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Speaker 1 Hi, this is Tony Robbins and welcome to the interview portion of PowerTalk. Today we have the renowned author, Dr. Napoleon Hill, author of the international bestseller, Think and Grow Rich, the definitive success classic that's been read by millions of people and utilized by millions of people for over a half century. Dr. Hill, it's really an honor and a privilege to have you with us in this edition of Power Talk. And I'm sure that many of our listeners have read Think and Grow Rich, so they're very familiar with the basic principles of success that you discovered and you've been teaching for most of your life. And of course, you know, it's one thing to read about the principles in a book, but I think it's extremely valuable for us to hear about them directly from you as the originator of the world's first philosophy of success. So let's get started. I guess by now most of us have heard that there's no surer way to success than to fall in the footsteps of those who've already achieved it. I like to call it modeling the behaviors and attitudes that made these people so successful. Dr. Hill, isn't that why you've dedicated your life to discovering and organizing the success principles that so many millions of us have read and studied and think and grow rich?

Speaker 2 Yes, that's exactly right. And you may be interested in knowing that I had the help of some 500 of the most successful men in America to help me create the science of personal achievement. Among them were such men as Thomas A. Edison, Henry Ford, John Wanamaker. Let me tell you about one man, perhaps my most outstanding student, who has made a tremendous success of his life by applying deafness of purpose. His name is W. Clement Stone, president of the Combined Insurance Company of America. Right after Think and Grow Rich was published in 1937, someone gave Mr. Stone a copy of this book, and he was so impressed by it that he laid out a 20-year plan for himself. At that time, he was selling insurance, I suppose making $200, $300, maybe $400 a week at the most. Now, his plan called for him to own a company of his own within 20 years and for him to be president of it, and his personal fortune to be not less than $10 million. Well, long before the 20 years were up, he was the president and majority owner of four large insurance companies. His personal fortune was over $35 million, and today it is estimated that his fortune is over $100 million. and he attributes his success entirely to the application of the famous Andrew Carnegie philosophy, and particularly to the application of definiteness of purpose. His 2,000 salesmen are known to be the most successful men in the insurance field, and every one of those 2,000 men has been taught to use the science of personal achievement and to emphasize the principle of definiteness of purpose.

Speaker 1 Dr. Hill, as you've pointed out many times, there are really only two basic ways to succeed, one being by trial and error, and the other by following a guide or a blueprint that has worked

Speaker 2 again and again for others. Yes, that's correct. Mr. Andrew Carnegie, over 55 years ago, gave me the task of creating such a blueprint. He gave me the job of creating a success blueprint, which anyone can use to attain success. It consists of the 17 principles of the science of personal achievement. The starting point of all successful achievement is definiteness of purpose, and no one ever succeeds without applying it.

Speaker 1 Yet didn't you discover in your early research that most people in our society just exist from day to day with no real purpose or direction?

Speaker 2 Absolutely. 98 out of every 100 people are going round and round like a goldfish in a bowl, coming back to the place from which they started empty-handed. Let me tell you now some of the benefits of definiteness of purpose. Number one, definiteness of purpose automatically develops self-reliance, personal initiative, imagination, enthusiasm, self-discipline, and concentration of effort, all of these being prerequisites for success of vital importance. And number two, it induces one to budget one's time. and to plan day-to-day endeavor which leads to the attainment of one's major purpose and three it makes one more alert in recognizing opportunities related to the object of one's major purpose and it inspires the courage to embrace and act upon these opportunities and four it inspires confidence in one's integrity and character and attracts the favorable attention of other people. The man who knows where he is going and is determined to get there will always find willing helpers to cooperate with him. And five, the greatest of all of its benefits is this. It opens the way for the full exercise of that state of mind known as faith by making the mind positive and freeing the mind from the limitations of fear and doubt and discouragement and indecision and procrastination. Six, it makes one success conscious and protects one against the influence of a failure consciousness. Now, here are some examples of men who have risen to high places as a result of definite purpose. Take Walter Chrysler, for example. He started out as a mechanic, and he wound up as the head of a very large and successful automobile company. Then there was Thomas A. Edison. who chose as his profession the business of inventing. And there was Henry Ford who built the first successful automobiles in the United States and Andrew Carnegie, my sponsor and F.W. Woolworth who made himself rich by operating five and ten cent stores. And then there was Henry J. Kaiser and Edwin C. Barnes, associated with Thomas A. Edison. Now all of these men owe their success mainly to following the principle of definiteness of purpose of knowing where they wanted to go, having a plan for getting there, and keeping eternally at it in applying this plan.

