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Think and Grow Rich

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Think and Grow Rich
Cover
Original Hardcover
AuthorNapoleon Hill
LanguageEnglish
GenrePersonal-success
PublisherThe Ralston Society
Publication date
1937
Publication placeUnited States
Media typePrint (Hardcover)
ISBN1592802605
OCLC156886959

Think and Grow Rich is a motivational personal development and self-help book written by Napoleon Hill [1] and inspired by a suggestion from Scottish-American businessman Andrew Carnegie. While the title implies that this book deals only with how to achieve monetary wealth, the author explains that the philosophy taught in the book can be used to help individuals succeed in all lines of work and to do or be almost anything they want in this world.[2] For instance, Jim Murray (sportswriter) wrote that Think and Grow Rich was credited for Ken Norton's boxing upset of Muhammad Ali in 1973.[3] [4] The Reverend Charles Stanley writes "I began to apply the principles of (Think and Grow Rich) to my endeavors as a pastor, and I discovered they worked!" [5] The book was first published in 1937 during the Great Depression.[6] At the time of Hill's death in 1970, Think and Grow Rich had sold 20 million copies.[7] 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). [8] Think and Grow Rich is listed in John C. Maxwell's A Lifetime "Must Read" Books List. [9]

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.[6]

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]

Editions

Napoleon Hill holding his book Think and Grow Rich
  • Hill, Napoleon (1953). Think and Grow Rich. Cleveland, Ohio: The Ralston Publishing Co. p. 381. {{cite book}}: Text "Copyright MCMXXXVII by Napoleon Hill, All Rights Reserved and Transferred, March, MCMXLI, to Ralston Publishing Co" ignored (help)
  • 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. Only 5,000 copies were printed. Despite advertising for the book being mostly word of mouth, the original prints were sold out in six weeks at a price of $2.50 each. Another 10,000 copies were printed to meet demand, all of which also sold out in six weeks. The third print totaled 20,000.[10] 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. [11]

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.” [12] 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).[13] 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". [14]

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.

The Original Version, Restored and Revised

In 2004, Ross Cornwell published Think and Grow Rich!: The Original Version, Restored and Revised (ISBN 1-59330-200-2), which restored the book to its original content, with slight revisions, and added the first comprehensive endnotes, index, and appendix the book has ever contained. This version went into a third printing in 2008.[15]

Further Study

  • Success Through A Positive Mental Attitude, by Napoleon Hill and W. Clement Stone. ISBN 1416541594
  • Earl Nightingale Reads Think and Grow Rich [The essence of Napoleon Hill's Think and Grow Rich], by Earl Nightingale. ISBN 1455810118

Notes

  1. ^ Briley, Richard Gaylord, 1995, The Seven Spiritual Secrets Of Success, p. 151, Thomas Nelson Publishers, ISBN 0-7852-8083-9
  2. ^ Hill, Napoleon, 1960, Think and Grow Rich. [Revised Edition, p. 19], Fawcett Books, New York, ISBN 0-449-21492-3
  3. ^ The Jim Murray Column, The Los Angeles Times, August 7, 1973
  4. ^ Associated Press, July 28, 1973, Norton Has Philosophy of Success
  5. ^ Stanley, Charles, 2009, How to Reach Your Full Potential for God, p.224, Thomas Nelson Publishers, ISBN 978-1-4002-0092-4
  6. ^ a b c A Lifetime of Riches: The Biography of Napoleon Hill, Michael J. Ritt and Kirk Landers (Revised Edition 1995) (ISBN 0-525-94146-0)
  7. ^ AP, November 10, 1970, 'Grow Rich' Author Dies
  8. ^ The BusinessWeek Best-Seller List, BusinessWeek magazine, January 15, 2007
  9. ^ Maxwell, John A Lifetime "Must Read" Books List, March 2008
  10. ^ Don Green (2008). The Next Chapter in Personal Development (digital video). The Napoleon Hill Foundation, The Millionaire Mentor Corp.
  11. ^ Hill, Napoleon, 1990, The Think and Grow Rich Action Pack, Plume, ISBN 0452266602
  12. ^ Hill, Napoleon, 1960, Think and Grow Rich. [inside front cover page], Fawcett Books, New York, ISBN 0-449-21492-3
  13. ^ Partners in Time: Guthy-Renker, Charles Wesley Orton, Response Magazine, May 2001
  14. ^ Think and Grow Rich audio cassettes 1A, 8B [introduction and conclusion by Fran Tarkenton], 1988, Napoleon Hill Foundation, Guthy-Renker Corporation
  15. ^ Hill, N.: "Think and Grow Rich!: The Original Version, Restored and Revised", page xi. Aventine Press, 2004; third edition, 2008

External links

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