250 Napoleon Hill Quotes That Will Change How You Think About Success

Every quote below is presented with honest attribution: lines verified verbatim from Hill’s books carry his name, while widely circulated lines that could not be traced to a primary source are labeled “Attributed to Napoleon Hill.” Please note: these quotes are for education and motivation only — this is not financial advice.

Editor’s Picks: The 11 Most Powerful Napoleon Hill Quotes

Desire and Definiteness of Purpose

1. “All achievement, no matter what may be its nature, or its purpose, must begin with an intense, burning desire for something definite.” — Napoleon Hill
2. “A BURNING DESIRE TO BE, AND TO DO is the starting point from which the dreamer must take off. Dreams are not born of indifference, laziness, or lack of ambition.” — Napoleon Hill
3. “Every person who wins in any undertaking must be willing to burn his ships and cut all sources of retreat. Only by so doing can one be sure of maintaining that state of mind known as a burning desire to win, essential to success.” — Napoleon Hill
4. “Wishing will not bring riches. But desiring riches with a state of mind that becomes an obsession, then planning definite ways and means to acquire riches, and backing those plans with persistence which does not recognize failure, will bring riches.” — Napoleon Hill
5. “What the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve.” — Napoleon Hill
6. “You may as well know, right here, that you can never have riches in great quantities, unless you can work yourself into a white heat of desire for money, and actually believe you will possess it.” — Napoleon Hill
7. “When one is truly ready for a thing, it puts in its appearance.” — Napoleon Hill
8. “Truly, “thoughts are things,” and powerful things at that, when they are mixed with definiteness of purpose, persistence, and a burning desire for their translation into riches, or other material objects.” — Napoleon Hill
9. “Before we can accumulate riches in great abundance, we must magnetize our minds with intense DESIRE for riches, that we must become “money conscious” until the DESIRE for money drives us to create definite plans for acquiring it.” — Napoleon Hill
10. “Riches, when they come in huge quantities, are never the result of hard work! Riches, come, if they come at all, in response to definite demands, based upon the application of definite principles, and not by chance or luck.” — Napoleon Hill
11. “Barnes succeeded because he chose a definite goal, placed all his energy, all his will power, all his effort, everything back of that goal.” — Napoleon Hill
12. “I had learned, from years of experience with men, that 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
13. “Strong, deeply rooted desire is the starting point of all achievement. DESIRE is the seed of all achievement; the starting place, back of which there is nothing, or at least there is nothing of which we have any knowledge.” — Napoleon Hill

Faith and Belief

1. “FAITH is the starting point of all accumulation of riches! FAITH is the only known antidote for FAILURE!” — Napoleon Hill
2. “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.” — Napoleon Hill
3. “Faith is a state of mind which may be induced, or created, by affirmation or repeated instructions to the subconscious mind, through the principle of autosuggestion.” — Napoleon Hill
4. “Faith is the head chemist of the mind. When faith is blended with the vibration of thought, the subconscious mind instantly picks up the vibration, translates it into its spiritual equivalent, and transmits it to Infinite Intelligence, as in the case of prayer.” — Napoleon Hill
5. “ALL THOUGHTS WHICH HAVE BEEN EMOTIONALIZED, (given feeling) AND MIXED WITH FAITH, begin immediately to translate themselves into their physical equivalent or counterpart.” — Napoleon Hill
6. “Faith is the element, the “chemical” which, when mixed with prayer, gives one direct communication with infinite intelligence.” — Napoleon Hill
7. “I know that I have the ability to achieve the object of my Definite Purpose in life; therefore, I demand of myself persistent, continuous action toward its attainment, and I here and now promise to render such action.” — Napoleon Hill
8. “Before passing to the next chapter, kindle anew in your mind the fire of hope, faith, courage, and tolerance. If you have these states of mind, and a working knowledge of the principles described, all else that you need will come to you, when you are READY for it.” — Napoleon Hill
9. “The emotions of faith, love, and sex, when mixed with any thought impulse, give it greater action than any of these emotions can do singly.” — Napoleon Hill
10. “Our minds become magnetized with the dominating thoughts we hold in our minds and these magnets attract to us the forces, the people, the circumstances of life which harmonize with the nature of our dominating thoughts.” — Napoleon Hill
11. “You have absolute control over but one thing, and that is your thoughts. This is the most significant and inspiring of all facts known to man!” — Napoleon Hill
12. “Mind control is the result of self-discipline and habit. You either control your mind or it controls you.” — Napoleon Hill
13. “Your ability to use the principle of autosuggestion will depend, very largely, upon your capacity to concentrate upon a given desire until that desire becomes a burning obsession.” — Napoleon Hill
14. “Any idea, plan, or purpose may be placed in the mind through repetition of thought.” — Napoleon Hill
15. “If you fill your mind with fear, doubt and unbelief in your ability to connect with and use the forces of Infinite Intelligence, the law of autosuggestion will take this spirit of unbelief and use it as a pattern by which your subconscious mind will translate it into its physical equivalent.” — Napoleon Hill
16. “I will cause others to believe in me, because I will believe in them, and in myself.” — Napoleon Hill
17. “Verily, there is nothing, right or wrong, which belief, plus burning desire, cannot make real.” — Attributed to Napoleon Hill