Speaker 1 Wouldn't you say that definiteness of purpose applies to the wife and mother, you know, the young student in school, to all areas of life, including relationships and personal development, as well as business and career success?

Speaker 2 It's absolutely impossible for anybody to succeed at any level of life without definiteness of purpose. You have to know where you're going, you have to know why you're going, and you have to be determined to get there. It would apply to people in all callings. There's no exception, absolutely. No one has ever been known to succeed without definites of purpose. That is above mediocrity. Of course, you can go out and run a peanut stand without definites of purpose, but you wouldn't get anywhere if you didn't lift your sights up and make up your mind that you want to do something greater than running a peanut stand.

Speaker 1 Dr. Hill, you're known to have been the first to present the principle of the mastermind. Would you talk a little bit about the mastermind principle and its real power?

Speaker 2 Yes, but first let me tell you about my experience in helping Franklin D. Roosevelt to create a mastermind which broke the back of the Depression in 1933. Shortly after the president entered the White House, he sent for me to come and go to work for him. We created one of the most outstanding masterminds that this nation has ever known, perhaps. It consisted of both houses of Congress working in harmony with the president, something that never had been done before and never has been done since, probably to the extent that we accomplished it there in 1933. The majority of the newspaper publishers of America, regardless of their political leanings, practically every one of them got behind the president as a result of this mastermind operation which we set up at the White House. And the radio station operators, without any reference whatsoever to their political leanings, they got behind the president and they used the material which I prepared to send out to go over the air. In other words, material that we used to sell the good features of the United States instead of dwelling upon the bad ones. And then the churches of all denominations, I have never seen such a job as they did. The priests and the clergymen of all denominations went into their pulpits and they did a wonderful job of selling the United States of America to the people. Then the leaders of both the major political parties, they crossed party lines. There were no Democrats and no Republicans, no anything else in Congress. There were nothing but Americans helping the President of the United States to bring this country out of chaos. And then most of all, there was a majority of the American people of all political and religious leanings. I have never seen the people of the United States get behind a President so squarely as they did behind FDR in those perilous days of 1933. Now here was a mastermind alliance that served a great purpose at a time of need. Thomas A. Edison only had three months of schooling in his entire life. Although he chose a work that called for the application of many of the sciences, he knew nothing about any of them. Now you may always ask how in the world did he get along with only three months of schooling in the business of inventing, dealing with the sciences, and yet knowing nothing about any of them. I've been asked that question many times. Well, the answer is very simple. He got along by surrounding himself with men who did understand the sciences, technical men, educated men, and he used their brains just as successfully as if he had had the knowledge himself. As a matter of fact, every successful man in the upper brackets of achievement makes use of other people's knowledge and their influence and their education under the mastermind principle. Then there would be Mr. Andrew Carnegie, my sponsor. He came over to this country in the steerage and didn't have enough money to pay first-class fare on the boat and he rose to a high position in the world by surrounding himself with men who knew more than he did, who could do the things that he wanted done. And I could name a hundred others who started at in low positions and rose to high positions in life by associating themselves with their other people under the mastermind principle. You talk a lot about applied

Speaker 1 which by the way Dr. Norman Vincent Peale obviously talks about in this month's book summary on the power of positive thinking Now as I understand it what you're really getting at is you're trying to get someone to eliminate their doubt and their fear Is that accurate?

