Thoughts are Things

I've read Think and Grow Rich a number of times and although I don't agree with everything it says, it definately makes you think and positions your brain in a posiive direction.

I always remind myself that the author, although initially successful died penniless and that it was his publisher who bought the rights of the book made the millions.

I think it is perfectly possible to know the theory of success and yet not know how to implement it. Unfortunately I don't think it can be learned from a book, but a book can help you create a mind set and get pointed in the right direction.

Are thoughts things? Do they have a mass? They are certainly things that exist in the physcial world in the form of electricial impulses.

OK, I have to stop now else I will be rambling all day.

Lyndoman makes an excellent point. Many have earned countless millions putting the books ideas into action. We can talk about the principles all day but putting thoughts (things) into action is an important ingredient.

Great reminder to keep moving forward, thanks!

Lyndoman, your statement that "the author, although initially successful died penniless and that it was his publisher who bought the rights of the book made the millions" is simply not true. Hill "died at age 87 on November 8, 1970, at his retirement home on Paris Mountain near Greenville, S.C., where he spent the last 18 years of his life." (The quotation is from "Think and Grow Rich!: The Original Version, Restored and Revised.") His home was in an exclusive residential area, and he was extremely well off in his retirement after more a decade-long collaboration with multi-millionaire W. Clement Stone, at the time one of the richest men in America.

Hill and Stone, among other things, started "Success Unlimited" magazine and co-authored the hugely popular book "Success through a Positive Mental Attitude." Hill's royalties from his books and other "success materials" he developed left him an extremely wealthy man, wealthy enough to establish and endow a not-for-profit foundation that is still active today.

I had the privilege of having dinner on occasions with Hill's official biographer, and I can tell you that while it is true that Hill had many ups and downs during his early career, he was well off in later life and died far from penniless.

Vic Johnson, founder of AsAManThinketh.net, had this to say on this whole subject (quoted, with permission, from a correspondence from him to me, Ross Cornwell):

“Several months ago I came across an audiobook biography of Napoleon Hill, and it was an eye-opening adventure into the life of a man whose days were not the ‘smooth sailing’ I had always assumed they were. Napoleon struggled against a myriad of obstacles throughout his life—many of which were brought on by some of the earlier choices he had made. I can’t count the number of times he became broke and penniless following a highly successful venture gone sour. His personal life was as spotted as his financial life, and a recounting of that could easily consume a full book.

“I would have thought that my discovery of his many flaws would cause me to lose respect for him, and thus doubt the veracity of his teachings that have influenced me for more than twenty years. But it is quite the opposite. Having listened to the struggles of this very human man has given me a whole new perspective of respect, even awe, of the incredible resilience and persistence that he displayed repeatedly against sometimes massive odds.

“I now understand that he didn’t write about some ‘theory’ of how to think and grow rich. He wrote from experience—his numerous experiences and the experiences of America's most successful. While the casual observer would believe that this book is only about making money, those of us who have studied it for years know otherwise. It’s about a better way to live a ‘rich’ life. And for that I am grateful that Napoleon gave so much of himself in order that he might leave us with this incredible work.”

Our thoughts are things, they form our perception of how things work.

Ross I stand to be corrected as I am not an expert in this field. But, I have read his estate when he died was virtually nothing. I don't know the exact details. But I do know he did not profit from the book like he should have.

I don't discount his whole theory, my point is it was the men who commissioned him who were the success.

It was the same with Guttenberg.

Like I say, I stand to be corrected, so if you could point me in the direction of a verifible fact that would be great.

And I don't mean wikipedia ;)

Lyndon... you read wrong, plain and simple.

This is an old post but I must deposit my 2cents on the subject. What is success? To one group of people it is vast sums of money left to our estate. To another group of people it is a happy family on the day we die. Perhaps, just perhaps, to Mr Hill it was that his work continue on after his death? In my analysis of reading Mr Hill's work, he wrote about financial success but was very interested in personal success. I am considering his work with his Son Blair and the time that consumed. I am also considering that Mr Hill wrote about OTHERS who achieved vast sums of money but rarely about himself. He seemed to be most concerned with being useful and at times his usefulness (spotted history) may have been different than our choices may have been. If as I conjecture, Mr Hill's view of success was to be Useful and produce something in life that is useful to humanity then he succeeded in every way that was important to him. Then again, I only know of him through literature and am assuming that money was really not his own personal goal. There are billions of human beings on this planet and for each of us success is an entirely different thing. Did Mr Hill die broke? perhaps by monetary standards but did he leave huge debt for others to clean up? Did he put his assets into hands that would continue his work through death understanding that in the end we can't take it with us? In summary, wealth can be many things to many people, same with success. Does it matter how much material wealth Mr Hill had on the day he died or does it matter that after death he has inspired millions to reach for the stars?

Napoleon Hill has been a great source of inspiration ever since i started reading "Think and Grow Rich". I have been through hard times but every time getting back to the source of inspiration provided by Hill I was able to stand up one more time to strive to achieve my goals. I love Hill and I find all other motivational works by others just different versions of basic ideas presented by Hill in his books.

In my opinion, it does not matter at all if Hill died penniless or otherwise, what matters is he is still a source of inspiration to millions of people like me who are struggling to achieve their goals.

If some of us are able to achieve our objectives it is an indication that Napoleon Hill did not die poor.