Persistence and Overcoming Defeat

1. “There is no substitute for persistence. Failure cannot cope with persistence.” — Napoleon Hill
2. “One of the most common causes of failure is the habit of quitting when one is overtaken by temporary defeat.” — Napoleon Hill
3. “No one ever is defeated until defeat has been accepted as a reality.” — Napoleon Hill
4. “No man is ever whipped, until he quits — in his own mind.” — Napoleon Hill
5. “Success requires no explanations. Failure permits no alibis.” — Attributed to Napoleon Hill
6. “That is one of the tricks of opportunity. It has a sly habit of slipping in by the back door, and often it comes disguised in the form of misfortune, or temporary defeat.” — Napoleon Hill
7. “Temporary defeat should mean only one thing, the certain knowledge that there is something wrong with your plan.” — Napoleon Hill
8. “If you do not conquer self, you will be conquered by self.” — Napoleon Hill
9. “Both success and failure are largely the results of habit!” — Napoleon Hill
10. “Those who have cultivated the habit of persistence seem to enjoy insurance against failure. No matter how many times they are defeated, they finally arrive up toward the top of the ladder.” — Napoleon Hill
11. “The hidden Guide lets no one enjoy great achievement without passing the persistence test. Those who can’t take it, simply do not make the grade.” — Napoleon Hill
12. “Be persistent no matter how slowly you may, at first, have to move. With persistence will come success.” — Napoleon Hill
13. “Lack of persistence is one of the major causes of failure.” — Napoleon Hill
14. “The majority of men meet with failure because of their lack of persistence in creating new plans to take the place of those which fail.” — Napoleon Hill
15. “Failure is a trickster with a keen sense of irony and cunning. It takes great delight in tripping one when success is almost within reach.” — Napoleon Hill
16. “More than five hundred of the most successful men this country has ever known told the author their greatest success came just one step beyond the point at which defeat had overtaken them.” — Napoleon Hill
17. “We see the few who take the punishment of defeat as an urge to greater effort.” — Napoleon Hill
18. “Those who can “take it” are bountifully rewarded for their persistence. They receive, as their compensation, whatever goal they are pursuing.” — Napoleon Hill
19. “The person who moves with definiteness recognizes the difference between temporary defeat and failure. When plans fail he substitutes others but he does not change his purpose. He perseveres.” — Napoleon Hill
20. “Most real failures are due to limitations which men set up in their own minds.” — Napoleon Hill
21. “Every great leader of the past, whose record I have examined, was beset by difficulties and met with temporary defeat before “arriving.”” — Napoleon Hill
22. “Meet struggle and master it, says nature, and you shall have strength and wisdom sufficient for all your needs.” — Napoleon Hill
23. “Success is achieved and maintained by those who try and keep trying.” — Napoleon Hill
24. “Discouraging? Heartbreaking? Not at all, for I recognized from the beginning that out of my struggle would come triumph and victory in proportion to the labors invested in my task.” — Napoleon Hill
25. “It reveals the method by which every adversity, every failure, every disappointment, every mistaken error of judgment, and every past defeat may be transmuted into riches of a priceless value.” — Napoleon Hill

