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THINK and GROW RICH
by Napoleon Hill

Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill was originally published by The Ralston Society,
Meridian Conn. 1938. It is now in the public domain. This edition is not sponsored by or
endorsed by, or otherwise affiliated with, Napoleon Hill or his family and heirs, the
Napoleon Hill Foundation, The Ralston Society, or any other person or entity. This
electronic facsimile edition was published in 2004 and distributed by The Million Dollar
Bookshelf.
Copyright © 2004 The Million Dollar Bookshelf.
This ebook is free however it cannot be shared or reproduced in whole or in part. If you
would like to share this book with others please direct them to our website where a
legitimate copy can be downloaded for free:
http://www.milliondollarbookshelf.com

Napoleon Hill’s

THINK and GROW RICH
Teaching, for the first time, the famous
Andrew Carnegie formula for money-making
based upon THE THIRTEEN PROVEN STEPS
TO RICHES.

Organized through 25 years of research, in
collaboration with more than 500 distinguished
men of great wealth, who proved by their own
achievements that this philosophy is practical.

TRIBUTES TO THE AUTHOR
From Great American Leaders

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES
WASHINGTON, D.C.

“Dear Mr. Hill:-I have now had an opportunity to finish reading your Law of Success
textbooks and I wish to express my appreciation of the splendid work
you have done in the organization of this philosophy.
It would be helpful if every politician in the country would
assimilate and apply the 17 principles upon which our lessons are based. It
contains some very fine material which every leader in every walk of
life should understand.
I am happy to have had the privilege of rendering you some slight
measure of help in the organization of this splendid course of “common
sense” philosophy.
Sincerely yours

(Former President)

KING OF THE 5 AND 10 CENT STORES
“By applying many of the 17 fundamentals of the Law of Success
philosophy we have build a great chain of successful stores. I presume ; it
would be no exaggeration o f fact if I said that the Woolworth Building
might properly be called a monument to the soundness of these
principles.”

F.W. WOOLWORTH

A GREAT STEAMSHIP MAGNATE
“I feel greatly indebted for the privilege of reading your Law of
Success. If I had had this philosophy fifty years ago, I suppose I could
have accomplished all that I have done in less that half the time. I
sincerely hope the world will discover and reward you.”
ROBERT DOLLAR

FAMOUS AMERICAN LABOR LEADER
“Mastery of the Law of Success philosophy is the equivalent of an
insurance policy against failure.”
SAMUEL GOMPERS

A FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
“May I not congratulate you on your persistence. Any man who
devoted that much time... must of necessity make discoveries of great
value to others. I am deeply impressed by your interpretation of the
‘Master Mind’ principles which you have so clearly described.”
WOODROW WILSON

A MERCHANT PRINCE
“I know that your 17 fundamentals of success are sound because I
have been applying them in my business for more than 30 years.”
JOHN WANAMAKER

WORLD’S LARGEST MAKER OF CAMERAS
“I know that you are doing a world of good with your Law of
Success. I would not care to set a monetary value on this training because
it brings to the student qualities which cannot be measured by money,
alone.”
GEORGE EASTMAN

A NATIONALLY KNOWN BUSINESS CHIEF
“Whatever success I may have attained I owe, entirely, to the
application of your 17 fundamental principles of the Law of Success. I
believe I have the honor of being your first student.”
WM. WRIGLEY, JR.

CONTENTS
Author’s Preface

2

1.

Introduction

10

2.

Desire: The Turning Point of All Achievement

30

3.

Faith Visualization of and Belief in Attainment of Desire

54

4.

Auto-Suggestion the Medium for Influencing the Subconscious Mind

78

5.

Specialized Knowledge, Personal Experiences or Observations

87

6.

Imagination: the Workshop of the Mind

105

7.

Organized Planning, the Crystallization of Desire into Action

123

8.

Decision: the Mastery of Procrastination

176

9.

Persistence: the Sustained Effort Necessary to Induce Faith

191

10.

Power of the Master Mind: the Driving Force

212

11.

The Mystery of Sex Transmutation

222

12.

The Subconscious Mind: The Connecting Link

249

13.

The Brain: A Broadcasting and Receiving Station for Thought

259

14.

The Sixth Sense: The Door to the Temple of Wisdom

268

15.

How to Outwit the Six Ghosts of Fear

282

NAPOLEON HILL

AUTHOR’S PREFACE
In every chapter of this book, mention has been made of
the money-making secret which has made fortunes for more
than five hundred exceedingly wealthy men whom I have
carefully analyzed over a long period of years.
The secret was brought to my attention by Andrew
Carnegie, more than a quarter of a century ago. The canny,
lovable old Scotsman carelessly tossed it into my mind, when I
was but a boy. Then he sat back in his chair, with a merry
twinkle in his eyes, and watched carefully to see if I had
brains enough to understand the full significance of what he
had said to me.
When he saw that I had grasped the idea, he asked if I
would be willing to spend twenty years or more, preparing
myself to take it to the world, to men and women who,
without the secret, might go through life as failures. I said I
would, and with Mr. Carnegie's cooperation, I have kept my
promise.
This book contains the secret, after having been put to a
practical test by thousands of people, in almost every walk of
life. It was Mr. Carnegie's idea that the magic formula, which
gave him a stupendous fortune, ought to be placed within
reach of people who do not have time to investigate how men
make money, and it was his hope that I might test and
demonstrate the soundness of the formula through the
experience of men and women in every calling. He believed the
formula should be taught in all public schools and colleges,
and expressed the opinion that if it were properly taught it
would so revolutionize the entire educational system that the
time spent in school could be reduced to less than half.

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mTHINK and GROW RICH n
His experience with Charles M. Schwab, and other young
men of Mr. Schwab's type, convinced Mr. Carnegie that much
of that which is taught in the schools is of no value
whatsoever in connection with the business of earning a living
or accumulating riches. He had arrived at this decision,
because he had taken into his business one young man after
another, many of them with but little schooling, and by
coaching them in the use of this formula, developed in them
rare leadership. Moreover, his coaching made fortunes for
everyone of them who followed his instructions.
In the chapter on Faith, you will read the astounding
story of the organization of the giant United States Steel
Corporation, as it was conceived and carried out by one of the
young men through whom Mr. Carnegie proved that his
formula will work for all who are ready for it. This single
application of the secret, by that young man— Charles M.
Schwab— made him a huge fortune in both money and
OPPORTUNITY. Roughly speaking, this particular application
of the formula was worth six hundred million dollars.
These facts— and they are facts well known to almost
everyone who knew Mr. Carnegie— give you a fair idea of
what the reading of this book may bring to you, provided you
KNOW WHAT IT IS THAT YOU WANT.
Even before it had undergone twenty years of practical
testing, the secret was passed on to more than one hundred
thousand men and women who have used it for their personal
benefit, as Mr. Carnegie planned that they should. Some have
made fortunes with it. Others have used it successfully in
creating harmony in their homes. A clergyman used it so
effectively that it brought him an income of upwards of
$75,000.00 a year.
Arthur Nash, a Cincinnati tailor, used his near-bankrupt
business as a "guinea pig" on which to test the formula. The
business came to life and made a fortune for its owners. It is
still thriving, although Mr. Nash has gone. The experiment

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NAPOLEON HILL
was so unique that newspapers and magazines, gave it more
than a million dollars' worth of laudatory publicity.
The secret was passed on to Stuart Austin Wier, of
Dallas, Texas. He was ready for it— so ready that he gave up
his profession and studied law. Did he succeed? That story is
told too.
I gave the secret to Jennings Randolph, the day he
graduated from College, and he has used it so successfully
that he is now serving his third term as a Member of
Congress, with an excellent opportunity to keep on using it
until it carries him to the White House.
While serving as Advertising Manager of the La-Salle
Extension University, when it was little more than a name, I
had the privilege of seeing J. G. Chapline, President of the
University, use the formula so effectively that he has since
made the LaSalle one of the great extension schools of the
country.
The secret to which I refer has been mentioned no fewer
than a hundred times, throughout this book. It has not been
directly named, for it seems to work more successfully when it
is merely uncovered and left in sight, where THOSE WHO
ARE READY, and SEARCHING FOR IT, may pick it up. That
is why Mr. Carnegie tossed it to me so quietly, without giving
me its specific name.
If you are READY to put it to use, you will recognize this
secret at least once in every chapter. I wish I might feel
privileged to tell you how you will know if you are ready, but
that would deprive you of much of the benefit you will receive
when you make the discovery in your own way.
While this book was being written, my own son, who was
then finishing the last year of his college work, picked up the
manuscript of chapter two, read it, and discovered the secret
for himself. He used the information so effectively that he
went directly into a responsible position at a beginning salary
greater than the average man ever earns. His story has been
briefly described in chapter two. When you read it, perhaps

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mTHINK and GROW RICH n
you will dismiss any feeling you may have had, at the
beginning of the book, that it promised too much. And, too, if
you have ever been discouraged, if you have had difficulties to
surmount which took the very soul out of you, if you have
tried and failed, if you were ever handicapped by illness or
physical affliction, this story of my son's discovery and use of
the Carnegie formula may prove to be the oasis in the Desert
of Lost Hope, for which you have been searching.
This secret was extensively used by President Woodrow
Wilson, during the World War. It was passed on to every
soldier who fought in the war, carefully wrapped in the
training received before going to the front. President Wilson
told me it was a strong factor in raising the funds needed for
the war.
More than twenty years ago, Hon. Manuel L. Quezon
(then Resident Commissioner of the Philippine Islands), was
inspired by the secret to gain freedom for his people. He has
gained freedom for the Philippines, and is the first President
of the free state.
A peculiar thing about this secret is that those who once
acquire it and use it, find themselves literally swept on to
success, with but little effort, and they never again submit to
failure! If you doubt this, study the names of those who have
used it, wherever they have been mentioned, check their
records for yourself, and be convinced.
There is no such thing as SOMETHING FOR NOTHING!
The secret to which I refer cannot be had without a
price, although the price is far less than its value. It cannot be
had at any price by those who are not intentionally searching
for it. It cannot be given away, it cannot be purchased for
money, for the reason that it comes in two parts. One part is
already in possession of those who are ready for it.
The secret serves equally well, all who are ready for it.
Education has nothing to do with it. Long before I was born,
the secret had found its way into the possession of Thomas A.
Edison, and he used it so intelligently that he became the

