Napoleon Hill - Success Linked to the Power of Personal Beliefs

I have been inspired for some time by the writings of Napoleon Hill. 

You may have heard of some of his powerful quotes:

A goal is a dream with a deadline.


Action is the real measure of intelligence.


All achievements, all earned riches, have their beginning in an idea.

All the breaks you need in life wait within your imagination, Imagination is the workshop of your mind, capable of turning mind energy into accomplishment and wealth.


Any idea, plan, or purpose may be placed in the mind through repetition of thought.


Think and grow rich.

Here is some of what Wikipedia says about him:

Napoleon Hill (October 26, 1883 – November 8, 1970) was an American author who was one of the earliest producers of the modern genre of personal-success literature. His most famous work, Think and Grow Rich, is one of the best-selling books of all time. Hill's works examined the power of personal beliefs, and the role they play in personal success. He became the advisor to President Franklin D. Roosevelt from 1933-36. "What the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve" is one of Hill's hallmark expressions.[1][2] How achievement actually occurs, and a formula for it that puts success in reach for the average person, were the focal points of Hill's books.

Hill later called his personal success teachings "The Philosophy of Achievement" and he considered freedom, democracy, capitalism, and harmony to be important contributing elements. For without these foundations to build upon, Hill claimed throughout his writings, successful personal achievements are not possible. He contrasted his philosophy with others, and thought Achievement was superior and responsible for the success Americans enjoyed for the better part of two centuries. Negative emotions, fear and selfishness among others, had no part to play in his philosophy, and Hill considered them to be the source of failure for unsuccessful people.[7]

The secret of achievement was tantalizingly offered to readers of Think and Grow Rich, but was never explicitly identified. Hill felt discovering it for themselves would provide readers with the most benefit. He presented the idea of a "Definite Major Purpose" as a challenge to his readers in order to make them ask themselves, "In what do I truly believe?" For according to him, 98% of people had no firm beliefs, and this alone put true success firmly out of their reach.[8]

Hill's numerous books have sold millions of copies, proving that the secret of Achievement is still highly sought-after by modern Americans. Hill dealt with many controversial subjects through his writings including racism, slavery, oppression, failure, revolution, war and poverty. Persevering and then succeeding in spite of these obstacles using the Philosophy of Achievement, Hill stated, was the responsibility of every American.[8]

Some of today's philosophy of success teachers are also using the research formulas taught by Hill to expand upon our world's knowledge of personal development. It is clear that Hill's work applies in all generations and is indeed timeless.


Watch my blog and twitter account for a series of Napoleon Hill quotes.