The Mastermind Principle

1. “The “Master Mind” may be defined as: “Coordination of knowledge and effort, in a spirit of harmony, between two or more people, for the attainment of a definite purpose.”” — Napoleon Hill
2. “No two minds ever come together without thereby creating a third, invisible intangible force, which may be likened to a third mind.” — Napoleon Hill
3. “Organized effort is produced through the coordination of effort of two or more people, who work toward a definite end, in a spirit of harmony.” — Napoleon Hill
4. “The man who can organize and direct a “Master Mind” group of men who possess knowledge useful in the accumulation of money, is just as much a man of education as any man in the group.” — Napoleon Hill
5. “A mastermind alliance is built of two or more minds working actively together in perfect harmony towards a common definite object.” — Attributed to Napoleon Hill
6. “The mastermind principle lets you appropriate and use the full strength of the experience, training, and knowledge of other people just as if they were your own.” — Attributed to Napoleon Hill
7. “No one has ever attained outstanding success in anything without applying the mastermind principle. No one mind is complete by itself.” — Attributed to Napoleon Hill
8. “All truly great minds have been reinforced through contact with others that allowed them to grow and expand.” — Attributed to Napoleon Hill
9. “No mind is complete by itself. It needs contact and association with other minds to grow and expand.” — Attributed to Napoleon Hill
10. “”Master Mind,” meaning a mind that is developed through the harmonious co-operation of two or more people who ally themselves for the purpose of accomplishing any given task.” — Attributed to Napoleon Hill
11. “Success comes through the application of power, and power is attained through the cooperative efforts of other people.” — Napoleon Hill
12. “I will induce others to serve me, because of my willingness to serve others.” — Napoleon Hill
13. “You can overcome almost any obstacle you face, no matter what your own education or talents, if you use the mastermind principle effectively.” — Attributed to Napoleon Hill
14. “I will succeed by attracting to myself the forces I wish to use, and the cooperation of other people.” — Napoleon Hill
15. “Inability to cooperate with others. More people lose their positions and their big opportunities in life, because of this fault, than for all other reasons combined.” — Napoleon Hill
16. “The Master Mind principle: Two or more people actively engaged in the pursuit of a definite purpose with a positive mental attitude, constitute an unbeatable force.” — Attributed to Napoleon Hill
17. “A negative personality will not induce cooperation.” — Napoleon Hill
18. “Until you have formed the habit of looking for the good instead of the bad there is in others, you will be neither successful nor happy.” — Attributed to Napoleon Hill

Imagination and Ideas

1. “All achievement, all earned riches, have their beginning in an idea!” — Napoleon Hill
2. “All the breaks you need in life wait within your imagination. Imagination is the workshop of your mind, capable of turning mind energy into accomplishment and wealth.” — Attributed to Napoleon Hill
3. “First comes thought; then organization of that thought, into ideas and plans; then transformation of those plans into reality. The beginning, as you will observe, is in your imagination.” — Attributed to Napoleon Hill
4. “If you do not see great riches in your imagination, you will never see them in your bank balance.” — Attributed to Napoleon Hill
5. “Man’s only limitation, within reason, lies in his development and use of his imagination.” — Napoleon Hill
6. “There is no fixed price for sound ideas!” — Napoleon Hill
7. “Back of all ideas is specialized knowledge. The idea is the main thing.” — Napoleon Hill
8. “Just as our eyes need light in order to see, our minds need ideas in order to conceive.” — Attributed to Napoleon Hill
9. “The greatest achievements of men, were at first, nothing but dreams of the minds of men who knew that dreams are the seedlings of all achievements. A burning desire, to be and to do, is the starting point, from which the dreamer must take off.” — Napoleon Hill
10. “More gold has been mined from the brains of men than has ever been taken from the earth.” — Napoleon Hill
11. “A man’s alibi is the child of his own imagination.” — Napoleon Hill
12. “One sound idea is all that one needs to achieve success.” — Napoleon Hill
13. “The time to nurse an idea is at the time of its birth. Every minute it lives, gives it a better chance of surviving.” — Napoleon Hill
14. “Tell the world what you intend to do, but first show it.” — Attributed to Napoleon Hill
15. “Of all the ages of civilization, this is the most favorable for the development of the imagination.” — Napoleon Hill

