Think and Grow Rich
By Napoleon Hill
Extract from Chapter 7
The most intelligent
man living cannot succeed in accumulating money - nor
in any other undertaking - without plans which are practical
and workable. Just keep this fact in mind, and remember
when your plans fail, that temporary defeat is not permanent
failure. It may only mean that your plans have not been
sound. Build other plans. Start all over again.
Thomas A. Edison "failed"
ten thousand times before he perfected the incandescent
electric light bulb. That is - he met with temporary defeat
ten thousand times, before his efforts were crowned with
success.
Temporary defeat should
mean only one thing, the certain knowledge that there
is something wrong with your plan. Millions of men go
through life in misery and poverty, because they lack
a sound plan through which to accumulate a fortune.
Henry Ford accumulated
a fortune, not because of his superior mind, but because
he adopted and followed a PLAN which proved to be sound.
A thousand men could be pointed out, each with a better
education than Ford's, yet each of whom lives in poverty,
because he does not possess the RIGHT plan for the accumulation
of money.
Your achievement can
be no greater than your PLANS are sound. That may seem
to be an axiomatic statement, but it is true. Samuel Insull
lost his fortune of over one hundred million dollars.
The Insull fortune
was built on plans which were sound. The business depression
forced Mr. Insull to CHANGE HIS PLANS; and the CHANGE
brought "temporary defeat," because his new
plans were NOT SOUND. Mr. Insull is now an old man, he
may, consequently, accept "failure" instead
of "temporary defeat," but if his experience
turns out to be FAILURE, it will be for the reason that
he lacks the fire of PERSISTENCE to rebuild his plans.
No man is ever whipped,
until he QUITS - in his own mind. This fact will be repeated
many times, because it is so easy to "take the count"
at the first sign of defeat.
James J. Hill met with
temporary defeat when he first endeavored to raise the
necessary capital to build a railroad from the East to
the West, but he, too turned defeat into victory through
new plans.
Henry Ford met with
temporary defeat, not only at the beginning of his automobile
career, but after he had gone far toward the top. He created
new plans, and went marching on to financial victory.
We see men who have
accumulated great fortunes, but we often recognize only
their triumph, overlooking the temporary defeats which
they had to surmount before "arriving".
NO FOLLOWER OF THIS
PHILOSOPHY CAN REASONABLY EXPECT TO ACCUMULATE A FORTUNE
WITHOUT EXPERIENCING "TEMPORARY DEFEAT." 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. If you give up before your goal
has been reached, you are a "quitter."
A QUITTER NEVER
WINS - AND - A WINNER NEVER QUITS.
Lift this sentence
out, write it on a piece of paper in letters an inch high,
and place it where you will see it every night before
you go to sleep, and every morning before you go to work.
