Napoleon Hill
From the author of one of the greatest personal books ever written, Think and Grow Rich, here are 30 life-changing lessons to learn from Napoleon Hill.
Napoleon Hill: 30 Life-Changing Lessons to Learn from Napoleon Hill
1. Opinions are the cheapest commodities on earth.
“Opinions are the cheapest commodities on earth. Everyone has a flock of opinions ready to be wished upon anyone who will accept them. If you are influenced by “opinions” when you reach DECISIONS, you will not succeed in any undertaking.” ~ Napoleon Hill
2. Life is a do-it-yourself project.
“It takes half your life before you discover life is a do-it-yourself project.” ~ Napoleon Hill
3. The number one reason people fail in life is because they listen to their friends, family, and neighbors. ~ Napoleon Hill
4. You are the master of your destiny.
“You are the master of your destiny. You can influence, direct and control your own environment. You can make your life what you want it to be.” ~ Napoleon Hill
5. You will never be greater than the thoughts that dominate your mind. ~ Napoleon Hill
“Life is a mirror of your consistent thoughts.” ~ Napoleon Hill
“You are searching for the magic key that will unlock the door to the source of power; and yet you have the key in your own hands, and you may use it the moment you learn to control your thoughts.”
6. A genius is one who has taken full possession of his own mind
“A genius is simply one who has taken full possession of his own mind and directed it toward objectives of his own choosing, without permitting outside influences to discourage or mislead him.” ~ Napoleon Hill
7. Self-disciplined begins with the mastery of your thoughts.
“Self-disciplined begins with the mastery of your thoughts. If you don’t control what you think, you can’t control what you do. Simply, self-discipline enables you to think first and act afterward.” ~ Napoleon Hill
8. If you do not conquer self, you will be conquered by self. ~ Napoleon Hill
9. If you fail to control your mind, you will control nothing else.
“You have absolute control over just one thing, your thoughts. This divine gift is the sole means by which you may control your destiny. If you fail to control your mind, you will control nothing else.”
10. When you close the door of your mind to negative thoughts, the door of opportunity opens to you. ~ Napoleon Hill
11. A negative attitude toward others can never bring you success.
“I will eliminate hatred, envy, jealousy, selfishness, and cynicism, by developing love for all humanity, because I know that a negative attitude toward others can never bring me success. I will cause others to believe in me, because I will believe in them, and in myself.” ~ Napoleon Hill
12. Until you have cultivated the habit of saying some kind word of those whom you do not admire, you will be neither successful nor happy.
“Until you have learned to be tolerant with those who do not always agree with you; until you have cultivated the habit of saying some kind word of those whom you do not admire; until you have formed the habit of looking for the good instead of the bad there is in others, you will be neither successful nor happy.” ~ Napoleon Hill
13. You will live in misery if you love too little.
“You may be hurt if you love too much, but you will live in misery if you love too little.”
14. When in doubt whether to speak or to keep quiet, remain silent.
“Think twice before you speak, because your words and influence will plant the seed of either success or failure in the mind of another.”
“Wise men, when in doubt whether to speak or to keep quiet, give themselves the benefit of the doubt, and remain silent.”
“If you must speak ill of another, do not speak it . . . ”
15. No one can make you jealous, angry, vengeful, or greedy; unless you let him. ~ Napoleon Hill
16. You can and you will
“Fear is a habit, so is self pity, defeat, anxiety, despair, hopelessness and resignation. You can eliminate all of these negative habits with two simple resolves: I can and I will.” ~ Napoleon Hill
17. Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve. ~ Napoleon Hill
“Hold a picture of yourself long and steadily enough in your mind’s eye, and you will be drawn toward it.”
18. Victory is always possible for the person who refuses to stop fighting. ~ Napoleon Hill
“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.”
19. The greatest failure in life is to stop trying. ~ Napoleon Hill
“Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit.” ~ Napoleon Hill
20. When defeat comes, accept it as a signal that your plans are not sound.
“When defeat comes, accept it as a signal that your plans are not sound, rebuild those plans, and set sail once more toward your coveted goal.”