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NAPOLEON HILL
world's leading inventor, although he had but three months of
schooling.
The secret was passed on to a business associate of Mr.
Edison. He used it so effectively that, although he was then
making only $12,000 a year, he accumulated a great fortune,
and retired from active business while still a young man. You
will find his story at the beginning of the first chapter. It
should convince you that riches are not beyond your reach,
that you can still be what you wish to be, that money, fame,
recognition and happiness can be had by all who are ready
and determined to have these blessings.
How do I know these things? You should have the
answer before you finish this book. You may find it in the very
first chapter, or on the last page.
While I was performing the twenty year task of research,
which I had undertaken at Mr. Carnegie's request, I analyzed
hundreds of well known men, many of whom admitted that
they had accumulated their vast fortunes through the aid of
the Carnegie secret; among these men were: -HENRY FORD
WILLIAM WRIGLEY JR.
JOHN WANAMAKER
JAMES J. HILL
GEORGE S. PARKER
E. M. STATLER
HENRY L. DOHERTY
CYRUS H. K. CURTIS
GEORGE EASTMAN
THEODORE ROOSEVELT
JOHN W. DAVIS
ELBERT HUBBARD
WILBUR WRIGHT
WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN
DR. DMTID STARR JORDAN

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mTHINK and GROW RICH n
J. ODGEN ARMOUR
CHARLES M. SCHWAB
HARRIS F. WILLIAMS
DR. FRANK GUNSAULUS
DANIEL WILLARD
KING GILLETTE
RALPH A. WEEKS
JUDGE DANIEL T. WRIGHT
JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER
THOMAS A. EDISON
FRANK A. VANDERLIP
F. W. WOOLWORTH
COL. ROBERT A. DOLLAR
EDWARD A. FILENE
EDWIN C. BARNES
ARTHUR BRISBANE
WOODROW WILSON
WM. HOWARD TAFT
LUTHER BURBANK
EDWARD W. BOK
FRANK A. MUNSEY
ELBERT H. GARY
DR. ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL
JOHN H. PATTERSON
JULIUS ROSENWALD
STUART AUSTIN WIER
DR. FRANK CRANE
GEORGE M. ALEXANDER
J. G. CHAPPLINE
HON. JENNINGS RANDOLPH
ARTHUR NASH
CLARENCE DARROW
These names represent but a small fraction of the
hundreds of well known Americans whose achievements,

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NAPOLEON HILL
financially and otherwise, prove that those who understand
and apply the Carnegie secret, reach high stations in life. I
have never known anyone who was inspired to use the secret,
who did not achieve noteworthy success in his chosen calling.
I have never known any person to distinguish himself, or to
accumulate riches of any consequence, without possession of
the secret. From these two facts I draw the conclusion that
the secret is more important, as a part of the knowledge
essential for self-determination, than any which one receives
through what is popularly known as "education."
What is EDUCATION, anyway? This has been answered
in full detail.
As far as schooling is concerned, many of these men had
very little. John Wanamaker once told me that what little
schooling he had, he acquired in very much the same manner
as a modern locomotive takes on water, by "scooping it up as
it runs." Henry Ford never reached high school, let alone
college. I am not attempting to minimize the value of
schooling, but I am trying to express my earnest belief that
those who master and apply the secret will reach high
stations, accumulate riches, and bargain with life on their
own terms, even if their schooling has been meager.
Somewhere, as you read, the secret to which I refer will
jump from the page and stand boldly before you, IF YOU ARE
READY FOR IT! When it appears, you will recognize it.
Whether you receive the sign in the first or the last chapter,
stop for a moment when it presents itself, and turn down a
glass, for that occasion will mark the most important turningpoint of your life.
We pass now, to Chapter One, and to the story of my
very dear friend, who has generously acknowledged having
seen the mystic sign, and whose business achievements are
evidence enough that he turned down a glass. As you read his
story, and the others, remember that they deal with the
important problems of life, such as all men experience.

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mTHINK and GROW RICH n
The problems arising from one's endeavor to earn a
living, to find hope, courage, contentment and peace of mind;
to accumulate riches and to enjoy freedom of body and spirit.
Remember, too, as you go through the book, that it deals
with facts and not with fiction, its purpose being to convey a
great universal truth through which all who are READY may
learn, not only WHAT TO DO, BUT ALSO HOW TO DO IT! and
receive, as well, THE NEEDED STIMULUS TO MAKE A
START.
As a final word of preparation, before you begin the first
chapter, may I offer one brief suggestion which may provide a
clue by which the Carnegie secret may be recognized? It is
this-ALL ACHIEVEMENT, ALL EARNED RICHES, HAVE
THEIR BEGINNING IN AN IDEA! If you are ready for the
secret, you already possess one half of it, therefore, you will
readily recognize the other half the moment it reaches your
mind.

THE AUTHOR

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NAPOLEON HILL

1. INTRODUCTION

THE MAN WHO "THOUGHT" HIS WAY INTO
PARTNERSHIP WITH THOMAS A. EDISON

TRULY, "thoughts are things," and powerful things at

that, when they are mixed with definiteness of purpose,
persistence, and a BURNING DESIRE for their translation into
riches, or other material objects.
A little more than thirty years ago, Edwin C. Barnes
discovered how true it is that men really do THINK AND
GROW RICH. His discovery did not come about at one sitting.
It came little by little, beginning with a BURNING DESIRE to
become a business associate of the great Edison.
One of the chief characteristics of Barnes' Desire was
that it was definite. He wanted to work with Edison, not for
him. Observe, carefully, the description of how he went about
translating his DESIRE into reality, and you will have a better
understanding of the thirteen principles which lead to riches.
When this DESIRE, or impulse of thought, first flashed
into his mind he was in no position to act upon it. Two
difficulties stood in his way. He did not know Mr. Edison, and
he did not have enough money to pay his railroad fare to
Orange, New Jersey.
These difficulties were sufficient to have discouraged the
majority of men from making any attempt to carry out the
desire. But his was no ordinary desire! He was so determined
to find a way to carry out his desire that he finally decided to
travel by "blind baggage," rather than be defeated. (To the

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mTHINK and GROW RICH n
uninitiated, this means that he went to East Orange on a
freight train).
He presented himself at Mr. Edison's laboratory, and
announced he had come to go into business with the inventor.
In speaking of the first meeting between Barnes and Edison,
years later, Mr. Edison said, "He stood there before me, looking
like an ordinary tramp, but there was something in the
expression of his face which conveyed the impression that he
was determined to get what he had come after. I had learned,
from years of experience with men, that when a man really
DESIRES a thing so deeply that he is willing to stake his
entire future on a single turn of the wheel in order to get it, he
is sure to win. I gave him the opportunity he asked for,
because I saw he had made up his mind to stand by until he
succeeded. Subsequent events proved that no mistake was
made."
Just what young Barnes said to Mr. Edison on that
occasion was far less important than that which he thought.
Edison, himself, said so! It could not have been the young
man's appearance which got him his start in the Edison office,
for that was definitely against him. It was what he THOUGHT
that counted.
If the significance of this statement could be conveyed to
every person who reads it, there would be no need for the
remainder of this book.
Barnes did not get his partnership with Edison on his
first interview. He did get a chance to work in the Edison
offices, at a very nominal wage, doing work that was
unimportant to Edison, but most important to Barnes,
because it gave him an opportunity to display his
"merchandise" where his intended "partner" could see it.
Months went by. Apparently nothing happened to bring
the coveted goal which Barnes had set up in his mind as his
DEFINITE MAJOR PURPOSE. But something important was
happening in Barnes' mind. He was constantly intensifying his
DESIRE to become the business associate of Edison.

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NAPOLEON HILL
Psychologists have correctly said that "when one is truly
ready for a thing, it puts in its appearance."
Barnes was ready for a business association with Edison,
moreover, he was DETERMINED TO REMAIN READY UNTIL
HE GOT THAT WHICH HE WAS SEEKING.
He did not say to himself, "Ah well, what's the use? I
guess I'll change my mind and try for a salesman's job." But,
he did say, "I came here to go into business with Edison, and
I'll accomplish this end if it takes the remainder of my life." He
meant it! What a different story men would have to tell if only
they would adopt a DEFINITE PURPOSE, and stand by that
purpose until it had time to become an all-consuming
obsession!
Maybe young Barnes did not know it at the time, but his
bulldog determination, his persistence in standing back of a
single DESIRE, was destined to mow down all opposition, and
bring him the opportunity he was seeking.
When the opportunity came, it appeared in a different
form, and from a different direction than Barnes had
expected. That is one of the tricks of opportunity. It has a sly
habit of slipping in by the back door, and often it comes
disguised in the form of misfortune, or temporary defeat.
Perhaps this is why so many fail to recognize opportunity.
Mr. Edison had just perfected a new office device, known
at that time, as the Edison Dictating Machine (now the
Ediphone). His salesmen were not enthusiastic over the
machine. They did not believe it could be sold without great
effort. Barnes saw his opportunity. It had crawled in quietly,
hidden in a queer looking machine which interested no one
but Barnes and the inventor.
Barnes knew he could sell the Edison Dictating Machine.
He suggested this to Edison, and promptly got his chance. He
did sell the machine. In fact, he sold it so successfully that
Edison gave him a contract to distribute and market it all
over the nation. Out of that business association grew the
slogan, "Made by Edison and installed by Barnes."

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mTHINK and GROW RICH n
The business alliance has been in operation for more
than thirty years. Out of it Barnes has made himself rich in
money, but he has done something infinitely greater, he has
proved that one really may "Think and Grow Rich."
How much actual cash that original DESIRE of Barnes'
has been worth to him, I have no way of knowing. Perhaps it
has brought him two or three million dollars, but the amount,
whatever it is, becomes insignificant when compared with the
greater asset he acquired in the form of definite knowledge
that an intangible impulse of thought can be transmuted into
its physical counterpart by the application of known
principles.
Barnes literally thought himself into a partnership with
the great Edison! He thought himself into a fortune. He had
nothing to start with, except the capacity to KNOW WHAT HE
WANTED, AND THE DETERMINATION TO STAND BY THAT
DESIRE UNTIL HE REALIZED IT.
He had no money to begin with. He had but little
education. He had no influence. But he did have initiative,
faith, and the will to win. With these intangible forces he
made himself number one man with the greatest inventor
who ever lived.
Now, let us look at a different situation, and study a man
who had plenty of tangible evidence of riches, but lost it,
because he stopped three feet short of the goal he was
seeking.

THREE FEET FROM GOLD
One of the most common causes of failure is the habit of
quitting when one is overtaken by temporary defeat. Every
person is guilty of this mistake at one time or another.
An uncle of R. U. Darby was caught by the "gold fever" in
the gold-rush days, and went west to DIG AND GROW RICH.