Decision and Action

1. “The value of decisions depends upon the courage required to render them.” — Napoleon Hill
2. “Those who reach decisions promptly and definitely know what they want and generally get it.” — Napoleon Hill
3. “Keep your eyes and ears wide open — and your mouth closed, if you wish to acquire the habit of prompt decision.” — Napoleon Hill
4. “If you are influenced by “opinions” when you reach decisions, you will not succeed in any undertaking.” — Napoleon Hill
5. “One of Henry Ford’s most outstanding qualities is his habit of reaching decisions quickly and definitely, and changing them slowly.” — Napoleon Hill
6. “INDECISION is the seedling of FEAR! Remember this, as you read. Indecision crystallizes into DOUBT, the two blend and become FEAR!” — Napoleon Hill
7. “PROCRASTINATION, the opposite of DECISION, is a common enemy which practically every man must conquer.” — Napoleon Hill
8. “ACCURATE analysis of over 25,000 men and women who had experienced failure, disclosed the fact that LACK OF DECISION was near the head of the list of the 30 major causes of FAILURE.” — Napoleon Hill
9. “Failure cannot cope with persistence.” — Napoleon Hill
10. “Opinions are the cheapest commodities on earth.” — Napoleon Hill
11. “Genuine wisdom is usually conspicuous through modesty and silence.” — Napoleon Hill
12. “You have a brain and mind of your own. Use it, and reach your own decisions.” — Napoleon Hill
13. “Let one of your first decisions be to keep a closed mouth and open ears and eyes.” — Napoleon Hill
14. “The world has the habit of making room for the man whose words and actions show that he knows where he is going.” — Napoleon Hill
15. “Indecision is a habit which usually begins in youth.” — Napoleon Hill
16. “By decisions made in a similar spirit of faith, and only by such decisions, can men solve their personal problems, and win for themselves high estates of material and spiritual wealth.” — Napoleon Hill
17. “Ninety-eight out of every hundred people working for wages today are in the positions they hold because they lacked the definiteness of decision to plan a definite position.” — Napoleon Hill
18. “In your search for the secret of the method, do not look for a miracle, because you will not find it. You will find only the eternal laws of Nature.” — Napoleon Hill
19. “If you talk more than you listen, you not only deprive yourself of many opportunities to accumulate useful knowledge, but you also disclose your plans and purposes to people who will take great delight in defeating you, because they envy you.” — Napoleon Hill
20. “If you are influenced by the opinions of others, you will have no desire of your own.” — Napoleon Hill
21. “Remember, also, that every time you open your mouth in the presence of a person who has an abundance of knowledge, you display to that person your exact stock of knowledge, or your lack of it!” — Napoleon Hill
22. “No group of individuals had put their hearts, minds, souls, and bodies together in one definite decision to settle their difficulty with the British once and for all, until Adams, Hancock, and Lee got together.” — Napoleon Hill
23. “You will have an opportunity to test your capacity to reach quick and definite decisions when you finish reading this book, and are ready to begin putting into action the principles which it describes.” — Napoleon Hill
24. “Definiteness of decision always requires courage, sometimes very great courage.” — Napoleon Hill
25. “Take no one into your confidence, except the members of your Master Mind group, and be very sure in your selection of this group, that you choose only those who will be in complete sympathy and harmony with your purpose.” — Napoleon Hill
26. “Don’t wait for extraordinary opportunities. Seize common occasions and make them great.” — Attributed to Napoleon Hill

