Napoleon Hill Quotes

"Strong, deeply rooted desire is the starting point of all achievement. Just as the electron is the last unit of matter discernible to the scientist. DESIRE is the seed of all achievement; the starting place, back of which there is nothing, or at least there is nothing of which we have any knowledge. p. 109"

"I fully realize that no wealth or position can long endure, unless built upon truth and justice, therefore, I will engage in no transaction which does not benefit all whom it affects. p. 55"

"The most damaging forms of intemperance are connected with eating, strong drink, and sexual activities. Overindulgence in any of these is fatal to success. p.88"

"Doubting Thomases scoffed scornfully when Henry Ford tried out his first crudely built automobile on the streets of Detroit. Some said the thing never would become practical. Others said no one would pay money for such a contraption... p. 173"

"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. p. 54"

"As far as science has been able to determine, the entire universe consists of but two elements--matter and energy. Through the combination of energy and matter, has been created everything perceptible to man, from the largest star which floats in the heavens, down to, and including man, himself. p. 64"

"Building alibis with which to explain away failure is a national pastime. The habit is as old as the human race, and is fatal to success! Why do people cling to their pet alibis? The answer is obvious. They defend their alibis because THEY CREATE them! A man's alibi is the child of his own imagination. It is human nature to defend one's own brain-child. p. 173"

"Moreover--and this statement is of stupendous importance--this earth, every one of the billions of individual cells of your body, and every atom of matter, began as an intangible form of energy. p. 64"

"Any idea, plan, or purpose may be placed in the mind through repetition of thought. p. 54"

"He has discovered that his own brain is both a broadcasting, and a receiving station for the vibration of thought, and he is beginning now to learn how to make practical use of this discovery... p. 62"

"Most of us go through life as failures, because we are waiting for the "time to be right" to start doing something worthwhile. The time will never be "just right." Start where you stand, and work with whatever tools you may have at your command, and better tools will be found as you go along."

"Cherish your visions and your dreams as they are the children of your soul, the blueprints of your ultimate achievements. As quoted in Diamond Power : Gems of Wisdom from America's Greatest Marketer (2003) by Barry Farber, p. 53"

"He has increased the speed of locomotion, until he may now travel at a speed of more than three hundred miles an hour. The time will soon come when a man may breakfast in New York, and lunch in San Francisco. p. 62"

"Most people are too indifferent or lazy to acquire facts with which to think accurately. They prefer to act on "opinions" created by guesswork or snap-judgments. p.88"

"No person may enjoy outstanding success without good health. Many of the causes of ill health are subject to mastery and control. These, in the main are: a. Overeating of foods not conducive to health. b. Wrong habits of thought... c. Wrong use of, and over indulgence in sex. d. Lack of proper physical exercise e. An inadequate supply of fresh air, due to improper breathing. p. 86"

"There is something radically wrong with a civilization, and a system of education, which permit 98% of the people to go through life as failures. But I did not write this book for the purpose of moralizing on the rights and wrongs of the world; that would require a book a hundred times the size of this one. p. 85"

"If you must be careless with your possessions, let it be in connection with material things. Your mind is your spiritual estate! Protect and use it with the care to which Divine Royalty is entitled. You were given a will-power for this purpose. p. 173"

"The strongest oak tree of the forest is not the one that is protected from the storm and hidden from the sun. It’s the one that stands in the open where it is compelled to struggle for its existence against the winds and rains and the scorching sun. p. 112"

"Remember, no more effort is required to aim high in life, to demand abundance and prosperity, than is required to accept misery and poverty. p. 38"

"Mind control is the result of self-discipline and habit. You either control your mind or it controls you. There is no half-way compromise. The most practical of all methods for controlling the mind is the habit of keeping it busy with a definite purpose, backed by a definite plan...Without this control, success is not possible. p. 173"

"The greatest achievements of men, were at first, nothing but dreams of the minds of men who knew that dreams are the seedlings of all achievements. A burning desire, to be and to do, is the starting point, from which the dreamer must take off The Science of Personal Achievement (Audio - Nightingale-Conant)."

"Building alibis is a deeply rooted habit. Habits are difficult to break, especially when they provide justification for something we do. Plato had this truth in mind when he said, The first and best victory is to conquer self. To be conquered by self is, of all things, the most shameful and vile. p. 173"

"All achievement, all earned riches, have their beginning in an idea! p.18"

"Every adversity has the seed of an equivalent or greater benefit. A maxim of Hill's, specifically cited as such, in Success Through a Positive Mental Attitude (1960), co-authored with W. Clement Stone, Ch. 14, p. 222."

"Sex energy is the most powerful of all the stimuli which move people into action. Because it is the most powerful of the emotions, it must be controlled, through transmutation, and converted into other channels."

"The person with a "closed" mind on any subject seldom gets ahead. Intolerance means that one has stopped acquiring knowledge. The most damaging forms of intolerance are those connected with religious, racial, and political differences of opinion. p.88"

"Of all the ages of civilization, this is the most favorable for the development of the imagination, because it is an age of rapid change. On every hand one may contact stimuli which develop the imagination. Through the aid of his imaginative faculty, man has discovered, and harnessed, more of Nature's forces during the past fifty years than during the entire history of the human race, previous to that time... p. 62"

"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. Think & Grow Rich, January 1963, p. 150."

"Money is shy and elusive. It must be wooed and won by methods not unlike those used by a determined lover, in pursuit of the girl of his choice. Think & Grow Rich, January 1963, p. 152."

"Procrastination is one of the most common causes of failure.... Procrastination stands within the shadow of every human being, waiting his opportunity to spoil one's chances of success."

"The "Master Mind" may be defined as: "Coordination of knowledge and effort, in a spirit of harmony, between two or more people, for the attainment of a definite purpose." Think & Grow Rich, January 1963, p. 148."

"Thomas A. Edison "failed" ten thousand times before he perfected the incandescent electric light bulb. That is--he met with temporary defeat ten thousand times, before his efforts were crowned with success. p. 73"

"No man can succeed in a line of endeavor which he does not like. The most essential step in the marketing of personal services is that of selecting an occupation into which you can throw yourself wholeheartedly. p. 87"