Napoleon Hill on the Greatest Wealth

There are few people striving to become successful who do not become acquainted with Napoleon Hill and his book Think and Grow Rich. Some are aware of his book The Law of Success. Even fewer know there are two versions of The Law of Success. One was written in 1925 and distributed by means of a series of small booklets. The other one, published in 1928, was a greatly edited version of the 1925 edition. Think and Grow Rich is actually a much edited version of the 1928 edition of The Law of Success.

Why is this important to you? The story goes that when Hill distributed the few copies of the results of his 20 year endeavor commissioned, but paid only travel expenses, by Andrew Carnegie, some of those he interviewed were horrified at what he had published. The story goes that they, especially Henry Ford, wanted the project squashed. These few men, and they were men, did not want the mass population to know the true secrets of acquiring wealth.

The researcher spent 20+ years interviewing the wealthiest people for the project of writing a new philosophy that anyone could follow. As I've roamed the internet learning more about Napoleon Hill, I've discovered that many people question him and his philosophy because he did not die as financially wealthy as did Andrew Carnegie, one of the primary men who established the steel industry in the United States.

It appears that most of the population believes that wealth refers only to financial riches. There is little realization that the term for Napoleon Hill meant much more than that. He states what he calls "my greatest riches" at the end of the preface of The Law of Success. His goal was to assist people in achieving self-satisfaction on the deepest level. He wanted people to feel fulfilled. He wanted them to discover who they were, what they needed to be happy and then to accomplish that happiness.

Andrew Carnegie wanted Hill to be a greater success than he was, one of the wealthiest, if not the wealthiest, men of his time. Napoleon Hill states in The Law of Success that he believes he accomplished this. His standard was not in his bank account. His standard was that, by his writings, he made more millionaires than did Andrew Carnegie. His writings also helped millions of people come to know and take responsibility for themselves. He assisted millions in becoming successful as measured by their own standard.

Therein is the key to success. If you accomplish your personal goals and fulfill that which is in the deepness of your heart, then you have achieved wealth. If you measure yourself by the standards of others, you will never be satisfied and always fall short of success and personal fulfillment. If you depend upon others to tell you what you must do and accomplish to be a success, you will always fail. Only you can know in your heart what you need to do and be to feel fulfilled in life. It takes courage and perseverance to accomplish your goals and not someone else's.