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NAPOLEON HILL
He had never heard that more gold has been mined from the
brains of men than has ever been taken from the earth. He
staked a claim and went to work with pick and shovel. The
going was hard, but his lust for gold was definite.
After weeks of labor, he was rewarded by the discovery
of the shining ore. He needed machinery to bring the ore to
the surface. Quietly, he covered up the mine, retraced his
footsteps to his home in Williamsburg, Maryland, told his
relatives and a few neighbors of the "strike." They got together
money for the needed machinery, had it shipped. The uncle
and Darby went back to work the mine.
The first car of ore was mined, and shipped to a smelter.
The returns proved they had one of the richest mines in
Colorado! A few more cars of that ore would clear the debts.
Then would come the big killing in profits.
Down went the drills! Up went the hopes of Darby and
Uncle! Then something happened! The vein of gold ore
disappeared! They had come to the end of the rainbow, and
the pot of gold was no longer there! They drilled on,
desperately trying to pick up the vein again-all to no avail.
Finally, they decided to QUIT. They sold the machinery to a
junk man for a few hundred dollars, and took the train back
home. Some "junk" men are dumb, but not this one! He called
in a mining engineer to look at the mine and do a little
calculating. The engineer advised that the project had failed,
because the owners were not familiar with "fault lines." His
calculations showed that the vein would be found JUST
THREE FEET FROM WHERE THE DARBYS HAD STOPPED
DRILLING! That is exactly where it was found!
The "Junk" man took millions of dollars in ore from the
mine, because he knew enough to seek expert counsel before
giving up. Most of the money which went into the machinery
was procured through the efforts of R. U. Darby, who was
then a very young man. The money came from his relatives
and neighbors, because of their faith in him. He paid back
every dollar of it, although he was years in doing so. Long

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mTHINK and GROW RICH n
afterward, Mr. Darby recouped his loss many times over,
when he made the discovery that DESIRE can be transmuted
into gold. The discovery came after he went into the business
of selling life insurance.
Remembering that he lost a huge fortune, because he
STOPPED three feet from gold, Darby profited by the
experience in his chosen work, by the simple method of saying
to himself, "I stopped three feet from gold, but I will never stop
because men say `no' when I ask them to buy insurance."
Darby is one of a small group of fewer than fifty men
who sell more than a million dollars in life insurance annually.
He owes his "stickability" to the lesson he learned from his
“quitability" in the gold mining business.
Before success comes in any man's life, he is sure to
meet with much temporary defeat, and, perhaps, some failure.
When defeat overtakes a man, the easiest and most logical
thing to do is to QUIT. That is exactly what the majority of
men do.
More than five hundred of the most successful men this
country has ever known, told the author their greatest
success came just one step beyond the point at which defeat
had overtaken them. Failure is a trickster with a keen sense
of irony and cunning. It takes great delight in tripping one
when success is almost within reach.

A FIFTY-CENT LESSON IN PERSISTENCE
Shortly after Mr. Darby received his degree from the
"University of Hard Knocks," and had decided to profit by his
experience in the gold mining business, he had the good
fortune to be present on an occasion that proved to him that
"No" does not necessarily mean no.
One afternoon he was helping his uncle grind wheat in
an old fashioned mill. The uncle operated a large farm on

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NAPOLEON HILL
which a number of colored sharecrop farmers lived. Quietly,
the door was opened, and a small colored child, the daughter
of a tenant, walked in and took her place near the door.
The uncle looked up, saw the child, and barked at her
roughly, "what do you want?"
Meekly, the child replied, "My mammy say send her fifty
cents."
"I'll not do it," the uncle retorted, "Now you run on home."
"Yas sah," the child replied. But she did not move.
The uncle went ahead with his work, so busily engaged
that he did not pay enough attention to the child to observe
that she did not leave. When he looked up and saw her still
standing there, he yelled at her, "I told you to go on home! Now
go, or I'll take a switch to you."
The little girl said "yas sah," but she did not budge an
inch.
The uncle dropped a sack of grain he was about to pour
into the mill hopper, picked up a barrel stave, and started
toward the child with an expression on his face that indicated
trouble.
Darby held his breath. He was certain he was about to
witness a murder. He knew his uncle had a fierce temper. He
knew that colored children were not supposed to defy white
people in that part of the country.
When the uncle reached the spot where the child was
standing, she quickly stepped forward one step, looked up into
his eyes, and screamed at the top of her shrill voice, "MY
MAMMY'S GOTTA HAVE THAT FIFTY CENTS!"
The uncle stopped, looked at her for a minute, then
slowly laid the barrel stave on the floor, put his hand in his
pocket, took out half a dollar, and gave it to her.
The child took the money and slowly backed toward the
door, never taking her eyes off the man whom she had just
conquered. After she had gone, the uncle sat down on a box
and looked out the window into space for more than ten

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mTHINK and GROW RICH n
minutes. He was pondering, with awe, over the whipping he
had just taken.
Mr. Darby, too, was doing some thinking. That was the
first time in all his experience that he had seen a colored child
deliberately master an adult white person. How did she do it?
What happened to his uncle that caused him to lose his
fierceness and become as docile as a lamb? What strange
power did this child use that made her master over her
superior? These and other similar questions flashed into
Darby's mind, but he did not find the answer until years later,
when he told me the story.
Strangely, the story of this unusual experience was told
to the author in the old mill, on the very spot where the uncle
took his whipping. Strangely, too, I had devoted nearly a
quarter of a century to the study of the power which enabled
an ignorant, illiterate colored child to conquer an intelligent
man.
As we stood there in that musty old mill, Mr. Darby
repeated the story of the unusual conquest, and finished by
asking, "What can you make of it? What strange power did
that child use, that so completely whipped my uncle?"
The answer to his question will be found in the
principles described in this book. The answer is full and
complete. It contains details and instructions sufficient to
enable anyone to understand, and apply the same force which
the little child accidentally stumbled upon.
Keep your mind alert, and you will observe exactly what
strange power came to the rescue of the child, you will catch a
glimpse of this power in the next chapter. Somewhere in the
book you will find an idea that will quicken your receptive
powers, and place at your command, for your own benefit, this
same irresistible power. The awareness of this power may
come to you in the first chapter, or it may flash into your
mind in some subsequent chapter. It may come in the form of
a single idea. Or, it may come in the nature of a plan, or a
purpose. Again, it may cause you to go back into your past

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NAPOLEON HILL
experiences of failure or defeat, and bring to the surface some
lesson by which you can regain all that you lost through
defeat.
After I had described to Mr. Darby the power unwittingly
used by the little colored child, he quickly retraced his thirty
years of experience as a life insurance salesman, and frankly
acknowledged that his success in that field was due, in no
small degree, to the lesson he had learned from the child.
Mr. Darby pointed out: "every time a prospect tried to
bow me out, without buying, I saw that child standing there in
the old mill, her big eyes glaring in defiance, and I said to
myself, `I've gotta make this sale.' The better portion of all
sales I have made, were made after people had said `NO'."
He recalled, too, his mistake in having stopped only three
feet from gold, "but," he said, "that experience was a blessing
in disguise. It taught me to keep on keeping on, no matter how
hard the going may be, a lesson I needed to learn before I
could succeed in anything."
This story of Mr. Darby and his uncle, the colored child
and the gold mine, doubtless will be read by hundreds of men
who make their living by selling life insurance, and to all of
these, the author wishes to offer the suggestion that Darby
owes to these two experiences his ability to sell more than a
million dollars of life insurance every year.
Life is strange, and often imponderable! Both the
successes and the failures have their roots in simple
experiences. Mr. Darby's experiences were commonplace and
simple enough, yet they held the answer to his destiny in life,
therefore they were as important (to him) as life itself. He
profited by these two dramatic experiences, because he
analyzed them, and found the lesson they taught. But what of
the man who has neither the time, nor the inclination to study
failure in search of knowledge that may lead to success?
Where, and how is he to learn the art of converting defeat into
stepping stones to opportunity?

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mTHINK and GROW RICH n
In answer to these questions, this book was written. The
answer called for a description of thirteen principles, but
remember, as you read, the answer you may be seeking, to the
questions which have caused you to ponder over the
strangeness of life, may be found in your own mind, through
some idea, plan, or purpose which may spring into your mind
as you read.
One sound idea is all that one needs to achieve success.
The principles described in this book, contain the best, and
the most practical of all that is known, concerning ways and
means of creating useful ideas.
Before we go any further in our approach to the
description of these principles, we believe you are entitled to
receive this important suggestion....WHEN RICHES BEGIN TO
COME THEY COME SO QUICKLY, IN SUCH GREAT
ABUNDANCE, THAT ONE WONDERS WHERE THEY HAVE
BEEN HIDING DURING ALL THOSE LEAN YEARS. This is an
astounding statement, and all the more so, when we take into
consideration the popular belief, that riches come only to
those who work hard and long.
When you begin to THINK AND GROW RICH, you will
observe that riches begin with a state of mind, with
definiteness of purpose, with little or no hard work. You, and
every other person, ought to be interested in knowing how to
acquire that state of mind which will attract riches. I spent
twenty-five years in research, analyzing more than 25,000
people, because I, too, wanted to know how wealthy men
become that way.
Without that research, this book could not have been
written.
Here take notice of a very significant truth, viz:
The business depression started in 1929, and continued
on to an all time record of destruction, until sometime after
President Roosevelt entered office. Then the depression began
to fade into nothingness. Just as an electrician in a theatre
raises the lights so gradually that darkness is transmuted

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NAPOLEON HILL
into light before you realize it, so did the spell of fear in the
minds of the people gradually fade away and become faith.
Observe very closely, as soon as you master the
principles of this philosophy, and begin to follow the
instructions for applying those principles, your financial
status will begin to improve, and everything you touch will
begin to transmute itself into an asset for your benefit.
Impossible? Not at all!
One of the main weaknesses of mankind is the average
man's familiarity with the word "impossible." He knows all the
rules which will NOT work. He knows all the things which
CANNOT be done. This book was written for those who seek
the rules which have made others successful, and are willing
to stake everything on those rules.
A great many years ago I purchased a fine dictionary.
The first thing I did with it was to turn to the word
"impossible," and neatly clip it out of the book. That would not
be an unwise thing for you to do.
Success comes to those who become SUCCESS
CONSCIOUS.
Failure comes to those who indifferently allow
themselves to become FAILURE CONSCIOUS.
The object of this book is to help all who seek it, to learn
the art of changing their minds from FAILURE
CONSCIOUSNESS to SUCCESS CONSCIOUSNESS.
Another weakness found in altogether too many people,
is the habit of measuring everything, and everyone, by their
own impressions and beliefs. Some who will read this, will
believe that no one can THINK AND GROW RICH. They
cannot think in terms of riches, because their thought habits
have been steeped in poverty, want, misery, failure, and
defeat.
These unfortunate people remind me of a prominent
Chinese, who came to America to be educated in American
ways. He attended the University of Chicago. One day
President Harper met this young Oriental on the campus,

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mTHINK and GROW RICH n
stopped to chat with him for a few minutes, and asked what
had impressed him as being the most noticeable characteristic
of the American people.
"Why," the Chinaman exclaimed, "the queer slant of your
eyes. Your eyes are off slant!"
What do we say about the Chinese?
We refuse to believe that which we do not understand.
We foolishly believe that our own limitations are the proper
measure of limitations. Sure, the other fellow's eyes are "off
slant," BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT THE SAME AS OUR OWN.
Millions of people look at the achievements of Henry
Ford, after he has arrived, and envy him, because of his good
fortune, or luck, or genius, or whatever it is that they credit
for Ford's fortune. Perhaps one person in every hundred
thousand knows the secret of Ford's success, and those who
do know are too modest, or too reluctant, to speak of it,
because of its simplicity. A single transaction will illustrate
the "secret" perfectly.
A few years back, Ford decided to produce his now
famous V-8 motor. He chose to build an engine with the entire
eight cylinders cast in one block, and instructed his engineers
to produce a design for the engine. The design was placed on
paper, but the engineers agreed, to a man, that it was simply
impossible to cast an eight-cylinder gas engine block in one
piece.
Ford said, "Produce it anyway."
"But," they replied, "it's impossible!"
"Go ahead," Ford commanded, "and stay on the job until
you succeed no matter how much time is required."
The engineers went ahead. There was nothing else for
them to do, if they were to remain on the Ford staff. Six
months went by, nothing happened. Another six months
passed, and still nothing happened. The engineers tried every
conceivable plan to carry out the orders, but the thing seemed
out of the question; "impossible!"

