Summary of “Outwitting the Devil” by Napoleon Hill

Summary of “Outwitting the Devil” by Napoleon Hill

Drifting

“I can best define the word ‘drift’ by saying that people who think for themselves never drift, while those who do little or no thinking for themselves are drifters. A drifter is one who permits himself to be influenced and controlled by circumstances outside of his own mind. A drifter is one who accepts whatever life throws in his way without making a protest or putting up a fight. He doesn’t know what he wants from life and spends all of his time getting just that.”

“Drifting, without aim or purpose, is the first cause of failure. Without a plan for life, concentrated effort, and persistent activity, you will have no means of controlling your own destiny.”

“The habit of drifting is a habit of neglecting to exercise the privilege of independent thought or to use one’s own mind.”

“Drifters of thought and thinking patterns cry that the world has run dry of opportunities, but non-drifters do not wait for opportunity – they create these.”

On Fear

“The fear of criticism robs a person of their initiative, destroys their power of imagination, limits their individuality, takes away their self-reliance, and does them damage in a hundred other ways.”

“Fear is the tool of a man-made devil.”

“Fears are nothing more than states of mind. One’s state of mind is subject to control and direction.”

“If you fill your mind with fear, doubt and unbelief in your ability to connect with, and use the forces of Infinite Intelligence, the law of autosuggestion will take this spirit of unbelief and use it as a pattern by which your subconscious mind will translate it into its physical equivalent.”

“The man who is afraid to risk failure seldom has to face success.”

What makes someone a non-drifter?

  1. Have a definite purpose: Chose a purpose for your life, a grand aspiration, a big goal, and move towards it relentlessly.”The starting point of all achievement is DESIRE. Keep this constantly in mind. Weak desire brings weak results, just as a small fire makes a small amount of heat.”

    “Definiteness of purpose is the starting point of all achievement.”

    “Every person who wins in any undertaking must be willing to burn his ships and cut all sources of retreat.”

  2. Self-Mastery: Discipline equals freedom according to the Devil. If impulse drives your life, you will go nowhere; you will be in the Devil’s trap, exactly where he wants you as a drifter.”You become what you think about all day long.”

    “If you do not control your thoughts, you cannot control your needs.”

    “Nature has endowed man with absolute control over but one thing, and that is thought. This fact, coupled with the additional fact that everything which man creates begins in the form of a thought, leads one very near to the principle by which fear may be mastered.”

    “Remember, every time you open your mouth, you express your thoughts, and thoughts have a way of growing when they are expressed. Speak only of what you want and not what you don’t want.”

  3. Learn from adversity: Failures are that just failures. Either we learn from them or let them stop us is up to us.”Adversity is the test of a person’s true character.”

    “Before success comes in any man’s life, he is sure to meet with much temporary defeat, and, perhaps, some failure.”

    “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.”

    “The most interesting thing about a postage stamp is the persistence with which it sticks to its job.”

    “One of the most common causes of failure is the habit of quitting when one is overtaken by temporary defeat.”

    “Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit.”

    “The capacity to surmount failure without being discouraged is the chief asset of every person who attains outstanding success in any calling. Failure is man-made circumstance. It is never real until accepted by man as permanent. Your only limitation is the one which you set up in your own mind.”

  4. Control environmental influences: Who you hang out with matters. What your room looks like matters. It matters how you take care of yourself and others.

    “When you understand that your negative influences are external and can be controlled, you can harness and direct your mind to overcome any obstacle and reach your highest potential.
  5. Time: Time and persistence can make drifting and negativity permanent. It can also make positivity and wisdom permanent.

    “The person who stops studying merely because they have finished school is forever hopelessly doomed to mediocrity, no matter what their calling. The way of success is the way of continuous pursuit of knowledge.””The man who does more than he is paid for will soon be paid for more than he does.” –
  6. Harmony: To balance the mental, spiritual, and physical aspects of life, you must be the main actor in your drama.
  7. Caution: Always act, but always think before you act.”Wise men, when in doubt whether to speak or to keep quiet, give themselves the benefit of the doubt, and remain silent.”

Some more great quotes

“More gold had been mined from the mind of men than the earth itself.”

“Remember that your real wealth can be measured not by what you have, but by what you are.”

“We are what we are, because of the vibrations of thought we pick up and register, through the stimuli of our daily environment.”

“An educated man is not, necessarily, one who has an abundance of general or specialized knowledge. An educated man is one who has so developed the faculties of his mind that he may acquire anything he wants.”

“One must realize that all who have accumulated great fortunes first did a certain amount of dreaming, hoping, wishing, desiring, and planning before they acquired money.”

“Neglecting to broaden their view has kept some people doing one thing all their lives.”

“Until you have learned to be tolerant with those who do not always agree with you; until you have cultivated the habit of saying some kind word of those whom you do not admire; until you have formed the habit of looking for the good instead of the bad there is in others, you will be neither successful nor happy.”

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