Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill Book Summary
The Book in 1 Sentences
“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…
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!” ~ Napoleon Hill
10 BIG Ideas
Think and Grow Rich Book Summary
1. The word ‘impossible’
“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.”
“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.”
2. Burn your ships
“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 the men before the first battle, he said, ‘You see the boats going up in smoke. That means that we cannot leave these shores 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.”
John Eliot - in his book Overachievement- says: "Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.”
“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 obsessions, then planning definite ways and means to acquire riches, and backing those plans with persistence which does not recognize failure, will bring riches.”
“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.”
“There is a difference between wishing for a thing and being ready to receive it. No one is 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.”
3. The power to control our thoughts
“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 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.”
Thoreau: “If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with success unexpected in common hours. He will put some things behind, will pass an invisible boundary: new, universal, and more liberal laws will begin to establish themselves around and within him; or old laws will be expanded and interpreted in his favor in a more liberal sense, and he will live with license of a higher order of beings.”
W.H. Murray: “Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness concerning all acts of initiative and creation. There is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans; that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too.
All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen events, meetings and material assistance which no one could have dreamed would have come their way. I have learned a deep respect for one of Goethe’s couplets: ‘Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now!’”
Paulo Coelho: “When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.”
“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.”
4. The power of "Faith"
“Every man is what he is because of the dominating thoughts which he permits to occupy his mind.”
“It is essential for you to encourage the positive emotions as dominating forces of your mind, and discourage—and eliminate negative emotions.”
“Faith is the ‘eternal elixir’ which gives life, power, and action to the impulse of thought!”
“There are no limitations to the mind except those we acknowledge.”
“Faith is the head chemist of the mind.”
5. 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.
Second: I realize the dominating thoughts of my mind will eventually reproduce themselves in outward, physical action, and gradually transform themselves into physical reality; therefore, I will concentrate my thoughts for thirty minutes daily, upon the task of thinking of the person I intend to become, thereby creating in my mind a clear mental picture.”
6. Keep on trying new plans
“If the first plan which you adopt does not work successfully, replace it with a new plan; if this new plan fails to work, replace it in turn with still another, and so on, until you find a plan which does work. Right here is the point at which the majority of men meet with failure, because of their lack of persistence in creating new plans to take the place of those which fail.”
Winston Churchill says: “Success is going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.”
“Temporary defeat should mean only one thing, the certain knowledge that there is something wrong with your plan. Millions of men go through life in misery and poverty, because they lack a sound plan through which to accumulate a fortune.”
“We see men who have accumulated great fortunes, but we often recognize only their triumph, overlooking the temporary defeats which they had to surmount before ‘arriving.’”
“No follower of this philosophy can reasonably expect to accumulate a fortune without experiencing ‘temporary defeat.’”
“In your search for the secret of the method, do not look for a miracle, because you will not find it. You will find only the eternal laws of nature. These laws are available to every person who has the faith and the courage to use them.”
7. Top 6 causes of failure
“Success requires no explanations. Failure permits no alibis.”
- Lack of a well-defined purpose in life.
- Lack of ambition to aim above mediocrity.
- Lack of self-discipline.
- Lack of concentration of effort.
- Lack of enthusiasm.
- Inability to cooperate with others.
“Those who reach decisions promptly and definitely, know what they want, and generally get it.”
“The day of the ‘go-getter’ has passed. He has been supplanted by the ‘go- giver.’”
8. The power of persistence
“The majority of people are ready to throw their aims and purposes overboard, and give up at the first sign of opposition or misfortune. A few carry on despite all opposition, until they attain their goal. There may be no heroic connotation to the word ‘persistence,’ but the quality is to the character of man what carbon is to steel.”
“The ease with which lack of persistence may be conquered will depend entirely upon the intensity of one’s desire.”
“The starting point of all achievement is
desire. Keep this constantly in mind. Weak desires bring weak results, just as a small amount of fire makes a small amount of heat. If you find yourself lacking in persistence, this weakness may be removed by building a stronger fire under your desires.”
“Those who have cultivated the habit of persistence seem to enjoy insurance against failure... The hidden Guide lets no one enjoy great achievement without passing the persistence test. Those who can’t take it simply do not make the grade.”
”One thing we all know, if one does not possess persistence, one does not achieve noteworthy success in any calling.”
“Anybody can wish for riches, and most people do, but only a few know that a definite plan, plus a burning desire for wealth, are the only dependable means of accumulating wealth.”
“The ladder of success is never crowded at the top.”
9. The power of master mind
“Men take on the nature and the habits and the power of thought of those with whom they associate in a spirit of sympathy and harmony.”
Tony Robbins says: “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.”
“Without doubt, the most common weakness of all human beings is the habit of leaving their minds open to the negative influence of other people.”
10. Do it
“Tell the world what you intend to do, but first show it.”
“Deeds, and not words, are what count most.”
That was my QUICK summary of the great book Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. If you’re interested, get your copy. There is a HUGE amount of life-changing ideas in this book, and we’ve only touched on a tiny bit of it.
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