This book is old school. First published in the 1930s! But yet, there’s something unorthodox and new age-y about it that feels very 21st Century. I can’t quite put a finger to how strange the ideas are for its time, because the book reads more like something I would find in the self-help or new age section of book stores these days. It starts off conventional enough, talking about desire for achievement, faith that it will happen, imagination, specialized knowledge and organised planning. All the norm for any business/personal success/self-help book. But somewhere near the end he goes weirdo overload and talks about sex transmutation (lol whaaaat?!), and the sixth sense.

And he loves making a point in all caps. Yes, ALL CAPS. Maybe in the 30s writing in all caps doesn’t come across as screaming, but today it reads like he’s screaming all the time! (But in a good way…maybe)

More notes below. Sharing them here as reference for myself, and for anyone who might find it useful. This is not a book review, just raw notes lifted directly from the book, with some minor edits, interpretations and categorisations of my own.

-———

Think And Grow Rich

by Napoleon Hill

(First published 1937. All-caps are author’s own, not mine)

Steps to Riches

Desire

Faith

Auto-suggestion

Specialized knowledge

Imagination 

Organized planning

Decision

Persistence

Power of the Master Mind

The mystery of sex transmutation 

The subconscious mind

The brain

The sixth sense

How to outwit the 6 ghosts of fear

(1) Desire: The starting point of all achievement, the first step to riches

“I am the Master of my Fate, I am the Captain of my Soul.” ~ Henley

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.

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, tiwce 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.

The steps call for no “hard labr.” 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.

If you do not see great riches in your imagination, you will never see them in your bank balance.

SUCCESS REQUIRES NO APOLOGIES, FAILURE PERMITS NO ALIBIS.

EVERY FAILURE BRINGS WITH IT THE SEED O AN EQUIVALENT SUCCESS.

The greatest achievement was, at first, and for a time, but a dream.

The oak sleep 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.

Remember, too, that all who succeed in life get off to a bad start, and pass through many heratbreaking 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.”

No one is ever defeated until defeat has been accepted as a reality.

Remember, no more effort is required to aim high in life, to demand abundance and prosperity, than is required to accept misery and poverty.

“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.”

~ Jessie B. Rittenhouse

EVERY ADVERSITY BRINGS WITH IT THE SEED OF AN EQUIVALENT ADVANTAGE.

If Mother Nature bends to the will of desire, is it logical that mere men can defeat a burning desire?