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Think and Grow Rich
Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill Review: A Landmark Self-Help Classic, Thoroughly Revised
Originally published in 1937 and revised for the 21st century by Arthur R. Pell, Ph.D., Think and Grow Rich remains one of the most widely read and commercially successful personal development books ever produced, having sold 15 million copies worldwide and earning its reputation as the "Granddaddy of All Motivational Literature" — though modern readers will want to engage it with eyes open to both its enduring framework and its contested historical claims.
LuvemBooks Verdict
Best for
Readers who want to understand the intellectual roots of the American self-help and motivational tradition — whether as true believers seeking a modernised entry point to Hill's 14 principles or as cultural historians tracing the lineage of a genre that has shaped generations of success coaches and practitioners.
Worth it if
You approach it as a foundational — and historically significant — primary source of the personal development genre, weighing its extraordinary multigenerational influence against the well-documented questions about its evidentiary claims.
Skip if
You are looking for an empirically grounded, rigorously sourced framework for wealth-building or professional development — the book's factual underpinnings do not survive modern historical scrutiny, and the revised edition does not revisit them.
What readers & critics say
Wikipedia notes that historians doubt Hill's foundational claim that Andrew Carnegie inspired his research, and that there are no known records of Hill meeting most of the famous figures he claimed to have interviewed — directly challenging the book's core authority. Bankers Anonymous places it in the top tier of the personal finance genre, describing it as a popular tonic written in the depths of the Depression, while acknowledging the contested circumstances surrounding Hill's alleged interviews under Carnegie's imprimatur.
Sources: Wikipedia, Bankers Anonymous4.8from 30,147 Amazon ratings— reader ratings, not a LuvemBooks score
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Think and Grow Rich: The Landmark Bestseller Now Revised is Napoleon Hill's Depression-era philosophy of achievement — condensed into 14 principles and updated by Arthur R. Pell, Ph.D. with examples from Bill Gates, Mary Kay Ash, and other modern figures — that has sold 15 million copies and shaped virtually every corner of the personal development genre. Essential reading for understanding the lineage of American motivational literature, this revised edition is best approached as a historically significant primary source rather than a rigorously sourced guide: historians have established that no records exist of Hill meeting most of the famous figures he claimed to have interviewed, a foundational credibility problem the revision leaves unaddressed. Readers drawn to the mindset tradition will find it indispensable; those seeking evidence-based wealth-building frameworks will find its empirical foundations thin by modern standards.
- Is it worth reading?
- For readers who want to understand where figures like Og Mandino, Tony Robbins, and a generation of success coaches drew their intellectual foundations, Think and Grow Rich is an indispensable primary source — a book that ranked as the sixth best-selling paperback business book on BusinessWeek's list a full 70 years after its original publication. However, no honest assessment can ignore that historians have established there are no known records of Hill meeting most of the famous figures he claimed to have interviewed, which directly undermines the book's core evidentiary authority. Readers seeking empirically grounded, evidence-based guidance on wealth or professional development will find the framework's factual basis thin by contemporary standards; those drawn to the mindset tradition Hill helped create will find the Pell revision a convenient, modernized entry point.
- Similar books
- Readers who connect with Think and Grow Rich's emphasis on mindset and subconscious programming will find Joseph Murphy's The Power of Your Subconscious Mind a natural companion — another foundational text in the tradition Hill helped create. For more structured, evidence-adjacent frameworks, Stephen R. Covey's The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People and James Clear's Atomic Habits offer step-by-step approaches grounded in behavioral principles rather than mythology. Robert Greene's The 48 Laws of Power shares Hill's interest in the mechanics of success and influence, while Ramit Sethi's I Will Teach You to Be Rich provides the kind of empirically grounded, practical financial guidance that Think and Grow Rich explicitly does not. For readers unsettled by the book's contested claims, Thomas E. Kida's Don't Believe Everything You Think offers a useful critical counterweight.
- Who should read this?