21. Your attitude towards problems is the most important factor in overcoming them.
“Your attitude towards problems, difficulties, and adversities is the most important factor in overcoming them.” ~ Napoleon Hill
22. A positive mind finds a way it can be done.
“A positive mind finds a way it can be done; a negative mind looks for all the ways it can’t be done.” ~ Napoleon Hill
23. Cherish your vision and your dreams.
“Cherish your vision and your dreams as they are the children of your soul, the blueprints of your ultimate achievements.” ~ Napoleon Hill
24. The man who does more than he is paid for will soon be paid for more than he does. ~ Napoleon Hill
25. Patience, persistence and perspiration bring success.
“Patience, persistence and perspiration make an unbeatable combination for success.”
26. Weak desire brings weak results.
“When your desires are strong enough, you will appear to possess superhuman powers to achieve.”
“The starting point of all achievement is DESIRE. Keep this constantly in mind. Weak desire brings weak results, just as a small fire makes a small amount of heat.”
27. Do not wait: the time will never be ‘just right’.
“Do not wait: the time will never be ‘just right’. Start where you stand, and work whatever tools you may have at your command and better tools will be found as you go along.”
“Set your mind on a definite goal and observe how quickly the world stands aside to let you pass.” ~ Napoleon Hill
28. Happiness is found in doing, not merely possessing. ~ Napoleon Hill
29. To become successful you must be a person of action.
“The way of success is the way of continuous pursuit of knowledge.”
“To become successful you must be a person of action. Merely to “know” is not sufficient. It is necessary both to know and do.”
30. Our only limitations are those we set up in our own minds ~ Napoleon Hill
If you have a strong belief in yourself, no adversity is too difficult to overcome.
“If you have a strong belief in yourself, in what you are doing and what you want to do, no adversity is too difficult to overcome. “
BONUS: More of Napoleon Hill’s Quotes
“An educated man is not, necessarily, one who has an abundance of general or specialized knowledge. An educated man is one who has so developed the faculties of his mind that he may acquire anything he wants, or its equivalent, without violating the rights of others.” ~ Napolean Hill
A quitter never wins and a winner never quits. ~ Napoleon Hill
“The most damaging forms of intolerance are those connected with religious, racial, and political differences of opinion.”~ Napoleon Hill
“Keep your eyes and ears wide open – and your mouth closed, if you wish to acquire the habit of prompt decision. Those who talk too much do little else. If you talk more than you listen, you not only deprive yourself of many opportunities to accumulate useful knowledge, but you also disclose your plans and purposes to people who will take great delight in defeating you, because they envy you.”~ Napoleon Hill
“More gold had been mined from the mind of men than the earth it self.”~ Napoleon Hill
“Tell me how you use your spare time, and how you spend your money, and I will tell you where and what you will be in ten years from now.”~ Napoleon Hill
“Don’t wait. The time will never be just right. Start where you stand, and work whatever tools you may have at your command and better tools will be found as you go along.”~ Napoleon Hill
“The starting point of all achievement is desire. Keep this constantly in mind. Weak desires bring weak results, just as a small fire makes a small amount of heat.” ~ Napoleon Hill
“Every adversity, every failure, every heartbreak, carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit.”~ Napoleon Hill
“Opinions are the cheapest commodities on earth. Everyone has a flock of opinions ready to be wished upon anyone who will accept them. If you are influenced by “opinions” when you reach DECISIONS, you will not succeed in any undertaking.”
