Napoleon Hill is famous for being the author of Think and Grow Rich, the most famous self-help prosperity book ever written. What is less well known is that in 1928 Hill published an eight volume set called The Law of Success. In 1937, Hill released a revised version which became Think and Grow Rich. Yes, the book covers a wide range of business-related topics but the heart of each book is what he referred to as "the Carnegie secret" or what is now called the Law of Attraction. What's so fascinating about Napoleon Hill is that he was such an unlikely success story. In fact, his life is a testament to the Law of Attraction.
Napoleon Hill As Punk & Troublemaker
Napoleon Hill was born in 1883 and he certainly did not have a promising beginning. His home was a two room log cabin in the Appalachian mountains of Virginia and serious poverty was the lot of his family and everyone about him.
"For three generations my people had been born, lived, struggled, and died without ever having been outside the mountains of that section. There were no roads, telephones, electric lights, or passable public highways".
When he was nine years old, Napoleon Hill's mother died and Hill became the local hell raiser. With his two brothers he roamed the mountains getting into trouble while idolizing the bandit Jesse James and carrying a gun in his belt. Feuds among the mountain people were common and so was drinking "corn likker" and Hill participated in both. "Nap" Hill had a pretty dim future.
Fortunately, Hill's daddy remarried and his new bride was the daughter of a doctor and was cultured and well educated (we might wonder what she saw in Hill senior?) She was a strong-willed woman who not going to let Napoleon and his two brothers turned into uneducated criminals. Within days of her arrival in the squalid two room cabin, Martha Hill began feeding her three new stepsons and her new husband fabulous ideas to lead them towards great achievement. It's important to note that her entire plan revolved around ideas of greatness that she pounded into their heads over and over and over again.
Was she successful?
* Her poor dirt farmer husband, James, became the county's most successful dentist …
* Napoleon Hill's brother Vivian graduated from Georgetown University and became a prestigious lawyer …
* Nap's brother Paul became an extremely successful surgeon …
Napoleon himself became her greatest success story and by the age of 12 had exchanged his pistol for a typewriter. Martha said, "If you become as good with a typewriter as you are with that gun, you may become rich and famous and known throughout the world." Which is exactly what happened.
Andrew Carnegie: Multi Billionaire
Andrew Carnegie was the Bill Gates of his day. arriving in America in 1848 with absolutely nothing. He started his own company which became US steel and in 1901 he sold his company for $400,000,000. I have read that this would be approximately equal to $8 billion in today's purchasing power.
Carnegie then turned his brilliance to helping others and became one of the greatest philanthropists of all times. He used his vast fortune to create and fund colleges, public schools, churches, libraries and numerous foundations and trusts promoting world peace, education, science, the arts and every possible advancement of human rights. He was a truly remarkable man and one of the most successful in the world.
Hill Meets Carnegie
In 1908, Napoleon Hill was working for a magazine when he received an assignment to interview the famous Andrew Carnegie. The interview was on a Friday afternoon and was to last for three hours. Standing in the foyer of Carnegie's opulent 64 room mansion in New York, Nap Hill was awestruck as he was escorted to the library to meet Carnegie.
The two men instantly hit it off and the three hour interview didn't end until the following Monday! During this three-day marathon Carnegie explained how anyone — anyone at all — can obtain wealth and success. He referred again and again to "the secret" of prosperity and abundance. Not multiple secrets but THE Secret.
Carnegie said his greatest contribution to mankind would be to explain The Secret to everyone who was interested and he had been seeking someone to undertake this project. He offered this chance to Napoleon Hill who immediately accepted.
Carnegie was willing to pay Hill's travel expenses but he would not pay him a salary. Instead he would give Napoleon introductions to the most successful people of the day and considered that reward enough. This meant that Napoleon Hill would have to earn a living while he undertook his research project. In the end, Think and Grow Rich was the result of 25,000 interviews, 1000 of which were "in-depth". Napoleon Hill, himself, used The Secret to achieve wealth and fame.
david says
Think and grow rich is a must reas book. everyone try to read it
@deyangergov says
I am a huge history fan and Napoleon Hill is like a passion of mine. So i just read some stuff i wasn’t aware of him. It is a great post and if that is true which i think it is then changing your life that way is not bad at all. Thanks for the good post. Thanks
Gen says
Wow I love Napolean Hill and I have read Think and Grow Rich. It is one of the best books for changing your perspective of the world. Thank you for all the great info on Hill I did not know all that stuff about the gun and his step mother. What a well written piece.