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NAPOLEON HILL
At the end of the year Ford checked with his engineers,
and again they informed him they had found no way to carry
out his orders.
"Go right ahead," said Ford, "I want it, and I'll have it."
They went ahead, and then, as if by a stroke of magic, the
secret was discovered.
The Ford DETERMINATION had won once more!
This story may not be described with minute accuracy,
but the sum and substance of it is correct. Deduce from it,
you who wish to THINK AND GROW RICH, the secret of the
Ford millions, if you can. You'll not have to look very far.
Henry Ford is a success, because he understands, and
applies the principles of success. One of these is DESIRE:
knowing what one wants. Remember this Ford story as you
read, and pick out the lines in which the secret of his
stupendous achievement have been described. If you can do
this, if you can lay your finger on the particular group of
principles which made Henry Ford rich, you can equal his
achievements in almost any calling for which you are suited.

YOU ARE "THE MASTER OF YOUR FATE,
THE CAPTAIN OF YOUR SOUL," BECAUSE...
When Henley wrote the prophetic lines, "I am the Master
of my Fate, I am the Captain of my Soul," he should have
informed us that we are the Masters of our Fate, the Captains
of our Souls, because we have the power to control our
thoughts.
He should have told us that the ether in which this little
earth floats, in which we move and have our being, is a form
of energy moving at an inconceivably high rate of vibration,
and that the ether is filled with a form of universal power
which ADAPTS itself to the nature of the thoughts we hold in

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mTHINK and GROW RICH n
our minds; and INFLUENCES us, in natural ways, to
transmute our thoughts into their physical equivalent.
If the poet had told us of this great truth, we would
know WHY IT IS that we are the Masters of our Fate, the
Captains of our Souls. He should have told us, with great
emphasis, that this power makes no attempt to discriminate
between destructive thoughts and constructive thoughts, that
it will urge us to translate into physical reality thoughts of
poverty, just as quickly as it will influence us to act upon
thoughts of riches.
He should have told us, too, that our brains become
magnetized with the dominating thoughts which we hold in
our minds, and, by means with which no man is familiar,
these "magnets" attract to us the forces, the people, the
circumstances of life which harmonize with the nature of our
dominating thoughts.
He should have told us, that before we can accumulate
riches in great abundance, we must magnetize our minds with
intense DESIRE for riches, that we must become "money
conscious” until the DESIRE for money drives us to create
definite plans for acquiring it.
But, being a poet, and not a philosopher, Henley
contented himself by stating a great truth in poetic form,
leaving those who followed him to interpret the philosophical
meaning of his lines.
Little by little, the truth has unfolded itself, until it now
appears certain that the principles described in this book,
hold the secret of mastery over our economic fate.
We are now ready to examine the first of these
principles. Maintain a spirit of open-mindedness, and
remember as you read, they are the invention of no one man.
The principles were gathered from the life experiences of more
than 500 men who actually accumulated riches in huge
amounts; men who began in poverty, with but little education,
without influence. The principles worked for these men. You
can put them to work for your own enduring benefit.

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NAPOLEON HILL
You will find it easy, not hard, to do.
Before you read the next chapter, I want you to know
that it conveys factual information which might easily change
your entire financial destiny, as it has so definitely brought
changes of stupendous proportions to two people described.
I want you to know, also, that the relationship between
these two men and myself, is such that I could have taken no
liberties with the facts, even if I had wished to do so. One of
them has been my closest personal friend for almost twentyfive years, the other is my own son. The unusual success of
these two men, success which they generously accredit to the
principle described in the next chapter, more than justifies
this personal reference as a means of emphasizing the farflung power of this principle.
Almost fifteen years ago, I delivered the Commencement
Address at Salem College, Salem, West Virginia. I emphasized
the principle described in the next chapter, with so much
intensity that one of the members of the graduating class
definitely appropriated it, and made it a part of his own
philosophy. The young man is now a Member of Congress, and
an important factor in the present administration. Just before
this book went to the publisher, he wrote me a letter in which
he so clearly stated his opinion of the principle outlined in the
next chapter, that I have chosen to publish his letter as an
introduction to that chapter. It gives you an idea of the
rewards to come.

"My dear Napoleon:
“My service as a Member of Congress having
given me an insight into the problems of men and
women, I am writing to offer a suggestion which
may become helpful to thousands of worthy people.
“With apologies, I must state that the
suggestion, if acted upon, will mean several years of

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mTHINK and GROW RICH n
labor and responsibility for you, but I am enheartened to make the suggestion, because I know
your great love for rendering useful service.
“In 1922, you delivered the Commencement
address at Salem College, when I was a member' of
the graduating class. In that address, you planted
in my mind an idea which has been responsible for
the opportunity I now have to serve the people of
my State, and will be responsible, in a very large
measure, for whatever success I may have in the
future.
“The suggestion I have in mind is, that you put
into a book the sum and substance of the address
you delivered at Salem College, and in that way give
the people of America an opportunity to profit by
your many years of experience and association with
the men who, by their greatness, have made
America the richest nation on earth.
“I recall, as though it were yesterday, the
marvelous description you gave of the method by
which Henry Ford, with but little schooling, without
a dollar, with no influential friends, rose to great
heights. I made up my mind then, even before you
had finished your speech, that I would make a
place for myself, no matter how many difficulties I
had to surmount.
“Thousands of young people will finish their
schooling this year, and within the next few years.
Every one of them will be seeking just such a
message of practical encouragement as the one I
received from you. They will want to know where to
turn, what to do, to get started in life. You can tell

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NAPOLEON HILL

them, because you have helped to solve the
problems of so many, many people.
“If there is any possible way that you can
afford to render so great a service, may I offer the
suggestion that you include with every book, one of
your Personal Analysis Charts, in order that the
purchaser of the book may have the benefit of a
complete self-inventory, indicating, as you indicated
to me years ago, exactly what is standing in the
way of success.
“Such a service as this, providing the readers
of your book with a complete, unbiased picture of
their faults and their virtues, would mean to them
the difference between success and failure. The
service would be priceless.
“Millions of people are now facing the problem
of staging a come-back, because of the depression,
and I speak from personal experience when I say, I
know these earnest people would welcome the
opportunity to tell you their problems, and to
receive your suggestions for the solution.
“You know the problems of those who face the
necessity of beginning all over again. There are
thousands of people in America today who would
like to know how they can convert ideas into
money, people who must start at scratch, without
finances, and recoup their losses. If anyone can help
them, you can.
“If you publish the book, I would like to own
the first copy that comes from the press, personally
autographed by you. With best wishes, believe me,

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mTHINK and GROW RICH n
Cordially yours,
JENNINGS RANDOLPH"

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NAPOLEON HILL

DThe First Step Toward RichesE

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mTHINK and GROW RICH n

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NAPOLEON HILL

2. DESIRE

THE TURNING POINT OF ALL ACHIEVEMENT
THE FIRST STEP TOWARD RICHES
When Edwin C. Barnes climbed down from the freight
train in Orange, N. J., more than thirty years ago, he may have
resembled a tramp, but his thoughts were those of a king!
As he made his way from the railroad tracks to Thomas
A. Edison's office, his mind was at work. He saw himself
standing in Edison's presence. He heard himself asking Mr.
Edison for an opportunity to carry out the one CONSUMING
OBSESSION OF HIS LIFE, a BURNING DESIRE to become the
business associate of the great inventor.
Barnes' desire was not a hope! It was not a wish! It was a
keen, pulsating DESIRE, which transcended everything else. It
was DEFINITE.
The desire was not new when he approached Edison. It
had been Barnes' dominating desire for a long time. In the
beginning, when the desire first appeared in his mind, it may
have been, probably was, only a wish, but it was no mere wish
when he appeared before Edison with it.
A few years later, Edwin C. Barnes again stood before
Edison, in the same office where he first met the inventor.
This time his DESIRE had been translated into reality. He was
in business with Edison. The dominating DREAM OF HIS
LIFE had become a reality. Today, people who know Barnes
envy him, because of the "break" life yielded him. They see him
in the days of his triumph, without taking the trouble to
investigate the cause of his success.

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mTHINK and GROW RICH n
Barnes succeeded because he chose a definite goal,
placed all his energy, all his will power, all his effort,
everything back of that goal. He did not become the partner of
Edison the day he arrived. He was content to start in the most
menial work, as long as it provided an opportunity to take
even one step toward his cherished goal.
Five years passed before the chance he had been seeking
made its appearance. During all those years not one ray of
hope, not one promise of attainment of his DESIRE had been
held out to him. To everyone, except himself, he appeared only
another cog in the Edison business wheel, but in his own
mind, HE WAS THE PARTNER OF EDISON EVERY MINUTE
OF THE TIME, from the very day that he first went to work
there.
It is a remarkable illustration of the power of a
DEFINITE DESIRE. Barnes won his goal, because he wanted
to be a business associate of Mr. Edison, more than he wanted
anything else. He created a plan by which to attain that
purpose. But he BURNED ALL BRIDGES BEHIND HIM.
He stood by his DESIRE until it became the dominating
obsession of his life, and finally, a fact.
When he went to Orange, he did not say to himself, "I will
try to induce Edison to give me a job of some soft." He said, "I
will see Edison, and put him on notice that I have come to go
into business with him.
He did not say, "I will work there for a few months, and if
I get no encouragement, I will quit and get a job somewhere
else." He did say, "I will start anywhere. I will do anything
Edison tells me to do, but before I am through, I will be his
associate."
He did not say, "I will keep my eyes open for another
opportunity, in case I fail to get what I want in the Edison
organization." He said, "There is but ONE thing in this world
that I am determined to have, and that is a business
association with Thomas A. Edison. I will burn all bridges

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NAPOLEON HILL
behind me, and stake my ENTIRE FUTURE on my ability to
get what I want."

