Think and Grow Rich

by Napoleon Hill

Am I in the right vocation, and if ...

Has the purchaser of my services been satisfied with the service I have render...

What is my present rating on the fundamental principles of success? (Make this rating fairly, and frankly, and have it checked by someone who is...

Here we have freedom of thought, freedom in the choice and enjoyment of education, freedom in religion, freedom in politics, freedom in the choice of a business, profession or occupation, freedom to accumulate and own without molestation, all the property we can accumulate, freedom to choose our place of residence, freedom in marriage, freedom through equal opportunity to all races, freedom of travel from one state to another, freedom in our choice of foods, and freedom to aim for any station in life for which we have prepared ourselves, even for the presidency of the United States.

in 2024 all of these freedoms are now taken away.

Food. Next to freedom of thought and deed comes food, clothing, and shelter, the three basic necessities of life. Because of our universal freedom the average American family has available, at its very door, the choicest selection of food to be found anywhere in the world, and at prices within its financial range.

not in 2024

Shelter. This family lives in a comfortable apartment, heated by steam, lighted with electricity, with gas for cooking, all for $65.00 a month. In a smaller city, or a more sparsely settled part of New York city, the same apartment could be had for as low as $20.00 a month.

I live in a comfortable apartment in 2024 for 700.00.i party for gas and electric also heated by steam.

Clothing. Anywhere in the United States, the woman of average clothing requirements can dress very comfortably and neatly for less than $200.00 a year, and the average man can dress for the same, or less.

fast fashion has made this cost out of this world.

automobile transportation, with which one can go and come at will, at very small cost.

2024 a used car can cost over 10,000.

American citizen wants to travel from one state to another he needs no passport, no one’s permission. He may go when he pleases, and return at will. Moreover, he may travel by train, private automobile, bus, airplane, or ship, as his pocketbook permits.

2024 we now need a special license to travel.

Stated briefly, the capitalists are the brains of civilization, because they supply the entire fabric of which all education, enlightenment and human progress consists.

2024 the USA is beginning a communist dictatorship.

Money, without brains, always is dangerous. Properly used, it is the most important essential of civilization.

that all who seek riches must recognize and adapt themselves to the system that controls all approaches to fortunes, large or small, and

to present the side of the picture opposite to that being shown by politicians and demagogues who deliberately becloud the issues they bring up, by referring to organized

capital as if it were somethin...

we who seek to accumulate riches here, may as well know that neither riches nor opportunity would be available to us if organized capital had not provided these benefits.

Millions of men and women throughout the nation are still engaged in this popular pastime of trying to get without giving. Some of them are lined up with labor unions, where they demand shorter hours and more pay! Others do not take the trouble to work at all. They demand government relief and are getting it.

Their idea of their rights of freedom was demonstrated in New York City, where violent complaint was registered with the Postmaster, by a group of “relief beneficiaries,” because the Postmen awakened them at 7:30 A.M. to deliver Government relief checks. They demanded that the time of delivery be set up to 10:00 o’clock.

this freedom of which so many people boast, and so few understand. As great as it is, as far as it reaches, as many privileges as it provides, it does not, and cannot bring riches without effort.

The law of economics was passed by Nature! There is no Supreme Court to which violators of this law may appeal. The law hands out both penalties for its violation, and appropriate rewards for its observance, without interference or the possibility of interference by any human being. The law cannot be repealed. It is as fixed as the stars in the heavens, and subject to, and a part of the same system that controls the stars.

May one refuse to adapt one’s self to the law of economics?

Certa...

Well, nothing happens until large numbers of men join forces for the avowed purpose of ignoring the law, and taking what they want by force. then comes the dictator, with well organized firing squads and machine guns!

We have not yet reached that stage in America! But we have heard all we want to know about how the system works. Perhaps we shall be fortunate enough not to demand personal knowledge of so gruesome a reality. Doubtless we shall prefer to continue with our freedom of speech, freedom of deed, and freedom to render

For six years, from 1929, to 1935, the people of America, both rich and poor, barely missed seeing the Old Man Economics hand over to the sheriff all the businesses, and industries and banks.

We who went through those six discouraging years, when fear was in the saddle, and faith was on the ground, cannot forget how ruthlessly the law of economics exacted its toll from both rich and poor, weak and strong, old and young. We shall not wish to go through another such experience.

lack of decision was near the head of the list of the 30 major causes of failure.

procrastination, the opposite of decision, is a common enemy which practically every man must conquer.

every one of them had the habit of reaching decisions promptly, and of changing these decisions slowly, if, and when they were changed. People who fail to accumulate money, without exception, have the habit of reaching decisions, if at all, very slowly, and of changing these decisions quickly and often.

One of Henry Ford’s most outstanding qualities is his habit of reaching decisions quickly and definitely, and changing them slowly.

It was this quality which prompted Mr. Ford to continue to manufacture his famous Model “T” (the world’s ugliest car), when all of his advisors, and many of the purchasers of the car, were urging him to change it. Perhaps, Mr. Ford delayed too long in making the change, but the other side of the story is, that Mr. Ford’s firmness of decision yielded a huge fortune, before the change in model became necessary. There is but little doubt that Mr. Ford’s habit

of definiteness of decision assumes the proportion of obstinacy, but this quality is preferable to slowness in reaching decisions and quickness in changing them.

The majority of people who fail to accumulate money sufficient for their needs, are, generally, easily influenced by the “opinions” of others. They permit the newspapers and the “gossiping” neighbors to do their “thinking...

If you are influenced by “opinions” when you reach decisions, you will not succeed in any undertaking, much less in that of tra...

If you are influenced by the opinions of others, you will have no...

Take no one into your confidence, except the members of your “Master Mind” group, and be very sure in your selection of this group, that you choose only those who will be in complete sympathy and harmony with your purpose.

Close friends and relatives, while not meaning to do so, often handicap one through “opinions” and sometimes through ridicule, which is meant to be humorous.

Thousands of men and women carry inferiority complexes with them all through life, because some well-meaning, but ignorant person destroyed their c...

reach your own decisions. If you need facts or information from other people, to enable you to reach decisions, as you probably will in many instances; acquire these facts or secure the information you need quietly, without disclosing your purpose.

It is characteristic of people who have but a smattering or a veneer of knowledge to try to give the impression that they have much knowledge. Such people generally do too much talking, and too little

listening. Keep your eyes and ears wide open-and your mouth closed, if you wish to acquire th...

Those who talk too much do little else. If you talk more than you listen, you not only deprive yourself of many opportunities to accumulate useful knowledge, but you also disclose your plans and purposes to people who will...

every time you open your mouth in the presence of a person who has an abundance of knowledge, you display to that person, your exact stock of knowledge, or your lack of it! Genuine wisdom ...

If you talk about your plans too freely, you may be surprised when you learn that some other person has beaten you to your goal by putting

into action ahead of you, the plans of which you talked unwisely.

Let one of your first decisions be to keep a closed mouth and...

copy the following epigram in large letters and place it where you will see it daily. “Tell the world what you i...

The value of decisions depends upon the courage required to render them. The great decisions, which served as the foundation of civilization, were reached by assuming great risks, which often meant the possibility of death.

Lincoln’s decision to issue his famous Proclamation of Emancipation, which gave freedom to the colored people of America, was rendered with full understanding

that his act would turn thousands of friends and political supporters against him. He knew, too, that the carrying out of that proclamation would mean death to thousands of men on the battlefield. In th...

Socrates’ decision to drink the cup of poison, rather than compromise in his personal belief, was a decision of courage. It turned Time ahead a thousand years, and gave to people then unb...