Napoleon Hill.
by Napoleon Hill — Think and Grow Rich (1937) · mastermind group concept
Author of Think and Grow Rich (1937), one of the best-selling self-help books in history. Hill's work introduced the concept of the "mastermind group" and the idea that mindset and definiteness of purpose are prerequisites to financial success.
About Napoleon Hill
Napoleon Hill (1883–1970) was an American self-help author whose 1937 book Think and Grow Rich has sold an estimated 100 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling books of all time. The book emerged from a 20-year project in which Hill claimed to have interviewed more than 500 successful Americans — including Andrew Carnegie, Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, and John D. Rockefeller — to identify the common principles behind their wealth.
Think and Grow Rich distilled Hill's findings into 13 principles, including definiteness of purpose, the mastermind alliance, faith, specialized knowledge, and organized planning. The book's influence on subsequent self-help literature is almost impossible to overstate — it is the ancestor of an entire genre.
Hill's earlier work, The Law of Success (1928), was a more expansive treatment of similar themes, published in a multi-volume format. His later books include Outwitting the Devil (written in 1938, published posthumously in 2011) and Success Through a Positive Mental Attitude (1960, co-authored with W. Clement Stone).
Scholars and journalists have raised questions about the accuracy of some of Hill's claimed interviews and biographical details. ClearValue Books recommends Think and Grow Rich for its historical significance and its enduring frameworks around goal-setting, persistence, and collaborative thinking, while acknowledging that readers should approach its metaphysical claims with appropriate skepticism.
