Think and Grow Rich

Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich, published in 1937 and shelved under Motivation, remains one of the best-selling self-help books ever written. Hill distilled it from two decades of interviewing more than 500 successful Americans, a project he began after industrialist Andrew Carnegie reportedly challenged him to codify a “philosophy of achievement.” The result is organized around thirteen “principles,” with the central claim that a burning desire, backed by definiteness of purpose and faith, sets off a process Hill calls autosuggestion, in which repeated emotionalized thoughts are absorbed by the subconscious mind. The book’s best-known framework is the six-step method for turning desire into money: fix the exact amount wanted, determine what you will give in return, set a definite date, draft a plan, write a clear statement of the goal, and read it aloud twice daily while visualizing success. Hill pairs this with “mastermind” groups, “organized planning,” and “going the extra mile,” plus chapters on specialized knowledge, imagination, decision, persistence, and fear. He names six “ghosts of fear,” with fear of criticism, poverty, and ill health chief among them, and closes with the idea of the “sixth sense.” Modern readers should know that Hill’s Carnegie commission and some biographical claims have been contested, and the book leans heavily on anecdote, including the story of his son’s deafness, rather than controlled evidence. Its lasting contribution is the “mastermind” concept and its central argument that sustained, emotionally charged belief shapes action—and therefore outcomes.