Lessons from “Think and Grow Rich” By Napoleon Hill

On November 5 & 12, 2025, we hosted our Women’s Financial Book Clubs in Indianapolis and Bloomington, Indiana.

The mission that guides our quarterly gatherings is to:

Create a safe space for women to ask financial questions.
Educate women about money issues they commonly avoid
Empower women to make financial decisions.
Encourage our current attendees to begin their own book clubs to spread knowledge and support the women in their lives.

Bonus: To relax and have a little fun!

If #4 listed above, resonates with your desire to build community and learn from other women in your life, use the key quotes below and download the PDF of the discussion questions at the bottom of this page.

Quotes from CHAPTER 1: THE POWER OF THOUGHT: The Man Who "Thought" His Way into Partnership with Thomas A. Edison

When you begin to think and grow rich, you will observe that riches begin with a state of mind, with definiteness of purpose, with little or no hard work. (p 10-11)
Failure comes to those who indifferently allow themselves to become failure conscious. (p 12)
[B]efore we can accumulate riches in great abundance, we must magnetize our minds with intense desire for riches, that we must become "money conscious" until the desire for money drives us to create definite plans for acquiring it. (p 15)

Quotes from CHAPTER 2 DESIRE: the Starting Point of All Achievement (The First Step to Riches)

We who desire to accumulate riches should remember that the real leaders of the world have always been people who harnessed, and put into practical use, the intangible, unseen forces of unborn opportunity. (p 25)
If the thing you wish to do is right, and you believe in it, go ahead and do it! (p 25)
Strange and varied are the ways of life, and stranger still are the ways of infinite intelligence, through which people are sometimes forced to undergo all sorts of punishment before discovering their own brains, and their own capacity to create useful ideas through imagination. (p 28)
I believe in the power of desire backed by faith because I have seen this power lift people from lowly beginnings to places of power and wealth. (p 42)

Quotes from CHAPTER 3: FAITH: Visualizing and Believing in the Attainment of Desire (The Second Step to Riches)

Millions of people believe themselves "doomed" to poverty and failure, because of some strange force over which they believe they have no control. They are creators of their own "misfortunes" because of the negative belief, which is picked up by the subconscious mind and translated into its physical equivalent. (p 47)
If it is true that one may become a criminal by association with crime (and this is a known fact), it is equally true that one may develop faith by voluntarily suggesting to the subconscious mind that one has faith. (p 48)
A mind dominated by positive emotions becomes a favorable abode for the state of mind known as faith. (p 48)
Somewhere in your make-up (perhaps in the cells of your brain) lies sleeping the seed of achievement. If aroused and put into action, this would carry you to heights such as you may never have hoped to attain. (p 55)

Quotes from CHAPTER 4: AUTOSUGGESTION: the Medium for Influencing the Subconscious Mind (The Third Step to Riches)

[Autosuggestion] is the agency of communication between that part of the mind where conscious thought takes place, and that which serves as the seat of action of the subconscious mind. (p 69)
Your ability to use the principle of autosuggestion will depend, very largely, upon your capacity to concentrate upon your given desire until that desire becomes a burning obsession. (p 72)
People may gain control of themselves and their environment because they have the power to influence their own subconscious minds, and through it gain the cooperation of Infinite Intelligence. (p 76)

Quotes from CHAPTER 5: SPECIALIZED KNOWLEDGE: Personal Experiences or Observations (The Fourth Step to Riches)

Do you have more specialized or generalized knowledge? Was there a time when specialized knowledge gave you an advantage?
Hill suggests we don’t need to “know it all” but rather assemble a team of experts. How might this concept apply to your personal wealth-building strategy?
Is there an area of specialized knowledge that would most significantly impact your financial growth right now?