“To win the big stakes in this changed world, you must catch the spirit of the great pioneers of the past, whose dreams have given to civilization all that it has of value, the spirit that serves as the life-blood of our own country – your opportunity and mine, to develop and market our talents.”~ Napoleon Hill
“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.”~ Napoleon Hill
“Put your foot upon the neck of the fear of criticism by reaching a decision not to worry about what other people think, do, or say.”~ Napoleon Hill
“One who has loved truly, can never lose entirely. Love is whimsical and temperamental. Its nature is ephemeral, and transitory. It comes when it pleases,and goes away without warning. Accept and enjoy it while it remains, but spend no time worrying about its departure. Worry will never bring it back.”~ Napoleon Hill
“Helen Keller became deaf, dumb, and blind shortly after birth. Despite her greatest misfortune, she has written her name indelibly in the pages of the history of the great. Her entire life has served as evidence that no one is ever defeated until defeat has been accepted as reality.”~ Napoleon Hill
“Those who succeed in an outstanding way seldom do so before the age of 40. More often, they do not strike their real pace until they are well beyond the age of 50.”~ Napoleon Hill
“Remember too, that all who succeed in life get off to a bad start, and pass through many heartbreaking struggles before they “arrive”. The turning point in the lives of those who succeed usually comes at some moment of crisis, through which they are introduced to their “other selves”.”~ Napoleon Hill
“Remember that it is not the lawyer who knows the most law, but the one who best prepares his case, who wins.”
“The strongest oak 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.”~ Napoleon Hill
“Remember that your dominating thoughts attract, through a definite law of nature, by the shortest and most convenient route, their physical counterpart. Be careful what your thoughts dwell upon.”~ Napoleon Hill
“IF – and this is the greatest of them all – I had the courage to see myself as I reallyam, I would find out what is wrong with me, and correct it, then I might have a chance to profit by my mistakes and learn something from the experience of others,for I know that there is something WRONG with me, or I would now be where I WOULD HAVE BEEN IF I had spent more time analyzing my weaknesses, and less time building alibis to cover them.”~ Napoleon Hill
“If you give up before your goal has been reached, you are a “quitter.” A QUITTER NEVER WINS AND A WINNER NEVER QUITS. Lift this sentence out, write it on a piece of paper in letters an inch high, and place it where you will see it every night before you go to sleep, and every morning before you go to work”~ Napoleon Hill
“You are entitled to know that two entities occupy your body. One of these entities is motivated by and responds to the impulse of fear. The other is motivated by and responds to the impulse of faith. Will you be guided by faith or will you allow fear to overtake you?”~ Napoleon Hill
“There is no substitute for persistence. The person who makes persistence his watch-word, discovers that “Old Man Failure” finally becomes tired, and makes his departure. Failure cannot cope with persistence.”~ Napoleon Hill
“That is one of the tricks of opportunity. It has a sly habit of slipping in by the back door, and often it comes disguised in the form of misfortune, or temporary defeat. Perhaps this is why so many fail to recognize opportunity.”
“Disappointment over love affairs generally has the effect of driving men to drink, and women to ruin; and this, because most people never learn the art of transmuting their strongest emotions into dreams of a constructive nature.”~ Napoleon Hill
“A man whose mind is filled with fear not only destroys his own chances of intelligent action, but he transmits these destructive vibrations to the minds of all who come in contact with him, and destroys, also, their chances.”~ Napoleon Hill
“If you are ready for the secret, you already possess one half of it,therefore, you will readily recognize the other half the moment it reaches your mind.”~ Napoleon Hill
“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. These few are the Fords, Carnegies, Rockefellers, and Edisons. There may be no heroic connotation to the word persistence, but the quality is to the character of man what carbon is to steel.”~ Napoleon Hill
“Nature will not tolerate idleness or vacuums of any sort. All space must be and is filled with something . . . When the individual does not use the brain for the expression of positive, creative thoughts, nature fills the vacuum by forcing the brain to act upon negative thoughts.”~ Napoleon Hill
“Remember, the thoughts that you think and the statements you make regarding yourself determine your mental attitude. If you have a worthwhile objective, find the one reason why you can achieve it rather than hundreds of reasons why you can’t”~ Napoleon Hill
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Luminita D. Saviuc
Luminita is the Founder and Editor in Chief of PurposeFairy.com and also the author of 15 Things You Should Give Up to Be Happy: An Inspiring Guide to Discovering Effortless Joy. For more details check out the 15 Things You Should Give Up To Be Happy Book Page.
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