The Law of Success in Sixteen Lessons

Napoleon Hill's 1928 multi-volume original — the eight-book correspondence course that he later distilled into the more famous Think and Grow Rich. Organised around sixteen 'laws' (Definite Chief Aim, Self-Confidence, Habit of Saving, Initiative and Leadership, Imagination, Enthusiasm, Self-Control, Doing More Than Paid For, Pleasing Personality, Accurate Thinking, Concentration, Cooperation, Profiting by Failure, Tolerance, Practicing the Golden Rule, and the Master Mind), drawn from what Hill described as twenty years of interviewing American industrialists at Andrew Carnegie's behest.

The course exists in two distinct textual lineages: the original 1925 manuscript lessons, and the revised 1928 eight-volume set published by Ralston University Press. Later editions consolidated the material into single-volume form. The biographical claims that anchor the book — particularly the 1908 Carnegie commission — have been comprehensively questioned by historians including Matt Novak and Richard Lingeman, who found no corroborating evidence. Within the self-help canon the work is treated reverently as the foundational document of Hill's success philosophy; within historical scholarship, its claims are approached with considerable skepticism.

WHO said it could not be done? And what great victories has he to his credit which qualify him to judge others accurately?

p. 4 · Author's Preface

First lines

Some thirty years ago a young clergyman by the name of Gunsaulus announced in the newspapers of Chicago that he would preach a sermon the following Sunday morning entitled: "WHAT I WOULD DO IF I HAD A MILLION DOLLARS!" The announcement caught the eye of Philip D. Armour, the wealthy packing-house king, who decided to hear the sermon.

Contents

Reception

The foundational document of Hill's success philosophy and the source from which the entire later Think and Grow Rich apparatus was extracted. Initial 1928 sales were strong; the work has remained continuously in print through the Napoleon Hill Foundation. The biographical claims that anchor the book — particularly the 1908 Carnegie commission — have been thoroughly questioned: Matt Novak's 2016 Gizmodo investigation and Richard Lingeman's research present substantial evidence that the Carnegie meeting never happened and that Hill's biography is largely fabricated. Within the self-help canon the work is treated reverently; within historical scholarship, with considerable skepticism.

Frequently asked

What is The Law of Success in Sixteen Lessons about?

It lays out sixteen principles Hill identifies as underlying all personal achievement — the Master Mind, Definite Chief Aim, Self-Confidence, Habit of Saving, Initiative, Imagination, Enthusiasm, Self-Control, Doing More Than Paid For, Pleasing Personality, Accurate Thinking, Concentration, Cooperation, Profiting by Failure, Tolerance, and the Golden Rule — drawn from what Hill described as twenty years of interviewing industrialists including Henry Ford, Andrew Carnegie, and Thomas Edison.

How does The Law of Success relate to Think and Grow Rich?

The Law of Success in Sixteen Lessons (1928) is Hill's foundational multi-volume work, later condensed into Think and Grow Rich (1937). The sixteen lessons contain the full apparatus of Hill's philosophy in its original form; Think and Grow Rich reorganized the material into thirteen principles for a broader mass market.

Is the Carnegie origin story of The Law of Success accurate?

It has been comprehensively questioned. The book's foundational claim — that Andrew Carnegie commissioned Hill in 1908 — has no documentary corroboration. Historians including Matt Novak and Richard Lingeman found no evidence the Carnegie meeting occurred, and most of Hill's biographical claims have been similarly disputed.