Quotes from CHAPTER 6: IMAGINATION: the Workshop of the Mind (The Fifth Step to Riches)

Through the aid of the imaginative faculty, humankind has discovered, and harnessed, more of Nature's forces during the past 50 years than during the entire history of the human race previous to that time. (p 97)
The creative faculty becomes more alert, more receptive to vibrations from the sources mentioned, in proportion to its development through use. Indeed, both the synthetic and creative faculties of imagination become more alert with use, just as any muscle or organ of the body develops through use. (p 99)
First you give life, action and guidance to ideas, and they take on a power of their own and sweep aside all opposition. (p 111)
SUCCESS REQUIRES NO EXPLANATION. FAILURE PERMITS NO ALIBIS. (p 114)

Quotes from CHAPTER 7: ORGANIZED PLANNING: the Crystallization of Desire into Action (The Sixth Step to Riches)

If the first plan you adopt does not work successfully, replace it with a new plan. (p 117)
Money, of itself, in nothing but inert matter. It cannot move, think, or talk, but it can "hear" when one who desires it calls it to come! (p 118-119)
Decide at the outset whether you intend to become a leader in your chosen calling or remain a follower. (p 119)
The actual capital value of your brains may be determined by the amount of income you can produce (by marketing your services). (p 136)
Capital consists not of money alone, but more particularly of highly organized, intelligent groups of people who plan ways and means of using money efficiently for the good of the public and profitably for themselves. (p 150)

Quotes from CHAPTER 8: DECISION: the Mastery of Procrastination (The Seventh Step to Riches)

Procrastination, the opposite of decision, is the common enemy that practically everybody must conquer. (p 157)
If you are easily influenced by the opinions of others, you will have no desire of your own. (p 158)
Those who reach decisions promptly and definitely know what they want, and generally get it. (p 169)
The world has the habit of making room for people whose words and actions show they know where they are going. (p 170)

Quotes from CHAPTER 9: PERSISTENCE: the Sustained Effort Necessary to Induce Faith (The Eighth Step to Riches)

Willpower and desire, when properly combined, make an irresistible pair. (p 175)
If you find yourself lacking in persistence, this weakness may be remedied by building a stronger fire under your desires. (p 176)
POVERTY CONSCIOUSNESS WILL VOLUNTARILY SEIZE THE MIND THAT IS NOT OCCUPIED WITH MONEY CONSCIOUSNESS. (p 177)
Be persistent no matter how slowly you may, at first, have to move. WITH PERSISTENCE WILL COME SUCCESS. (p 178)
Those who pick themselves up after defeat and keep on trying arrive; and the world cries, "Bravo! I knew you could do it!" (p 179)
Examine the next hundred people you meet. Ask them what they want most in life, and 98 of them will not be able to tell you. (p 187)

Quotes from CHAPTER 10: POWER OF THE MASTER MIND: the Driving Force (The Ninth Step to Riches)

Power may be defined as "organized and intelligently directed knowledge." (p 193)
Economic advantages may be created by people who surround themselves with the advice, counsel and personal cooperation of a group of people who are willing to lend them wholehearted aid in the spirit of perfect harmony. (p 195)
Poverty needs no plan. It needs no one to aid it, because it is bold and ruthless. Riches are shy and timid. They have to be "attracted." (p 202)

Quotes from CHAPTER 11: THE MYSTERY OF SEX TRANSMUTATION: (The Tenth Step to Riches)

Sex desire is the most powerful of human desires. When driven by this desire, people develop keenness of imagination, courage, willpower, persistence and creative ability unknown to them at other times. (p 206)
A river may be dammed and its water controlled for a time, but eventually it will force an outlet. The same is true for the emotion of sex. (p 206)
The men who have accumulated great fortunes and achieved outstanding recognition in literature, art, industry, architecture, and the professions were motivated by the influence of a woman. (p 207)
The great artists, writers, musicians, and poets become great because they acquire the habit of relying upon the "still small voice" which speaks from within, through the faculty of creative imagination. (p 211)
Every intelligent person knows that stimulation in excess through alcoholic drink and narcotics, is a form of intemperance that destroys the vital organs of the body, including the brain. (p 221)
Where love, romance and the proper understanding of the emotion of sex abide, there is no disharmony between married people. (p 228)