The Subconscious Mind

1. “The subconscious mind will not remain idle! If you fail to plant DESIRES in your subconscious mind, it will feed upon the thoughts which reach it as the result of your neglect.” — Napoleon Hill
2. “Man may become the master of himself, and of his environment, because he has the power to influence his own subconscious mind, and through it, gain the cooperation of infinite intelligence.” — Napoleon Hill
3. “Positive and negative emotions cannot occupy the mind at the same time. It is your responsibility to make sure that positive emotions constitute the dominating influence of your mind.” — Napoleon Hill
4. “The subconscious mind is more susceptible to influence by impulses of thought mixed with “feeling” or emotion, than by those originating solely in the reasoning portion of the mind.” — Napoleon Hill
5. “You may voluntarily plant in your subconscious mind any plan, thought, or purpose which you desire to translate into its physical or monetary equivalent.” — Napoleon Hill
6. “You cannot entirely control your subconscious mind, but you can voluntarily hand over to it any plan, desire, or purpose which you wish transformed into concrete form.” — Napoleon Hill
7. “Remember, your subconscious mind functions voluntarily, whether you make any effort to influence it or not.” — Napoleon Hill
8. “The subconscious acts first on the dominating desires which have been mixed with emotional feeling, such as faith.” — Napoleon Hill
9. “Your mind is your spiritual estate! Protect and use it with the care to which Divine Royalty is entitled.” — Napoleon Hill
10. “Our brains become magnetized with the dominating thoughts which we hold in our minds, and, by means with which no man is familiar, these “magnets” attract to us the forces, the people, the circumstances of life which harmonize with the nature of our dominating thoughts.” — Napoleon Hill
11. “Repetition of affirmation of orders to your subconscious mind is the only known method of voluntary development of the emotion of faith.” — Napoleon Hill
12. “The subconscious mind works day and night.” — Napoleon Hill
13. “The possibilities of creative effort connected with the subconscious mind are stupendous and imponderable. They inspire one with awe.” — Napoleon Hill
14. “There is plenty of evidence to support the belief that the subconscious mind is the connecting link between the finite mind of man and Infinite Intelligence.” — Napoleon Hill
15. “It is your responsibility to make sure that positive emotions constitute the dominating influence of your mind.” — Napoleon Hill
16. “Form the habit of applying and using the positive emotions! Eventually, they will dominate your mind so completely, that the negatives cannot enter it.” — Napoleon Hill
17. “Everything which man creates, begins in the form of a thought impulse. Man can create nothing which he does not first conceive in thought.” — Napoleon Hill
18. “If you pray for a thing, but have fear as you pray, that you may not receive it, or that your prayer will not be acted upon by Infinite Intelligence, your prayer will have been in vain.” — Napoleon Hill
19. “There are no toll-gates between the finite mind of man and Infinite Intelligence. The communication costs nothing except patience, faith, persistence, understanding, and a sincere desire to communicate.” — Napoleon Hill
20. “Thoughts are truly things, for the reason that every material thing begins in the form of thought-energy.” — Napoleon Hill
21. “You are now engaged in trying to help shut off the flow of negative impulses, and to aid in voluntarily influencing your subconscious mind, through positive impulses of desire.” — Napoleon Hill
22. “Master these seven emotions (they can be mastered only by use), and the other positive emotions will be at your command when you need them.” — Napoleon Hill
23. “When you achieve this, you will possess the key which unlocks the door to your subconscious mind.” — Napoleon Hill
24. “It is essential, therefore, that you understand the method of approach to this inner audience. You must speak its language, or it will not heed your call.” — Napoleon Hill
25. “Only by following these instructions literally, and continuously, can you gain control over your subconscious mind.” — Napoleon Hill
26. “The presence of a single negative in your conscious mind is sufficient to destroy all chances of constructive aid from your subconscious mind.” — Napoleon Hill

Success Principles

1. “There is no substitute for persistence. The person who makes persistence his watch-word, discovers that ‘Old Man Failure’ finally becomes tired, and makes his departure. Failure cannot cope with persistence.” — Napoleon Hill
2. “Persistence is to the character of man as carbon is to steel.” — Napoleon Hill
3. “Desire backed by faith knows no such word as impossible.” — Napoleon Hill
4. “Drifting, without aim or purpose, is the first cause of failure.” — Napoleon Hill
5. “Success comes to those who become success conscious.” — Napoleon Hill
6. “Deliberately seek the company of people who influence you to think and act for yourself.” — Napoleon Hill
7. “Ideas can be transmuted into cash through the power of definite purpose, plus definite plans.” — Napoleon Hill
8. “Set your target and keep trying until you reach it.” — Napoleon Hill
9. “You are a human magnet and you are constantly attracting to you people whose characters harmonize with your own.” — Napoleon Hill
10. “When our attitude towards ourselves is big, and our attitude toward others is generous and merciful, we attract big and generous portions of success.” — Napoleon Hill
11. “I will sign my name to this formula, commit it to memory, and repeat it aloud once a day, with full faith that it will gradually influence my thoughts and actions so that I will become a self-reliant and successful person.” — Napoleon Hill
12. “There is no hope of success for the person who does not have a central purpose, or definite goal at which to aim.” — Napoleon Hill
13. “Self-discipline is the master key to riches.” — Attributed to Napoleon Hill
14. “There is no such thing as something for nothing.” — Napoleon Hill
15. “Every mind needs friendly contact with other minds, for food of expansion and growth.” — Napoleon Hill
16. “If you cannot do great things yourself, remember that you may do small things in a great way.” — Napoleon Hill