Speaker 2 That's exactly correct The term applied faith is used instead of faith because it seems that before your spirit of faith that can affect anything really it has to be actively directed in some direction In other words, you can't just believe and sit down and have anything happen. You have to become active behind your faith and to keep it active. That's why we call it applied faith. Faith is a state of mind that has been called the mainspring of the soul, through which one's aims, desires, plans, and purposes may be translated into their physical or financial equivalent. Faith is a means through which you can put yourself in a frame of mind to tune in and draw directly upon the power that operates the whole of this universe. Let me give you an illustration of where I first learned of the power of faith. When I was four years of age, I was stricken down with typhoid fever. My father had two doctors waiting on me, and they were there for several days, but meanwhile I was becoming worse all the time. And at the end of the fifth day, I was in a deep coma, and the doctors called my father outside where my mother couldn't hear and told him that I was dying, that I would be dead within the hour, and that they had done all that doctors knew what to do. My father said, All right, doctor, if you can't do anything more, I know a doctor who can. He went down into the woods and knelt down and started to pray. He promised his maker that if he would spare my life, he would see that my entire life was dedicated to the service of mankind. And after he had been there praying for approximately an hour, my father said that the whole wood seemed to light up, and he recognized that his prayer had been answered. He rushed back to the house, and when he got in the room where I was, I was sitting up in bed crying for water. In those days, they wouldn't allow water for typhoid victims. My father went down to the spring and got a gourd full of water, And I drank it all, and from that moment on, I commenced to improve. As a matter of fact, I have seldom been ill a day from that time on to this. I had another wonderful illustration of the power of applied faith. When my second son Blair was born, he was born without ears. And the doctors told me that he would be a deaf mute all of his life. I had told them he would not be a deaf mute, and that he would live to have 100% of his hearing just like other children. And one of these doctors came over and put his arm on my shoulder, And he said, now look here, Napoleon, there are some things in this world that neither you nor I nor anyone else can do anything about. And now you face one of those situations. I said, doctor, there is nothing in this world that I can't do something about if it's nothing more than adjust myself to an unpleasant situation so it does not destroy my spirit. I went to work on that child through prayer before I ever saw him. I worked on him continuously almost four hours a day for the first four years of his life. And at the age of about 18 months, we recognized that he was beginning to hear. We didn't know just how much. But by the time he had reached the fourth year, he had developed 65% of his normal hearing. And in his third year in college, in the University of West Virginia, the acoustic company, manufacturer of hearing aids, heard about this unusual case, the only one of its kind in the world where a child born without ears ever learned to hear. came down to the University of West Virginia and made him a special hearing aid that gave him the other 35% of his hearing. And Blair today has 100% of his hearing just exactly like I said he would. Almost one of the modern miracles of medical science that this thing happened. And the doctors today don't know exactly how it did happen. I'm not sure that I did, but I know what I was doing to help bring it about.

Speaker 1 Dr. Hill, I think many of us were never the same after reading your most famous statement. Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, he can achieve. Would you talk just a little bit about that great truth?

Speaker 2 Well, the most priceless thing about it is the capacity to believe, that magic word believe. Thomas A. Edison believed he could perfect an incandescent electric lamp, despite the fact that he failed more than 10,000 times before success rewarded him. Imagine a man sticking to one idea through 10,000 different failures, and he couldn't have done it without absolute belief that he would succeed eventually. Marconi believed the ether could be made to carry the vibrations of sound without the use of wires and he carried on through many failures until he was rewarded by triumph. Christopher Columbus believed he would find land in an uncharted ocean and he sailed on and on and on despite the threatened mutiny of his sailors until he found America. Madame Schumann-Heinck believed she would become a great singer although her first teacher had advised her to go back to her sewing machine and be contented as a seamstress. Her faith rewarded her with success. And Helen Keller believed she would learn to talk despite the fact that she lost the use of her speech, sight, and hearing. Her faith restored her speech.

Speaker 1 Dr. Hill, you place a great deal of emphasis on developing a pleasing personality. You call it a man or a woman's greatest asset. Why do you consider it so vital?

Speaker 2 A pleasing personality helps one to master the major causes of failure. That's the main reason why.

Speaker 1 Would you tell us what you consider to be the main cause of failure among people today?

Speaker 2 Yes, it's a lack of ability to get along with other people harmoniously. Take Charles M. Schwab, for instance. He was the right-hand man. He distinguished Andrew Carnegie. And he rose to a position of great importance as president of the United States Steel Corporation. His salary was $75,000 a year. And on some occasions at the end of the year, Mr. Carnegie gave him a bonus of as much as a million dollars a year, more than ten times as much as he received a salary. And when I asked Mr. Carnegie if he felt that he had to give Mr. Schwab that amount of money, he said, no, I didn't have to. I could have neglected it and let him go across the street and go into competition with me. And then, seriously speaking, he said, I paid Mr. Schwab $75,000 a year for what he did. I gave him a bonus at the end of the year of as much as a million dollars for what he got other people to do. And he was a past master at inspiring other people to cooperate. A million-dollar personality. Now here are some of the more important traits of a pleasing personality. First of all, a positive mental attitude based upon one's expression by words or thoughts or deeds or the emotions, among which the 14 most important emotions are positive emotion, faith, hope, love, enthusiasm, sex, loyalty, and cheerfulness. Negative emotions, fear. The seven basic fears are fear of poverty, fear of ill health, fear of criticism, fear of the loss of love of someone, fear of the loss of liberty, fear of old age, and fear of death. And second, flexibility. That is to say the ability to unbend mentally and physically and to adapt oneself to any circumstance or environment without loss of self-control or composure. The flexible person has full control of his emotions at all times. One of Franklin D. Roosevelt's outstanding qualities was that of flexibility. Then a pleasing tone of voice, that is, a voice controlled and cultivated to express any desired feeling and the frankness of manner and speech with discriminant control of the tongue at all times based upon the habit of thinking before speaking. And a keen sense of justice toward all people, and applied in all human relationships, even when to do so may appear unprofitable. Sincerely of purpose in all human relationships, remembering that insincerity begets failure of friendly cooperation. And tactfulness in speech and manner, remembering that not all thoughts should be expressed, even though one may speak the truth. And promptness of decision, when all of the facts for a decision are available. And faith in infinite intelligence based on observation of the orderliness of the universe and the visible portions of the world and the universe at large. And controlled enthusiasm, that is to say the ability to turn on and off one's interset will with a special attention to enthusiasm in speech. And common courtesy, both in speech and in mental attitude. I know of no one quality of a pleasing personality that pays off so handsomely as that of ordinary courtesy. And then the habit of going the extra mile, that is to say rendering more service and better service than one is paid to do, and doing it all the time. Now those are some of the most important traits of a pleasing personality.

