Napoleon Hill
Napoleon Hill (October
26, 1883 – November 8, 1970) was an American author who was one of
the earliest producers of the modern genre of personal-success
literature. He is widely considered to be one of the great writers
on success. His most famous work,
Think and Grow Rich, is
one of the best-selling books of all time. Hill's works examined the
power of personal beliefs, and the role they play in personal
success. He became the advisor to President Franklin D. Roosevelt
from 1933-36. "What the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can
achieve" is one of Hill's hallmark expressions.
How achievement actually occurs, and a formula for it that
puts success in reach for the average person, were the focal points
of Hill's books. -
Wikipedia
The Amazing True
Story That Gave Us Think And Grow Rich
 On a dark and stormy night in 1908, a
young man was invited to the mansion of America's first billionaire,
Andrew Carnegie. In front of a flickering fire, Napoleon Hill,
a young, ambitious reporter quizzed Carnegie about his principles of
success.
The crusty Carnegie was impressed by
the earnest young fellow and suddenly offered him a shocking
proposition: "Mr. Hill, on your behalf I will use my considerable
influence to arrange opportunities for you to personally spend time
with 500 of the greatest accomplishers of our time. They will
include fellow industrialists, entrepreneurs, inventors, merchants,
statesmen, artists, and many others. You will have as much time as
you need to interview, learn from and observe them. Your objective
will be to validate the belief success is a matter of an ideology,
of universal laws, which can be enumerated, learned and then simply
duplicated and used as skills to deliver predictable results, just
as you might learn the laws and process of making steel.
You will accomplish this mission by
documenting the beliefs and behaviors all these great men and women
share in common. No remuneration shall be paid to you by myself. You
must support yourself while working on this project.
Your goal will be the publication of a
'success encyclopedia' enumerating the laws. Whatever the financial
rewards arise from that are yours. You have just 60 seconds to
accept or reject this offer…"
Napoleon Hill said yes, with a second to spare. And more than
a hundred years later more than 100 million people have learned the
principles of success because of his decision.
Originally
published in 1937, Think and Grow Rich is a "summary"
of an earlier work of Hill's called
The Law of Success in 16 Lessons. Thus was laid out the
"Philosophy of Achievement" as passed on by Andrew Carnegie and the
other successful people he introduced Hill to. |
