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The Law of Success
Originally published as a multi-volume course, Napoleon Hill's sprawling program lays out sixteen lessons on achievement, including a definite chief aim, self-confidence, initiative, enthusiasm and cooperation. It is the forerunner of his later Think and Grow Rich.
- Release Date
- 1928
- Publisher
- Ralston University Press
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Our Review
About the book
Originally published as a multi-volume course, Napoleon Hill’s sprawling program lays out sixteen lessons on achievement, including a definite chief aim, self-confidence, initiative, enthusiasm and cooperation. It is the forerunner of his later Think and Grow Rich.
Our review
The longer, earlier draft of Hill’s success philosophy, more generous in detail and far more exhausting.
For readers interested in the origins of American self-help, this is a fascinating document. Hill lays out his philosophy at full length, and some lessons, particularly those on initiative, the habit of doing more than you are paid for, and accurate thinking, contain practical advice that his later bestseller compressed away. There is a sincere, almost schoolteacherly earnestness here, and the course structure makes it easy to take one lesson at a time.
Most readers, though, will find it a slog. The work is enormous and repetitive, and it carries the same unverified claims about famous mentors, pseudoscientific ideas about mind power and dated assumptions as Think and Grow Rich, with less polish. Editions vary widely in length and fidelity, so check which version you are getting. It is best treated as a historical curiosity or a reference for devoted Hill readers rather than a first stop.
What we loved
- Fuller, more practical lessons than Think and Grow Rich
- Course format allows one lesson at a time
- Valuable to anyone studying self-help history
Keep in mind
- Massive, repetitive and dated
- Unverified claims and pseudoscientific mind-power ideas
Read it if you like
Devoted readers of Think and Grow Rich, or those curious about Dale Carnegie and early American success literature.
The verdict
Historically interesting but bloated and dated; most readers are better served elsewhere.