Money and Riches

1. “All achievements, all earned riches, have their beginning in an idea.” — Napoleon Hill
2. “Riches do not respond to wishes. They respond only to definite plans, backed by definite desires, through constant persistence.” — Napoleon Hill
3. “Poverty is attracted to the one whose mind is favorable to it, as money is attracted to him whose mind has been deliberately prepared to attract it, and through the same laws.” — Napoleon Hill
4. “When you begin to think and grow rich, you will observe that riches begin with a state of mind, with definiteness of purpose, with little or no hard work.” — Napoleon Hill
5. “Anybody can wish for riches, and most people do, but only a few know that a definite plan, plus a burning desire for wealth, are the only dependable means of accumulating wealth.” — Napoleon Hill
6. “Remember, no more effort is required to aim high in life, to demand abundance and prosperity, than is required to accept misery and poverty.” — Napoleon Hill
7. “He should have told us, too, that our brains become magnetized with the dominating thoughts which we hold in our minds, and, by means with which no man is familiar, these ‘magnets’ attract to us the forces, the people, the circumstances of life which harmonize with the nature of our dominating thoughts.” — Napoleon Hill
8. “No wealth or position can long endure, unless built upon truth and justice.” — Napoleon Hill
9. “Both poverty and riches are the offspring of thought.” — Napoleon Hill
10. “Riches are shy and timid. They have to be ‘attracted.’” — Napoleon Hill
11. “The richest persons are those who give most in service to others.” — Attributed to Napoleon Hill
12. “Poverty needs no plan. It needs no one to aid it because it is bold and ruthless.” — Napoleon Hill
13. “The starting point of the path that leads to riches is desire.” — Napoleon Hill
14. “If, after reading this chapter, you are willing to accept poverty, you may as well make up your mind to receive poverty.” — Napoleon Hill
15. “Before you can put any portion of this philosophy into successful use, your mind must be prepared to receive it.” — Napoleon Hill
16. “The two roads that lead to poverty and riches travel in opposite directions. If you want riches, you must refuse to accept any circumstance that leads toward poverty.” — Napoleon Hill
17. “The person who desires riches in the same spirit that Samuel Adams desired freedom for the Colonies, is sure to accumulate wealth.” — Napoleon Hill
18. “Financial independence, riches, desirable business and professional positions are not within reach of the person who neglects or refuses to expect, plan, and demand these things.” — Napoleon Hill
19. “One does not become money conscious by filling one’s mind with negative emotions.” — Napoleon Hill
20. “It is one thing to want money – everyone wants more – but it is something entirely different to be worth more!” — Napoleon Hill
21. “Riches begin in the form of thought!” — Napoleon Hill
22. “Only those who become money conscious ever accumulate great riches.” — Napoleon Hill
23. “Money without brains is always dangerous.” — Attributed to Napoleon Hill
24. “Nearly everyone was engaged in the pastime of trying to get without giving.” — Napoleon Hill
25. “The object is to want money, and to become so determined to have it that you convince yourself you will have it.” — Napoleon Hill

Mindset and Attitude

1. “There are no limitations to the mind except those we acknowledge.” — Napoleon Hill
2. “The most practical of all methods for controlling the mind is the habit of keeping it busy with a definite purpose, backed by a definite plan.” — Napoleon Hill
3. “Every man is what he is, because of the dominating thoughts which he permits to occupy his mind.” — Napoleon Hill
4. “I will eliminate hatred, envy, jealousy, selfishness, and cynicism, by developing love for all humanity, because I know that a negative attitude toward others can never bring me success.” — Napoleon Hill
5. “All you are or ever shall become is the result of the use to which you put your mind.” — Attributed to Napoleon Hill
6. “Hold a picture of yourself long and steadily enough in your mind’s eye, and you will be drawn toward it.” — Napoleon Hill
7. “A person with positive mental attitude aims for high goals and constantly strives to achieve them.” — Napoleon Hill
8. “A positive mind finds a way it can be done; a negative mind looks for all the ways it can’t be done.” — Napoleon Hill
9. “Nature has endowed man with absolute control over but one thing, and that is thought.” — Napoleon Hill
10. “No man has a chance to enjoy permanent success until he begins to look in a mirror for the real cause of all his mistakes.” — Napoleon Hill
11. “When you are able to maintain your own highest standards of integrity – regardless of what others may do – you are destined for greatness.” — Napoleon Hill
12. “Happiness is found in doing, not merely possessing.” — Attributed to Napoleon Hill

