Think and Grow Rich was written by Napoleon Hill in 1937 and promoted as a personal development and self-improvement book. He claimed to be inspired by a suggestion from business magnate and later-philanthropist Andrew Carnegie.
First published during the Great Depression, the book has sold more than 15 million copies
It remains the biggest seller of Napoleon Hill's books.
BusinessWeek magazine's Best-Seller List ranked it the sixth best-selling paperback business book 70 years after it was published.
Think and Grow Rich is listed in John C. Maxwell's A Lifetime "Must Read" Books List.
While the book's title and much of the writing concerns increasing income, the author insists that his philosophy can help people succeed in any line of work, to do and be anything they can imagine.
Think and Grow Rich is based on Hill's earlier work The Law of Success, said to be the result of more than twenty years of study of many individuals who had amassed personal fortunes.
Hill studied their habits and drew some 16 "laws" to be applied to achieve success. Think and Grow Rich condenses them, providing the reader with 14 principles in the form of a "Philosophy of Achievement".
The book asserts that desire, faith, and persistence can propel one to great heights if one can suppress negative thoughts and focus on long-term goals.
The 14 "Principles" listed in the book are:
- Thoughts are things
- Desire
- Faith
- Autosuggestion
- Specialized Knowledge
- Imagination
- Organized Planning
- Decision
- Persistence
- Power of the Master Mind
- The Mystery of S*** Transmutation
- The Subconscious Mind
- The Brain
- The Sixth Sense
There are several courses created from the Think and Grow Rich content and principles.
Earl Nightingale co-created with Napoleon Hill a 30-minute audio summary of the book, titled "Think and Grow Rich: Instant Motivator".
Napoleon Hill holding his book Think and Grow Rich Notes
Briley, Richard Gaylord, 1995, The Seven Spiritual Secrets Of Success, Thomas Nelson Publishers, ISBN 0-7852-8083-9, p. 151.
Michael J. Ritt and Kirk Landers, A Lifetime of Riches: The Biography of Napoleon Hill. Revised edition 1995, ISBN 0-525-94146-0.
Penguin, - penguin.com.au/books/think-and-grow-rich-9780091900212
The BusinessWeek Best-Seller List, in: BusinessWeek magazine, January 15, 2007.
Maxwell, John, A Lifetime "Must Read" Books List, March 2008.
Hill, Napoleon, 1960, Think and Grow Rich. [Revised Edition, p. 19], Fawcett Books, New York, ISBN 0-449-21492-3.
Further reading
Hill, Napoleon (1937). Think And Grow Rich. The Ralston Society. ISBN 978-1-78844-102-5. Retrieved January 2, 2019.
Success Through A Positive Mental Attitude, by Napoleon Hill and W. Clement Stone. ISBN 1-4165-4159-4.
Earl Nightingale Reads Think and Grow Rich [The essence of Napoleon Hill's Think and Grow Rich], by Earl Nightingale. ISBN 1-4558-1011-8.
The Biblical Companion Guide to Think & Grow Rich, by Joshua J. Finley. ISBN 9798603771335
Categories: Business books - Self-help books - 1937 non-fiction books
Think and Grow Rich Author Napoleon Hill
Original title Think and Grow Rich
Country United States Language English
Subject Personal-success Self-help
Genre Non-fiction Publisher The Ralston Society
Publication date 1937 Media type Print (Hardcover, Paperback, E-Book)
Pages 238 pages ISBN 978-1-78844-102-5 OCLC 156886959
Source: (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Think_and_Grow_Rich)