Speaker 1 In all of your books, you talk about the principle of going the extra mile. And today we live in an age where most people aren't willing to go for the first mile. So as you see it, what's the greatest benefit of following this principle?

Speaker 2 Well, let me relate my experience with Franklin D. Roosevelt in the White House in 1933, will give you a fine indication of how the students of this philosophy may profit by this important principle. First of all, let me define the principle of going the extra mile. It means rendering more service and better service than you are paid to render, and doing it all the time, and doing it in a pleasing, positive mental attitude. When I went to work for the president in 1933, nothing was said at the beginning about how much I was to receive or who was to pay it. And I had been there about three months when one day Franklin D. Roosevelt asked me who was paying my salary and how much I was getting. And I said, well, Mr. President, that's something I would like to know myself. I haven't heard anything about it. And we talked on for a little while, and I said, well, now, Mr. President, you know, I have been serving you ever since you were Assistant Secretary of the Navy, and particularly while you were Governor of New York. And you will recall, of course, that up to this time I have never rendered you a bill or asked you to pay me a dollar for my services, and I'm not going to start now. But if you insist upon it, suppose you put me on the payroll at a dollar a year. And that's exactly what he did. Well, I took my typewriter down to the White House, and when I wasn't actually serving the president or some member of his staff or cabinet, I started writing books. I wrote six books that first year, among them Think and Grow Rich, the book that has made me popular all over the world, you might say. I had no intention of publishing that book when I was writing it. I was writing it to myself to keep my mind positive in those days of chaos. Well, some three years after I left the service of the president, I got out these manuscripts and read them, and I made up my mind that the only one worth publishing was Think and Grow Rich. And when I took it to my publisher, he said, well, what is in this book that leads you to believe it would sell? I said, you will have to read it to find out. He took it home with him and read it. He had his whole staff read it paragraph by paragraph, and then they took a vote on it, and they voted unanimously that it was the best manuscript that ever came to that publishing house. They printed it, put it to work, and it's been selling as a bestseller all over the world up to this time. It has grossed over 18 millions of dollars and probably will gross many more millions of dollars while I'm still alive. It's been translated into many languages. It was endorsed by Mahatma Gandhi and distributed widely throughout India. It went from there to Brazil, where it was translated into the Portuguese language and is widely distributed throughout Latin America. And I think if you'll stop and consider the wages that I asked, the wages that I received of $1 a year, and the service that I gave for that, you'll recognize what can be accomplished by going the extra mile. Now let me give you some of the benefits that comes from going the extra mile. Well, it places the law of increasing returns squarely back of one. It brings one to the favorable attention of those who can and do provide opportunities for self-promotion. It tends to permit one to become indispensable in many different human relationships and therefore enables one to command more than average compensation. It leads to a mental growth and physical perfection in various forms of service, thereby developing greater ability and skill in one's chosen vocation. It protects one against the loss of employment and places one in a position to choose his own job and working conditions. It enables one to profit by the law of contrast because the majority of people do not practice the habit of going the extra mile. And it leads to the development of a positive, pleasing personal attitude, which is among the more important traits of a pleasing personality. And it tends to develop a keen, alert imagination, as it is a habit which keeps one continuously seeking new and more efficient ways of rendering service. It definitely serves to develop self-reliance. It serves also to build the confidence of others in one's integrity. And it is the only logical reason to justify one in asking for a promotion or for more wages. Because if a man is not doing any more than he's paid for, then obviously he has no right to ask for more pay.

Speaker 1 Dr. Hill, as you've said, personal initiative is essential to strong and effective leadership. Wasn't this true of virtually all the people that you modeled in your research in developing your success philosophy? Did they not also live by this idea of personal initiative?

