“This idea of starting at the bottom and working one’s way up may appear to be sound, but the major objection to it is this— too many of those who begin at the bottom never manage to lift their heads high enough to be seen by opportunity, so they remain at the bottom. It should be remembered, also, that the outlook from the bottom is not so very bright or encouraging. It has a tendency to kill off ambition. We call it “getting into a rut,” which means that we accept our fate because we form the habit of daily routine, a habit that finally becomes so strong we cease to try to throw it off. And that is another reason why it pays to start one or two steps above the bottom. By so doing one forms the habit of looking around, of observing how others get ahead, of seeing opportunity, and of embracing it without hesitation.”
―
Napoleon Hill
“This is a capitalistic country, it was developed through the use of capital, and we who claim the right to partake of the blessings of freedom and opportunity, we who seek to accumulate riches here, may as well know that neither riches nor opportunity would be available to us if organized capital had not provided these benefits. For more than twenty years it has been a somewhat popular and growing pastime for radicals, self-seeking politicians, racketeers, crooked labor leaders, and on occasion religious leaders, to take pot-shots at “Wall Street, the money changers, and big business.” The practice became so general that we witnessed during the business depression, the unbelievable sight of high government officials lining up with the cheap politicians, and labor leaders, with the openly avowed purpose of throttling the system which has made Industrial America the richest country on earth. The line-up was so general and so well organized that it prolonged the worst depression America has ever known. It cost millions of men their jobs, because those jobs were inseparably a part of the industrial and capitalistic system which form the very backbone of the nation.
―
Napoleon Hill
“If you must speak ill of another, do not speak it . . . ”
―
Napoleon Hill
“You have a brain and mind of your own. Use it, and reach your own decisions.”
―
Napoleon Hill
“It may interest you to know that Marconi’s “friends” had him taken into custody, and examined in a psychopathic hospital, when he announced he had discovered a principle through which he could send messages through the air, without the aid of wires, or other direct physical means of communication. The dreamers of today fare better.”
―
Napoleon Hill
“CREATIVE IMAGINATION—Through the faculty of Creative Imagination, the finite human mind has direct communication with Infinite Intelligence.”
―
Napoleon Hill
“Sexual overindulgence may not only destroy reason and willpower, but it may also lead to either temporary or permanent mental dysfunction.”
―
Napoleon Hill
“Before success comes in any man's life, he's sure to meet with much temporary defeat and, perhaps some failures. When defeat overtakes a man, the easiest and the most logical thing to do is to quit. That's exactly what the majority of men do.”
―
Napoleon Hill
“Every adversity, every unpleasant circumstance, every failure, and every physical pain carries with it the seed of an equivalent benefit.”
―
Napoleon Hill
“Broadway will give any beggar a cup of coffee and a sandwich, but it demands persistence of those who go after the big stakes.”
―
Napoleon Hill
“Perhaps we shall learn, as we pass through this age, that the 'other self" is more powerful than the physical self we see when we look into a mirror.”
―
Napoleon Hill
“when a man really desires a thing so deeply that he is willing to stake his entire future on a single turn of the wheel in order to get it, he is sure to win.”
―
Napoleon Hill
“Before we can master an enemy, we must know its name, its habits, and its place of abode.”
―
Napoleon Hill
“There is very little difference in people, but that little difference makes a big difference. The little difference is attitude. The big difference is whether it is positive or negative.”
―
Napoleon Hill
“There is a difference between Wishing for a thing and being ready to receive it. No one is ready for a thing, until he believes he can acquire it. The state of mind must be belief, not mere hope or wish. Open-mindedness is essential for belief. Closed minds do not inspire faith, courage, and belief.”
―
Napoleon Hill