Quotes from CHAPTER 12: THE SUBCONSCIOUS MIND: the Connecting Link (The Eleventh Step to Riches)

The subconscious mind will not remain idle! If you fail to plant desires in your subconscious mind, it will feed upon the thoughts that reach it as the result of your neglect. (p 231)
Positive and negative emotions cannot occupy the mind at the same time. (p 235)
The subconscious mind is the intermediary that translates one's prayers into terms that Infinite Intelligence can recognize, presents the message and brings back the answer in the form of a definite plan or idea for procuring the object of the prayer. (p 238)

Quotes from CHAPTER 13: THE BRAIN: a Broadcasting and Receiving Station for Thought (The Twelfth Step to Riches)

[E]very human brain is capable of picking up thought vibrations released by other brains. (p 239)
When stimulated or "stepped up" to a high rate of vibration, the mind becomes more receptive to the vibration of thought that reaches it through the ether from outside sources. (p 239-240)
A brain stimulated by the emotion of sex vibrates at a much more rapid rate than it does when that emotion is quiescent or absent. (p 240)
All known forms of radiant energy decline inversely as the square of the distance is traversed. Telepathy and clairvoyance do not. (p 244)

Quotes from CHAPTER 14: THE SIXTH SENSE: the Door to the Temple of Wisdom (The Thirteenth Step to Riches)

Infinite Intelligence may, and will, communicate voluntarily through the sixth sense without any effort from, or demands by, the individual. (p 247)
[T]hrough the aid of the sixth sense, you will be warned of impending dangers in time to avoid them, and notified of opportunities in time to embrace them. (p 248)
Your own thoughts and desires serve as the magnet that attracts units of life, from the great ocean of life out there. (p 254)
One of the blessings of maturity is that it sometimes brings one greater courage to be truthful, regardless of what those who do not understand may think or say. (p 255)
The starting point of all achievement is desire. The finishing point is that brand of knowledge that leads to understanding - understanding of self, understanding of others, understanding of the laws of Nature, recognition and understanding of happiness. (p 258)

Quotes from CHAPTER 15: HOW TO OUTWIT THE SIX GHOSTS OF FEAR: (Clearing the Brain for Riches) (The Twelfth Step to Riches)

Indecision is the seedling of fear! Remember this, as you read. Indecision crystallizes into doubt, the two blend and become fear! (p 261)
Fear paralyzes the faculty of reason, destroys the faculty of imagination, kills off self-reliance, undermines enthusiasm, discourages initiative, leads to uncertainty of purpose, encourages procrastination, wipes out enthusiasm, and makes self-control an impossibility. (p 265)
Nothing brings so much suffering and humility as poverty! (p 266)
The person who gives expression, by word of mouth, to negative or destructive thoughts is practically certain to experience the results of those words in the form of a destructive "kickback." (p 275)
You are the master of your own earthly destiny just as surely as you have the power to control your own thoughts. (p 276)

Quotes from CHAPTER 16: THE DEVIL'S WORKSHOP: (The Seventh Basic Evil)

Recognize the fact that you and every other human being are, by nature, lazy, indifferent and susceptible to all suggestions that harmonize with your weaknesses. (p 278)
You have absolute control over but one thing, and that is your thoughts. (p 284)
Your mind is your spiritual estate! Protect and use it with the care to which divine royalty is entitled.
People who do not succeed have one distinguishing trait in common. They know all the reasons for failure, and have what they believe to be airtight alibis to explain away their own lack of achievement. (p 286)

If you are interested in participating in a future financial book club or want support to host your own Women’s Financial Book Club, reach out to Dawnetta Cooper. To download a copy of the discussion questions, click the link below:

Discussion Questions From "Think and Grow Rich"

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