Speaker 2 It was an outstanding trait in every one of them. Not a single one of the 504 men who helped me to build the science of personal achievement was without the active application of this habit of moving on his own personal initiative. And let me give you an illustration of some of the outstanding men who have attained great success by applying this principle along with the other 16 principles of the philosophy. Take Henry J. Kaiser, for instance. During World War II, he was in the business of building ships for the government, and he needed special cars of material to be shipped in from the east. And this material had to be delivered absolutely on time. He didn't take any chances. And in order to make sure that the material would come through on time, he put two expediters on every car material, one to stay awake all the time while the other one slept. And they rode those cars straight across the continent, and they were given instructions that if any railroad man dared to sidetrack those cars, the expediter should get the president of the railroad company on the telephone immediately and demand that those cars move. That's how definitely that Mr. Kaiser moved in seeing that his personal initiative was carried out. Take the great American way of life. It's based on the principle of personal initiative. It's carried out by its leaders in the industry and the application of the principle of following through dates back to the days of the American Revolution when those 56 determined men signed the greatest document known to mankind. It took definiteness of purpose for them to do that. And Orville and Wilbur Wright, for instance, in the development of the airplane, I had the privilege of riding with Orville Wright in the first airplane that the Wright brothers built. They were demonstrating the possibility of planes successful flying to the Navy in Washington, and they chose me as a passenger to ride with the Wilbur Wright from Washington down to Alexandria and back 10 miles and that demonstration made it possible for the Navy to buy one plane. Now before Orville and Wilbur Wright succeeded in developing this airplane they failed many times but they went on on their own personal initiative and Thomas A Edison in the development of the incandescent electric lamp imagine a man for instance standing by through 10,000 different as Mr. Edison did before giving up. His personal initiative was so definite that he told me that if he hadn't found the secret of the incandescent electric lamp, that at that very moment he would be in the laboratory working on it instead of being out there wasting his time talking with me. And then in a more serious note, Mr. Edison said, you know I had to succeed because I finally ran out of things that wouldn't work. And I've thought of that so many times, wondering why more people don't keep on keeping on until they run out of things that won't work, for then they're bound to find the thing that will work. And take myself, for example, in devoting more than 20 years to research for the missing link of this philosophy, now known as the law of cosmic habit force. My persistent personal initiative finally yielded a full and workable description of this great law of nature into which all the other 16 principles of this philosophy blend. and on which they must depend for automatic application. And last but not least, the most important of all, the habit of personal initiative must begin by its application in the small, unimportant circumstances of one's daily life. It is the antidote for procrastination. It is the beginning of all great achievement.

Speaker 1 Dr. Hill, I remember you saying that there's no single requirement for individual success that's as important as self-discipline. taking control of our thoughts and our emotions. And this is a major emphasis in my work with people. I know you stress the importance of taking complete possession of our own minds as you like to express it. Would you talk a little bit about what this means to you?

Speaker 2 Yes, the power of thought is the only thing over which you have complete, unchallenged, and unchallengeable control. Controlled by power of will. In giving human beings control over but one thing, the Creator must have chosen the most important of all things. This is a stupendous fact that merits your most profound consideration. If you give it this sort of consideration, you will discover for yourself the rich promises available to those who become masters of their own mind power through self-discipline. Self-discipline leads to sound physical health, and it leads to peace of mind, development of harmony within one's own mind. It enables one to keep the mind fixed upon that which is wanted and off of that which is not wanted. The majority of people go all the way through life with most of their mind power fixed upon their fears and their discouragements and things they don't want. You will have acquired sufficient self-discipline to enable you to find health, wealth, and happiness when you can close the door of your mind to all the things you do not want. For then and then only will the door to all the things you do want open to you. The past is gone forever. Close the door of your mind against it, and lo, the door to a hopeful future will open in front of you. The failure, defeat, illness, disappointment, and fears of the past have no place of controlling factors in your life. Close the door against them all. Close it tight. Close it good and tight. And you will have gained a victory in self-discipline that may be priceless to you throughout life.

Speaker 1 I understand that Mahatma Gandhi introduced your writings to India, and that he himself was deeply impressed by your teachings of self-discipline.

