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->''"As above, so below.''
->''As within, so without."''
-->--'''The Emerald Tablet''', circa 3000 B.C.

''The Secret'' is a self-help book by Australian TV producer Rhonda Byrne that claims to be able to teach you how to get everything you ever wanted (yes, ''everything!'' Even that!) by simply keeping a positive attitude and performing some simple exercises such as meditation, visualization (basically, using your imagination), and writing about what you want. In the book, the [[TheEponymousShow eponymous]] secret is the "Law of Attraction," which states that a positive outlook on life and positive thoughts will attract positive things into your life, whereas negative thoughts will do just the opposite. A big part of this is [[DaydreamBeliever daydreaming about the things you want and believing they're already yours]].

There's also some {{Technobabble}} regarding Einstein, string theory, and quantum mechanics. Also, there are a lot of personal anecdotes from a bunch of people.

Optical engineer and sci fi author Creator/TravisSTaylor recently put out a book titled ''The Science Behind The Secret'' attempting to support The Secret with [[AppealToAuthority appeals to authority]], [[AppealToTradition noting a long history of similar beliefs]], and a terribly butchered reading of quantum physics.

If ''The Secret'' actually works as intended (which it ''might'', at least in the sense that being positive will make you more productive), then it's a real-life MagicFeather. If not, it's just a multi-million dollar franchise which teaches bad values.

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!!Tropes:

* ArtisticLicenseHistory: No copy of the Emerald Tablet other than this book has ever featured the phrase "As within, so without" after "as above, so below". Furthermore, there is no evidence that it predates the Abbasid Caliphate from around the 8th century.
* BeethovenWasAnAlienSpy: Several historical figures, such as Napoleon, Leonardo da Vinci, and Albert Einstein, are mentioned to have studied up on the Law of Attraction and mentioned it in their writings (along with some more modern, albeit obscure, names who contributed to the book), "shown" by {{quote mining}} their work.
%%zce* ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve: How the Law of Attraction supposedly works.
%%zce* DaydreamBeliever: What this book wants to turn you into.
* GoodFortuneFromGod: Perhaps the best-known non-theistic example.
* IWishItWereReal: It contends that doing so will actually ''make'' a desired object real.
* LiteralGenie: A metaphor describes the universe as a genie that will consistently give you whatever you think about the most in your life, be it positive or negative. Although for some bizarre reason, it will give you the negative stuff if you so much as give it a passing thought, but you have to concentrate to get the good stuff.
%%* QuantumMechanicsCanDoAnything: A particularly JustForFun/{{egregious}} offender.
* QuoteMining: This is used to make it seem as if famous people from the past used "the secret."
* RewritingReality: This is effectively what the book claims you can do by wishing hard enough. A cynical observer could comment that the trope name is also an accurate description of the book's ArtisticLicenseHistory, QuantumMechanicsCanDoAnything, and QuoteMining.
* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVsCynicism: Obviously, it lies on the "idealism" end of the scale. At least theoretically. A cynical person could speculate that the author is in fact a deeply cynical individual who wants to make money off of gullible people.
%%* YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre
%%zce* YourMindMakesItReal: Another contention of the film/book.
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