Knowledge and Education

1. “Knowledge is only potential power. It becomes power only when, and if, it is organized into definite plans of action, and directed to a definite end.” — Napoleon Hill
2. “Education consists, not so much of knowledge, but of knowledge effectively and persistently applied. Men are paid, not merely for what they know, but more particularly for what they do with that which they know.” — Napoleon Hill
3. “An educated man is not, necessarily, one who has an abundance of general or specialized knowledge. An educated man is one who has so developed the faculties of his mind that he may acquire anything he wants, or its equivalent, without violating the rights of others.” — Napoleon Hill
4. “Successful men, in all callings, never stop acquiring specialized knowledge related to their major purpose, business, or profession.” — Napoleon Hill
5. “Knowledge has no value except that which can be gained from its application toward some worthy end.” — Napoleon Hill
6. “Experience has proven that the best-educated people are often those who are known as ‘self-made’ or self-educated.” — Napoleon Hill
7. “Specialized knowledge is among the most plentiful, and the cheapest forms of service which may be had!” — Napoleon Hill
8. “Back of all ideas is specialized knowledge.” — Napoleon Hill
9. “Thomas A. Edison had only three months of ‘schooling’ during his entire life. He did not lack education, neither did he die poor.” — Napoleon Hill
10. “An intelligent follower has many advantages, among them the opportunity to acquire knowledge from his leader.” — Napoleon Hill
11. “Any man is educated who knows where to get knowledge when he needs it, and how to organize that knowledge into definite plans of action.” — Napoleon Hill
12. “Schooling does but little more than to put one in the way of learning how to acquire practical knowledge.” — Napoleon Hill
13. “General knowledge, no matter how great in quantity or variety it may be, is of but little use in the accumulation of money.” — Napoleon Hill
14. “There is one weakness in people for which there is no remedy. It is the universal weakness of lack of ambition.” — Napoleon Hill

Leadership and Service

1. “An efficient leader may, through his knowledge of his job and the magnetism of his personality, greatly increase the efficiency of others, and induce them to render more service and better service than they could render without his aid.” — Napoleon Hill
2. “History is filled with evidence that leadership by force cannot endure. Leadership-by-consent of the followers is the only brand which can endure.” — Napoleon Hill
3. “The world does not pay men for that which they ‘know’. It pays them for what they do, or induce others to do.” — Napoleon Hill
4. “It is the eternal truth that men receive more pay for their ability to get others to perform, than they could possibly earn by their own efforts.” — Napoleon Hill
5. “The able leader trains understudies to whom he may delegate, at will, any of the details of his position.” — Napoleon Hill
6. “Your value is established entirely by your ability to render useful service or your capacity to induce others to render such service.” — Napoleon Hill
7. “When a man, whether he is a leader or follower, admits that he is ‘too busy’ to change his plans, or to give attention to any emergency, he admits his inefficiency. The successful leader must be the master of all details connected with his position.” — Napoleon Hill
8. “The habit of going the extra mile, which means the habit of rendering more service and better service than one is expected to render, and doing it in a positive mental attitude.” — Napoleon Hill
9. “The quality of service you render, plus the quantity of service you render, plus the mental attitude in which you render service, determines the space you occupy in your chosen calling, and the compensation you get from your services.” — Napoleon Hill
10. “The Creator never singles out an individual for an important service to mankind without first testing him, through struggle, in proportion to the nature of the service he is to render.” — Napoleon Hill
11. “Capitalistic America insures every person the opportunity to render useful service, and to collect riches in proportion to the value of the service.” — Napoleon Hill
12. “The future leader in industry, to endure, must regard himself as a quasi-public official whose duty it is to manage his trust in such a way that it will work hardship on no individual, or group of individuals.” — Napoleon Hill
13. “The best recommendation is the one you give yourself by rendering superior service — with the right mental attitude.” — Attributed to Napoleon Hill
14. “The successful leader must be willing to assume responsibility for the mistakes and the shortcomings of his followers.” — Napoleon Hill
15. “The leader who claims all the honor for the work of his followers is sure to be met by resentment.” — Napoleon Hill

Fear and Procrastination

1. “Most of us go through life as failures, because we are waiting for the ‘time to be right’ to start doing something worthwhile. The time will never be ‘just right.’” — Napoleon Hill
2. “Old Man Procrastination stands within the shadow of every human being, waiting his opportunity to spoil one’s chances of success.” — Napoleon Hill
3. “Procrastination is the common enemy which practically every man must conquer.” — Napoleon Hill
4. “Indecision and procrastination are twin brothers. Where one is found, the other may usually be found also.” — Napoleon Hill
5. “Life is a checkerboard, and the player opposite you is time. If you hesitate before moving, or neglect to move promptly, your men will be wiped off the board by time. You are playing against a partner who will not tolerate indecision!” — Napoleon Hill
6. “Fears are nothing more than states of mind. One’s state of mind is subject to control and direction.” — Napoleon Hill
7. “Indecision is the seedling of fear! Indecision crystallizes into doubt, the two blend and become fear.” — Napoleon Hill
8. “The subconscious mind will translate into reality a thought driven by fear just as readily as it will translate into reality a thought driven by courage, or faith.” — Napoleon Hill
9. “Every adversity has the seed of an equivalent or greater benefit.” — Napoleon Hill
10. “It is one of the strangest anomalies of life that the absence of fear, and not formal education or brilliance of mind, is the major cause of individual success.” — Napoleon Hill
11. “Kill the habit of worry, in all its forms, by reaching a general, blanket decision that nothing which life has to offer is worth the price of worry.” — Attributed to Napoleon Hill
12. “Worry is a state of mind based upon fear. It works slowly, but persistently. It is insidious and subtle.” — Attributed to Napoleon Hill
13. “No man ever achieved worthwhile success who did not, at one time or other, find himself with at least one foot hanging well over the brink of failure.” — Napoleon Hill