Speaker 2 Yes, he was. Just think of that one man defeating the entire military forces of the British government, freeing his people, sending the British military forces home without the firing of a gun or without the killing of a soldier. That's a stupendous illustration of what the mind can accomplish. Incidentally, when Gandhi first read a copy of Think and Grow Rich, he made up his mind that he wanted to have it widely distributed throughout India. And he sent an emissary over here to the United States to look me over to find out if I was just a ghostwriter or a fake or the real McCoy. They put me under 24-hour day surveillance through a detective agency. And when the report went back to Gandhi, he ordered the book published and widely distributed in India. And it has become a bestseller. It did become a bestseller in that country at that time and has been since. And today, I think I could say that Ganty has been responsible for the sale of more of those books than has any other cause.

Speaker 1 Dr. Hill, I'd like to move to the principle you call controlled attention. Our listeners will be familiar with the basics of it from hearing me talk about controlling your focus. So I think they'd appreciate hearing your viewpoint on why it's so important to concentrate our attention on our major purpose.

Speaker 2 Well, the main reason for concentrating upon a major purpose is that if you don't do that, you dissipate your mind power by allowing it to dwell on relatively unimportant things. The men of great achievement have all learned the art of concentrating upon one definite major purpose in life. Of course, they have other minor purposes, but I'm talking now about a major overall purpose. Let us take a look at some of them, for instance. Henry Ford's major purpose, for instance, was his desire to build a low-priced automobile. And while he was chided by his relatives and by the public at large for wasting his time on that contraption, as they called it, Ford was the first man to build automobiles successfully in the entire world. He concentrated his mind on that and didn't allow it to be diverted to anything else. Thomas A. Edison's controlled attention was directed toward invention, and he became the most outstanding inventor of all times, as you of course know. My, for instance, is concentration upon the philosophy of personal achievement, and I have devoted now 55 years to doing just that, with the result that I have reached the minds of millions of people in practically all of the free countries of the world. And before I pass on, I hope to see the philosophy introduced to all of the nations of the world, including China and Russia, if you please. Rockefeller's, John D. Rockefeller's, his idea was to concentrate upon the producing and refining and the marketing of oil. And he made a stupendous fortune out of it. Ralph Waldo Emerson's act of concentration was probing the depths of men's thoughts and thinking processes.

Speaker 1 I believe it was Emerson who said, "Every great and commanding moment in the annals of the world is a triumph of some enthusiasm." And I know in your long life you've had a chance to see this demonstrated again and again.

Speaker 2 I not only have seen it demonstrated, but I have demonstrated it myself. For instance, back in the early days when I wanted to get a job from a certain firm while I was going to high school, here's the way I went about it. I wrote an application stating my qualifications and my desire for the job. The answer came back no, too sorry, no position open. Next I sent a telegram. The answer was still no. Next I sent a special delivery letter every day for a week. The answer was still no. Next I sent a special delivery every hour for two days. And the firm telegraphed me to come and go to work. Then there was Clarence Saunders, one of my outstanding students of Memphis, Tennessee. Clarence worked in a grocery store, delivering groceries, more or less. And he had a great amount of enthusiasm and also a keen imagination. He was constantly trying to interest his employer in new and improved methods of merchandising. And finally, the employer became so peeved at Clarence for wasting his time with what he called foolish suggestions that he told him that if he came in with another one, he was going to fire him. Shortly thereafter, a cafeteria was opened in Memphis, Tennessee, the first cafeteria that came there. And when Clarence went out to his lunch that day, he saw a great line of people extending out onto the sidewalk waiting to be served in the cafeteria. Out of curiosity, he got on the end of the line, and when he picked up his tray and filled it up, By the time he got down to the cashier or the checker, his imagination began to turn. And he said, what a wonderful thing this would be in our grocery business, to have a self-help grocery store so women could come in with a basket on their arm, pick up what they wanted, and pay for it at one place as they went out. It would save a lot of time and it would save a lot of embarrassment. Well, Clarence could hardly wait until he got back to the store. and he rushed in and he said, Well, boss, I have a multimillion-dollar idea. And the boss said, Now, Clarence, you're fired. Clarence said, Oh, no, I'm not. I resigned before I started to talk. Later on, I talked to the man who was Clarence's boss, and he said as near as he could figure every word that he used in trying to fire Clarence had cost him a million dollars because Clarence took his idea of self-help grocery stores to a firm who financed it under the name of Piggly Wiggly Stores, and he made $4 million during the first four years. An astounding illustration of what a man can do with an idea

Speaker 1 backed by the proper amount of enthusiasm. Dr. Hill, you've written quite a lot about learning from adversity, which I personally had lots of opportunities to do in my life, and I'm sure many of our listeners have as well. So I think it'd be useful to get into this, especially your statement that every adversity carries with it the seed of an equivalent or greater benefit. Would you explain just what do you mean by this? It's true that

