Napoleon Hill Famous Quotations

Napoleon Hill (1883 - 1970) was an American author who was one of the earliest producers of the modern genre of personal success literature. These famous quotes dealing with goals, achievement, and success have been attributed to him.

A goal is a dream with a deadline.
Action is the real measure of intelligence.
All achievements, all earned riches, have their beginning in an idea.
All the breaks you need in life wait within your imagination, Imagination is the workshop of your mind, capable of turning mind energy into accomplishment and wealth.
Any idea, plan, or purpose may be placed in the mind through repetition of thought.
Before success comes in any man's life, he's sure to meet with much temporary defeat and, perhaps some failures. When defeat overtakes a man, the easiest and the most logical thing to do is to quit. That's exactly what the majority of men do.
Cherish your visions and your dreams as they are the children of your soul, the blueprints of your ultimate achievements.
Create a definite plan for carrying out your desire and begin at once, whether you ready or not, to put this plan into action.
Desire is the starting point of all achievement, not a hope, not a wish, but a keen pulsating desire which transcends everything.
Don't wait. The time will never be just right.
Edison failed 10, 000 times before he made the electric light. Do not be discouraged if you fail a few times.
Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed on an equal or greater benefit.
Every person who wins in any undertaking must be willing to cut all sources of retreat. Only by doing so can one be sure of maintaining that state of mind known as a burning desire to win - essential to success.
Everyone enjoys doing the kind of work for which he is best suited.
Great achievement is usually born of great sacrifice, and is never the result of selfishness.
Happiness is found in doing, not merely possessing.
Ideas are the beginning points of all fortunes.
If you cannot do great things, do small things in a great way.
If you do not conquer self, you will be conquered by self.
It has always been my belief that a man should do his best, regardless of how much he receives for his services, or the number of people he may be serving or the class of people served.
It is literally true that you can succeed best and quickest by helping others to succeed.
Just as our eyes need light in order to see, our minds need ideas in order to conceive.
Man, alone, has the power to transform his thoughts into physical reality; man, alone, can dream and make his dreams come true.
More gold has been mined from the thoughts of men than has been taken from the earth.
Most great people have attained their greatest success just one step beyond their greatest failure.
No man can succeed in a line of endeavor which he does not like.
No man ever achieved worth-while success who did not, at one time or other, find himself with at least one foot hanging well over the brink of failure.
No man is ever whipped until he quits in his own mind.
Opportunity often comes disguised in the form of misfortune, or temporary defeat.
Patience, persistence and perspiration make an unbeatable combination for success.
Persistence is to the character of man as carbon is to steel.
Procrastination is the bad habit of putting of until the day after tomorrow what should have been done the day before yesterday.
Reduce your plan to writing. The moment you complete this, you will have definitely given concrete form to the intangible desire.
Strength and growth come only through continuous effort and struggle.
Success in its highest and noblest form calls for peace of mind and enjoyment and happiness which come only to the man who has found the work that he likes best.
The battle is all over except the "shouting" when one knows what is wanted and has made up his mind to get it, whatever the price may be.
The ladder of success is never crowded at the top.
The majority of men meet with failure because of their lack of persistence in creating new plans to take the place of those which fail.
The most interesting thing about a postage stamp is the persistence with which it sticks to its job.
The starting point of all achievement is desire.
The starting point of all achievement is desire. Keep this constantly in mind. Weak desires bring weak results, just as a small amount of fire makes a small amount of heat.
The way to develop decisiveness is to start right where you are, with the very next question you face.
The world has the habit of making room for the man whose actions show that he knows where he is going.
There is one quality which one must possess to win, and that is definiteness of purpose, the knowledge of what one wants, and a burning desire to possess it.
Think and grow rich.
Think twice before you speak, because your words and influence will plant the seed of either success or failure in the mind of another.
Understand this law and you will then know, beyond room for the slightest doubt, that you are constantly punishing yourself for every wrong you commit and rewarding yourself for every act of constructive conduct in which you indulge.
Victory is always possible for the person who refuses to stop fighting.
When defeat comes, accept it as a signal that your plans are not sound, rebuild those plans, and set sail once more toward your coveted goal.
When your desires are strong enough you will appear to possess superhuman powers to achieve.
You can start right where you stand and apply the habit of going the extra mile by rendering more service and better service than you are now being paid for.
You might well remember that nothing can bring you success but yourself.
Your big opportunity may be right where you are now.