These were my favorite passage from Napolean Hill’s radio broadcast for his Five Foundations for Success.

“Well, that was the most thrilling moment of my life because it was the first time anyone had ever said anything kind about me, and somehow I had a sort of premonition that a new soul had been born within me. That short speech made a profound impression on my father also, and I saw my relatives gasp with astonishment when they heard my stepmother.” (p.9)

“The richest man on the face of the earth is a man with a positive mental attitude.” (p.19)

“Let us remember also that a state of mind is the one and only thing over which any person has complete, unchallenged right of control.” (p.23)

“A positive mental attitude is the first of the great riches, the starting point of all riches, whether they be riches of a material nature or an intangible nature. It attracts the riches of true friendship and the riches one finds in the hope of future achievement. It also provides the riches one will find in nature. ” (p.24)

“Someone has said that if you gain control over yourself, you may have control over everything else within the sphere of space you occupy in the world, and I think that is substantially true. This control is accomplished by self-discipline.” (p.27)

“Now, no one can make you angry without your cooperation—you have to cooperate. I defy you to make me angry unless I want to become angry. Of course, I might do it on my own account without your help, too.” (p.29)

“How do you know?” I had a clergyman in my class who was very—well, I don’t know just exactly how to describe it. He was a fanatic, you might say, on the subject of religion, and he was sure that he knew what was going to happen to me after “death. He said so in no uncertain terms, not in the class, but in a private conversation. He raved and ranted for quite a little while about it, and when he got through, I said, “Well, how do you know, Parson?” That really put him over a barrel. He said, “Well, that is the way I feel about it; that is my faith.” I said, “Well now, having belief and faith is one thing, and having evidence is something else. How do you know what is going to happen to me after I die? I don’t know, and I doubt that you do. How do you know?” He never gave a satisfactory answer.” (p.32)

“Will it benefit him or hurt him?” And if it will hurt him, don’t do it. Don’t say anything or do anything that will hurt another person under any circumstances, no matter how much he may deserve it. Exercise self-discipline. If you hurt another person, you are going to hurt yourself ten times as much at least, because that hurt will come back on you. I don’t care who you are or what circumstances you are working under or living under. If you hurt another person, you will be hurt ten times as much, and if the hurt doesn’t come immediately, the rate of interest on that, compound interest upon compound interest, will be a hundred times as great if you wait long enough. Because everything you do to or for another person, you do to or for yourself. There is no escape from that.” (p.33)

“You take any successful man, and I want to tell you that everything he touches turns into gold.” (P.38)

customer said, “bring me the winner. I want the winner.” Now, that is the idea exactly: associate with winners because they will do. (p.45)

“What one wants in life is every individual’s prerogative. It is up to the individual to determine, and I can’t do that for anybody. You have got to determine that for yourself. You set the pace, you make out the skeleton, and nature will fill in the meat on the bones. But you certainly have to lay out the blueprint of the skeleton of the thing that you want in life.” (p.50)

“is that of keeping these associates of mine working together in a spirit of perfect harmony.” And that was where I first heard those two words, “perfect harmony.”(p.53)

“I knew then, as I know now, that no one has the right to seek great wealth or anything else without giving something of an equivalent value in return.” (p.55)

It is strange, isn’t it? People so often have to be cut down by misfortune before they discover the supreme secret of great success.” (p.60)

Mr. Edison went on to explain that his deafness enabled him to concentrate his mind on any given subject without the outside distraction of sounds, and laughingly he said, “It also saves me from having to listen to a lot of idle chatter from people who have nothing to say and say it too often and too loudly.” (p.61)

Fourth, to be effective, a Mastermind alliance must become and remain always active. Mere association of minds by mutual understanding is not enough. Mastermind allies meet together, move continuously, and then pursue a definite objective, and they must do so in the spirit of perfect harmony.” (p.62)

“He surrounded himself with men who did have that ability, men who did understand chemistry, men who did understand physics, and men who had the necessary training that he himself didn’t possess. He told them what to do, and they showed him how to do it.”

In every instance where you find a man of outstanding achievement in any field, you will find that he has been a success as a result of a Mastermind alliance of one sort or another. In Minnesota they have the great Mayo brothers’ clinic. It is probably the greatest medical clinic of its nature in the entire world, and the reason that it is
great—there are many reasons for it, but one of the reasons is that they have there in that institution medical men with almost every conceivable type of special training. When they put a patient through there, he is looked over by all those men. Why, they know what’s inside of him and what’s outside of him. The Mayo brothers understand and use the Mastermind principle.” (p.66)

They had become successful by lending their minds to one another. Their mental attitude was wrapped up in this principle of a Mastermind.” (p.69)

” I have contacts all over the United States and, to some extent, all over the world, from which I can get things done for my students.