Speaker 2 failure, fear, physical pain, and all other forms of adversity carry with them the seed of an equivalent or a greater benefit. Physical pain is the common language of nature in which she speaks to all living creatures and teaches them many things they would not learn in any other way. Failure and defeat have been known to turn people back from chosen purposes which had they been attained would have led to destruction. Remember the next time you meet with any sort of adversity that it contains the seeds of an equivalent or a greater benefit. But you must find that seed and germinate it into growth in your behalf through constructive thinking and positive action. Every circumstance affecting your life can be turned to a benefit by your mental attitude toward it. Now let me give you some illustrations, for instance. Take the case of the defeat of Lord Cornwallis by the armies of George Washington in 1778. Probably it was considered by the British to have been an irreparable loss from which no benefits would ever come. But the defeat turned out to have been a blessing in disguise because the United States of America, born of that defeat, saved the British Empire from possible total destruction in both World Wars I and II, not to mention having also helped to feed the British people when they were hungry and sorely in need of the aid which they received in overabundance. Take the case of Abraham Lincoln, for example. In his early life, Lincoln fell in love with Ann Rutledge, probably the only woman that he ever loved. And when Ann Rutledge died, Lincoln's sorrow became so great that his friends thought he would lose his mind. He was missing for a couple of days, and he was finally located, spread out across the grave of Ann Rutledge, weeping. One of the facts overlooked in those who wrote about Lincoln's life is this. Had it not been for the sorrow which Lincoln felt over the death of his sweetheart, he would not have become the great man that he was, because that sorrow reached deeply into the depths of his soul and revealed a man who later became one of the greatest presidents of the United States. And take Charles Dickens, for instance. His sorrow over the loss of his first sweetheart led him to transmuting this sorrow into writing. And his first book, David Copperfield, and many other books became classics for all time to come. And take O. Henry. His real name was Charles Porter. found himself in prison in Columbus, Ohio. And as a result of that adversity, he turned his attention to writing, and he turned out books which immortalized him. Adversity. I think I can tell you, had it not been for the many adversities which I experienced in the early part of my work with Andrew Carnegie, I never would have completed the science of personal achievement. I had adversity after adversity, but I learned to transmute those adversities into something constructive and to come up with something that would take the place of an adversity. Every time I failed, I said, well, this is just another opportunity that I have to prove that my philosophy can take care of the situation of failure. I learned to transmute all failures into successes. I also learned the difference between temporary defeat and failure. Most people accept defeat as permanent failure. The defeat is never failure. No circumstance is ever failure until it is accepted by the individual as such. And that's one of the greatest things that I learned about this principle of profiting by adversity.

Speaker 1 Dr. Hill, you have a fascinating metaphor about two sealed envelopes. Would you share that story with us, and what does it really mean?

Speaker 2 Well, at birth, we come over with the equivalent of two sealed envelopes. In one of these envelopes is a long list of the benefits and riches that one may receive by the use, the positive use of his mind. And in the other envelope, an equally long list of the penalties he must pay if he neglects to use his mind constructively. Nature abhors idleness and vacuums. Nature sees to it that strength grows out of struggle, out of effort, and she wants man to use his mind and to use it constructively. Nothing constructive and worthy of man's efforts ever has been or ever will be achieved except through that which comes from a positive mental attitude based upon a definite purpose and activated by a burning desire and intensified until the burning desire is elevated to the plane of applied faith. Wishes, well, everyone has a flock of them. Idle curiosity, everyone has a stock of it. Hopes, perhaps half of the people have hopes for as yet unattained things or circumstances. A burning desire, only that small percentage of people who can be called successful ever feel the urge of this. Applied faith, only the leaders attain this degree of mind control which can exist only in a positive mental attitude. Prayer brings positive results only when it is expressed in a positive mental attitude. The most effective prayer is that which is expressed by individuals who have conditioned their minds to habitually think in terms of a positive mental attitude. The vibrations of thought sent out from an individual's mind carry with them to other minds the precise state of mind in which they are released, a fact well known to all master salesmen who have learned how to condition their minds and the minds of their prospect buyers even before seeing them. No lawyer can convince a jury. No clergyman can inspire his parishioners. No speaker can hold and influence his audience without the aid of a positive mental attitude. and it has been said that the most successful doctors in all branches of therapy are those who treat their patients with a positive mental attitude. The subconscious mind of an individual can be educated to produce constructive results only when it is given instructions in a positive mental attitude. Everyone desires to be rich, but not everyone knows what constitutes enduring riches, and most people believe riches to consist only in material things that money can buy. Now here is a list of the 12 things which constitute real riches. Number one, a positive mental attitude. Observe that it heads the list. And second, sound physical health. And third, harmony in human relations. And fourth, freedom from fear. And fifth, the hope of future achievement. And sixth, the capacity for applied faith. And seventh, willingness to share one's blessings with others. Eight, to be engaged in the labor of love. Nine, an open mind on all subjects toward all people. Ten, complete self-discipline. Eleven, wisdom with which to understand people. And twelve, financial security. Observe, if you will, with great benefit the fact that money comes at the end of the list of the twelve things that make men rich.

