APPENDIX B
Tributes to the Author*
From Great American Leaders
Here is what some American leaders in finance, education, government, and politics had to say about Napoleon Hill’s research and writings on the principles of success:
Supreme Court of the United States
Washington, D. C.
Dear Mr. Hill:
…I wish to express my appreciation of the splendid work you have done in the organization of this philosophy.
It would be helpful if every politician in the country would assimilate and apply the… principles upon which your lessons are based. It contains some very fine material which every leader in every walk of life should understand.
I am happy to have had the privilege of rendering you some slight measure of help in the organization of this splendid course of “common sense” philosophy.
Sincerely yours,
[signature]
William H. Taft
(Former President and former Chief Justice of the United States)
“Allow me to express my appreciation of the compliment you have paid me in sending the original manuscript…I can see you have spent a great deal of time and thought in its preparation. Your philosophy is sound and you are to be congratulated for sticking to your work over so long a period of years. Your students will be amply rewarded for their labor.”
—THOMAS A. EDISON, inventor and entrepreneur
“Your work and mine are peculiarly akin. I am helping the laws of Nature to create more perfect specimens of vegetation while you are using those same laws…to build more perfect specimens of thinkers.”
—LUTHER BURBANK, father of scientific plant breeding
“Certainly I will supply you with the information you request. This I consider to be not only a duty, but it is a pleasure as well. You are laboring in behalf of the people who have neither the time nor the inclination to ferret out the causes of failure and success.”
—THEODORE ROOSEVELT, President
“If I had a young son I would insist that he read every word…by Napoleon Hill, [one of the two] most inspirational writers in the world. I know your…fundamentals of success are sound because I have been applying them in my business for more than 30 years.”
—JOHN WANAMAKER, department store founder
“Our entire business policy, in the management of our hotels, is based upon [your success fundamentals] of which I am a student.”
—E. M. STATLER, hotel magnate
“I feel greatly indebted for the privilege of reading your law of success philosophy. If I had had this fifty years ago, I suppose I could have accomplished all that I have done in less than half the time. I sincerely hope the world will discover and reward you.”
—ROBERT DOLLAR, steamship magnate
“Napoleon Hill has produced what I believe to be the first practical philosophy of achievement. Its major distinguishing feature is the simplicity in which it has been presented.”
—DAVID STARR JORDAN, president of Stanford University
“Mr. Curtis…has built one of the greatest publishing businesses in the world by applying the principles of this philosophy.”
—EDWARD BOK, editor of Ladies Home Journal, speaking about Cyrus H. K. Curtis, founder of Curtis Publishing Company, publisher of Ladies Home Journal and The Saturday Evening Post
“You may say for Mr. Rockefeller that he endorses Mr. Hill’s… principles of success, and that he recommends them to those who are seeking the highway to achievement.”
—Secretary to JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER, founder of Standard Oil Co.
“By applying many of the…fundamentals of the law of success philosophy, we have built a great chain of successful stores. I presume it would be no exaggeration of fact if I said that the Woolworth Building might properly be called a monument to the soundness of these principles.”
—F. W. WOOLWORTH, founder of Woolworth “5-and-10-cent” department store chain
“Mastery of the law of success philosophy is the equivalent of an insurance policy against failure.”
—SAMUEL GOMPERS, American labor leader
“May I not congratulate you on your persistence. Any man who devotes that much time…must of necessity make discoveries of great value to others. I am deeply impressed by your interpretation of the ‘Master Mind’ principles which you have so clearly described.”
—WOODROW WILSON, President of the United States
“I know that you are doing a world of good….I would not care to set a monetary value on this training because it brings to the student qualities which cannot be measured by money alone.”
—GEORGE EASTMAN, founder of Eastman-Kodak Co.
“Whatever success I may have obtained I owe, entirely, to the application of your…fundamental principles of the law of success. I believe I have the honor of being your first student.”
—WILLIAM WRIGLEY, JR., founder of the William Wrigley Jr. Company, world’s largest manufacturer of chewing gum products
EVIDENCE THAT MONEY COULD NOT BUY
The foregoing is evidence and praise seldom accorded any course of education. Money could not buy such letters of endorsement from individuals who are, or have been, leaders of our times.
Think and Grow Rich! is a liberating, power-radiating book that will shape your destiny, enrich your future, and turn your hopes and dreams into solid success-realities.
Don’t waste your own precious years blindly searching for the hidden road to the heights. Profit by the dearly bought experience of America’s leaders. More than 500 great and prominent Americans were minutely analyzed—their methods, motives, strategy—to find out the secrets that put them on top.
No matter whether you are rich or poor, you have one asset as great as the richest person on earth—and that is TIME. But with each setting sun, you become one day older and have one day less in which to attain the success and wealth you desire. Thousands of progressive people throughout the North American continent have realized this mighty truth and have sought the help so clearly and inspiringly taught by Napoleon Hill.
You cannot afford to let day after day slip into eternity without getting possession of the principles of success. You will profit greatly from the lessons in Think and Grow Rich! The cost is trifling. The benefits are tremendous.
* Adapted from the 1937 edition of Think and Grow Rich!