- Napoleon Hill

"Beethoven was deaf, Milton was blind, but their names will last as long as time endures, because the dreamed and translated their dreams into organized thought.

There is a difference between wishing for a thing and being ready to receive it. No one is ready for a thing until s/he believes he can acquire it. The state of mind must be belief, not mere hope or wish. Open-mindedness is essential for belief. Closed minds do not inspire faith, courage, and belief.


Remember, no more effort is required to aim high in life, to demand abundance and prosperity, than is required to accept misery and poverty. A great poet has correctly stated this universal truth through these lines:


'I bargained with Life for a penny,
And Life would pay no more,
However I begged at evening
When I counted my scanty store.
For Life is a just employer,
He gives you what you ask,
But once you have set the wages,
Why, you must bear the task.


I worked for a menial's hire,
Only to learn, dismayed,
That any wage I has asked of Life,
Life would have willingly paid.'"