- This revised edition is ideal for readers who want to understand the foundations of American motivational literature — those curious about where figures like Og Mandino, Tony Robbins, and a generation of success coaches built their philosophies. It suits self-help enthusiasts already committed to the mindset tradition, for whom the Pell revision offers a convenient, modernized entry point to Hill's original framework of desire, faith, auto-suggestion, and organized planning. Readers seeking rigorously sourced, evidence-based frameworks for wealth-building or professional development will find it a poor fit, as historians have established that the book's foundational claims about Hill's interviews with Carnegie, Edison, and Ford do not hold up to modern scrutiny.
- About Napoleon Hill
- Oliver Napoleon Hill was an American self-help author and con man who is best known for his book Think and Grow Rich (1937), which is among the best-selling self-help books of all time.
- Are the historical claims in this book accurate?
- This is one of the most important questions any reader of Think and Grow Rich should ask. According to historians, there are no known records of Hill meeting most of the famous figures — Andrew Carnegie, Henry Ford, and others — he claimed to have interviewed extensively, with the exception of a brief encounter with Thomas Edison. Historians also doubt Hill's central claim that Carnegie personally inspired him to undertake his research. These are not minor editorial quibbles: the entire framework of the book rests on the authority of those alleged relationships, and the Pell revised edition does not substantially revisit or address these foundational questions.
- What did Arthur R. Pell change in this edition?
- Arthur R. Pell, Ph.D. — described by the publisher as a nationally known author, lecturer, and consultant in human resources management — updated Hill's 1937 framework by weaving in accounts of later figures such as Bill Gates, Mary Kay Ash, Dave Thomas, and Sir John Templeton alongside Hill's original Depression-era examples of Carnegie, Edison, and Ford. The revision's explicit goal, as positioned by the publisher, was to make Hill's philosophy relevant to the 21st century without dismantling its foundational architecture. Crucially, however, Pell's changes modernize the illustrative examples while leaving the book's contested historical claims and Hill's personal mythology substantially unaddressed.
- What is this book's legacy and influence?
- Think and Grow Rich is widely credited as the foundational text of the personal development genre — the book that set the standard for motivational thinking that followed. Having sold 15 million copies worldwide, it was ranked by BusinessWeek as the sixth best-selling paperback business book a full 70 years after its original publication, a rare commercial feat. Og Mandino, author of The Greatest Salesman in the World, credited Hill's philosophy with changing his life, and figures like Tony Robbins have drawn directly from the tradition Hill established — making this book an essential document for understanding where the entire genre came from.
Summarize this book
Is it worth reading?
Who should read this?
About Napoleon Hill
Are the historical claims in this book accurate?
What did Arthur R. Pell change in this edition?
What is this book's legacy and influence?
Summarize this book
First published in 1937, Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill lays out a "Philosophy of Achievement" — originally framed as "13 Steps to Riches" — drawn from Hill's earlier, longer work The Law of Success. Its central argument is that anyone can attain wealth and success by adhering to specific principles, including cultivating a positive mental attitude, building burning desire, and setting clear, specific goals, all illustrated through the stories of Andrew Carnegie, Thomas Edison, and Henry Ford. The Tarcher revised edition, updated by Arthur R. Pell, Ph.D., extends the framework into contemporary context by weaving in accounts of figures such as Bill Gates, Mary Kay Ash, Dave Thomas, and Sir John Templeton, while leaving the book's contested historical claims largely intact.
Follow up
How different is this revised edition from the 1937 original?
Did anyone else contribute to writing this book?
What are the key principles in the book?
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A self-help landmark nearly nine decades in the making, this revised edition of Think and Grow Rich endures as the defining text of the personal development genre — and demands to be read with both appreciation for its influence and awareness of its documented controversies.
What the Book Actually Is and Contains
First published in 1937 by Napoleon Hill, Think and Grow Rich is a personal development and self-improvement book built around what Hill called the "13 Steps to Riches" — a distilled "Philosophy of Achievement" drawn from his earlier, longer work The Law of Success. The book's central argument is that anyone can achieve success and wealth by following a specific set of principles, including cultivating a positive mental attitude and setting clear, specific goals.