He left himself no possible way of retreat. He had to win
or perish!

That is all there is to the Barnes story of success! A long
while ago, a great warrior faced a situation which made it
necessary for him to make a decision which insured his
success on the battlefield. He was about to send his armies
against a powerful foe, whose men outnumbered his own. He
loaded his soldiers into boats, sailed to the enemy's country,
unloaded soldiers and equipment, then gave the order to burn
the ships that had carried them. Addressing his men before
the first battle, he said, "You see the boats going up in smoke.
That means that we cannot leave these shores alive unless we
win! We now have no choice we win— or we perish!
They won.
Every person who wins in any undertaking must be
willing to burn his ships and cut all sources of retreat. Only
by so doing can one be sure of maintaining that state of mind
known as a BURNING DESIRE TO WIN, essential to success.
The morning after the great Chicago fire, a group of
merchants stood on State Street, looking at the smoking
remains of what had been their stores. They went into a
conference to decide if they would try to rebuild, or leave
Chicago and start over in a more promising section of the
country. They reached a decision— all except one— to leave
Chicago.
The merchant who decided to stay and rebuild pointed a
finger at the remains of his store, and said, "Gentlemen, on
that very spot I will build the world's greatest store, no matter
how many times it may burn down."
That was more than fifty years ago. The store was built.
It stands there today, a towering monument to the power of
that state of mind known as a BURNING DESIRE. The easy
thing for Marshal Field to have done, would have been exactly
what his fellow merchants did. When the going was hard, and

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mTHINK and GROW RICH n
the future looked dismal, they pulled up and went where the
going seemed easier.
Mark well this difference between Marshal Field and the
other merchants, because it is the same difference which
distinguishes Edwin C. Barnes from thousands of other young
men who have worked in the Edison organization. It is the
same difference which distinguishes practically all who
succeed from those who fail.
Every human being who reaches the age of
understanding of the purpose of money, wishes for it. Wishing
will not bring riches. But desiring riches with a state of mind
that becomes an obsession, then planning definite ways and
means to acquire riches, and backing those plans with
persistence which does not recognize failure, will bring riches.
The method by which DESIRE for riches can be
transmuted into its financial equivalent, consists of six
definite, practical steps, viz:
First. Fix in your mind the exact amount of money you
desire. It is not sufficient merely to say "I want plenty of
money." Be definite as to the amount. (There is a psychological
reason for definiteness which will be described in a
subsequent chapter.)
Second. Determine exactly what you intend to give in
return for the money you desire. (There is no such reality as
"something for nothing”.)
Third. Establish a definite date when you intend to
possess the money you desire.
Fourth. Create a definite plan for carrying out your
desire, and begin at once, whether you are ready or not, to put
this plan into action.

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NAPOLEON HILL
Fifth. Write out a clear, concise statement of the amount
of money you intend to acquire, name the time limit for its
acquisition, state what you intend to give in return for the
money, and describe clearly the plan through which you
intend to accumulate it.
Sixth. Read your written statement aloud, twice daily,
once just before retiring at night, and once after arising in the
morning. AS YOU READ— SEE AND FEEL AND BELIEVE
YOURSELF ALREADY IN POSSESSION OF THE MONEY.
It is important that you follow the instructions described
in these six steps. It is especially important that you observe,
and follow the instructions in the sixth paragraph. You may
complain that it is impossible for you to "see yourself in
possession of money" before you actually have it. Here is
where a BURNING DESIRE will come to your aid. If you truly
DESIRE money so keenly that your desire is an obsession, you
will have no difficulty in convincing yourself that you will
acquire it. The object is to want money, and to become so
determined to have it that you CONVINCE yourself you will
have it.
Only those who become "money conscious" ever
accumulate great riches. "Money consciousness" means that
the mind has become so thoroughly saturated with the
DESIRE for money, that one can see one's self already in
possession of it.
To the uninitiated, who has not been schooled in the
working principles of the human mind, these instructions may
appear impractical. It may be helpful, to all who fail to
recognize the soundness of the six steps, to know that the
information they convey, was received from Andrew Carnegie,
who began as an ordinary laborer in the steel mills, but
managed, despite his humble beginning, to make these

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mTHINK and GROW RICH n
principles yield him a fortune of considerably more than one
hundred million dollars.
It may be of further help to know that the six steps here
recommended were carefully scrutinized by the late Thomas
A. Edison, who placed his stamp of approval upon them as
being, not only the steps essential for the accumulation of
money, but necessary for the attainment of any definite goal.
The steps call for no "hard labor." They call for no
sacrifice. They do not require one to become ridiculous, or
credulous. To apply them calls for no great amount of
education. But the successful application of these six steps
does call for sufficient imagination to enable one to see, and to
understand, that accumulation of money cannot be left to
chance, good fortune, and luck. One must realize that all who
have accumulated great fortunes, first did a certain amount
of dreaming, hoping, wishing, DESIRING, and PLANNING
before they acquired money.
You may as well know, right here, that you can never
have riches in great quantities, UNLESS you can work
yourself into a white heat of DESIRE for money, and actually
BELIEVE you will possess it.
You may as well know, also that every great leader, from
the dawn of civilization down to the present, was a dreamer.
Christianity is the greatest potential power in the world today,
because its founder was an intense dreamer who had the
vision and the imagination to see realities in their mental and
spiritual form before they had been transmuted into physical
form.
If you do not see great riches in your imagination, you
will never see them in your bank balance.
Never, in the history of America has there been so great
an opportunity for practical dreamers as now exists. The six
year economic collapse has reduced all men, substantially, to
the same level. A new race is about to be run. The stakes
represent huge fortunes which will be accumulated within the
next ten years. The rules of the race have changed, because

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NAPOLEON HILL
we now live in a CHANGED WORLD that definitely favors the
masses, those who had but little or no opportunity to win
under the conditions existing during the depression, when
fear paralyzed growth and development.
We who are in this race for riches, should be encouraged
to know that this changed world in which we live is
demanding new ideas, new ways of doing things, new leaders,
new inventions, new methods of teaching, new methods of
marketing, new books, new literature, new features for the
radio, new ideas for moving pictures. Back of all this demand
for new and better things, there is one quality which one must
possess to win, and that is DEFINITENESS OF PURPOSE, the
knowledge of what one wants, and a burning DESIRE to
possess it.
The business depression marked the death of one age,
and the birth of another. This changed world requires
practical dreamers who can, and will put their dreams into
action. The practical dreamers have always been, and always
will be the pattern-makers of civilization.
We who desire to accumulate riches, should remember
the real leaders of the world always have been men who
harnessed, and put into practical use, the intangible, unseen
forces of unborn opportunity, and have converted those
forces, [or impulses of thought], into sky-scrapers, cities,
factories, airplanes, automobiles, and every form of
convenience that makes life more pleasant.
Tolerance, and an open mind are practical necessities of
the dreamer of today. Those who are afraid of new ideas are
doomed before they start. Never has there been a time more
favorable to pioneers than the present. True, there is no wild
and woolly west to be conquered, as in the days of the Covered
Wagon; but there is a vast business, financial, and industrial
world to be remolded and redirected along new and better
lines.
In planning to acquire your share of the riches, let no
one influence you to scorn the dreamer. To win the big stakes

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mTHINK and GROW RICH n
in this changed world, you must catch the spirit of the great
pioneers of the past, whose dreams have given to civilization
all that it has of value, the spirit which serves as the life-blood
of our own country your opportunity and mine, to develop and
market our talents.
Let us not forget, Columbus dreamed of an Unknown
world, staked his life on the existence of such a world, and
discovered it!
Copernicus, the great astronomer, dreamed of a
multiplicity of worlds, and revealed them! No one denounced
him as "impractical" after he had triumphed. Instead, the
world worshipped at his shrine, thus proving once more that
"SUCCESS REQUIRES NO APOLOGIES, FAILURE PERMITS
NO ALIBIS."
If the thing you wish to do is right, and you believe in it,
go ahead and do it! Put your dream across, and never mind
what "they" say if you meet with temporary defeat, for "they,"
perhaps, do not know that EVERY FAILURE BRINGS WITH
IT THE SEED OF AN EQUIVALENT SUCCESS.
Henry Ford, poor and uneducated, dreamed of a
horseless carriage, went to work with what tools he possessed,
without waiting for opportunity to favor him, and now
evidence of his dream belts the entire earth. He has put more
wheels into operation than any man who ever lived, because
he was not afraid to back his dreams.
Thomas Edison dreamed of a lamp that could be
operated by electricity, began where he stood to put his dream
into action, and despite more than ten thousand failures, he
stood by that dream until he made it a physical reality.
Practical dreamers DO NOT QUIT!
Whelan dreamed of a chain of cigar stores, transformed
his dream into action, and now the United Cigar Stores
occupy the best corners in America.
Lincoln dreamed of freedom for the black slaves, put his
dream into action, and barely missed living to see a united
North and South translate his dream into reality.

