward’s The Spirit of Opulence isn’t just another old lecture on prosperity — it’s a direct message about the energy and attitude that create wealth. Written over a century ago, this essay reveals a truth that still separates those who struggle from those who thrive. It’s not about chasing money — it’s about becoming the kind of person that money, opportunity, and abundance naturally flow toward.

Most people today still think like beggars — they hope, they pray, they wait for something outside of them to change their circumstances. Troward turns that entire mindset upside down. He reminds us that opulence isn’t about having — it’s about being. You don’t attract wealth by asking for it. You attract it by living from it.

That’s what makes this piece timeless. It’s not a financial manual — it’s a shift in consciousness. When you understand The Spirit of Opulence, you stop thinking in terms of lack. You stop apologizing for wanting more. You stop begging life for leftovers and start acting like someone who knows abundance is already theirs.

Let’s break it down — section by section — so you can see how this simple essay can completely change your relationship with money, mindset, and success.

It is quite a mistake to suppose that we must restrict and stunt ourselves in order to develop greater spirituality. The Spirit of Opulence—the Spirit of God—is not one of meanness; it is one of extravagant abundance. We must not think that all the beauty and magnificence of nature, all the grandeur of the universe, is merely thrown away, or only for the amusement of a few scientific men.

Troward starts by destroying the lie that “being spiritual” means being broke. True spirituality is expansion, not deprivation. Look at nature — nothing about it is stingy. Trees don’t ration oxygen; oceans don’t count waves. Life expresses itself through overflow, and that same energy is within you.

All this magnificence, all this beauty, is the expression of the same Spirit of Life which is within ourselves. Our own souls are of the same nature as the Divine Spirit, and if we only realize this fact we shall find that the same Spirit of Opulence which produced the beauty of the universe is the Spirit which is working through us.

He’s saying the power that created galaxies isn’t separate from you. It’s the same force that beats your heart and shapes your results. Once you stop seeing abundance as “out there” and start seeing it as through you, life begins to rearrange itself in your favor.

So long as we look upon the beauty and grandeur around us as something apart from ourselves, we shall never feel the true spirit of opulence. But when we realize that it is the same Spirit which is working within us that produced all this external magnificence, we begin to understand that the Spirit of Opulence is not one of poverty, but one of boundless abundance.

Separation creates scarcity. When you see yourself as outside of creation, you live as a beggar in a world that’s actually yours. Unity creates wealth — recognizing that the same source that painted the sunset also funds your vision.

The Spirit is Life, and Life is in itself movement and expansion. The very fact that it is Life shows that it must be ever expanding and developing, and if our life is to be the expression of the Spirit of Life it must also be an expanding and developing life.

Growth isn’t optional; it’s the law. Anything that isn’t expanding is decaying. Your business, your finances, your mindset — all obey this same principle. The universe rewards movement, not perfection.

Therefore we must not limit ourselves in any way, for as we understand the nature of Life we shall see that all limiting is death-dealing. It means the cutting off of the stream of life which would otherwise flow freely through us.

Limitation is self-imposed suffocation. Every time you say “I can’t,” you choke the current that’s trying to move through you. Replace limits with standards and your environment changes accordingly.

Now the Spirit of Opulence—the Spirit of God—being the Spirit of limitless abundance, if we want to work in harmony with it we must never fear that we are going to run short of it. We must enter into the Spirit of It.

Fear of running out keeps people poor. The moment you act from lack, you step out of flow. Faith in infinite supply is not denial; it’s alignment with reality.

And what is the Spirit of It? It is the Spirit of generosity.

This is the key line of the entire essay. Generosity is proof that you trust the source. You can’t out-give the Infinite. The more freely you give — energy, value, kindness, money — the more freely life circulates back to you.

The Spirit of Opulence is not a grasping spirit, it is the giving spirit. The Spirit of the Universe is a generous Spirit, and in so far as we are in harmony with it we shall find that it is generous to us; and the only way we can enter into the Spirit is to become like it, and to do what it does.

Abundance mirrors behavior. If you grasp, it withholds. If you give, it multiplies. You don’t attract wealth by clinging — you attract it by creating space for it to move.

This does not mean that we are called upon to be reckless, or to make foolish expenditures. It means that we are to look upon all the wealth in the universe as being ours, and that we are to enter into the Spirit of it by being willing to share it, to use it freely, and to do good with it.

Generosity isn’t recklessness. Troward’s warning is timeless: abundance works through order. Use what you have boldly, not blindly. Circulate money with intelligence, not guilt.

If we adopt this spirit there is no limit to the things which the same spirit in the Great Whole will provide for us, because we have recognized that the same Spirit which is in us is also in the Whole, and therefore all is One.

This is the wealth code: All is one. There’s no “me” and “the universe.” There’s only flow — giving and receiving as one act. The moment you grasp this, effort turns into effortless gain.

The Spirit of Opulence is the Spirit of perfect Liberty. It is the Spirit which recognizes that the Living Power which moves in us is the same that brings into manifestation the illimitable universe.

Freedom is the natural by-product of realizing oneness. The same force that moves planets moves your ideas. You’re not separate from creation; you are a channel of it.

It is the Spirit which realizes that in all this infinite variety of things there is only One Power and One Life, and that this Life is moving through us as well as through the whole universe.

Diversity doesn’t mean division. Every difference in life — money, success, opportunity — comes from how clearly we let that One Power express through us. The clearer the channel, the greater the flow.

Therefore our whole mental attitude should be that of one who knows he has access to the limitless storehouse of the universe, and that he has only to make use of it in a reasonable and orderly manner to draw from it without limit.

This paragraph could sit in any modern business book. Act like someone who already has access. Use resources wisely, without fear, knowing the supply is endless but requires stewardship.

To live always in this Spirit is to live the life of opulence.

That’s the mic-drop. Opulence isn’t a goal — it’s a state of being. When you stay in that state — thankful, generous, fearless — wealth, health, and opportunity simply echo it back.

Troward’s words strip away superstition and leave the essence: abundance is a law, not luck. The Spirit of Opulence isn’t about money — it’s about identity. Once you live from that identity, you don’t chase success; you radiate it.

Live it. Give it. Multiply it.
That’s The Spirit of Opulence.
That’s how you Live Life On Your Terms.

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