BlissPlan says
Gen, glad you liked it. I can just see him and his brothers roaming the hills, raising hell and generally causing trouble. Pretty impressive that all three of them accomplished so much – Daddy, too. Stepmomma must have been quite a woman.
JulieS says
What an interesting story. I had never heard of Napoleon Hill prior to this and must say I am very intrigued. I too am wondering why on earth Martha Hill would have married Nap’s father for, but evidently it changed the three sons’ lives around. I will definitely be downloading Hill’s books via the free download link you have provided. Thank you.
BillyB says
This is very interesting! I never heard of Napoleon Hill before. It is nice to know that he became successful albeit he was a troublemaker as a child. I will try to read his books someday.
maria says
wow l love this story…I had never heard of Napoleon Hill prior to this… thanks for the sharing..
rita says
A very interesing article on Napoleon….. this wonderful article is amazing……. Thankyou for sharing your insights…………I particularly love this article post……. Great post that inspires me…..hope to read a lot from you like this article…
BlissPlan says
Glad you enjoyed it, Rita. We all need inspiration and his story is definitely an ‘upper’.
justmb says
I have been a fan of Napoleon Hill for while now. His books, though written a good while ago, still reflect advice that is applicable in today’s world. Loved to learn that his stepmother was the inspiration for all that advice & good work!
BlissPlan says
You’re so right – good advice is timeless. And cheers for his stepmomma! :-)
Jamie Northrup says
Thanks for the article, I will definitely check out the secret to wealth to improve my lifestyle, I’m really interested to see how Napoleon Hill was able to do what he did.
BlissPlan says
Jamie, I agree that his accomplishments were impressive. He didn’t have a lot of the ‘advantages’ that so many of us have today, yet look what he accomplished. It certainly speaks well for his methods in Think & Grow Rich.
Lila says
My sister gave me his book a year ago and told me I had to read it… and I, of course, got busy and put it down and forgot all about it. Lately, it seems Napoleon Hill’s name is everywhere – reminding me of what I passed up. After reading the information provided here, I’m eager to find the book and start reading! I’ve watched my sister’s transformation over the past year in amazement and feel kinda dumb she wanted me to have the same success, the same fun, but I was too ‘busy’ to get what she was trying to show me.
Also, I really appreciated the information about ‘Nap’ losing his way for a bit. Haven’t we all been there? It’s good to see you can pick yourself up, brush yourself off, and start over again, right where you are. :)
BlissPlan says
Lila, better late than never. Napoleon Hill’s advice is as relevant today as it was almost 100 years ago which is pretty amazing. You can tell your sister she was right – she’ll probably like that. LOL
And yes, you’re right that all of us lose our way at times in our lives. We don’t have to stay ‘lost’, though.
Kindred1845 says
I want to learn how to be like this stepmother with my own children. Tons of potential, unlimited energy, highly intelligent – I want them to do something special with their lives! How did she whip them into shape without making them hate her during the process? Well maybe they DID hate her DURING the process… lol
BlissPlan says
They certainly must have had moments of disliking her – especially since they’d been running wild and she obviously enforced some discipline. But, in the end, they must have admired and respected her. I certainly do.
Robin says
This story it very interesting. I think that it would make for a very good movie. I would want to see the movie. I am going to look into reading the books that Napoleon wrote. Glad I found this website.
Beauty says
First of all I am glad that I found this website it is because this is a very informational site. And most of all I like this specific topic it is very good and I learn a lot of things.I amazed of what I’ve learned about Napoleon it is very incouraging and more excitement.
BlissPlan says
Yes, his story IS encouraging because if he can make such drastic changes in his life, then all of us can do the same. Very inspiring.