Speaker 1 Dr. Hill, you refer to the natural law that controls all human relationships as cosmic habit force, which seems like a mysterious far-off power. So I'd like you to demystify it for us. What's it really all about? What are you getting at here?

Speaker 2 Well, this is the law by which the equilibrium of the whole universe is maintained in an orderless fashion through established habits. The law forces every living thing and every inanimate particle of matter to adhere to and to follow the vibrations of its environment, including, of course, the physical habits and the thinking habits of mankind. The science of personal achievement has been designed to enable one to establish habits that lead to financial security, to health and peace of mind necessary for happiness. With the application of the principles of this philosophy, one may set up the pattern of any desired habit, after which the habit is taken over by cosmic habit force and made to carry on automatically. Now, some of the habits fixed by cosmic habit force are these. For instance, the stars and the planets, as they are established in their fixed course. And the seasons of the year, as they come and go with precision. And in the reproduction and growth of everything that grows from the soil of the earth, each seed reproducing precisely its own kind without variation, and the reproduction of every living thing from the smallest insect and the microscopic infusoria of the sea on up to man. The chemical actions of matter from the smallest particle of matter, that is the electrons, protons, to the largest particle of matter as they exist in the stars. All actions and reactions of matter are based upon the fixed habits of cosmic habit force. The perpetuation of every living thing through the sex principle, Each seed reproduces its own kind, but each individual reproduction is modified by the vibrations, that is the environmental influences, of the environment in which it exists. The thought habits of individuals are automatically fixed and made permanent by cosmic habit force, no matter whether they are negative or positive. The individual creates the pattern of his own thoughts by repetition of thoughts on a given subject, but the law of cosmic habit force takes over these patterns and makes them permanent unless they are broken up by the will of the individual. Man is the only living creature that is equipped with the power of choice by which he may establish his own thought patterns or break up and rearrange them at will. Therefore, now let us consider briefly the application one may make of this powerful benefit. Physical health, for instance. The individual may contribute to the healthful maintenance of his physical body by establishing habit patterns in connection with the following subject. In his thinking, for example, a positive mind leads to the development of what is known as a health consciousness and cosmic habit force carrying out that thought pattern to its logical conclusion. but it will just as readily carry out the picture of an ill-health consciousness created by the thought habits of the hypochondriac, even to the extent of reproducing the physical and mental symptoms of any disease on which the individual may fix his thought habits through fear. And in eating, the mental attitude and the thought patterns established while one is eating and during the following two or three hours while the food is being broken into a liquid form for introduction into the body through the blood. may determine whether the food enters the body in a suitable form for the maintenance of sound health. It is a well-established fact that the power of one's thoughts enters into and becomes a vital part of the energy that is carried into the body through the food. That worry, fear, and all negative thoughts poison the food. Therefore, controlled thought habits during mealtime is of the utmost importance in the maintenance of health and work. Here, too, mental attitude becomes a vital ally of the silent repairman that is working on every cell of the body while one is engaged in physical action. Therefore, work should become a religious ceremony with which only positive thoughts are mixed. The famous Mayo brothers have discovered that four vitally important factors must be observed to maintain physical health. They are as follows, an equal balancing through thought habits of work and play, love and worship. Work must be well mixed with play and worship must be mixed with love or ill health will occur in some form. Observe that here enters a sound explanation of one of the major reasons for adopting and following the habit of going the extra mile. This habit not only benefits one economically, but it enables one to work with a mental attitude that leads to sound physical health. For comparison, consider the person who has the habit of griping and performs all sort of work grudgingly and in a negative frame of mind. It is a well-known fact that such individuals are seldom physically well, but they are constantly ailing, some of it real, some of it imaginary, but all of it destructive of sound health.

Speaker 1 Thank you, Dr. Hill. I appreciate very much you taking the time to share with us your philosophy personally. I want people to realize that your philosophy is as real and usable today as it was when you first came up with these principles more than a half century ago. Once again, I thank you, the listener, for taking the time to study the principles of how to make your life better. And I look forward to visiting with you again next month. Till then, remember, live with passion. Thank you.