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NAPOLEON HILL
The Wright brothers dreamed of a machine that would
fly through the air. Now one may see evidence all over the
world, that they dreamed soundly.
Marconi dreamed of a system for harnessing the
intangible forces of the ether. Evidence that he did not dream
in vain, may be found in every wireless and radio in the world.
Moreover, Marconi's dream brought the humblest cabin, and
the most stately manor house side by side. It made the people
of every nation on earth back-door neighbors. It gave the
President of the United States a medium by which he may
talk to all the people of America at one time, and on short
notice. It may interest you to know that Marconi's "friends"
had him taken into custody, and examined in a psychopathic
hospital, when he announced he had discovered a principle
through which he could send messages through the air,
without the aid of wires, or other direct physical means of
communication. The dreamers of today fare better.
The world has become accustomed to new discoveries.
Nay, it has shown a willingness to reward the dreamer who
gives the world a new idea.
"The greatest achievement was, at first, and for a time,
but a dream."
"The oak sleeps in the acorn. The bird waits in the egg,
and in the highest vision of the soul, a waking angel stirs.
DREAMS ARE THE SEEDLINGS OF REALITY."
Awake, arise, and assert yourself, you dreamers of the
world. Your star is now in the ascendancy. The world
depression brought the opportunity you have been waiting for.
It taught people humility, tolerance, and open-mindedness.
The world is filled with an abundance of OPPORTUNITY
which the dreamers of the past never knew.
A BURNING DESIRE TO BE, AND TO DO is the starting
point from which the dreamer must take off. Dreams are not
born of indifference, laziness, or lack of ambition.
The world no longer scoffs at the dreamer, nor calls him
impractical. If you think it does, take a trip to Tennessee, and

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mTHINK and GROW RICH n
witness what a dreamer President has done in the way of
harnessing, and using the great water power of America. A
score of years ago, such a dream would have seemed like
madness.
You have been disappointed, you have undergone defeat
during the depression, you have felt the great heart within
you crushed until it bled. Take courage, for these experiences
have tempered the spiritual metal of which you are made—
they are assets of incomparable value.
Remember, too, that all who succeed in life get off to a
bad start, and pass through many heartbreaking struggles
before they "arrive." The turning point in the lives of those
who succeed, usually comes at the moment of some crisis,
through which they are introduced to their "other selves."
John Bunyan wrote the Pilgrim's Progress, which is
among the finest of all English literature, after he had been
confined in prison and sorely punished, because of his views
on the subject of religion.
0. Henry discovered the genius which slept within his
brain, after he had met with great misfortune, and was
confined in a prison cell, in Columbus, Ohio. Being FORCED,
through misfortune, to become acquainted with his "other
self," and to use his IMAGINATION, he discovered himself to
be a great author instead of a miserable criminal and outcast.
Strange and varied are the ways of life, and stranger still are
the ways of Infinite Intelligence, through which men are
sometimes forced to undergo all sorts of punishment before
discovering their own brains, and their own capacity to create
useful ideas through imagination.
Edison, the world's greatest inventor and scientist, was a
"tramp" telegraph operator, he failed innumerable times before
he was driven, finally, to the discovery of the genius which
slept within his brain.
Charles Dickens began by pasting labels on blacking
pots. The tragedy of his first love penetrated the depths of his
soul, and converted him into one of the world's truly great

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NAPOLEON HILL
authors. That tragedy produced, first, David Copperfield, then
a succession of other works that made this a richer and better
world for all who read his books. Disappointment over love
affairs, generally has the effect of driving men to drink, and
women to ruin; and this, because most people never learn the
art of transmuting their strongest emotions into dreams of a
constructive nature.
Helen Keller became deaf, dumb, and blind shortly after
birth. Despite her greatest misfortune, she has written her
name indelibly in the pages of the history of the great. Her
entire life has served as evidence that no one ever is defeated
until defeat has been accepted as a reality.
Robert Burns was an illiterate country lad, he was
cursed by poverty, and grew up to be a drunkard in the
bargain. The world was made better for his having lived,
because he clothed beautiful thoughts in poetry, and thereby
plucked a thorn and planted a rose in its place.
Booker T. Washington was born in slavery, handicapped
by race and color. Because he was tolerant, had an open mind
at all times, on all subjects, and was a DREAMER, he left his
impress for good on an entire race.
Beethoven was deaf, Milton was blind, but their names
will last as long as time endures, because they dreamed and
translated their dreams into organized thought.
Before passing to the next chapter, kindle anew in your
mind the fire of hope, faith, courage, and tolerance. If you
have these states of mind, and a working knowledge of the
principles described, all else that you need will come to you,
when you are READY for it. Let Emerson state the thought in
these words, "Every proverb, every book, every byword that
belongs to thee for aid and comfort shall surely come home
through open or winding passages. Every friend whom not thy
fantastic will, but the great and tender soul in thee craveth,
shall lock thee in his embrace." There is a difference between
WISHING for a thing and being READY to receive it. No one is

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mTHINK and GROW RICH n
ready for a thing, until he believes he can acquire it. The state
of mind must be BELIEF, not mere hope or wish.
Open-mindedness is essential for belief. Closed minds do
not inspire faith, courage, and belief.
Remember, no more effort is required to aim high in life,
to demand abundance and prosperity, than is required to
accept misery and poverty. A great poet has correctly stated
this universal truth through these lines:

“I bargained with Life for a penny,
And Life would pay no more,
However I begged at evening
When I counted my scanty store.
“For Life is a just employer,
He gives you what you ask,
But once you have set the wages,
Why, you must bear the task.
“I worked for a menial's hire,
Only to learn, dismayed,
That any wage I had asked of Life,
Life would have willingly paid.”
DESIRE OUTWITS MOTHER NATURE
As a fitting climax to this chapter, I wish to introduce
one of the most unusual persons I have ever known. I first
saw him twenty-four years ago, a few minutes after he was
born. He came into the world without any physical sign of
ears, and the doctor admitted, when pressed for an opinion,
that the child might be deaf, and mute for life.

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NAPOLEON HILL
I challenged the doctor's opinion. I had the right to do so,
I was the child's father. I, too, reached a decision, and
rendered an opinion, but I expressed the opinion silently, in
the secrecy of my own heart. I decided that my son would
hear and speak. Nature could send me a child without ears,
but Nature could not induce me to accept the reality of the
affliction.
In my own mind I knew that my son would hear and
speak. How? I was sure there must be a way, and I knew I
would find it. I thought of the words of the immortal Emerson,
"The whole course of things goes to teach us faith. We need
only obey.
There is guidance for each of us, and by lowly listening,
we shall hear the right word."
The right word? DESIRE! More than anything else, I
DESIRED that my son should not be a deaf mute. From that
desire I never receded, not for a second.
Many years previously, I had written, "Our only
limitations are those we set up in our own minds." For the
first time, I wondered if that statement were true. Lying on
the bed in front of me was a newly born child, without the
natural equipment of hearing. Even though he might hear and
speak, he was obviously disfigured for life. Surely, this was a
limitation which that child had not set up in his own mind.
What could I do about it? Somehow I would find a way to
transplant into that child's mind my own BURNING DESIRE
for ways and means of conveying sound to his brain without
the aid of ears. As soon as the child was old enough to
cooperate, I would fill his mind so completely with a BURNING
DESIRE to hear, that Nature would, by methods of her own,
translate it into physical reality.
All this thinking took place in my own mind, but I spoke
of it to no one. Every day I renewed the pledge I had made to
myself, not to accept a deaf mute for a son.
As he grew older, and began to take notice of things
around him, we observed that he had a slight degree of

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hearing. When he reached the age when children usually
begin talking, he made no attempt to speak, but we could tell
by his actions that he could hear certain sounds slightly. That
was all I wanted to know! I was convinced that if he could
hear, even slightly, he might develop still greater hearing
capacity. Then something happened which gave me hope. It
came from an entirely unexpected source.
We bought a victrola. When the child heard the music
for the first time, he went into ecstasies, and promptly
appropriated the machine. He soon showed a preference for
certain records, among them, "It's a Long Way to Tipperary."
On one occasion, he played that piece over and over, for
almost two hours, standing in front of the victrola, with his
teeth clamped on the edge of the case. The significance of this
self-formed habit of his did not become clear to us until years
afterward, for we had never heard of the principle of "bone
conduction" of sound at that time.
Shortly after he appropriated the victrola, I discovered
that he could hear me quite clearly when I spoke with my lips
touching his mastoid bone, or at the base of the brain. These
discoveries placed in my possession the necessary media by
which I began to translate into reality my Burning Desire to
help my son develop hearing and speech. By that time he was
making stabs at speaking certain words. The outlook was far
from encouraging, but DESIRE BACKED BY FAITH knows no
such word as impossible.
Having determined that he could hear the sound of my
voice plainly, I began, immediately, to transfer to his mind the
desire to hear and speak. I soon discovered that the child
enjoyed bedtime stories, so I went to work, creating stories
designed to develop in him self-reliance, imagination, and a
keen desire to hear and to be normal.
There was one story in particular, which I emphasized by
giving it some new and dramatic coloring each time it was
told. It was designed to plant in his mind the thought that his
affliction was not a liability, but an asset of great value.

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NAPOLEON HILL
Despite the fact that all the philosophy I had examined clearly
indicated that EVERY ADVERSITY BRINGS WITH IT THE
SEED OF AN EQUIVALENT ADVANTAGE, I must confess
that I had not the slightest idea how this affliction could ever
become an asset. However, I continued my practice of
wrapping that philosophy in bedtime stories, hoping the time
would come when he would find some plan by which his
handicap could be made to serve some useful purpose.
Reason told me plainly, that there was no adequate
compensation for the lack of ears and natural hearing
equipment. DESIRE backed by FAITH, pushed reason aside,
and inspired me to carry on. As I analyze the experience in
retrospect, I can see now, that my son's faith in me had much
to do with the astounding results. He did not question
anything I told him. I sold him the idea that he had a distinct
advantage over his older brother, and that this advantage
would reflect itself in many ways. For example, the teachers
in school would observe that he had no ears, and, because of
this, they would show him special attention and treat him
with extraordinary kindness. They always did. His mother
saw to that, by visiting the teachers and arranging with them
to give the child the extra attention necessary. I sold him the
idea, too, that when he became old enough to sell newspapers,
(his older brother had already become a newspaper merchant),
he would have a big advantage over his brother, for the
reason that people would pay him extra money for his wares,
because they could see that he was a bright, industrious boy,
despite the fact he had no ears.
We could notice that, gradually, the child's hearing was
improving. Moreover, he had not the slightest tendency to be
self-conscious, because of his affliction. When he was about
seven, he showed the first evidence that our method of
servicing his mind was bearing fruit. For several months he
begged for the privilege of selling newspapers, but his mother
would not give her consent. She was afraid that his deafness
made it unsafe for him to go on the street alone.

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mTHINK and GROW RICH n
Finally, he took matters in his own hands. One
afternoon, when he was left at home with the servants, he
climbed through the kitchen window, shinnied to the ground,
and set out on his own. He borrowed six cents in capital from
the neighborhood shoemaker, invested it in papers, sold out,
reinvested, and kept repeating until late in the evening. After
balancing his accounts, and paying back the six cents he had
borrowed from his banker, he had a net profit of forty-two
cents. When we got home that night, we found him in bed
asleep, with the money tightly clenched in his hand.
His mother opened his hand, removed the coins, and
cried. Of all things! Crying over her son's first victory seemed
so inappropriate. My reaction was the reverse. I laughed
heartily, for I knew that my endeavor to plant in the child's
mind an attitude of faith in himself had been successful.
His mother saw, in his first business venture, a little deaf
boy who had gone out in the streets and risked his life to earn
money. I saw a brave, ambitious, self-reliant little business
man whose stock in himself had been increased a hundred
percent, because he had gone into business on his own
initiative, and had won. The transaction pleased me, because I
knew that he had given evidence of a trait of resourcefulness
that would go with him all through life. Later events proved
this to be true. When his older brother wanted something, he
would lie down on the floor, kick his feet in the air, cry for itand get it. When the "little deaf boy" wanted something, he
would plan a way to earn the money, then buy it for himself.
He still follows that plan!
Truly, my own son has taught me that handicaps can be
converted into stepping stones on which one may climb
toward some worthy goal, unless they are accepted as
obstacles, and used as alibis.
The little deaf boy went through the grades, high school,
and college without being able to hear his teachers, excepting
when they shouted loudly, at close range. He did not go to a
school for the deaf.