In the 1937 original, Hill grounded his case in the stories of figures such as Andrew Carnegie, Thomas Edison, and Henry Ford. The Tarcher revised edition, updated by Arthur R. Pell, Ph.D. — described by the publisher as a nationally known author, lecturer, and consultant in human resources management — weaves in accounts of later figures such as Bill Gates, Mary Kay Ash, Dave Thomas, and Sir John Templeton to extend Hill's framework into contemporary context.
Rosa Lee Beeland, Hill's third wife, contributed substantially to the authoring and editing of the original 1937 work, a fact that has only received fuller acknowledgment in recent scholarship.
Cultural Significance and Commercial Standing
Few books in the self-help canon can claim the reach of Think and Grow Rich. Having sold 15 million copies worldwide, it set the standard for motivational thinking that followed in its wake, and BusinessWeek magazine's Best-Seller List ranked it the sixth best-selling paperback business book a full 70 years after its original publication.
Og Mandino, author of The Greatest Salesman in the World, is on record stating: "During the past twenty-five years I have been blessed with more good fortune than any individual deserves but I shudder to think where I'd be today, or what I'd be doing if I had not been exposed to Napoleon Hill's philosophy. It changed my life." That kind of testimonial, stretching across generations of readers and practitioners, speaks to the book's unusual staying power in a genre crowded with short-lived titles.
At Barnes & Noble, the book holds a 4.7-out-of-5-star rating, reflecting its broad and enduring reader base.
What the Revised Edition Does Well
The core strength of this revised edition lies in its structural accessibility. Pell's updates translate Hill's 14 principles into a format designed to speak to readers encountering the material for the first time in a modern context, pairing Depression-era anecdotes with examples from the late 20th century's best-known entrepreneurs.
The publisher positions the revision explicitly as an effort to make Hill's philosophy relevant to the 21st century without dismantling its foundational architecture. For readers who want the original's framework — the emphasis on desire, faith, auto-suggestion, specialized knowledge, imagination, and organized planning — alongside contemporary illustrations of those ideas, this edition is structured to deliver both in a single volume.
Documented Controversies and Genuine Limitations
No honest assessment of this book can ignore what historians and researchers have established about its foundational claims. According to Wikipedia, there are no known records of Hill meeting the famous men he claimed to have interviewed extensively — with the exception of a brief encounter with Thomas Edison.
Historians also doubt Hill's central claim that Andrew Carnegie inspired him to undertake the research behind the book. These are not minor editorial quibbles: the entire framework rests on the authority of those alleged relationships.
Readers who approach the book as a documented account of interviews with Carnegie and the industrial titans of the era will find that authority contested by the historical record. Additionally, the circumstances of the book's creation — including details of Hill's personal life documented in Wikipedia's account — complicate the mythology the author built around himself.
The revised edition updates the examples but does not substantially revisit these foundational questions.
Who This Book Is For Today
Think and Grow Rich occupies an unusual position: it is both a historical artifact of Depression-era optimism and a living text that millions of readers continue to treat as a practical guide. Readers drawn to the lineage of American motivational literature — those who want to understand where figures like Mandino, Tony Robbins, and a generation of success coaches drew their intellectual water — will find this edition an indispensable primary source.
Readers seeking rigorously sourced, evidence-based frameworks for wealth-building or professional development will find the book's empirical underpinnings thin by contemporary standards. For those already committed to the mindset tradition Hill helped create, the Pell revision offers a convenient, modernized entry point to the original philosophy.
For skeptics, it remains essential reading precisely because its influence on the genre has been so thoroughly documented.
Sources & Further Reading
The key facts and claims in this review are grounded in the retrieved, verified sources listed below.
- Cited in this review
- 1
- 2
penguinrandomhouse.com
- 3
en.wikipedia.org
- Further reading
- 4
Napoleon Hill, LuvemBooks
- 5
bankers-anonymous.com
- 6
- 7
Age & Reading Level
Recommended age
Adult
1 content note · who it suits
Content to know about
unverified historical claims presented as fact
Skip if you want empirically grounded, evidence-based guidance on wealth-building or professional development.
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