Contacts—having somebody at the right time to come to the front and do something for you is a perfectly marvelous thing, and no matter who you are and what business you are in, it is up to you; it’s your responsibility to make contacts, friendly contacts, especially in the banks. You never know when you will need something down at the bank. Have a contact there, someone who knows you. It’s surprising what you can do through contacts. ” (p.72)

“a regular meeting time, a regular meeting place. Indefiniteness here will bring defeat. Keep a regular means of contact between all members of the alliance.” (p.74)

“would have quit trying after the first failure, let alone gone ahead in the face of ten thousand failures. And right here we are face-to-face with a major difference between an Edison and an average person. Edison discovered the supreme secret of great achievement. He learned how to apply it in conditioning his mind for the expression of faith, and then he knew the truth, that whatever the mind can conceive and believe, the mind can achieve. I once asked Edison what he would have done if he had not found the secret of the incandescent electric lamp after having met with ten thousand failures, and he said, “Well, I would be in my laboratory right now searching for the answer instead of wasting my time out here talking with you.” And he meant what he said.” (p.80)

“the mental attitude in which the words are spoken is everything. The mind that has been properly prepared for prayer always produces positive results.” (p.89)

“By properly conditioning my mind, I went ahead in publishing my magazine in precisely the same way I would have proceeded if I had had the million dollars in the bank to begin with.” (p.90)

“Namely, look around until you find someone with a greater problem than your own, and start right where you stand to help him solve his problem, and, miracle of miracles, by the time you have helped your brother to solve his problem, the solution to your own will have come to you. “Help thy brother’s boat across and lo! Thine own hath reached the shore.” (p.92)

“the main spring of the soul,” through which one’s aims, desires, plans, and purposes may be translated into their physical or financial equivalent. And the fundamentals of faith are these. First, Definiteness of Purpose supported by personal initiative or action. (p.93)

“The reason for the building of that Mastermind made up of people who are suited mentally and spiritually to your needs is that the people you associate with have a mental attitude that is contagious, and you’re bound to pick it up in spite of all you can do. If you could associate every day with a person who has perfect faith, who
has a positive mind, you would have no trouble in accomplishing what you start out to do.” (p.94)

“every heartbreak, every hold back, every failure, every defeat, every adversity no matter what its nature may be —carries with it the seed of an equivalent benefit. If you are developing in your mind the power to use Applied Faith when these adversities or unpleasant circumstances come along, instead of groaning and moaning over
them, instead of building your inferiority complexes as a result of them, you immediately start to look for that seed of an equivalent benefit.” (p.95)

“Next, a burning desire is the sort of material of which faith is created—a burning desire. When you have a definite major purpose and create a burning desire for the attainment of that purpose and do not back away from it, you bring it into your conscience many times a day, and you determine that you’re going to carry out that purpose. That constitutes the finest application of faith you could imagine.” (p.99)

“They came into contact with me, but they made no impression upon me. I made use of that great law of passive resistance, which was the thing that enabled Mahatma Gandhi to free the Indian people from the British troops.”

“He planted that idea in the minds of four hundred million of his fellow men, and they created the Mastermind there such as the world has never seen before, and that passive resistance did something to the British, and they pulled out without firing a gun or killing an Indian.” (p.101)

“but he did it by passive resistance, by refusing to accept the things he didn’t want. If you stick to your guns, determined to do the thing you want to do no matter how hard the going may be—and you may be sure the going will be hard at first—lo and behold, you will come to the point sooner or later at which nature will say to you, “All right, old chap. You’re a contrary cuss; I am spending too much time on you, so I am going over to
this softy who cannot resist. You go on and take what you want. It’s cheaper for me to get it to you than it is for me to fight you.” Substantially, that’s what nature says to you.” (p.102)

“A positive mental attitude that you express all the time reaches the people that you come into contact with, that you do business with, and it brings them back to do business with you over and over again.” (p.103)

“Unless you condition your mind to make a sale, you’ll never make one.” (p.105)

“I have toward her. “Dear Sweetheart” letters and all. We have a date almost every night. It costs a lot of money, but it’s worth it. After all, she is the greatest thing in my life. She responds to my thoughtfulness. She wouldn’t do that if I didn’t go out of my way. And it pays off, and I am going to tell you, gentlemen, that it pays off handsomely. I have started courting my wife all over again. You can do it at any age; that’s the beautiful part of
it. Any age!” (p.112)

“Oh, I see. The things one desires must first be created in the person’s own mind; then physical possession is gained by well-organized plans.” (p.126)

“Well, the main thing that made him valuable was the fine, friendly spirit he spread among his fellow employees and business associates. You see, when a man forms the habit of Going the Extra Mile, he automatically spreads an atmosphere of good cheer wherever he goes, and this atmosphere is very contagious.”

“Render more services and better service than you are paid for, and sooner or later, you will be paid for more than you do.” Today I am continuing with the fourth of the Big Five principles of success, which is the habit of Going the Extra Mile.” (p.133)

“If you trust me to do the job, you may be sure I will do it, Mr. Durant.”  (p.137)
“It was no accident that he gave Mr. Durant two pencils when he only asked for one. It was no mere accident that he thought of employing an experienced engineer to help him do a job he knew he could not do alone.” (p.139)

“Dear Mr. Hill: Come on and go to work at once. I never heard of you before, but anyone with the self-reliance you expressed must have other qualities worthy of consideration. Yours truly, Rufus A. Ayers” (p.142)

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