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NAPOLEON HILL
WE WOULD NOT PERMIT HIM TO LEARN THE SIGN
LANGUAGE. We were determined that he should live a
normal life, and associate with normal children, and we stood
by that decision, although it cost us many heated debates
with school officials.
While he was in high school, he tried an electrical
hearing aid, but it was of no value to him; due, we believed, to
a condition that was disclosed when the child was six, by Dr.
J. Gordon Wilson, of Chicago, when he operated on one side of
the boy's head, and discovered that there was no sign of
natural hearing equipment.
During his last week in college, (eighteen years after the
operation), something happened which marked the most
important turning-point of his life. Through what seemed to
be mere chance, he came into possession of another electrical
hearing device, which was sent to him on trial. He was slow
about testing it, due to his disappointment with a similar
device. Finally he picked the instrument up, and more or less
carelessly, placed it on his head, hooked up the battery, and lo!
as if by a stroke of magic, his lifelong DESIRE FOR NORMAL
HEARING BECAME A REALITY! For the first time in his life
he heard practically as well as any person with normal
hearing. "God moves in mysterious ways, His wonders to
perform."
Overjoyed because of the Changed World which had been
brought to him through his hearing device, he rushed to the
telephone, called his mother, and heard her voice perfectly.
The next day he plainly heard the voices of his professors in
class, for the first time in his life! Previously he could hear
them only when they shouted, at short range. He heard the
radio. He heard the talking pictures. For the first time in his
life, he could converse freely with other people, without the
necessity of their having to speak loudly. Truly, he had come
into possession of a Changed World. We had refused to accept
Nature's error, and, by PERSISTENT DESIRE, we had induced

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mTHINK and GROW RICH n
Nature to correct that error, through the only practical means
available.
DESIRE had commenced to pay dividends, but the
victory was not yet complete. The boy still had to find a
definite and practical way to convert his handicap into an
equivalent asset.
Hardly realizing the significance of what had already
been accomplished, but intoxicated with the joy of his newly
discovered world of sound, he wrote a letter to the
manufacturer of the hearing-aid, enthusiastically describing
his experience. Something in his letter; something, perhaps
which was not written on the lines, but back of them; caused
the company to invite him to New York. When be arrived, he
was escorted through the factory, and while talking with the
Chief Engineer, telling him about his changed world, a hunch,
an idea, or an inspiration— call it what you wish— flashed
into his mind. It was this impulse of thought which converted
his affliction into an asset, destined to pay dividends in both
money and happiness to thousands for all time to come.
The sum and substance of that impulse of thought was
this: It occurred to him that he might be of help to the
millions of deafened people who go through life without the
benefit of hearing devices, if he could find a way to tell them
the story of his Changed World. Then and there, he reached a
decision to devote the remainder of his life to rendering useful
service to the hard of hearing. For an entire month, he carried
on an intensive research, during which he analyzed the entire
marketing system of the manufacturer of the hearing device,
and created ways and means of communicating with the hard
of hearing all over the world for the purpose of sharing with
them his newly discovered "Changed World." When this was
done, he put in writing a two-year plan, based upon his
findings. When he presented the plan to the company, he was
instantly given a position, for the purpose of carrying out his
ambition.

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NAPOLEON HILL
Little did he dream, when he went to work, that he was
destined to bring hope and practical relief to thousands of
deafened people who, without his help, would have been
doomed forever to deaf mutism.
Shortly after he became associated with the
manufacturer of his hearing aid, he invited me to attend a
class conducted by his company, for the purpose of teaching
deaf mutes to hear, and to speak. I had never heard of such a
form of education, therefore I visited the class, skeptical but
hopeful that my time would not be entirely wasted. Here I saw
a demonstration which gave me a greatly enlarged vision of
what I had done to arouse and keep alive in my son's mind the
DESIRE for normal hearing. I saw deaf mutes actually being
taught to hear and to speak, through application of the selfsame principle I had used, more than twenty years previously,
in saving my son from deaf mutism.
Thus, through some strange turn of the Wheel of Fate,
my son, Blair, and I have been destined to aid in correcting
deaf mutism for those as yet unborn, because we are the only
living human beings, as far as I know, who have established
definitely the fact that deaf mutism can be corrected to the
extent of restoring to normal life those who suffer with this
affliction. It has been done for one; it will be done for others.
There is no doubt in my mind that Blair would have been
a deaf mute all his life, if his mother and I had not managed
to shape his mind as we did. The doctor who attended at his
birth told us, confidentially, the child might never hear or
speak. A few weeks ago, Dr. Irving Voorhees, a noted specialist
on such cases, examined Blair very thoroughly. He was
astounded when he learned how well my son now hears, and
speaks, and said his examination indicated that "theoretically,
the boy should not be able to hear at all." But the lad does
hear, despite the fact that X-ray pictures show there is no
opening in the skull, whatsoever, from where his ears should
be to the brain.

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mTHINK and GROW RICH n
When I planted in his mind the DESIRE to hear and talk,
and live as a normal person, there went with that impulse
some strange influence which caused Nature to become
bridge-builder, and span the gulf of silence between his brain
and the outer world, by some means which the keenest
medical specialists have not been able to interpret. It would be
sacrilege for me to even conjecture as to how Nature
performed this miracle. It would be unforgivable if I neglected
to tell the world as much as I know of the humble part I
assumed in the strange experience. It is my duty, and a
privilege to say I believe, and not without reason, that nothing
is impossible to the person who backs DESIRE with enduring
FAITH.
Verily, a BURNING DESIRE has devious ways of
transmuting itself into its physical equivalent. Blair DESIRED
normal hearing; now he has it! He was born with a handicap
which might easily have sent one with a less defined DESIRE
to the street with a bundle of pencils and a tin cup. That
handicap now promises to serve as the medium by which he
will render useful service to many millions of hard of hearing,
also, to give him useful employment at adequate financial
compensation the remainder of his life.
The little "white lies" I planted in his mind when he was a
child, by leading him to BELIEVE his affliction would become
a great asset, which he could capitalize, has justified itself.
Verily, there is nothing, right or wrong, which BELIEF, plus
BURNING DESIRE, cannot make real. These qualities are free
to everyone.
In all my experience in dealing with men and women
who had personal problems, I never handled a single case
which more definitely demonstrates the power of DESIRE.
Authors sometimes make the mistake of writing of subjects of
which they have but superficial, or very elementary
knowledge. It has been my good fortune to have had the
privilege of testing the soundness of the POWER OF DESIRE,
through the affliction of my own son. Perhaps it was

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NAPOLEON HILL
providential that the experience came as it did, for surely no
one is better prepared than he, to serve as an example of what
happens when DESIRE is put to the test. If Mother Nature
bends to the will of desire, is it logical that mere men can
defeat a burning desire?
Strange and imponderable is the power of the human
mind! We do not understand the method by which it uses
every circumstance, every individual, every physical thing
within its reach, as a means of transmuting DESIRE into its
physical counterpart. Perhaps science will uncover this secret.
I planted in my son's mind the DESIRE to hear and to speak
as any normal person hears and speaks. That DESIRE has
now become a reality.
I planted in his mind the DESIRE to convert his greatest
handicap into his greatest asset. That DESIRE has been
realized. The modus operandi by which this astounding result
was achieved is not hard to describe. It consisted of three very
definite facts; first, I MIXED FAITH with the DESIRE for
normal hearing, which I passed on to my son. Second, I
communicated my desire to him in every conceivable way
available, through persistent, continuous effort, over a period
of years. Third, HE BELIEVED ME!
As this chapter was being completed, news came of the
death of Mme. Schuman-Heink. One short paragraph in the
news dispatch gives the clue to this unusual woman's
stupendous success as a singer. I quote the paragraph,
because the clue it contains is none other than DESIRE.
Early in her career, Mme. Schuman-Heink visited the
director of the Vienna Court Opera, to have him test her voice.
But, he did not test it. After taking one look at the awkward
and poorly dressed girl, he exclaimed, none too gently, "With
such a face, and with no personality at all, how can you ever
expect to succeed in opera? My good child, give up the idea.
Buy a sewing machine, and go to work. YOU CAN NEVER BE
A SINGER."

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mTHINK and GROW RICH n
Never is a long time! The director of the Vienna Court
Opera knew much about the technique of singing. He knew
little about the power of desire, when it assumes the
proportion of an obsession. If he had known more of that
power, he would not have made the mistake of condemning
genius without giving it an opportunity.
Several years ago, one of my business associates became
ill. He became worse as time went on, and finally was taken to
the hospital for an operation. Just before he was wheeled into
the operating room, I took a look at him, and wondered how
anyone as thin and emaciated as he, could possibly go
through a major operation successfully. The doctor warned
me that there was little if any chance of my ever seeing him
alive again. But that was the DOCTOR'S OPINION. It was not
the opinion of the patient. Just before he was wheeled away,
he whispered feebly, "Do not be disturbed, Chief, I will be out
of here in a few days." The attending nurse looked at me with
pity. But the patient did come through safely. After it was all
over, his physician said, "Nothing but his own desire to live
saved him. He never would have pulled through if he had not
refused to accept the possibility of death."
I believe in the power of DESIRE backed by FAITH,
because I have seen this power lift men from lowly beginnings
to places of power and wealth; I have seen it rob the grave of
its victims; I have seen it serve as the medium by which men
staged a comeback after having been defeated in a hundred
different ways; I have seen it provide my own son with a
normal, happy, successful life, despite Nature's having sent
him into the world without ears.
How can one harness and use the power of DESIRE?
This has been answered through this, and the subsequent
chapters of this book. This message is going out to the world
at the end of the longest, and perhaps, the most devastating
depression America has ever known. It is reasonable to
presume that the message may come to the attention of many
who have been wounded by the depression, those who have

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NAPOLEON HILL
lost their fortunes, others who have lost their positions, and
great numbers who must reorganize their plans and stage a
comeback. To all these I wish to convey the thought that all
achievement, no matter what may be its nature, or its
purpose, must begin with an intense, BURNING DESIRE for
something definite.
Through some strange and powerful principle of "mental
chemistry" which she has never divulged, Nature wraps up in
the impulse of STRONG DESIRE "that something" which
recognizes no such word as impossible, and accepts no such
reality as failure.