Short One-Liners

1. “Success requires no apologies, failure permits no alibis.” — Napoleon Hill
2. “There is no substitute for persistence! It cannot be supplanted by any other quality!” — Napoleon Hill
3. “Action is the real measure of intelligence.” — Attributed to Napoleon Hill
4. “Man, alone, has the power to transform his thoughts into physical reality; man, alone, can dream and make his dreams come true.” — Attributed to Napoleon Hill
5. “Your big opportunity may be right where you are now.” — Attributed to Napoleon Hill
6. “The most interesting thing about a postage stamp is the persistence with which it sticks to its job.” — Attributed to Napoleon Hill
7. “When you close the door of your mind to negative thoughts, the door of opportunity opens to you.” — Attributed to Napoleon Hill
8. “Weak plans have a way of becoming strong if definitely applied.” — Napoleon Hill
9. “The one who undertakes it must have courage and tenacity.” — Napoleon Hill
10. “Who said it could not be done? And what great victories has he to his credit which qualify him to judge others accurately?” — Napoleon Hill
11. “Don’t let your mental attitude make you a “has-been.”” — Napoleon Hill
12. “You attract the good and desirable with PMA. You repel them with NMA.” — Napoleon Hill
13. “You can profit by disappointment — if it is turned into inspirational dissatisfaction with PMA.” — Napoleon Hill
14. “What you try for is up to you.” — Napoleon Hill
15. “The battle is all over except the “shouting” when one knows what is wanted and has made up his mind to get it, whatever the price may be.” — Napoleon Hill

How to Use These Napoleon Hill Quotes

Hill’s philosophy works best as a daily practice, not a one-time read. Pick one napoleon hill quote each morning and write it down — Hill himself recommended writing your definite purpose on paper and reading it aloud twice a day. Pair a persistence quote with a hard task, or a mastermind quote before an important meeting. The readers who get the most from Think and Grow Rich treat its thirteen principles as habits, and these 250 quotes make that habit easy to keep.

More Quotes to Explore

If these napoleon hill quotes resonated with you, explore our success quotes, money quotes, business quotes for entrepreneurs, motivational quotes for success, perseverance quotes, inspirational quotes for life. For the wealth-building side of his philosophy, see our investing quotes, financial freedom quotes, and for modern voices in the same tradition, our Elon Musk quotes on business and innovation, stoic quotes on strength and resilience, Monday motivation quotes, Robert Kiyosaki quotes on money. You can also browse Napoleon Hill’s author page on Goodreads for his complete bibliography and reader reviews.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who was Napoleon Hill?

Napoleon Hill (1883–1970) was an American self-help author best known for Think and Grow Rich (1937), written after twenty years of studying successful people at Andrew Carnegie’s suggestion. His work laid the foundation for the modern success-literature genre.

What is Napoleon Hill’s most famous quote?

His most famous line is “Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve,” from Think and Grow Rich. It captures his core teaching: that focused desire, faith, and persistence turn thoughts into reality.

What is the main idea of Think and Grow Rich?

The book teaches that success starts with a burning desire backed by faith, organized planning, and persistence — supported by principles like the mastermind alliance, auto-suggestion, and definiteness of purpose. These napoleon hill quotes are drawn directly from those thirteen principles.

Are all of these quotes really by Napoleon Hill?

Quotes verified verbatim from Hill’s books are credited to Napoleon Hill. Lines widely shared online but not traceable to a primary source are honestly labeled “Attributed to Napoleon Hill,” and famous misattributions were excluded entirely. Remember: this collection is for education and motivation only — not financial advice.