69 of 70 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The most profound wisdom that mankind has to offer, January 14, 2009
Before Napoleon Hill became a massively successful author, he wrote articles for a magazine called Success Magazine. The nucleus of those articles is what this book is made of with each chapter coming from a different article. It is a book that everyone should read once in their life.
There are twelve chapters in the book and the first chapter is only four pages long, but it is packed with information which should be read more than once. Hill says we all consist of and develop "sense impressions" from the same things; teachings we received at home, Sunday school or Church (which can be substituted for whatever religious background we have), public or private schools, and daily newspapers or magazines.
The impressions we have is what make up our conscious and sub-conscious minds and in order for us to be successful, we need to fine- tune them.
He emphasizes two things in later chapters; suggestion, which is how we influence the minds of others, and auto-suggestion, which is how we tap into the powers of our own mind. Hill believes the latter of the two is more important as we need to create in our minds the plan for achieving what we want.
He says the person who has a sound plan and has the self-confidence to make it work is undefeatable. Confidence must be created in the mind before that mind is "neutralized." What Hill means is that our minds can lose focus and it must be in a certain state where it will only accept the things which will help a person achieve his or her goals.
In the 4th chapter, Hill says there is an "unknown phenomena" that helps us when we pray. He emphasizes that it has "no connection whatsoever" with organized religion. He doesn't clarify whether he means any person who believes in a higher power can pray or anyone, including Atheists, can make a prayer. This is something that is interesting since those who do not believe in God can obviously pray, but to who they pray is something of a mystery.
Later on, Hill talks about how we must turn the thing which we are trying to overcome or master into a habit. He says we must stick to doing whatever it is we aspire to do until it becomes 2nd nature. He says we should have the "tenacity of a bull-dog" and not let anything deter us from getting the thing we want.
Towards the end, Mr. Hill talks about the power of persuasion and says that a teacher who can stimulate minds and make students reach for higher then their averages "will confer a blessing on the human race second to none in the history of the world." This stresses the important role that educators play. It is crucial that future generations are allowed to reach for greatness and become successful by developing their highest level of concentration.
He ends the book by summarizing the Golden Rule Philosophy and tells us not to worry about the injustices in the world and people who do not apply the Golden Rule. "You can change the attitude of others towards you by first changing your attitude towards others." Your job is to master yourself and believe that you can be successful by being a force of attraction and then others will follow your lead.
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20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Napoleon Hill... that says it all, everyone self help copies this!, February 23, 2010
Buy it, read it, use it, change your life and all the world!
Yes, this is the self help author that did it all almost 100 years ago and is still used as the inspiration for over 99% of all self help books!
Oh... That other 1% are not really self help as much as they are spiritual... like the Bible, and in all the religious books, Ask and you will receive, the law of attraction, they are as old as sand.
And Hill tells you he got his inspiration from God, so he's not taking all the credit like the people who use his information, spice it up and say it is theirs... when it is Napoleon Hill!
If we all read this there would have never been a group of people that take and give nothing back, causing all the pain and turmoil that we see from Wall Street.
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