One Of The Realest Things Ever Written

Napoleon Hill (1883-1970)

I got this book from a friend at a job that I was working and hated. It inspired me to reach for new heights in my life, hence this blog and other writings to come. I hope that it inspires you to reach beyond your fears and go after all your moral dreams with a fervent desire and an open mind. This is an excerpt from the book "Succeed and Grow Rich Through Persuasion" by Napoleon Hill (1883-1970). He is the author of the book "Think and Grow Rich" and a pioneer of the "new thought" movement". He has been studied by the likes of Micheal Jackson and Bill Gates.


"Men search all their lives for worldly riches, not recognizing that the source of all riches is already within their reach and under their control, only awaiting recognition and use. The accurate thinker recognizes all the facts of life, both good and bad, and assumes the responsibility of separating and organizing the two, choosing those which serve his needs and rejecting the others. He is not impressed by hearsay evidence. He is not the slave, but the master, of his own emotions. He lives among men without giving them the privilege of encroaching upon his inner thoughts or his methods of thinking. His opinions are the result of sober analysis and careful study of facts or dependable evidence of facts".

"...He avails himself of the counsel of others, but reserves to himself the right to accept or reject it without apologies. When his plans fail, he promptly builds other plans to take their place, but he is never deflected from purpose by temporary defeat. He is a philosopher who determines causes by the analysis of their effects. He gets most of his clues by observing  the laws of nature and adapting himself to them".

"...When he prays, his first request is for more wisdom. But he never offers insult to Deity by asking for the circumvention of any natural law or by demanding something for nothing. Thus his prayers are usually answered in full, for he has thrown himself on the side of the Creator. He does not covet the material possessions of other men: he has a better way of acquiring all his needs by first earning them. He does not covet the material possessions of other men, because he knows that he is richer, in the values which count most in life, than most other men are".

"... He gives aid to others freely and accepts it only when its acceptance has been fully justified....These are the traits of an accurate thinker...The traits are simple and easily understood, but not so easily cultivated, for cultivation requires more self-discipline than the majority of men are willing to exercise.

"..Most people are imitators of others, and many are neurotics who would rather "keep up with the Joneses" than be themselves. Observe those whom you know best, study their habits carefully, and you will realize that most of them are merely synthetic imitations of other people, without a thought they can truthfully call their own. Most people trail along, accepting and acting upon the thoughts and habits of others, very much as sheep tag along after one another to establish a path".