Table Of Content“When defeat overtakes a man or
woman, the easiest and the most
logical thing to do is to quit. That’s
exactly what the majority of people
do.”
– Napoleon Hill
“Most people are not willing to do the
hard work that it takes to make
success easy.”
– Jeffrey Gitomer
Copyright 2018 Jeffrey Gitomer and GitGo, LLC
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of
the publisher.
Published by Amazon Publishing, Seattle
www.apub.com
Amazon, the Amazon logo, and Amazon Publishing are trademarks of
Amazon.com, Inc., or its affiliates.
ISBN-13: 9781503942011
ISBN-10: 1503942015
Cover design by Faceout Studio, Jeff Miller
First Edition
Foreword, Actions, and Annotations by Jeffrey Gitomer
Edited by Jennifer Gluckow
Book Designer: Mike Wolff –
Contents
The First Thoughts of the Father of American Achievement and Wealth
Lesson Number 1 Success Is Up to YOU
Lesson Number 2 FINISH WHAT YOU START
Lesson Number 3 HOW TO THINK
Lesson Number 4 IMAGINATION
Lesson Number 5 THE VALUE OF SELF-CONFIDENCE AND
SINCERITY
Lesson Number 6 LET AMBITION BE YOUR MASTER
Lesson Number 7 ADVERSITY: A BLESSING IN DISGUISE
Lesson Number 8 TIME: THE MOST PRECIOUS THING IN THE WORLD
Lesson Number 9 SEVEN SUCCESS RULES
Lesson Number 10 ADOPT A “CHIEF AIM IN LIFE”!
Lesson Number 11 THE “LAW OF HARMONIOUS ATTRACTION”
Lesson Number 12 HOW TO SELL YOURSELF AND YOUR SERVICES
Lesson Number 13 DISCOVERY; THINGS, LIFE, and HAPPINESS
Lesson Number 14 “LUCK versus P-LUCK!”
Lesson Number 15 IMAGINATION, DESIRE, ENTHUSIASM, SELF-
CONFIDENCE, AND CONCENTRATION
Lesson Number 16 Who is BEHIND your success?
Lesson Number 17 IF I HAD BUT ONE WISH!
Lesson Number 18 THE GREAT MAGIC KEY
Lesson Number 19 THE VALUE OF PERSONAL APPEARANCE IN
CREATING A FAVORABLE FIRST IMPRESSION
Lesson Number 20 AT THE SIGN OF THE DOLLAR
Lesson Number 21 “THE FIVE-POINT RULE”
Lesson Number 22 THE PRINCIPLE OF SERVICE
Lesson Number 23 A GREAT TRUTH WHICH I HAVE LEARNED FROM
TWENTY YEARS’ EXPERIENCE
Epilogue by Jeffrey Gitomer The TRUTH, the Whole TRUTH, So Help Me
HILL
Books You Ought to Read
The First Thoughts of the Father of American
Achievement and Wealth
by Jeffrey Gitomer
In 1917, 20 years before the publication of his magnum opus, THINK AND
GROW RICH, Napoleon Hill began his career as a teacher, philosopher, and
writer at the George Washington Institute in Chicago. There he taught
courses on advertising and selling, but rather than focusing on the more
technical aspects of those subjects, he structured his courses around the
notion that attitude, belief, hard work and personal development were the
keys to achievement.
As a teacher and a writer he intuitively understood that in order to get his
students to succeed, they had to start with the foundation of believing in
themselves, having a positive attitude, and making a plan before they could
ultimately achieve their purpose.
Mindful of the potential legacy of these teachings, and proud to have created
them, Hill wrote, typed, and hand signed each lesson.
Over the next two decades, Hill would go on to hone his craft and
substantiate his original thinking by interviewing and writing about the most
successful people of his time: icons like Edison, Firestone, Burroughs, and
Schwab. Over the course of 45 years, Hill expanded the positive principles he
wrote about and spoke about in 1917; penned ten books that have sold more
than 100,000,000 copies; delivered thousands of talks and lectures; and
became world renowned as the leader in self-help, personal development and
positive attitude. One hundred years later, he still holds that global position.
But what of those original lessons on life Napoleon Hill taught in 1917? Long
the subject of rumors and speculation, they were thought lost to history –
until now.
THE BOOK: TRUTHFUL LIVING
A few years ago, the Napoleon Hill Foundation uncovered Napoleon Hill’s
ORIGINAL writings and teachings. These are not just Hill’s first writings,
they represent the fundamental and foundational thinking that created his
legacy.
Napoleon Hill began his career as a college professor in Cleveland delivering
lectures and lessons, and had the presence of mind to document them. These
lessons and lectures were penned 20 years before the immortal Think and
Grow Rich was published. These are in fact the first documented writings of
Napoleon Hill.
These are Hill’s original thoughts and ideas about how to focus on your
major goals, have a great attitude, and become successful. These are his first
lectures, lessons, and writings. At the same time Hill was teaching
advertising and selling, he was focusing on attitude, self-belief, writing,
persuading, and philosophy of life and living.
These pages of Truthful Living contain Hill’s original writings and lectures
from 1917. Think and Grow Rich was published in 1937. And Hill’s
immortal sales book, How to Sell Your Way Through Life, was published in
1939. The original lessons and lectures in Truthful Living served as the
foundation of his philosophy, strategy, and thinking for his entire body of
work. Genuine classics. Genuine genius.
I have been given the honor by the Napoleon Hill Foundation to edit and
annotate these writings for the 21st century. With as much integrity as I
possess, I have stayed true to the concepts and meaning that Hill was trying
to transfer. Here’s why. . .
