Napoleon Hill - Think and Grow Rich

   

Think and Grow Rich is a 1937 motivational personal development and self-help book written by Napoleon Hill and inspired by a suggestion from Scottish-American businessman Andrew Carnegie. While the title implies that this book deals only with how to get rich, the author explains that the philosophy taught in the book can be used to help people succeed in all lines of work and to do or be almost anything they want. For instance, Jim Murray (sportswriter) wrote that Think and Grow Rich was credited for Ken Norton's boxing upset of Muhammad Ali in

1973. The ReverendCharles Stanley writes "I began to apply the principles of (Think and Grow Rich) to my endeavors as a pastor, and I discovered they worked!" The book was first published in 1937 during the Great Depression. At the time of Hill's death in 1970, Think and Grow Rich had sold more than 70 million copies worldwide. It remains the biggest seller of Napoleon Hill's books - a perennial best-seller after 70 years (BusinessWeek Magazine's Best-Seller List ranked Think and Grow Rich as the sixth best-selling paperback business book 70 years after it was first published). Think and Grow Rich is listed in John C. Maxwell's A Lifetime "Must Read" Books List.

Content

• The text of Think and Grow Rich is founded on Hill's earlier work The Law of Success, the result of more than twenty years of research based on Hill's close association with a large number of individuals who achieved great wealth during their lifetimes.
•    At Andrew Carnegie's bidding, Hill studied the characteristics of these achievers and developed 16 "laws" of success intended to be applied by anybody to achieve success. Think and Grow Rich condenses these laws further and provides the reader with 13 principles in the form of a philosophy of personal achievement.[6]. International Speaker Mark Victor Hansen says time has proven 2 of the laws/principles to be most important: 1) The MasterMind principle/process and 2) "Know very clearly where you want to go".
• It is noted in the book, that an individual with desire, faith, and persistence can reach great heights by eliminating all negative energy and thoughts and focusing at the greater goals in hand.
•     The 13 "steps" listed in this book are: 1. Desire 2. Faith 3. Autosuggestion 4. Specialized Knowledge 5. Imagination 6. Organized Planning 7. Decision 8. Persistence 9. Power of the Master Mind 10. The Mystery of Sex Transmutation 11. The Subconscious Mind 12. The Brain 13. The Sixth Sense

Editions

• Napoleon Hill holding his book Think and Grow Rich
• Hill, Napoleon (1953). Think and Grow Rich. Cleveland, Ohio: The Ralston Publishing Co. pp. 381.
• Hill, Napoleon (1960). Think and Grow Rich. Greenwich, Conn.: Fawcett Crest. ISBN 0-449-21492-3.
• Hill, Napoleon (2004). Think and Grow Rich : The 21st-Century Edition, Revised and Updated. High Roads Media. ISBN 1-932429-23-9.
• Hill, Napoleon; Cornwell, Ross (2004). Think and Grow Rich!: The Original Version, Restored and Revised. San Diego, CA: Aventine Press. ISBN 1-59330-200-2.

Original Version

   The first edition of Think and Grow Rich was released in March 1937. Despite limited promotion, mostly word of mouth, the original print run of 5,000 sold out in six weeks, at $2.50 a copy. Another 10,000 copies were printed, all of which also sold in six weeks. The third print totaled 20,000. W. Clement Stone wrote: "One of the most important days in my life was the day I began to read Think and Grow Rich in 1937.

1960 Fawcett Crest Edition

   Think and Grow Rich was revised in 1960. This version was originally published by Crest Book, Fawcett  Publications. This revised edition includes the following testimonial from W. Clement Stone on the inside front cover page: “More men and women have been motivated to achieve success because of reading Think and Grow Rich than by any other book written by a living author.” In 1987, Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Fran Tarkenton hosted a TV infomercial that sold the 1960 version with an audio cassette version of the book (the audio cassettes contained an introduction and conclusion by Tarkenton and supplemental study guides). In the introduction noted above, Tarkenton stated that he believed Think and Grow Rich to be "the greatest most honored formula for success that has ever been developed". 

The 21st-Century Edition

    In 2004 a revised text was published in a version titled Think and Grow Rich: The 21st-Century Edition: Revised and Updated. It was published by High Roads Media. In this version, author/editor Bill Hartley introduces modern examples of Hill's principles combined with editorial commentary throughout the book.

Among recent adaptations of the novel there have been several illustrated versions. The most well known was a graphic novel produced by Smarter Comics. This version sticks to the original content but adds the element of visual presentation and modern exemplars of similar events discussed in original versions.

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