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mTHINK and GROW RICH n

DThe Second Step Toward RichesE

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NAPOLEON HILL

3. FAITH

FAITH, VISUALIZATION OF, AND
BELIEF IN ATTAINMENT OF DESIRE
FAITH is the head chemist of the mind. When FAITH is
blended with the vibration of thought, the subconscious mind
instantly picks up the vibration, translates it into its spiritual
equivalent, and transmits it to Infinite Intelligence, as in the
case of prayer.
The emotions of FAITH, LOVE, and SEX are the most
powerful of all the major positive emotions. When the three
are blended, they have the effect of "coloring" the vibration of
thought in such a way that it instantly reaches the
subconscious mind, where it is changed into its spiritual
equivalent, the only form that induces a response from
Infinite Intelligence.
Love and faith are psychic; related to the spiritual side of
man. Sex is purely biological, and related only to the physical.
The mixing, or blending, of these three emotions has the effect
of opening a direct line of communication between the finite,
thinking mind of man, and Infinite Intelligence.

HOW TO DEVELOP FAITH
There comes, now, a statement which will give a better
understanding of the importance the principle of auto-

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suggestion assumes in the transmutation of desire into its
physical, or monetary equivalent; namely: FAITH is a state of
mind which may be induced, or created, by affirmation or
repeated instructions to the subconscious mind, through the
principle of auto-suggestion.
As an illustration, consider the purpose for which you
are, presumably, reading this book. The object is, naturally, to
acquire the ability to transmute the intangible thought
impulse of DESIRE into its physical counterpart, money. By
following the instructions laid down in the chapters on autosuggestion, and the subconscious mind, as summarized in the
chapter on auto-suggestion, you may CONVINCE the
subconscious mind that you believe you will receive that for
which you ask, and it will act upon that belief, which your
subconscious mind passes back to you in the form of "FAITH,"
followed by definite plans for procuring that which you desire.
The method by which one develops FAITH, where it does
not already exist, is extremely difficult to describe, almost as
difficult, in fact, as it would be to describe the color of red to a
blind man who has never seen color, and has nothing with
which to compare what you describe to him. Faith is a state of
mind which you may develop at will, after you have mastered
the thirteen principles, because it is a state of mind which
develops voluntarily, through application and use of these
principles.
Repetition of affirmation of orders to your subconscious
mind is the only known method of voluntary development of
the emotion of faith. Perhaps the meaning may be made
clearer through the following explanation as to the way men
sometimes become criminals. Stated in the words of a famous
criminologist, "When men first come into contact with crime,
they abhor it. If they remain in contact with crime for a time,
they become accustomed to it, and endure it. If they remain in
contact with it long enough, they finally embrace it, and
become influenced by it."

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This is the equivalent of saying that any impulse of
thought which is repeatedly passed on to the subconscious
mind is, finally, accepted and acted upon by the subconscious
mind, which proceeds to translate that impulse into its
physical equivalent, by the most practical procedure available.
In connection with this, consider again the statement,
ALL THOUGHTS WHICH HAVE BEEN EMOTIONALIZED,
(given feeling) AND MIXED WITH FAITH, begin immediately to
translate themselves into their physical equivalent or
counterpart.
The emotions, or the "feeling" portion of thoughts, are the
factors which give thoughts vitality, life, and action. The
emotions of Faith, Love, and Sex, when mixed with any
thought impulse, give it greater action than any of these
emotions can do singly.
Not only thought impulses which have been mixed with
FAITH, but those which have been mixed with any of the
positive emotions, or any of the negative emotions, may reach,
and influence the subconscious mind.
From this statement, you will understand that the
subconscious mind will translate into its physical equivalent,
a thought impulse of a negative or destructive nature, just as
readily as it will act upon thought impulses of a positive or
constructive nature. This accounts for the strange
phenomenon which so many millions of people experience,
referred to as "misfortune," or "bad luck."
There are millions of people who BELIEVE themselves
"doomed" to poverty and failure, because of some strange force
over which they BELIEVE they have no control. They are the
creators of their own "misfortunes," because of this negative
BELIEF, which is picked up by the subconscious mind, and
translated into its physical equivalent.
This is an appropriate place at which to suggest again
that you may benefit, by passing on to your subconscious
mind, any DESIRE which you wish translated into its
physical, or monetary equivalent, in a state of expectancy or

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mTHINK and GROW RICH n
BELIEF that the transmutation will actually take place. Your
BELIEF, or FAITH, is the element which determines the action
of your subconscious mind. There is nothing to hinder you
from "deceiving" your subconscious mind when giving it
instructions through autosuggestion, as I deceived my son's
subconscious mind.
To make this "deceit" more realistic, conduct yourself just
as you would, if you were ALREADY IN POSSESSION OF THE
MATERIAL THING WHICH YOU ARE DEMANDING, when you
call upon your subconscious mind.
The subconscious mind will transmute into its physical
equivalent, by the most direct and practical media available,
any order which is given to it in a state of BELIEF, or FAITH
that the order will be carried out.
Surely, enough has been stated to give a starting point
from which one may, through experiment and practice,
acquire the ability to mix FAITH with any order given to the
subconscious mind. Perfection will come through practice. It
cannot come by merely reading instructions.
If it be true that one may become a criminal by
association with crime, (and this is a known fact), it is equally
true that one may develop faith by voluntarily suggesting to
the subconscious mind that one has faith. The mind comes,
finally, to take on the nature of the influences which
dominate it. Understand this truth, and you will know why it
is essential for you to encourage the positive emotions as
dominating forces of your mind, and discourage and eliminate
negative emotions.
A mind dominated by positive emotions, becomes a
favorable abode for the state of mind known as faith. A mind
so dominated may, at will, give the subconscious mind
instructions, which it will accept and act upon immediately.

FAITH IS A STATE OF MIND WHICH MAY
BE INDUCED BY AUTO-SUGGESTION

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NAPOLEON HILL

All down the ages, the religionists have admonished
struggling humanity to "have faith" in this, that, and the other
dogma or creed, but they have failed to tell people HOW to
have faith. They have not stated that "faith is a state of mind,
and that it may be induced by self-suggestion."
In language which any normal human being can
understand, we will describe all that is known about the
principle through which FAITH may be developed, where it
does not already exist.
Have Faith in yourself; Faith in the Infinite.
Before we begin, you should be reminded again that:

FAITH is the "eternal elixir" which gives life, power, and action
to the impulse of thought!

The foregoing sentence is worth reading a second time,
and a third, and a fourth. It is worth reading aloud!
FAITH is the starting point of all accumulation of riches!
FAITH is the basis of all "miracles," and all mysteries
which cannot be analyzed by the rules of science!
FAITH is the only known antidote for FAILURE!
FAITH is the element, the "chemical" which, when mixed
with prayer, gives one direct communication with Infinite
Intelligence.
FAITH is the element which transforms the ordinary
vibration of thought, created by the finite mind of man, into
the spiritual equivalent.
FAITH is the only agency through which the cosmic
force of Infinite Intelligence can be harnessed and used by
man.
EVERY ONE OF THE FOREGOING STATEMENTS IS
CAPABLE OF PROOF!
The proof is simple and easily demonstrated. It is
wrapped up in the principle of auto-suggestion. Let us center
our attention, therefore, upon the subject of self-suggestion,
and find out what it is, and what it is capable of achieving.

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mTHINK and GROW RICH n
It is a well known fact that one comes, finally, to
BELIEVE whatever one repeats to one's self, whether the
statement be true or false. If a man repeats a lie over and
over, he will eventually accept the lie as truth. Moreover, he
will BELIEVE it to be the truth. Every man is what he is,
because of the DOMINATING THOUGHTS which he permits to
occupy his mind. Thoughts which a man deliberately places in
his own mind, and encourages with sympathy, and with
which he mixes any one or more of the emotions, constitute
the motivating forces, which direct and control his every
movement, act, and deed!
Comes, now, a very significant statement of truth:
THOUGHTS WHICH ARE MIXED WITH ANY OF THE
FEELINGS OF EMOTIONS, CONSTITUTE A "MAGNETIC"
FORCE WHICH ATTRACTS, FROM THE VIBRATIONS OF
THE ETHER, OTHER SIMILAR, OR RELATED THOUGHTS. A
thought thus "magnetized" with emotion may be compared to
a seed which, when planted in fertile soil, germinates, grows,
and multiplies itself over and over again, until that which was
originally one small seed, becomes countless millions of seeds
of the SAME BRAND!
The ether is a great cosmic mass of eternal forces of
vibration. It is made up of both destructive vibrations and
constructive vibrations. It carries, at all times, vibrations of
fear, poverty, disease, failure, misery; and vibrations of
prosperity, health, success, and happiness, just as surely as it
carries the sound of hundreds of orchestrations of music, and
hundreds of human voices, all of which maintain their own
individuality, and means of identification, through the
medium of radio.
From the great storehouse of the ether, the human mind
is constantly attracting vibrations which harmonize with that
which DOMINATES the human mind. Any thought, idea, plan,
or purpose which one holds in one's mind attracts, from the
vibrations of the ether, a host of its relatives, adds these
"relatives" to its own force, and grows until it becomes the

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NAPOLEON HILL
dominating, MOTIVATING MASTER of the individual in
whose mind it has been housed.
Now, let us go back to the starting point, and become
informed as to how the original seed of an idea, plan, or
purpose may be planted in the mind. The information is easily
conveyed: any idea, plan, or purpose may be placed in the
mind through repetition of thought. This is why you are asked
to write out a statement of your major purpose, or Definite
Chief Aim, commit it to memory, and repeat it, in audible
words, day after day, until these vibrations of sound have
reached your subconscious mind.
We are what we are, because of the vibrations of thought
which we pick up and register, through the stimuli of our
daily environment.
Resolve to throw off the influences of any unfortunate
environment, and to build your own life to ORDER. Taking
inventory of mental assets and liabilities, you will discover
that your greatest weakness is lack of self-confidence. This
handicap can be surmounted, and timidity translated into
courage, through the aid of the principle of autosuggestion.
The application of this principle may be made through a
simple arrangement of positive thought impulses stated in
writing, memorized, and repeated, until they become a part of
the working equipment of the subconscious faculty of your
mind.

SELF-CONFIDENCE FORMULA
First. I know that I have the ability to achieve the object
of my Definite Purpose in life, therefore, I DEMAND of myself
persistent, continuous action toward its attainment, and I
here and now promise to render such action.

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mTHINK and GROW RICH n
Second. I realize the dominating thoughts of my mind
will eventually reproduce themselves in outward, physical
action, and gradually transform themselves into physical