One of the best-selling success books of all time — equal parts inspiring and dated. It is worth reading, but reading critically.
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What Think and Grow Rich is actually about
Written in 1937 after Napoleon Hill studied hundreds of wealthy industrialists, the book lays out thirteen principles for achieving success, centred on desire, faith and persistence. It is far more a philosophy of mindset than a financial plan — closer to motivation than method.
The big ideas that stuck with me
- Definiteness of purpose. A vague wish achieves nothing; a burning, specific goal organizes everything else.
- The mastermind. Surround yourself with aligned, supportive minds; who you think alongside shapes what you achieve.
- Persistence beats talent. Most people quit just short of the breakthrough.
- Autosuggestion. Your dominant thoughts steer your actions — a real effect, though best taken without the mystical packaging.
The line I underlined
Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve.
Napoleon Hill, Think and Grow Rich
Who it’s for — and who it isn’t
For readers who want a motivational classic and can filter out the pseudo-science. If you want evidence-based finance instead, go straight to The Psychology of Money.
What’s timeless, and what to ignore
Written in 1937, this is the granddaddy of the whole genre, and you can feel every book that came after borrowing from it. Its durable core is the link between a burning, specific desire and sustained action — Hill’s insistence that vague wishes achieve nothing while a definite goal held with white heat tends to organise your behaviour around it. Strip the mysticism and that is simply goal-setting with conviction, and it still holds.
What to ignore is the pseudo-science. Hill wraps his ideas in talk of “vibrations” and a near-magical law of attraction, and some of his famous case studies are more legend than fact. Read him as a motivational primer, not a physics text. The value is the fire he lights, not the mechanism he claims for it.
How it compares
Historically the ancestor of much of the genre; read it beside the grounded, modern The Psychology of Money and Rich Dad Poor Dad for balance.
My verdict
Important and motivating, but read with a critical eye. My rating: 7 out of 10.
Check the current price on Amazon, or prefer to listen? It is excellent on Audible — free with a 30-day trial.
For more like this, browse our roundup of Best Books on Wealth & Success.
Read this next
Trace the idea forward to its calmer modern descendants: my Psychology of Money review and my Rich Dad Poor Dad review.
Common questions
Is Think and Grow Rich outdated?
In style, yes — the language and examples are firmly of the 1930s. In substance, its core about desire, planning and persistence has been repackaged by nearly every motivational author since, which tells you the bones are sound even if the wrapping creaks.
Is it really about money?
Less than the title suggests. Hill uses wealth as the headline, but the method — define what you want, commit, persist — applies to almost any goal. Many readers use it for health, skills or business rather than money.